Adventure Racing: GearJunkie Named ‘Official Media Partner’ of USARA
After years of covering (and participating in) the sport, this year GearJunkie has been named the ‘official media partner’ for the U.S. Adventure Racing Association.
Adventure racing is an apex outdoor sport that requires teamwork, strategy, and wilderness skills. GearJunkie has a long history with the sport, including expedition races in Patagonia, adventure racing gear tests, and a sponsored race team that in 2012 won the national championship title.
This year, we are doubling down on the sport with an official partnership and a sponsor to support it all. For the 2022 season, GearJunkie will serve as the official media partner of the U.S. Adventure Racing Association (USARA). We will cover races via reporters on the ground and teams formed to participate in 10-plus competitive events across the country.
The partnership is a part of a campaign with Toyota Tundra, which also serves as the title sponsor of the 2022 USARA season. Content on a new GearJunkie channel launching this spring will cover adventure racing and the 2022 season.
The USARA has been the national organizing body of adventure racing since 1998. It provides safety standards, offers insurance for race directors, and aggregates rankings as teams compete and accumulate points at events throughout the season.
GearJunkie Joins 2022 Adventure Racing
More than 100 adventure races are scheduled for 2022. Thousands of racers will compete on courses that require mountain biking, paddling, trail running, and navigation to checkpoints via map and compass techniques.
Mandatory Gear: Adventure Racing National Championships
Races run from about 4 hours in length to 24 hours or more depending on difficulty. The season culminates at the USARA National Championship race on Sep. 16-17 in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
“We could not be more excited for this partnership,” said USARA Executive Director Michael Garrison.
“The GearJunkie project and the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra sponsorship will allow us to reach a massive audience while providing additional budget to support our efforts to grow the sport.”
Garrison noted the sponsorship will enable the nonprofit to advance initiatives like the Women in AR campaign; individual mentoring for race directors; and the support of a new Regional Championship circuit of events.
GearJunkie will launch its adventure racing content channel in May. One of the sponsored teams, Team Toyota Tundra, makes its debut appearance this coming weekend at the Berryman Adventure Race (April 8-9), an 18-hour event in Missouri.
The team, captained by Justin Bakken, includes Brian Mayer and Mari Chandler, which is the same squad that won the 2021 National Championship title.
We are excited to dive deeper into the sport of AR this year. Watch for event coverage, race reports, team profiles, adventure 101 articles, and more coming soon.
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