One of the top adventure races on the schedule for this summer is the Raid the North Extreme, which will take place from July 23rd-31st in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. The event is a 500km long expedition length race with all the traditional adventure racing elements, namely coed teams of four trekking, mountain biking, paddling, and navigating their way through an amazing wilderness setting.
The organizers for the Raid have now announced that they have signed a deal to bring the race to television in both the U.S. and Canada. The race will be filmed while it is underway by an experience crew from NewEdge Entertainment, and is scheduled to air in Canada this December on Global TV. Additionally, another 60-100 PBS stations in the United States are also expected to broadcast the race in early 2012.
This is fantastic news for fans of adventure racing, who have often had a hard time finding the sport on any television stations, let alone ones that are so readily available. Television coverage has long been the holy grail of the sport, and it has often been a hard sell to the networks, so kudos to the RTNX team for being able to put this deal together. It is a major accomplishment, and I'm already anticipating watching the show.
I can't say too much at this point, but I do know that there is the possibility of more adventure racing coming to television in the semi-near future as well. The deals aren't done yet, but there are conversations being had which, if they come to fruition, will give the sport even more great exposure. *Fingers Crossed*