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Top 10 endurance races in the world!
24 Hours of Le Mans
Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, this is the oldest endurance car race in the world, held every year since 1923 in France near Le Mans town, Sarthe. The competitors have to run their cars for 24 hours on a circuit as well as local roads (obviously closed for public use during the event). The task is to not only drive as fast as one can but also to endure a 24-hour period, taking the reliability factor of the cars to its limits. The race takes place in June every year with few exceptions where either the race was canceled or its timings were shifted.
The car maker companies have used the knowledge gained from innovations here into making their products more and more reliable and fuel efficient. Fuel economy also plays a major role here since the race requires the drivers to spend more time on the track and not in the pit stops for refueling.
Pic courtesy: www.janmagnussen.com
Tour De France
Dakar Rally
This is one of the most famous annual off-road endurance races that attracts the most talented, persistent, tough adventure-seekers from every across the globe since its inception in 1978. This is also known as the Paris-Dakar rally or Paris to Dakar rally as most of the races were from Paris to Dakar, capital of Senegal. However, security reasons and the terrorist threats forced the organizers to organize the race outside of Europe and it has been held in Chile and Argentina since 2009. The race involves several stages comprising of different types of terrain, from sand dunes to mud, rocky surface to camel grass and the length of the different stages can vary from short distances to up to 800-900 kilometers a day.
The most interesting fact about this race is that it started due to an incident that almost killed the man whose idea culminated into its inception. Thierry Sabine, a French motorcycle racer got lost in the Libyan desert during a race. He survived, but this experience gave him the idea to start a regular rally/race in that very terrain where he was lost.
Pic courtesy: 1.bp.blogspot.com
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Held every year on the first Saturday of March in Alaska, this race sees teams comprising of 16 dogs and a musher racing with each other from Willow to Nome. During the race, the teams cover a distance of approximately 1868 km (1161 miles) enduring the subzero temperatures, braving the blizzards/snowstorms. The wind chill temperature can reach as low as -73 degrees Celsius during the race. Started in 1973 to test the best sled dogs and mushers, this has become the most popular sport in Alaska and no doubt the winners of this race are treated as local heroes there.
This race also attracts lot of criticism from the animal rights groups for the alleged torture the race dogs supposedly endure through during the race.
Pic courtesy: Dog Sledding Tours in the Husky Land Yukon Canada,* Mushing with Blue Kennels and Dog Sled Trips
Cannonball Run
The brainchild of a car magazine writer, Brock Yates, this American coast-to-coast run was not actually a competitive race involving high risks, but mostly a symbol of protest by the speed junkies who wanted to protest against the newly formed strict traffic laws. Needless to say, this was an illegal race because it was held on public roads with the participants going well above the legal speed limits. The participants needed to start from New York City, (later changed to Darien in Connecticut) after midnight and reach Redondo Beach, California in the shortest time possible. There were no rules to follow, just reach from point A to point B in shortest possible time. The inspiration factors behind the start of these runs were also movies like Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point. This race was aborted after 4 runs; however, there were other successors who followed more or less the same pattern, like the U.S. Express.
Pic courtesy: DOUGLAS SONDERS PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG
4 Deserts
CanTeen.org.au - Welcome!
Tevis Cup
The Santa Rosa Breakfast Club, A Business Networking Organization
Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands)
Known as the most difficult footrace on this planet, due to the unbearably hot weather it is run in, this multiday 250 plus kilometer (254 km, to be precise) ultra-marathon takes place in Moroccan desert and has been held annually since its inception in 1986. During this race, the participants cover a distance which is equivalent of 6 regular marathons. Like the Four Deserts, here too the participants have to carry all their food and equipment, only water and night shelter is provided by the organizers.
pic courtesy: Through The Sandglass
La Ruta de los Conquistadores
Bicicleta Todo Terreno - mountain bike - bicicletas descenso bmx - BTT
Vela Blog Mistro - Sailing Blog: solo un blog di vela
References:
1. Wikipedia
2. MCN
Compiled by: Sunil Gupta
Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, this is the oldest endurance car race in the world, held every year since 1923 in France near Le Mans town, Sarthe. The competitors have to run their cars for 24 hours on a circuit as well as local roads (obviously closed for public use during the event). The task is to not only drive as fast as one can but also to endure a 24-hour period, taking the reliability factor of the cars to its limits. The race takes place in June every year with few exceptions where either the race was canceled or its timings were shifted.
The car maker companies have used the knowledge gained from innovations here into making their products more and more reliable and fuel efficient. Fuel economy also plays a major role here since the race requires the drivers to spend more time on the track and not in the pit stops for refueling.
Pic courtesy: www.janmagnussen.com
Tour De France
Dakar Rally
This is one of the most famous annual off-road endurance races that attracts the most talented, persistent, tough adventure-seekers from every across the globe since its inception in 1978. This is also known as the Paris-Dakar rally or Paris to Dakar rally as most of the races were from Paris to Dakar, capital of Senegal. However, security reasons and the terrorist threats forced the organizers to organize the race outside of Europe and it has been held in Chile and Argentina since 2009. The race involves several stages comprising of different types of terrain, from sand dunes to mud, rocky surface to camel grass and the length of the different stages can vary from short distances to up to 800-900 kilometers a day.
The most interesting fact about this race is that it started due to an incident that almost killed the man whose idea culminated into its inception. Thierry Sabine, a French motorcycle racer got lost in the Libyan desert during a race. He survived, but this experience gave him the idea to start a regular rally/race in that very terrain where he was lost.
Pic courtesy: 1.bp.blogspot.com
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Held every year on the first Saturday of March in Alaska, this race sees teams comprising of 16 dogs and a musher racing with each other from Willow to Nome. During the race, the teams cover a distance of approximately 1868 km (1161 miles) enduring the subzero temperatures, braving the blizzards/snowstorms. The wind chill temperature can reach as low as -73 degrees Celsius during the race. Started in 1973 to test the best sled dogs and mushers, this has become the most popular sport in Alaska and no doubt the winners of this race are treated as local heroes there.
This race also attracts lot of criticism from the animal rights groups for the alleged torture the race dogs supposedly endure through during the race.
Pic courtesy: Dog Sledding Tours in the Husky Land Yukon Canada,* Mushing with Blue Kennels and Dog Sled Trips
Cannonball Run
The brainchild of a car magazine writer, Brock Yates, this American coast-to-coast run was not actually a competitive race involving high risks, but mostly a symbol of protest by the speed junkies who wanted to protest against the newly formed strict traffic laws. Needless to say, this was an illegal race because it was held on public roads with the participants going well above the legal speed limits. The participants needed to start from New York City, (later changed to Darien in Connecticut) after midnight and reach Redondo Beach, California in the shortest time possible. There were no rules to follow, just reach from point A to point B in shortest possible time. The inspiration factors behind the start of these runs were also movies like Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point. This race was aborted after 4 runs; however, there were other successors who followed more or less the same pattern, like the U.S. Express.
Pic courtesy: DOUGLAS SONDERS PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG
4 Deserts
CanTeen.org.au - Welcome!
Tevis Cup
The Santa Rosa Breakfast Club, A Business Networking Organization
Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands)
Known as the most difficult footrace on this planet, due to the unbearably hot weather it is run in, this multiday 250 plus kilometer (254 km, to be precise) ultra-marathon takes place in Moroccan desert and has been held annually since its inception in 1986. During this race, the participants cover a distance which is equivalent of 6 regular marathons. Like the Four Deserts, here too the participants have to carry all their food and equipment, only water and night shelter is provided by the organizers.
pic courtesy: Through The Sandglass
La Ruta de los Conquistadores
Bicicleta Todo Terreno - mountain bike - bicicletas descenso bmx - BTT
Vela Blog Mistro - Sailing Blog: solo un blog di vela
References:
1. Wikipedia
2. MCN
Compiled by: Sunil Gupta
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