Eco-Challenge | |
---|---|
Genre | Reality |
Created by | Mark Burnett |
Starring | Kathy Lynch Ian Adamson Sara Ballentyne John Howard Charlton Heston Keith Murray David Callaway Andrea Murray Michael Tobin Jeff Leininger Hunter Leininger Tom Ambrose Katie Ferrington Joshua Forester Caitlin Thorn Jesse Tubb Jesse Spangler Kevin Howser Shane Hagerman Peter Jolles Chris Von Ins Michelle Hobson |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 10 |
No. of episodes | 36 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Mark Burnett Lisa Hennessy |
Producer | Tim Powell |
Production location | Various |
Editor | Brian Catalina |
Production company | Mark Burnett Productions |
Original release | |
Network | Discovery Channel |
Release | April 1, 1995 – April 11, 2002 |
Eco-Challenge: The Expedition Race is a multi-day expedition length adventure race in which teams of four (five in the early years) competed. It originally aired on TV from April 1995 to April 2002. Based closely on the Raid Gauloises adventure race, the broadcast of Eco-Challenge led to the popularity of the adventure racing. [1]
The race returned in September 2019, taking place in Fiji. [2] The new series, under the title World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji , premiered on August 14, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video. [3]
Eco-Challenge is generally regarded as the genesis for modern-day reality television, and adventure documentary series launching the success of Mark Burnett and his subsequent television shows Survivor , The Apprentice , The Contender , Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? , Shark Tank , The Voice , and many more.
Eco-Challenge was created in 1992 by Mark Burnett. Inspired by a Los Angeles Times article about Gerald Fusil's Raid Gauloises adventure race in Costa Rica, Burnett formed a team and competed in two Raid Gauloises events. Although his teams did poorly, Burnett decided to create a similar race in North America. When the race went international, Burnett purchased the rights from Fusil and set out to make the Eco-Challenge the world's premier adventure race.
The teams raced non-stop, 24 hours a day, over a rugged 300-mile (500 km) course, participating in such disciplines as trekking, whitewater canoeing, horseback riding, sea kayaking, scuba diving, mountaineering, camel-back riding, and mountain biking. Teams originally consisted of five members, but the team size was reduced to four members early in the event's history. [4] A feature of the race is the mandatory mix of men and women for all participating teams. [5]
The first Eco-Challenge was held on April 25, 1995, in the Utah desert and was held each year in a new locale until 2002. Burnett recently noted that he did not intend to hold another Eco-Challenge, but had considered selling the rights to it. [6] In contrast, other expedition-length races, including Primal Quest and the Patagonian Expedition Race continue to be held. [7] [8]
Multiple winners (through 2002) [9] include Ian Adamson (AUS / USA: 3x 1st, 2x 2nd, 1x 3rd & 4th), Mike Kloser (USA: 3x 1st, 1x 2nd), John Howard (NZL: 3x 1st, 1x 3rd), Keith Murray (NZL: 3x 1st, 1x 3rd), Neil Jones (NZL: 2x 1st, 1x 2nd), Nathan Faave (NZL: 2x 1st, 1x 2nd), Robert Nagle (IRL / USA: 2x 1st, 1x 3rd), Andrea Murray (NZL / USA: 2x 1st).
Each Eco-Challenge was broadcast on cable television. The 1995 Utah race was shown as a 45-minute feature, produced by and broadcast on MTV. [10] The 1995 Maine/New England event was broadcast in segments as part of the Extreme Games broadcast on ESPN. Starting in 1996, Eco-Challenge was aired on the Discovery Channel and the production enjoyed a significantly expanded budget. The 1996 British Columbia production, broadcast on the Discovery Channel won an Emmy Award.
In 2000, the USA Network agreed to a three-year contract to broadcast the Eco-Challenge. Later that year, the show was nominated for a Prime-Time Emmy Award. USA did not renew the show after the 2002 Fiji race.[ citation needed ]
Although long out of print, the 1996 through 2001 Eco-Challenge races were released on VHS by Discovery soon after the shows aired. [11] The Utah, Maine/New England, and Fiji episodes were never officially released in the United States.
In 2011, Burnett sold Expedition Impossible , a reality show with a similar concept to Eco-Challenge, to ABC as a summer series. The new show debuted on June 30 of that year.
In 2019, the show was revived under the title of World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji , and it premiered on August 14, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video. [3]
Adventure racing is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo competitions as well. The principal disciplines in adventure racing include trekking, mountain biking, and paddling although races can incorporate a multitude of other disciplines including climbing, abseiling, horse riding, skiing and white water rafting. Teams generally vary in gender and in size from two to five competitors, however, the main format is considered to be mixed-gender teams of four racers. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real-time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest.
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The Raid Gauloise or The Raid is considered by many to be the first modern expedition adventure race and was first held in 1989 in New Zealand as "la grande traversée". Its creator, Gérard Fusil, took the existing concept of long distance endurance races like the Whitbred Round the World Yacht Race, and focused on the team aspects, requiring each competitor to be part of a five-person co-ed team supported by a two-person logistics crew. The Raid had no set course, with competitors being required to rely on their wits and judgment to reach the specified checkpoints. The Raid was named after its original sponsor, the Gauloises Cigarette Company.
John Howard is considered the central pioneer of adventure racing.
The short-lived X-Venture adventure race was a feature of ESPN's X-Games. The first event, held in 1995, served as the second Eco-Challenge event after Eco-Challenge Maine. Each X-Venture featured 15 teams. The three-person co-ed teams travelled between 300 and 500 miles. Unlike most U.S.-based events, the X-Venture race was held in stages, allowing any team that completed the stage in less than 24 hours to rest until the next stage began. Any team that was six hours or more behind the lead at the end of a stage would be eliminated from the race.
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The Patagonian Expedition Race is an annual endurance adventure race that takes place in the remote wilderness of Chilean Patagonia, run to help protect and raise awareness about the fragile environment in this region. Known as the 'Race to the End of the World', the 10-day event challenges co-ed international teams of four athletes in the disciplines of trekking, sea kayaking, orienteering, and mountain biking. The race takes place on a different course each year, with competitors using a map and compass to navigate through previously unknown terrain. Due to its challenging nature, it is also known as 'The Last Wild Race', and has been described as 'The World's toughest adventure race' and the ‘Dakar’ of adventure racing. The 13th edition of the race took place from 17 to 30 November 2018.
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Monique Merrill is an American world champion adventure racer, ski mountaineer and marathon mountain biker. She studied at the University of Virginia.
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Ian Adamson is a former competitive adventure racer, television professional and president of World Obstacle, the Fédération Internationale de Sports d’Obstacles (FISO).
Rebecca Rusch is an American endurance professional athlete, seven-time World Champion, author, entrepreneur, Emmy Award winner, and motivational speaker. Rusch's career has spanned adventure sports including rock climbing, adventure racing, whitewater rafting, cross-country skiing and mountain biking.
Robyn Benincasa is an American endurance racer, adventure racer, author, and motivational speaker. She was a competitor in several seasons of the Eco-Challenge: The Expedition Race reality television show. Her team won the 2000 Eco-Challenge in Borneo. She went on to found or co-found two companies focused on team-building for corporate clients. She is the founder of Project Athena, a nonprofit organization that helps women who have experienced medical challenges to fulfill their athletic ambitions. She holds three Guinness World Records.
World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji is a television series documenting a long-range multi-day expedition race in which teams race non-stop with little to no sleep over mountains, jungles, and oceans. The series is a revival of the Eco-Challenge series first broadcast from 1995 to 2002. The race took place in Fiji in September 2019, and the television series documenting the race hosted by Bear Grylls premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 14, 2020.