Top Ten Toughest Races

iditarod 3
The National Geographic Adventure blog has put out their list of the Top 10 Toughest Races in the world, with some really interesting, and grueling, events making the list. These races cross a number of disciplines, and are pretty much guaranteed to punish the competitors.

Some of the races that managed to make the cut include the just completed Iditarod, which has garnered the moniker of “The Last Great Race”. The iconic dog sled race covers more than 1100 miles across Alaskan wilderness in the dead of winter. The Furnace Creek 508 earns a place of honor as well. This cycling event covers 500+ miles through the heat of Death Valley, throwing in more than 36,000 feet of vertical gain in the process. For foot races, the legendary Marathon des Sables, which starts in just two days, makes the list for its grueling six day, suffer-fest through the Sahara Desert.

I won’t spoil the rankings or the top selection as the toughest race in the world, suffice as to say that several of the races making the list are ones that i write about regularly. Of course, a certain race that I have a bit of a soft spot for continues to be snubbed by these recent lists of “best” and “toughest” races. I think I need to talk to Don Mann, my boss at Primal Quest, and discuss making the race a bit more challenging. Obviously ten days of non-stop racing over a 600 mile course just isn’t enough to cut it any more.

Kraig Becker

3 thoughts on “Top Ten Toughest Races”

  1. Great list although I agree there is one essential primal one missing.
    Can’t figure how it’s not there? 🙁
    DSD

  2. Well, I’m a bit biased, and realize that. 🙂 But if you look at the list, they’re all individual events, as opposed to the team element of Primal Quest. Maybe that’s why they left it off. I’m going to stick with that story.

  3. This is a really great top ten list, The Iditarod has the be the toughest race by far, the cold is what I fear the most. You or anyone can post their own top ten list to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list. If you don’t agree with National Geographic, then let it be known.

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