Raid Gauloises

The Raid Gauloises or The Raid is considered by many to be the first modern adventure race and was first held in 1989. Its creator, Gerald Fusil, took the existing concept of long distance endurance races, and focused on the team aspects, requiring each competitor to be part of a five person co-ed team. 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.

In 1998, Fusil left the Raid to begin a new adventure race series, the Elf Authentic Adventure. 2003 was the last year for the Raid Gauloises. In 2004 the Raid Gauloises was retooled into the Raid World Championship.

The 2006 Raid World Cup will be broadcast in the United States on November 11, 2006 on NBC. Times and international broadcasting information is available on the Raid website

Raid World Cup

The current format (since 2004) is that of a series of events called The Raid World Cup culminating in a world championship event called The Raid World Championship. This final championship event is supposed to be similar to the original events and were held in the following locations:

• 2004 Argentina
• 2005 France/Italy/Switzerland (Annecy/Mont Blanc/Gstaad)
• 2006 Canada

Original Raid Gauloises events

• 1989 New Zealand
• 1990 Costa Rica
• 1991 New Caledonia
• 1992 Gulf of Oman
• 1993 Madagascar
• 1994 Malaysia
• 1995 Argentina
• 1996 not held
• 1997 South Africa
• 1998 Ecuador
• 1999 not held
• 2000 Tibet/Nepal
• 2001 not held
• 2002 Vietnam
• 2003 Kyrgyzstan

External links

• The Raid World Championship