Hello and welcome to the concept of "Survival Racing." Survival Racing could be thought of as a mixture of Adventure Racing, Wilderness and Survival Skills, Awareness, Problem Solving, Agility/Obstacle Courses and Self Defense. By combining aspects of endurance racing with earth skills and survival skills; Survival Racing creates a competition that tests the full range of a person's physical connection to life at a more "primitive" level than the typical outdoor sport.

Survival racing starts with the "get through the woods from Point A to Point B" idea of Adventure Racing, but then mixes in an entire host of skills as part of the race. So instead of just finding a point on a map and getting there by running, or biking, or kayaking, etc., you absolutely have to also have skill in areas such as: tracking, starting a fire with friction, wilderness first aid tasks, awareness (seeing others before they see you), shelter building, tying knots, stringing a rope bridge, defending yourself, shooting a natural bow, marksmanship with a handgun or rifle (using high-end paintball pistols and/or air rifles), identifying edible or medicinal plants of the southwest, drawing a rough map, orienteering skills, solving a primitive engineering problem, teamwork, strategy and leadership (in a group race), and much more. Performing well at these skills can be challenging enough when fresh, but become much more difficult when you are tired, or even exhausted.

The races are designed so that just traveling the fastest between the navigation points (skill stations) in the race, without knowing any skills, would result in a worse result than traveling slowest but performing well at all the skill stations.

I would like to hold the "First Annual Survival Race" of San Antonio by the early spring of 2010.

My name is Sam Coffman and I lead 2 other meetup groups which are closely aligned with this one in subject matter:

http://www.meetup.com/san-antonio-wilderness-living-and-s...

And

http://www.meetup.com/San-Antonio-Wilderness-Medicine-and...

You might also get an idea of where this concept is coming from by visiting my website:
http://www.thehumanpath.com

This group is not limited to people interested only in survival racing. It is open to anyone who wants to get (or stay) in shape with great, coached workouts that are always outdoors (rain or shine). All that is required is a good attitude and willingness to push your conditioning and skill level in a variety of areas.

It is a way for people interested in outdoor fitness to get a great workout while learning a little bit about wilderness living skills or self defense, or primitive engineering. Or it's a way for people interested in the outdoors to work on getting into or staying in shape.

In the end, Survival Racing is a path to both learn and practice in a system that (by its very nature) brings a person closer to the earth we depend on for life - as well as engage in friendly competition and test your skills and physical abilities.