After 130 hours of racing through the wilds of British Columbia, Team BendRacing/4HourFuel secured 5th place at the 2025 Subaru Expedition Canada Adventure Racing World…
After 130 hours of racing through the wilds of British Columbia, Team BendRacing/4HourFuel secured 5th place at the 2025 Subaru Expedition Canada Adventure Racing World Championships. Here’s the inside story—gear that held up, moments that challenged us, and what it took for us to chase a dream across 800km of wilderness. ** all images but the canoe pic of Dan and Chelsey are by Guillermo Guiterrez
It’s always hard to start writing a race recap, especially an expedition-length one. So many things happen out there, and it’s nearly impossible to capture them all in words. We are almost at two weeks post race and memories are still popping up. Piecing them all together is quite the task, but luckily this is not my first rodeo. I can now trust that they will come up when I’m ready to receive them and they’ll either be put down as good lessons or be there for a good laugh when I need it.
Rather than give you the full play-by-play of each stage, I wanted to distill the parts that felt the most real—the moments that cracked us open, lifted us up, and taught us something about ourselves and each other, because this IS really the reason why we are doing this. Sure the competition is super fun, but it’s the experiences that we have out there together that make it all worth while in the long term.
Because this race, the 2025 Subaru Canada Adventure Racing World Championships, was not just a race. It was a journey that tested every ounce of who we are.
The Dream That Drove Us
This season, the goal was crystal clear: Top 5 at Worlds. Not to prove something — but to see something through.
After a few years of hovering in the top 10 and flirting with the top 5, we realized that the missing piece wasn’t fitness, it was belief. So this year, we went all in. For months, we didn’t just work on our physical weaknesses; we dove deep into mindset, communication, and team dynamics.
As many know, Jason, Daniel, and I are incredibly close. Dan was one of Jason’s high school students — the kid Jason took under his wing and mentored into adventure racing. Their relationship spans nearly 25 years. Now, we live next door to Daniel and his family. Our boys are best friends (more like brothers, really), and we see each other multiple times a day. Jason and I are married, of course, which adds its own emotional layers.
After a couple of years off expedition racing together, and after growing our larger team of 12+ athletes — we’ve learned how to channel our closeness into strength rather than friction. We know exactly how to push each other’s buttons, especially when we’re sleep-deprived and start acting like toddlers, so we spent real time talking through our triggers, how to communicate when tensions rise, and how to show up as teammates first. That work also helped our newest fourth, Matthias, step smoothly into our tight trio dynamic.
And behind all that team work? Real life. All of us have young kids (all under eight and one just four months old!), jobs, and a thousand moving parts. Yet somehow, we carved out space for this shared dream. Night trainings, condensed 20-hour “mini expeditions,” hours spent making and testing our own fuel — it’s a complex and messy puzzle to train and prepare for a race of this scale.
The Course That Broke (and Built) Us UP
800 KM is no joke. After 40 hours into a long race, time starts to dilate. A 24-hour trek might sound endless when you’re planning and packing before the start, but in the moment, six hours can slip by like thirty minutes.
That’s one of my favorite things about this sport, it bends your sense of time and self. It’s taught me, over and over, that everything passes.
Tired, sore, moody, elated, sad? Give it a few minutes (or a few hours that feel like minutes), and it will pass.
Below are a few of my favorite moments from the race – moments that, in truth, were more like hours.
-The long night paddle leg (80 km in total with a 15 km portage in the middle) where we saw the most insane light show – with more shooting stars than I have ever seen in one sitting.
-The endless pasture land trek, where we started “vibe” navigating and finding our way through the maze of farm roads. Witnessing Jason and Daniels execution and ability to work through this was my favorite part of this (more on this in a bit).
-The HUGE waves and boils on the Thompson river that flipped Jason and Dan’s packraft(two of the most experienced paddlers in the sport!)
– The feeling of being so cold, wet and muddy as we rode down to CP 39 in the middle of the night. All I had were my thin bike gloves under my pogies (thank god for them!), I could no longer use my break finger so I had to stop every so often and shake out until I remembered that I had an extra pair of socks. So I used them as another layer of protection and they kept my hands warm for the rest of the night. As I was riding down the mountain, barely able to see because of all the mud and rain splattering in my eyes I remember laughing out loud because I was so insanely stoked and grateful for an extra pair of socks. How cool is that to be so happy about something so simple.
-Our amazing sleep system that saved us many times from the cold and the wet. Jason and I have never snuggled so hard and Daniel finally became the little spoon thanks to Matthias. It really made his whole race, as forever Daniel has always been the big spoon.
-The mountain trek, where we got to spread Spirit B on one of the beautiful granite peaks at sunrise and saw a mountain lion while crossing a giant field of granite boulders.
-The last canoe across Lake Okanagan to the finish line, where we paddled so hard into the wind to get over the huge waves. It was an amazing and dramatic ending to our race.
photo by Darren Steinbach
The Turning Points
Every race has those make-or-break moments.
Ours came in the long road trek before the first river and the big mountain trek. On the first road trek, we had been running along counting roads and paying attention, but the direction was not matching up. Rather than keep on running and hoping, we figured it out and took a chance on a road that was going in the right direction. It was not on our map, but Jason and Daniel worked together and coined the term “Vibe Navigation”. They had to switch to this a few other times in the race, which was a new thing for us – but it worked. What could have been a very frustrating and disastrous navigation puzzle turned into a fun and exciting one where we all got to be in it together.
Another hard time was running the long 25 km road to the mountain trek. Jason’s hips do not like road running, and they were very sore. When he started to limp, we took his weight, but that was not helping. It’s always so hard to see him in pain, it’s probably the single hardest thing for me when we race together. It doesn’t happen every race, but when it does, it brings me right back to when we had to drop out of The Patagonian Expedition Race. We were leading when both of his hips called it and we ended up carrying him out of the mountains. Seeing him like was one of the hardest things to witness in my life so far. That was pre -hip surgery though. Now, with two bionic hips and an amazing physical therapist (thank you Rebound!) he’s a new man. We ended up stopping for 20 min and did a few active stretches to try and reset his gate. It helped a little, and then we started cracking jokes and sharing food. Suddenly we were moving faster and almost to the start of the high alpine ascent, which is`Jason’s jam.
In those two times, we navigated through some really tough problems and had completed our goal of racing calm, being consistent and staying connected. We held our line — not because we weren’t tired, but because we refused to lose our thread of smoothness and intention.
The Emotional Rollercoaster of Expedition Racing
People ask what it feels like to race for 6 days on very little sleep.
It’s surreal at times— like living inside a really long dream you can’t quite wake from. Many times, I feel like I am watching myself from the outside.
The body hurts. The brain drifts. The emotions swing from awe to anger to curiosity, to gratitude, to quiet joy, to disappointment, to nothing and then….just like that, it’s all over. What you are left with is an experience that will be in your bones you forever. You won’t necessarily remember a ton of it, but what you do is always with you and yours to keep for those challenging moments in life. For example, when a hard parenting moment comes, or when my son is struggling on our bike ride or wanting to stop every 3 minutes on our hike for a break, I remember being so tired myself in the middle of the mountains. It gives me extra tools, patience and even more compassion for myself and others.
All of us broke at one point, which was perfect. It meant that we were working as one machine, pushing and giving each other everything we had. None of us were shy either, if someone wanted to go faster, we made it happen and if anyone needed anything, we quietly carried the load until it shifted again.
That’s the rhythm of expedition racing that I absolutely love, it’s a constant exchange of strength and vulnerability. A fine balance between knowing when you can take on more, and when you need help. It took me forever to know my own strength and weaknesses in this sport, and over the years it has ebbed and flowed, but overall it has given me the power to truly know myself in every changing moment. It has also given me the space to truly be my full self out there, to have the time to let every emotion come and go is such a beautiful and freeing experience.
This sport is not about avoiding the breakdowns. It’s about choosing to rebuild, again and again, together and with out judgment or blame of any sort. There is just no time or energy for those emotions.
Our Secret Weapons: Gear That Carried Us Through
In a race this long, gear isn’t just gear — it’s a lifeline and sometimes as important as an extra teammate. And if you know me and my team, you know we love testing gear, tweaking with gear and dreaming of gear!
These were the heroes of the race that helped us survive and perform through it all:
This race was our first time using the Rere Blue Ducks. We had only gotten them 2 weeks before the race start, and honestly we were a little nervous, as we had not gotten to test them as much as we wanted. However, they quickly blew all of our nerves away with in the first couple minutes of our first paddle section. They are light, fast, and bulletproof. From whitewater to flat water paddles, they handled everything with zero drama and seamlessly transitioned between the many different styles of white water and lake paddles. We pushed them hard — and they delivered.
4 Hour Fuel gave us steady energy that felt good and gave us no gut issues — it really is the holy grail of endurance nutrition. We had zero mouth issues and when flavor fatigue did come into play, Naked 4HF came to the rescue and kept our energy going till the very end.
Grippy, cushioned, and durable. Our feet took a beating on that first long road trek and I was so happy to have these. They were comfortable, kept my joints happy and made it so that I could run on Day 6 even!
Durable, bright, light and easy to use. Both the HM65R and the bike light lit up our long nights and kept us safe on some long rainy bike descents. We were so thankful for our lights so many times. And when we did need to switch out batteries, it took seconds and we were on our way again. Use BendRacing25 for 25% off.
This is a must. And every adventure racer now knows it. Angelina’s Skin Doctor is the perfect consistency and fights against blisters, infection, fungus and scars. We use it before, during and after the race. We had 0 blisters as a team, and all of it was because of Skin Doctor. Use BendRacing for 10% off!
Patagonia Live Simply Low-Impact Sports Bra Light, minimal, and built for comfort over long days—this is the kind of base-layer you barely notice, but appreciate in race conditions, especially in adventure racing. The smooth, soft microfiber knit wicks moisture and resists odor, while the bonded seams and racerback layout help reduce chafing. The fact that I never took it off after 6 days of racing shows how comfortable it is. Usually the chest band, or the straps start to feel to tight or irritate my skin, this one is the first bra that has never done that. It offers low impact support, which for me is perfect for long endurance days. It’s made without spandex which enhances the durability, another plus for this rugged sport!
We are a team that loves our sleep. Not yet, nor will we ever be a team that can go for days with out sleep. It’s just not fun to not remember who we are or what we are doing! So, to get good naps in the high alpine we knew we we needed to stay warm, but we also needed our whole system to be as light as possible. This is where the gravel blanket was crucial. Each Duo shared one inside our bivys and we were all so warm. I never had such good power naps in a race before! These blankets were so warm and so light!
A happy, comfortable, unchaufed butt is very important in Adventure Racing. Anything but a nice feeling butt can take away energy from you and your team. I know, because I used to deal with a sore butt all the time, infact I thought it was just part of what you had to deal with as an adventure racer.
All of that changed though when I first got on an AX1. For the first time ever, I could ride a seat with out bike shorts AND have a very comfortable butt after hours and miles and miles of riding.
Since then, I have not looked back and tell everyone I know to get one. Use “BendRacing” at check out. You are welcome.
The NEW USWE VST Roll Top Backpack
This pack was outstanding. It is a more durable version of the Hajker Ultra 30 L pack, with mesh that doesn’t rip, even after the nastiest bushwhack and kept our bottles nice and accessible at our sides. I loved having this pack for the long treks, it fit everything I needed and more. It is also is the most comfortable pack I have ever used. It has been extremely hard for our entire team to agree on a pack that can fit all of us, but now, we are finally done looking. The new USWE VST Roll Top checks every one of our boxes: durable, comfortable, lightweight and functional! If you pre ordered one, you should be getting it very soon!
The Finish: 5th Place, but So Much More
The final kilometers was an insane battle into the wind. Jason and Matthias were in one canoe with Dan and I in the other. The volunteers said we were the first ones to paddle in this weather- “if y’all can make it, everyone else can” they said as we pushed off. For two solid hours we paddled non stop into the wind until finally we reached the other side, beaten down, excited and weirdly calm and collected.
When we found out we’d finished 5th in the world, it didn’t feel like a podium moment — it felt like a homecoming.
Every hour of training, every logistical planning moment, every late-night talking session — it all landed right there.
We raced for each other. We raced for our kids. We raced for our families who were racing their own mini-expeditions back home.
We left British Columbia humbled, grateful, and more in love with this sport than ever.
To our sponsors, families, and supporters — thank you. To our kids — this one’s for you.
“We don’t race to escape life. We race to remember what it feels like to live it fully.”
2 comments
I watched you roll through Lillooet, a town I proudly call home, and I figured if you could handle that first stretch of the race you could handle anything. Although the alpine climb was pretty spectacular too! Congratulations on your podium finish; all of us here are in awe!
Amazing Report Chelsea, thank you for that! Our race took over 200h, but you described the emotions we also had perfectly. Cheers, Chris from Team AlmostGrownUp
I watched you roll through Lillooet, a town I proudly call home, and I figured if you could handle that first stretch of the race you could handle anything. Although the alpine climb was pretty spectacular too! Congratulations on your podium finish; all of us here are in awe!
Amazing Report Chelsea, thank you for that! Our race took over 200h, but you described the emotions we also had perfectly. Cheers, Chris from Team AlmostGrownUp