Costa Rica's wild lands and friendly people will play host to this
year's 8th edition of the Coast to Coast Challenge. With just 2
months to the start of the race, the route is set and we are excited
to see how teams will fare.

For the 3rd time in the 8 year history of the race it will begin on
the Caribbean side (Hotel Punta Cocles) and finish on the Central
Pacific side of the country at Hotel Playa Bejuco.

The first stage of the race starts and ends at Hotel Punta Cocles –
a mini race to get things started. The key to this stage will be to
acclimatize and stay safe in anticipation of the excitement to
come. Ocean kayaking, trekking and mountain biking will all be
featured in this first stage. The real crossing will begin during
the 2nd stage of the race. As in previous years all stages will be
long – especially the trekking ones that will take teams deep into
the rainforest on remote trails and up and over the Continental
Divide. The biking stages will traverse Costa Rica's seldom seen
rural areas where teams will need to use their navigational skills
and occasionally ask friendly locals for directions. Two exciting
ropes sections will break up the long stages of the race.

At the moment we have 12 teams set to go – 8 local teams and 4
international teams. On the international side team Bones is back
to defend their title and Dark Horse is back for the 4th time.
These 2 teams are joined by Team Adventure World Magazine and Team
Race the Rockies – both experienced Adventure Racing competitors but
rookies to the Coast to Coast Challenge. A few other international
teams have shown interest and we are confident that they will join
the fun. Costa Rican teams including Economy, Caribe, Armeria
Polini, Rancho Margot, Elok, and Thule are back and are hungry to
win the title from Team Bones. A couple of Costa Rican rookie teams
will join them. There is still space available in the race for
interested teams and several Costa Rican racers are looking to hook
up with international racers. The 10 day program is as follows:

April 18th (Friday) – ARRIVAL Airport pick up & hotel in San
Jose.
April 19th (Saturday) – TRANSFER TO THE COAST – Race prep stuff.
April 20 to 26 – RACE DAYS – 500+ kms from Coast to Coast. The race
starts at 10 am and teams have 142 hours to complete the course. We
expect the top teams to start arriving at the finish sometime during
the morning of April 24th. At the finish, teams completing the race
will stay at Hotel Playa Bejuco on the coast and have the
opportunity to rest up and enjoy the arrival of other teams.
April 26th (Saturday) Final race cut off – return to SJ. After
breakfast, teams will transfer back to San Jose. Awards Ceremony
(7pm)
April 27th (Sunday) – DEPARTURE

In past years teams have brought family and friends to enjoy the
country while watching the race. This year we have kept this in mind
while designing of the route and have a great program for friends
and family wanting to join in the fun of the race. Contact us for
more details.