Getting off the sun lounger and into the hills is not cheap -- race entry fees alone can run up into thousands of US dollars -- but there's a growing group of high net-worth individuals who prefer their vacations to include a trot up a mountain or two
Although racing over rough terrain for 100 kilometers with a seven-kilogram backpack containing food, water and emergency supplies might not seem like a holiday, more and more people are trading in five-star resorts for this more extreme kind of adventure.
Getting off the sun lounger and into the hills is not cheap -- race entry fees alone can run up into thousands of US dollars -- but there's a growing group of high net-worth individuals who prefer their vacations to include a trot up a mountain or two.
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"For sure the definition of luxury holiday is changing," said Mary Gadams, the founder and CEO of RacingThePlanet, a Hong Kong-based company that organizes footraces in some of the world's most remote and forbidding locations. "More and more people think nothing of spending US$5,000, US$10,000, or even US$100,000 (3,500, 7,000 or 70,000 euros) for the experience of doing something that few others have done before."
Gadams, who founded RacingThePlanet in 2003, said that India, China, South America, Korea and Japan were the fastest-growing tourist markets, adding that often once someone took part in a race, they decided to "never again spend their holidays sitting on a beach."
RacingThePlanet turns its attention to the Kimberley Ultramarathon in Australia from September 2-4 and the organization has implemented up-to-the-moment email alerts and daily website reports on its events -- such now is the global interest they are attracting.
Martyn Sawyer, group general manager of properties and clubs for Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, made the move towards more extreme adventure organically when, on luxury resort holidays, he and his wife started to take their small children exploring. With the children now grown, the 54-year-old Sawyer has completed races in China, Vietnam, Chile, Egypt and Antarctica. Next month, Sawyer and his wife will compete in the 100km ultra-marathon in Western Australia's Kimberley Region while their university student daughter will volunteer with RacingThePlanet.
"Adventure tourism is definitely a growth industry around the world," Sawyer said. "As life becomes more sedentary and more stressful, people turn to sports-based activities to relax and recharge. Once my wife Brenda saw me cross the finish line in the shadow of the Giza Pyramids in Egypt she knew our holiday plans were going to change."
The British company Quintessentially Gifts, a sister company of luxury concierge service Quintessentially, also arranges adventure holidays, such as flying an F-16 plane, diving off an iceberg at the North Pole or dog-sledding to the North Pole.
While many companies organize luxury "extreme" vacations, some potential customers take the plunge and plan their adventures themselves.
Roger Brumhill, a financial advisor in Hong Kong, spent three months planning a trip for four through Central Asia that includes days of trekking through the heart of the Pamir mountain range. Though he hired a ground service agent in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, he wanted to plan the trip himself for the sheer pleasure of it.
"I think more and more people want to push boundaries and learn about this wonderful world and also about themselves," Brumhill said. "I would only go to a five-star resort under pressure. I'd be bored by lunchtime."
Here are some events that might make the perfect holiday ... if you dare:
RacingThePlanet: https://www.4deserts.com/
Extreme World Races: https://www.extremeworldraces.com/
Pamir Highway Adventure: https://www.pamirhighwayadventure.com/
100km of Passatore, Italy: https://www.100kmdelpassatore.it/
Lycian Way Ultra Marathon, Turkey: https://www.lycianwayultramarathon.com/
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