The unsupported, multi-day adventure race is over 700 kilometres longPublished Apr 22, 2025 • 4 minute readTeam Why Wait? members Adrian Betts (left) and Jody Mattie (right) are both from Truro. Krystle Parrot (middle) hails from Fall River. Photo by Contributed /Truro NewsTRURO – It’s a journey of epic proportions.Team Why Wait?, made up of three Nova Scotians and one New Zealander, is training to compete in the 2025 Adventure Racing World Championship.The event takes place in Penticton, British Columbia from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6.“It’s not like a regular race,” said team member Jody Mattie, who lives in Truro.“The best adventure racing teams from all around the world will be there, and we get to compete in the same course as them.”THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentCompetitors will use a variety of disciplines to navigate the course over 700 kilometres long, including rafting, canoeing, mountain biking, roping and trekking.We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Article contentThe course will be open for 10 days and teams must navigate the route day and night, unsupported.An outline of the course will only be released a few weeks before race day; maps and specific details about each leg are given to competitors just hours before the race starts.‘I GOT BUTTERFLIES’Adrian Betts, another member of Team Why Wait? also lives in Truro. Team member Krystle Parrot is from Fall River.After the three Nova Scotians completed a 24-hour adventure race together, they tossed the idea around of entering a bigger competition.“I remember it was before Christmas, like late fall. Adrian sent the promo video for this race,” said Mattie. “I saw it and … I got butterflies in my stomach and just said, “This is it. This is what we’re doing.” In clockwise motion starting at the top left, pictured are the members of Team Why Wait?: Adrian Betts, Sam Garrity, Krystle Parrot and Jody Mattie. Photo by Contributed /Truro NewsThey enlisted a fourth team member from New Zealand, Sam Garrity, who is one of Betts’ friends. The two of them met in Australia, where Betts originally hails from.The name Team Why Wait? is inspired by a friend of Mattie’s, Robert Carreau, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver while running.Article content“He had the words ‘Why Wait?’ inscribed on the inside of his X-Ring, and so we took that,” said Mattie.“It’s a way just to remember him … He would have loved adventure racing.”WHAT IT TAKESAll four team members bring diverse experience to the table when it comes to endurance sports, with some crossover.Betts, who comes from an adventure racing background, said he enjoys the personal growth that comes with taking part in such challenges, whether it’s a 24-hour race or a 10-day epic.“If you can get through something arduous and that’s outside of your comfort zone, everything else pales in comparison,” said Betts. “I think it just teaches you good mental skills, mental toughness.”The race begins well in advance of the start line, he continued. This includes training both physically and mentally.For example, there will be limited time to sleep on the race course, so they need to train their brains to cope with sleep deprivation.We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Article content“You inevitably reach a point where you don’t want to continue anymore,” said Betts.“You’re hungry, you’re tired, you want to sleep, you’re sleep deprived. But the finish line could be 300 kilometres away … you have no choice but to keep going.”Overcoming difficulty during training prepares the team for challenges they’ll encounter during the race.“Come race day, we can look back and say, well, we did this, we did this, we did this, you know, we overcame all of these different challenges. So that’s part of it,” said Mattie.TRAINING LOCALSince January, the team’s Nova Scotian members have been training for the World Championship in local areas like Victoria Park and Ski Wentworth.“We’re lucky Nova Scotia has a lot of – and New Brunswick as well – lots of woodland wilderness areas that offer lots of good training opportunities both on foot, on bike (and) we can paddle.”In the future, they plan to train on the Seawall Trail, a proposed hiking trail route in Cape Breton.Article content“We want to do it before they build the actual trail, which will be fun,” said Mattie. “We’ll have to navigate it by map and compass, because there’s no markings.” People and pets take advantage of some of the nice weather as they walk the trails of Victoria Park in Truro Monday October 2, 2017. Photo by Mark Goudge /Truro NewsWhile the three members train in Nova Scotia, their fourth member, Garrity, is training solo in New Zealand.With the distance between them, the team keeps in touch by sending each other photos and videos of their training.“We want to show that we’re not full-time professional athletes doing this. We’re regular people with day jobs.”“If Adrian and I and Krystle are out hiking through the woods in the middle of a Saturday night, we’ll take a little video and we’ll talk when we’re climbing through the woods and we’ll say, ‘Hi Sam, you know, here we are in the snow,’” said Mattie, adding that Garrity will do the same for them.While their New Zealand teammate is paddling in a “tropical paradise,” the other three could be hiking through the snow or rain.“We get a laugh out of it. It’s fun to watch the different environment that (Garrity) gets to train in.”COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTAt this point, the team is focused on gaining sponsors to help with the cost of the race. They already have a few, including Old Creel Canoe and Kayak, a local store in Fall River.Article contentCome September, those interested can watch the team race in real time as they navigate the course, thanks to live tracking.Soon, the team’s Nova Scotian members also want to involve the community in their training. Training for an adventure race of this nature begins way before the start line. Photo by Contributed /Truro NewsThis might take the form of a session in Victoria Park where they show people how to read a map and navigate trails.The group of four want to introduce more people to adventure racing and encourage others to challenge themselves.“We want to show that we’re not full-time professional athletes doing this. We’re regular people with day jobs,” said Mattie. “We want people to know that we’re all capable of doing hard things.”Article content
Truro athletes training for epic world adventure race
