Epic victory for Pasokin founder at America's Toughest Race

June 2021

After over a year away from adventure racing due to the Covid pandemic, the opportunity to return sounded like music to Marco Amselem's ears, Pasokin founder and CEO. The first adventure race in the ARWS 2021 calendar, Expedition Oregon has been known for its challenging courses. But this didn't seem to bother him or the fact that this year Expedition Oregon added 'America's Toughest Race' to its title, with the race directors making it clear they didn't expect many finishers. On the contrary, to Marco and his teammates, this 'detail' was the missing ingredient to spice up their return after a long period facing a much tougher challenge imposed by Covid, and they were all eager to hit the tracks.

The race was undoubtedly hard, including 10,900m of climbing and one of the longest continuous pack rafting in the ARWS to date, taking even the fastest teams over 9 hours. However, in what has been described as a master class adventure race, Marco and his team La Jolla IVF/Vidaraid finished the race in 78 hours with a 5-hour gap from second place and only 2.5 hours of sleep. In a phenomenal performance, they dominated the race since day one, biking, paddling, and trekking for 300 miles across the mountains, forests, lakes and rivers of Oregon, proving once more that the mind is the limit.

Click here to have a glimpse of America's Toughest Race held in May and get a taste of their much-deserved victory!