TERRA MAGICA
12 - 17 MAY 2025
LOCATION & DATE
Croatia, Istria
12 – 17 May 2025
THE RACE
DISCIPLINES: Run/hike, MTB, paddling, navigation
DISTANCE: 500 km
CATEGORIES: Mixed Teams of 4, Teams of 2
TEAM LIMIT: 30 teams
WINNING TIME: around 75 hours
COURSE OPEN: 130 hours
LOGISTICS
Unsupported
Kayaks and kayak gear provided
MANDATORY EQUIPMENT: ARWS Standard list
RULES: Standard ARWS rules
PRIZES
1st Place – Free entry to ARWC 2025 & ARC 2026
2nd Place – 50 % entry to ARC 2026
3rd Place – 50 % entry to ARC 2026
Prizes from our sponsors for top 3 teams
RACE CONCEPT
Every edition of Adventure Race Croatia explores a new part of our beautiful country. Team of 4 (with one person being of opposite sex) will try to navigate their way from control point to control point in a number of disciplines. Disciplines include: mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and orienteering.
Adventure Race Croatia is somewhat different from most of the races in ARWS. Not to say that there is anything wrong with other races but we prefer to have shorter stages and more of them. ARC will typically have between 14 -17 stages and hike stages will rarely be over 40 km, bike stages over 100 km and kayak stages over 40 km.
A lot of stages means a lot of transitions so you can think of transitions as a separate discipline because you can lose a lot of time in them if you are not organized, prepared and efficient. So don’t forget to train transitions too.
You can expect rocky terrain on this edition. Some of the trails will be marked and it will help you a lot with navigation. We tend to avoid paved and gravel roads as much as we can.
Biking will be mostly done on gravel and forest roads. There will be some paved roads but we tend to avoid major roads. In fact most of the main roads are not allowed on our races (look at our maps from previous editions).
There will be some cool singletrack sections on some of the bike stages.
We suggest full – suspension bike but hardtails will work just fine. Tubeless tires are highly recommended.
Paddling sections will be on sea, rivers and lakes. We will use plastic RTM Ocean Duo kayaks with seats and back rests.
If you choose to bring your own paddles or PFD’s, you will have to specify it in the registration form.
Probably one of the most important skill for an adventure race because you can be fast but if you are going in the wrong way, being fast means nothing. Orienteering will be not too demanding but you will be able to show your navigation skills and choose the right route.
Maps will be waterproofed but you will be able to write on them. Each team will get 2 sets of maps.
Map scale will be 1:25 000 or less on some sections. On some paddling stages the scale will be 1:50 00.
Still not decided for ARC 2024.
We might include top-rope climbing (easy grades), rappelling or via ferrata.
Expect some exhilarating scrambling for sure.
PADDLING
HIKE
BIKE
Race Overviews
SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
10. 5. 2025.
- Transfer from Zagreb Airport 14:00
- Registration 14:00-19:00 | 20:00-22:00
- TA boxes distribution 14:00-19:00 | 20:00-22:00
- Photos in race bibs 14:00 - 19:00 | 20:00 - 22:00
- Equipment check-up 14:00 - 19:00 | 20:00 - 22:00
- Dinner 19:00
SUNDAY
11. 5. 2025.
- Registration 9:00 - 11:00
- TA boxes distribution 9:00 - 11:00
- Photoshoot in race bibs 9:00 - 11:00
- Race equipment check-up 9:00 - 11:00
- Race briefing 11:30 - 12:00
- Maps and lockdown 12:00 - 14:30
- Dinner 19:00
- Drop off – bike boxes, gear boxes, paddle bags and team bags 16:00 - 21:00
MONDAY
12. 5. 2025.
- Tracker distribution 5:00 - 5:30
- Phone sealing 5:00 - 5:30
- Maps distribution 5:30
- START 9:00
TUE - FRI
13. - 16. 5. 2025.
- Race days
- THURSDAY - Finish for the fastest teams
SATURDAY
17. 5. 2025.
- Race finish – 130 hours from start
- Dinner
- Award ceremony
SUNDAY
18. 5. 2025.
- Transfer to Zagreb Airport
EQUIPMENT
& RULES
ARWS Mandatory Gear
This is a standard ARWS mandatory gear list.
Before the race we will add mandatory gear specific for this race.
Items marked with red X are not mandatory for this race.
ARWS Rules
Standard ARWS rules apply for Adventure Race Croatia.
Any additional rules and penalties they might cause will be clearly explained and presented prior to the race.
Not knowing the rules is not an excuse for breaking them.
ADDITIONAL RULES FOR ADVENTURE RACE CROATIA 2025
- There will be Mandatory and Optional Checkpoints . Read more about it in RANKING
- Using or crossing primary road (marked ORANGE) is forbidden for biking and hiking legs. There will be marked sections (with magenta color) of the primary roads that will be allowed. On some legs main road (marked with YELLOW) will be forbidden as well. Check the map examples bellow in MAPS
Each team can have one TEAM BAG. Team bag is not mandatory. More detail below.
We will provide you with 2 re-supply boxes per team (approx 140 l per box).
Only boxes supplied by the organizers may be used, teams can’t use their own re-supply boxes.
Boxes will be available at some of the transition areas on route. You will always get your 2 boxes together, except if otherwise noted in the road book.
More info on these areas will be in the road book.
Maximum weight of the one box is 25 kg.
Each team can have one team bag with a tent and sleeping items (sleeping bag, sleeping mat, favorite stuffed toy…).
We suggest waterproof duffel bags cause we cannot guarantee that they will stay dry.
Team bag will be available at some of the transition areas on route.
More info on these areas will be in the road book.
Maximum weight of the bag is 25 kg.
The teams will have to bring their own bike boxes for safer and easier transfer during the race.
ARWS standard box size is 140 cm x 80 cm x 30 cm.
Please DO NOT bring bigger boxes.
We advise you not to use cardboard boxes or if you do try to waterproof them as best as you can.
Here is a good example of how to build your own bike box.
You can store addition gear in the bike boxes but maximum total weight can’t be over 25 kg.
We will use plastic RTM Ocean Duo kayaks with seats.
If you choose to bring your own paddles or PFD’s, you will have to specify it in the registration form.
Each team must have their own paddle bag. Even if you will not use your PFD’s, paddles or wetsuits you will use this bag to store PFD’s and seats given to you by the organizer.
Your kayak bag will be waiting for you at the beginning of every kayak leg. You will have to transport all the gear from paddle bag including the paddle bag with you to the end of the kayak legs. No gear should be left after you leave with kayaks.
Only gear related to water activities is permitted in the paddle bags – no food, water, extra clothes unless it is permitted by the organizer for a specific kayak leg.
Maximum weight of the bag is 25 kg.
IMPORTANT
Let us know if you are bringing your own paddles or life jackets to help us with logistics.
There will be no abseil or via ferrata sections at ARC 2024.
No gear needed.
RANKING
We created a system that helps slower teams to keep up with the faster ones by skipping some of the check points. For the top teams this system does not change anything. They will need to collect all the checkpoints if they are planning to win or even just to finish the Full course.
There will be two type of check points – Mandatory Check Points (CP) and Optional Check Points (OCP).
- Mandatory CP’s are obviously mandatory and teams will need to collect all of them in order to be ranked.
- Optional CP’s will have time value (not always a representative of how long it would take a team to collect it) that will be added to the total race time for teams that do not collect them. Time penaltes for missed OCP’s will be added after the finish.
- Once a team misses their first Optional CP’s it immediately goes from Full Course team to a Mandatory Course team.
- Once a team misses their first Mandatory CP’s it immediately goes to a Short Course team.
- The teams from the Mandatory course cannot be ranked higher than teams from the Full Course.
- The winner is the team with all check points (mandatory and optional) collected in the fastest time.
- If a team misses even one OCP, it is ranked behind all the teams that collected all mandatory and optional CP’s, even if their time (with the added time for every OCP they missed) is faster.
Example: team A collected all mandatory CP’s in 70 h and team B collected all mandatory CP’s in 68 h and missed 1 optional CP with value of 1 h (total 68 h + 1 h = 69 h), team A is ranked higher, because they collected all the CP’s (mandatory & optional). - If none of the teams collects all the CP’s (mandatory and optional) the winner is the team that has collected all the Mandatory CP’s in the fastest time (with the added time for every OCP they missed).
Example: team A collected all mandatory CP’s in 70 h and missed 1 optional CP with value of 2 h (total 70 h + 2 h = 72 h) and team B collected all mandatory CP’s in 68 h and missed 1 optional CP with value of 5 h (total 68 h + 5 h= 73 h), team A is ranked higher. - After the team breaks the chain of mandatory CP’s in a row all the teams that collected even one mandatory CP in a row more than your team are ranked higher.
Example: team A collects 34 mandatory CP’s in a row but manages to collect 20 mandatory CP’s after that. Team B collects 35 mandatory CP’s in a row and after that collects 16 mandatory CP’s until finish. Team B is ranked higher. - If two or more teams have the same amount of mandatory CP’s collected in a row the team with most mandatory CP’s collected in total is ranked better.
Example: team A and team B collected all mandatory CP’s in a row until CP 54, but after that team A collects 9 mandatory CP’s until the finish and team B collects 10 mandatory CP’s until the finish. Team B is ranked higher
FINAL RANKING CRITERIA
The team that has the best overall time (race time + time added for every optional CP missed) is ranked highest.
MAPS
We will be using two types of maps: standard topo maps and hiking maps.
Hiking maps will have marked hiking routes on them.
All maps will be 1 : 25 000 and the CP’s will be marked on them.
The maps will be waterproofed but you will still be able to write on them.
Each team will get two sets of maps.
STANDARD TOPO MAPS ARC 2018
HIKING MAPS ARC 2018
STANDARD TOPO MAPS ARC 2019
HIKING MAPS ARC 2019
STANDARD TOPO MAPS ARC 2022
STANDARD TOPO MAPS ARC 2022
STANDARD TOPO MAPS ARC 2023
STANDARD TOPO MAPS ARC 2023
TRAVEL INFO
Arriving by plane?
The biggest international airport is Zagreb Airport. We will organize a transfer from Zagreb Airport on May 10 for teams and their equipment. The bus will leave not later than 14:00 so book your flight accordingly.
We will also provide drop-off to Zagreb Airport on Sunday May 18. We will try to adjust the time of the drop off according to the departure of the teams but don’t expect us to be very flexible. We will definitely try our best.
- Zagreb (ZAG), Croatia, Franjo Tuđman Airport 300 km from Medulin
If for some reason Zagreb airport does not work for you, nearest airports are:
- Rijeka (RJK), Croatia, Island Krk, Croatia, 133 km from Medulin
- Pula (PUY), Croatia, 13 km from Medulin
- Trieste (TRS), Italy, Airporto Ronchi dei Legionari, 185 km from Medulin
- Venice (VCE), Italy, Marco Polo Airport, Venice, 283 km from Medulin
- Treviso(TSF), Italy, Treviso Airport, 287 km from Medulin
- Brnik Airport (LJU), Ljubljana, Slovenia , 233 km from Medulin
We can help you with booking a transfer from and to any of these airports, so let us know by email if you need any assistance.
Croatia is a Member State of the European Union, and on 1 January 2023, it also became part of the Schengen area.
Travellers from other Schengen countries do not have to show their identity card or passport when traveling to or from Croatia if they come from countries belonging to the Schengen area. However, we advise you to bring your passport or identity card with you nevertheless, in case you need to prove your identity.
Entering Croatia from countries that do not belong to the Schengen area is possible upon presentation of an identity card, a valid passport or a valid visa. It is also important to point out that you will need your passport when requesting a VAT refund form for purchases made in Croatia if you live in a country that is not a Member State of the European Union.
Before travelling to Croatia, you can check all the details on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia. We also suggest that you contact the Croatian embassy or consulate to check the requirements before you travel.
Thanks to the enhanced mobility within the European Union, many European citizens don’t see their personal documents, including their passports, as important as they were in the past. Despite the openness of the borders and the free flow of people, you should always be careful with your personal documents because their theft or loss can cause unwanted issues or lead to identity fraud.
Should you lose your passport or identification card you used to enter Croatia, first you must seek assistance from the nearest police station, followed by the diplomatic mission or consulate of your country, where they can provide you with a temporary travel document, enabling you to exit Croatia.
- Drive on the right-hand side of the road and overtake on the left.
- Seat belts are mandatory for all occupants of the vehicle.
- Don’t drink and drive, the law has a zero-tolerance policy for drivers under 25 which means that the blood alcohol level (BAC) limit is 0%.
- The BAC limit for drivers over 25 years old is 0.5%.
- The use of a mobile phone while driving is prohibited unless you have a hands free device.
- Vehicles entering a roundabout have right of way as do all forms of public transportation and school buses.
As a member of the European Union, Croatia is part of the economic and monetary union which introduced the euro as the common currency.
As of 1 January 2023, the euro (EUR) will be the Croatian currency and the sole legal tender in Croatia, replacing the previous kuna. Banknotes are available in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 euros, while coins of 1 and 2 euros and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents are in use. There is also a 500 euro banknote in circulation, which was discontinued in 2019, but is still legal tender.
The electric energy system in Croatia is the same as in the rest of Europe. All installations emit an alternating current of 220V/50Hz, and the sockets used are type F (so-called “Schuko” sockets). This means that European visitors (except those from Great Britain and Ireland) won’t require any adapters, while visitors coming from countries with a different system or socket standard should use standard, EU adapters.
Visitors from countries whose electric energy system is based on a lower voltage (110V) should check whether their devices can function on the European 220V system. Newer devices can most probably function regardless of the type of electric energy system, but there is no harm in checking, especially in the case of more sensitive or expensive personal devices.
Yes, the water is safe to drink in Croatia. Tap water safety levels are generally high across Croatia. According to the studies, Croatian tap water is of excellent quality and meets all standards for human consumption.
Average temperatures reach a very pleasant high of around 23°C and reach a low of a very manageable 15°C.
However, weather in the mountains can change quickly and temperature could get as low as 5 °C. Also it is not unusual for temperatures to get over 30 °C.
Even with the warmer weather, the average rainfall during May is around 75mm over 10 days, so although it is likely to be generally dry and warm, there is still a risk of showers and thunderstorms during your trip.
The average sea temperature during May is 18°C.
