Team Angiru, a Paraguayan adventure racing team, secured an impressive sixth place in the Malacara Race Amazonas 500K, one of South America's most extreme competitions. Held in the Amazon rainforest, with its epicenter in Manaus, Brazil, the race brought together 27 teams from countries including Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, Estonia, France, Mexico, and Brazil.
To complete the 511-kilometer course, athletes faced intense heat, high humidity, Amazonian rivers, flooded forests, mud, and dense vegetation. The total time was 112 hours and 8 minutes of non-stop racing, with over 9,300 meters of cumulative positive elevation gain and several sleepless nights.
“We covered 511 kilometers in 112 hours. Jungle, rivers, and mud. The Amazon presented the challenge; Angiru responded with grit, strategy, and heart,” the team members said as they crossed the finish line.
Team captain Saúl Jara announced that the main goal is the Adventure Racing World Championship (ARWC), to be held in Croatia from September 16 to 26, 2027. “That is the toughest goal for next year; in addition, we will run other competitions beforehand to train,” Jara said.
Adventure races are multidisciplinary endurance competitions in which teams—usually mixed-gender—advance autonomously through stages of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, and rope techniques. GPS or geolocation technology is not allowed; athletes rely only on compasses and topographic maps delivered hours before the start. Rest is decided by the team itself, making sleep strategy as crucial as physical preparation.
The sport has been practiced in Paraguay since 2001, driven by the Club de Corredores de Aventura del Paraguay (CCAP), which maintains an annual calendar of races in various regions of the country, contributing to domestic tourism and local visibility.