This episode of The Course Reveal Podcast drops on race morning, which means the teams are already out there as you listen. Wilderness Traverse, now in its 16th edition, is a 30-hour adventure race in Ontario’s Algonquin Highlands, a place where the ground rarely stays flat and the forest closes in fast.

Race directors Bob Miller and Wayne Leek join host Brian Gatens to walk through what they’ve built. The race opens with navigation that tests teams from the first step, then sends them into a paddle Bob built the whole course around, one with portages that have earned their own names. Much of the field will finish it in the dark, deep in canoe country with no easy way out. After that come the late-race decisions that tired teams tend to get wrong, and a ride home that keeps going long after it feels like it should be over.

Bob and Wayne also explain why this may be the hardest version of their shortest course they’ve ever put on, and why the teams chasing a first finish are the ones they’re watching most closely.

The course is open. The teams are racing.

This is Wilderness Traverse 2026.

Shownotes/Sponsors:

Algonquin Outfitters: algonquinoutfitters.com

Outward Bound Canada: outwardbound.ca

Harmon’s Craft Brewing: https://harmonsbeer.com/

Columbia: columbiasportswear.ca

Squirt Cycling Products: squirtcyclingproducts.com

Canadian Adventure Racing Association (CARA): https://www.canadianadventureracing.com/

Adventure Racing Ontario: adventureracingontario.com

Don’t Get Lost Adventure Running: dontgetlost.ca

AR World Series North America: arworldseries.com

Kawartha Dairy: kawarthadairy.com

International Adventure Racing Association (IARA): internationaladventureracing.org

MRS Packrafts: mrsraft.com