John Howard

Who is John Howard?

John Howard is considered the central pioneer of adventure racing.

Very few individuals have dominated endurance sports in the way John dominated adventure racing. Since winning the first ever major adventure race held in the world, the Raid Gauloises in 1989, he went on to win every significant race in the sport, including Eco-Challenge, the Raid Gauloises, the Elf Authentique, the ESPN X-Games and the Southern Traverse. In addition, he has served as a course designer or advisor to numerous high-profile outdoor adventure events, including the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest, Action Asia and New Zealand's Coast to Coast.

A native New Zealander, Howard is perceived as somewhat of an enigma in the sport. At the Raids Gauloises in Borneo in 1994, he revolutionised the way teams approached adventure races such as the Eco-Challenge and Raid Gauloises by taking the bare minimum of equipment, including food and water, between checkpoints, and wearing shorts, a t-shirt and running shoes, and carrying a microscopic backpack. Previously competitors had competed in hiking and mountaineering gear and carried heavy bags throughout the event. This gave Howard and his team a huge advantage and they blitzed the course, winning an expected eight-day race in five. His advantage was only temporary; from 1995, everybody was racing in a similar, stripped-down fashion.