On October 14, the press conference for China’s only non-stop 24-hour mountain outdoor multi-discipline competition — the “Red Bull 24-Hour” Coastal Challenge — was held in Shenzhen. The event will take place from November 15 to 16 on the Shenzhen Dapeng Peninsula, hailed as “one of China’s most beautiful coastlines.” Sixty teams from all over the country will participate in a highly coastal-themed relay “game” within 24 hours. In addition to completing the main “storyline mission” required to finish the race, participants must also “play side quests” to collect essential items through side missions in order to successfully complete the challenge. For the first time, the race has introduced a “Base Camp” challenge format, centering activities around Nan’ao Square, with all events taking place in the surrounding area. This upgrade to the course and gameplay transforms the Red Bull 24-Hour trail series from a linear race into a multidimensional outdoor competition.
The Red Bull 24-Hour Coastal Challenge is divided into Professional and Open categories. The Professional category adopts the Eco-Challenge format as a speed-based race, with each team consisting of three men and one woman. Professional teams must complete approximately 70 kilometers of mountain biking, 20 kilometers of trail running, 12 kilometers of mountaineering, 6 kilometers of run-bike relay, 5 kilometers of orienteering, 2.5 kilometers of beach sprinting, 4 kilometers of sea kayaking, 2.4 kilometers of canoe paddling, as well as shallow water landings and rope operations across more than 120 kilometers of coastal terrain within 24 hours. It is estimated that the champion’s finishing time will be around 18 hours (including camping), with an anticipated completion rate of 40%. In comparison, the Open category has roughly half the distance and difficulty of the Professional category. Each Open team consists of three members, including at least one of the opposite gender. Competitors will tackle around 60 kilometers of varied challenges including trail running, swimming, mountain biking, trekking, orienteering, rope work, and various fun events. The first-place finish is expected in about 6 hours, with a projected completion rate of 60%.
This year’s Red Bull 24-Hour Coastal Challenge introduces the “Base Camp” challenge format for the first time, building on last year’s foundation. On one hand, it adopts a new decentralized competition model — transforming the linear format into a looped one — fully integrating the full range of day-and-night terrains from mountains to waters of the Dapeng Peninsula into the course design. On the other hand, it implements a competition format where task challenges and item rewards are carried out simultaneously — during the completion of the “main storyline mission,” participants must fulfill requirements on a task list, complete “side quests” to obtain necessary items, thereby facilitating smoother completion of the “main storyline mission.” In addition to increasing the fun factor, this year’s race emphasizes the importance of teamwork and tactical planning, truly shifting the focus of the trail race from a pure physical endurance contest to an overall comprehensive strength competition.
“In previous races, teams would complete one event after another in sequence. That was a linear race logic. This year, we’ve adopted a decentralized competition model. The advantage of this model is greater flexibility in designing the course — for instance, this year’s mountain section includes the mysterious Qiniang Mountain, and the water events take advantage of the Golden Bay area. This allows us to more fully showcase the full spectrum of mountain-to-sea terrains on the Dapeng Peninsula in Shenzhen,” explained Chen Wenda, Director of Public Participation at the Shenzhen Mountaineering & Outdoor Sports Association and Chief Judge of the event. “Such upgrades more intuitively highlight the unique charm of a coastal race.”
According to the competition rules, before the start, each participating team receives a task list along with reward items for completing those tasks. “The task list includes mandatory and optional tasks. For example, if a team has already prepared the reward item for a certain task themselves, then that task can be skipped,” Chen Wenda explained. “But for instance, the central connecting piece of the double-bladed paddle used in this year’s canoeing event can only be obtained by completing a specific ‘side quest’ in an earlier stage. While it’s still possible to paddle without this connector, it would be significantly more strenuous and energy-consuming. Therefore, it becomes a mandatory task.”
To allow participants to better experience local culture, in addition to the standard orienteering, this year’s event also features a more fun “Discover Dapeng” map-based orienteering activity in the ancient Dapeng Town. The newly added “canoeing” event for the Professional category also utilizes traditional fishing boats unique to Shenzhen. “A coastal race isn’t just about adding more sea segments — it’s about highlighting coastal characteristics,” said Chief Judge Chen Wenda. “Last year, we increased the sea kayaking distance to 20 kilometers for the first time. The ultra-long course, harsh weather conditions, and the limited number of teams skilled in open-water kayaking led to a very low completion rate for that kayaking stage — only 3 out of 16 teams made it ashore within the time limit. Therefore, after considering safety and completion rates, the organizing committee decided to appropriately reduce the kayaking segment and add some distinctive events.”
The Red Bull 24-Hour Trail Challenge is China’s only non-stop outdoor competition launched by Red Bull, built around the concept of “all-weather, all-terrain, all-sports.” Since 2011, the Red Bull 24-Hour Coastal and Highland races have been held in Shenzhen and Kunming, respectively.