During the briefing, the organizing committee announced the race route and event details. As the coastal-terrain-focused event in the "Red Bull24Hour" series, this year the organizers have enriched and upgraded the types, distances, and difficulty levels of the sea-based events, offering outdoor enthusiasts a unique "all-weather, all-terrain, all-sport" experience that takes them both "up the mountain and into the sea."
Chief Judge Chen Wenda stated that to highlight the characteristics of the coastal course, this year’s Shenzhen leg of the "Red Bull24Hour" cross-country challenge significantly increased the proportion and difficulty of water-based events. In addition to extending the water events distance from last year’s11kilometers to15kilometers, the variety of water events also expanded from last year’s kayaking1events to include kayaking, single-person canoe relays, and snorkeling treasure hunts, totaling3events. Among these, the newly added snorkeling treasure hunt is making its first appearance in a domestic cross-country challenge.
The competition is divided into professional and open categories, with race distances of138kilometers and70kilometers respectively. The event adopts a continuous team format, with teams of three members each, and each team required to include at least one member of the opposite gender.
This year, there are18teams in the professional category and45teams in the open category. Among the18teams that registered for the professional category, in addition to the top5finishers from last year’s professional race, the highly competitive domestic "Red Bull Outdoor Team" is also on the entry list.2012Founded in the year8, the Red Bull Outdoor Team has achieved breakthrough results in several top international outdoor competitions. This2012, the Red Bull Outdoor Team placed sixth in the world’s highest-prize international top-tier outdoor competition — the Ordos International Outdoor Cross-Country Challenge, setting a new record for Chinese athletes in this level of outdoor event.9On26, the Red Bull Outdoor Team also won the championship at the Xinjiang International Desert Marathon and set a new record for the event. When asked about their goals for this year’s "Red Bull24Hour" challenge, the Red Bull Outdoor Team humbly stated that they aim to be among the top group.
In contrast to the professional group, which features top-tier athletes, the open group is mainly aimed at the general public of outdoor enthusiasts,45Most of the teams that signed up for the competition were composed of white-collar workers and students. At the technical briefing, all participating athletes listened attentively as the judging panel explained the details of the event.