People who like to push themselves to the brink of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion ought to get a real charge out of this.

They can experience firsthand the adrenaline rush they so crave during the first ever Carbon Adventure Race, to be held from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday throughout portions of Carbon County.Registration is at 11 a.m. The race begins at noon. There is a $50 registration fee per team that includes a T-shirt for each person on the two-member teams, along with some special giveaways in between. Monetary prizes go to first-, second- and third-place finishers.The event is hosted by the Carbon Chamber Economic Development Corp. and the Carbon County Young Professionals Council, said Marlyn Kissner, Executive Director, CCEDC."This is a great opportunity to showcase the county from north to south in a very fun way, as well as promoting business in Carbon County," Kissner said. "Special thanks to our Carbon Young Professionals Council for planning the out-of-the-box event."In addition, they will be collecting canned good items and nonperishable food items to support the Christian Action Council of Palmerton Area Churches as part of the event to support the community.For more information, visit

http://www.carbonadventurerace.com.The RaceKissner said the race starts at Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony and ends at Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton. In between, there are four secret location stops.The way the race works is teams of two will drive from location to location. At each stop they will perform either a mental test or physical activity that they must complete before moving on to their next destination, Kissner said. Clues and passes will be given to teams once they've completed the activity to move on to the next location.Kissner said participants can expect fun, crazy and off-the-wall games; to get wet; to perform physical challenges; to expect mind games and mental challenges; some friendly competition; to take pictures and have some fun; and last, but not least, an amazing time.Current TrendsSurprisingly, despite the popularity of the reality television game show "The Amazing Race," adventure racing remains somewhat of an obscure activity, according to Doug Crytzer, founder of American Adventure Sports in Greensburg."Generally speaking, I think it's still a very unknown sport," Crytzer said. "I think it's definitely growing, and I think there's more awareness."Crytzer cited Expedition Adventure on NBC Universal Sports Network, as well as the North American Adventure Racing Series as good examples for the sport.However, Crytzer said a common misconception is that mud events are similar to that of adventure racing."A lot of people confuse these mud events with adventure racing," he said. "A mud event is not an adventure race."Instead, Crytzer said, "Adventure racing is more of a skill-set sport; they have to paddle and navigate with a map and compass."Depending on the type of event, he said adventure racing can take anywhere from four hours to up to five or six days to complete."It's totally a doable sport for the mainstream person," he said. "Anyone who has tried a triathlon, trail ru or mountain bike race, should not hesitate. It will be fun."Crytzer added, "It really does bring a lot of quality aspects to your life when you do adventure racing. A lot of people will tell you that."