This Adaptive Team Entered One of Canada’s Toughest Races
Stepping into the check-in and safety briefing for Raid the Rockies, one team stood out from the rest.
Raid the Rockies is a four-day adventure race covering 360 kilometres and featuring disciplines such as packrafting, canyoneering, mountain biking and trekking through the rugged beauty surrounding Hinton, Alberta. Not the type of race where you would expect to see a team with a wheelchair as standard equipment.
Team No Limits, representing Kelowna-based Adaptive Adventures, features a roster of several firefighters and an emergency room nurse, most of whom were brand new to the adventure racing world. The ninth member of the team, Clayton March, and the one with the largest smile in the room, is a team member with cerebral palsy and the reason for the wheelchair. (Clay and Tanner March were interviewed in the Summer 2026 print issue of explore magazine, available on newsstands until September 15, 2026 or as a single-issue here.)
March and the rest of the members of Team No Limits were brought together by Troy Becker, President of Adaptive Adventures. Adaptive Adventures was founded by Becker over 25 years ago to help members of the adaptive community experience the outdoors and embrace challenges often not considered possible for those with various disabilities.
Earlier this year, Becker connected with Nathalie Long of Adventure Immersion Lab, the organization behind Raid the Rockies, and the two of them worked on a plan to include an adaptive team in this year’s race.
Organizing an event such as this for able-bodied athletes is tough enough; throw in the challenges of integrating an adaptive team, and you are dealing with a whole new level of logistical and safety concerns. Fortunately, Becker and Long are two of the most determined people you can meet when faced with a challenge, and together, along with others in the racing community, they figured out a plan for Team No Limits to take on this challenge.
When asked what the goal of Adaptive Adventures was for participation in the race, Becker replied, “Inclusion needs to be more than an invitation. It requires planning, appropriate equipment, knowledgeable people and a willingness to adapt when the first solution does not work. Disability does not remove adventure, risk, discomfort or achievement. It changes how we approach the challenge. We hope our presence encourages event organizers, outdoor businesses and other participants to stop asking whether someone with a disability belongs in these environments and start asking what needs to be put in place so they can participate safely and meaningfully.”
Becker’s first obstacle on this adventure was to find the right adaptive team member to join the team. The person would need to have the right attitude and mental resolve to deal with 4-days of physical and mental hardship. At the top of Becker’s list was Clayton March. March has taken part in several trips with Adaptive Adventures over the years and is no stranger to Becker’s Type 2 fun sufferfests, so when Becker reached out to March, his trust in Becker had him quickly say yes to the invitation.
When asked why he wanted to participate in Raid the Rockies, March’s answer reached well beyond personal achievements: “I wanted to participate in this race not only to challenge myself, but to also challenge other people’s perceptions of those living with disabilities. I want people to reconsider what is possible when a team of dedicated individuals works together to achieve a common goal.”
For Adventure Immersion Labs, the inclusion of an adaptive team in Raid the Rockies was a risk well beyond the usual levels associated with putting on these types of races. If something were to go wrong around Team No Limits, such as a medical or other safety issue, Adventure Immersion Labs would have to deal with the potential negative fallout and hard questions around whether an adaptive team should participate in an adventure race of this type.
Despite that, Long was committed to creating an opportunity for March and the rest of Team No Limits to compete in Raid the Rockies. “Adventure racing is about overcoming obstacles, and some of the biggest ones aren’t found on the course. This year, welcoming an adaptive team to Raid the Rockies was deeply important to me because I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to chase their dreams, regardless of disability… The adaptive team isn’t here because they’re different; they are here because they’re adventurers, just like everyone else, and they inspire us all to redefine what’s possible.”
The race had no shortage of obstacles for the team to overcome, requiring constant problem-solving and tight teamwork. Along with needing to cover off the usual team and individual race demands, the team also had the additional responsibility of getting March around the course using a variety of specialized pieces of equipment such as an adaptive bike, modified pack raft and a TrailRider.
The TrailRider is a single-wheeled chair with handles for attendants to control the apparatus and a harness system in the front for multiple helpers to strap into to tow the TrailRider, not unlike a dog sled. This setup, with proper teamwork, was able to take on the extreme terrain that the course offered, including the descent of a cliff band and a steep scree slope off Folding Mountain. This was a serious demonstration of amazing teamwork and the trust that March had in his teammates to get him through a dangerous situation.
For March, the adventure was not just an easy ride through beautiful terrain. He was confined in a seat for upwards of 20 hours a day, travelling over rough terrain, incurring a couple of crashes on the adaptive bike, dealing with persistent bugs and all types of weather, while sleeping only a couple of hours each night before having to do it all over again the next day. Despite the physical and mental discomforts, he always had a huge smile on his face when the team would roll into a checkpoint.
“The race itself was an incredible experience,” said March, “however, what I will remember most is the bond that was created between us as a team. The relationships that were formed during the race will last well beyond the finish line.”
The 2026 edition of Raid the Rockies had just one team in the adaptive team category. For Becker, Long and March, this is just the start as they look forward to future races having categories with multiple adaptive participants pushing their personal limits in the world of adventure racing.
