About AdventureCORPS, Inc.

AdventureCORPS, Inc. is an athlete-run firm producing and promoting ultra-endurance and extreme sports events, lifestyle, and media. Adventure is our way of life.

AdventureCORPS’ world-class events for athlete-adventurers include epic races such as the Badwater Ultramarathon and Furnace Creek 508, five day cycling camps in Death Valley and on and around Mt. Shasta, the Rough Riders Rally mixed-surface cycling festival in Marin County, plus several endurance cycling events in Death Valley, on and around Mt. Laguna, and beyond. We also host and develop our adventure-related websites and blogs and provide a variety of adventure-related services, as outlined below.

Founded in 1984 by Chris Kostman, this group effort is dedicated to exploring the inner and outer universes, seeking adventure, energy, and insight both in daily life and "out there." Chris serves as our Chief Adventure Officer and Race Director, while Laurie serves as our Chief Wellness Officer.

Our slogan is
"We're Out There"
Our prime directive is
"To Seek and Share Adventure."

Event Production

AdventureCORPS is, first and foremost, a special event production firm. We annually produce the legendary Furnace Creek 508 and Badwater Ultramarathon races, Hell's Gate Hundred, Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic, CORPScamp Death Valley, and the twice-per-year Death Valley Century, Ultra Century, and Double Century (Spring and Fall editions). New AdventureCORPS creations are in the works.

Furnace Creek 508™ has been an AdventureCORPS event held annually in October since 1990, but it dates back to 1983 under the directorship of John Marino, founder of the Great American Bicycle Race and the Race Across America (RAAM).

Known as "The Toughest 48 hours in Sport," Furnace Creek 508 is the world's premier ultramarathon bicycle race. This 508-mile bicycle race is revered the world over for its epic mountain climbs, stark desert scenery, desolate roads, and its reputation as one of the toughest but most gratifying endurance challenges available, bar none. The course has a total elevation gain of over 35,000', crosses ten mountain passes, and stretches from Santa Clarita (just north of Los Angeles), across the Mojave Desert, through Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve, to the finish line at the gateway to Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, CA. Our 28th anniversary edition will be held in October, 2011. Visit the 508's dedicated website at www.the508.com.

Badwater Ultramarathon™ is the world's toughest foot race. This legendary, epic, 135 mile running race travels non-stop in the heat of Summer from Badwater in Death Valley (elev. 282 feet below sea level) to Whitney Portal on Mt. Whitney (elev. 8360 feet). Field size is limited to up to 90 runners. The 35th edition will take place in July, 2011. Visit the race's dedicated website at www.badwater.com.

CORPScamp™ Death Valley is our annual cycling lifestyle training camp hosted in Furnace Creek and featuring up to 300 miles of epic, one-of-a-kind cycling in and around “Mother Nature’s Greatest Sports Arena,” Death Valley National Park. It concludes with participation in our Hell's Gate Hundred. We've been producing events here since 1990 and never tire of sharing one of the world's most dramatic, inspiring, and unusual landscapes. From desert flowers to snow-capped mountains, we'll see it all by bicycle. Come join the folks at AdventureCORPS and fellow athlete-adventurers from around the globe for five fabulous days of cycling and camaraderie in beautiful, one-of-a-kind Death Valley! Includes daily afternoon CORPSyoga classes, two group dinners, a hike, and more. Camp info here.

Death Valley Century, Ultra Century, and Double Century™ - Spring Edition is held annually in March, providing incredible, one-of-a-kind, 105-, 150-, and 196-mile cycling routes past Badwater and over the passes to Shoshone and back in Mother Nature's greatest sports arena, Death Valley National Park! The field limit is 400 riders total and it always sells out. With full rider support, roving SAG vehicles, and impossible-to-get-lost routes with very little traffic, there's no better place to ride a century or double century cycling event! For all the info, click here.

Hell's Gate Hundred™, a century held annually in March, was created to include locations and sights that are not visited in any other one-day cycling event in Death Valley National Park, including Artist Drive, Hell's Gate, Daylight Pass, and the ghost town of Rhyolite. This annual 100-mile cycling adventure features 8500 feet of elevation gain, while a 65-mile version is also offered. It features a FANTASTIC, panoramic view of Death Valley from Hell's Gate! It visits a natural, beautiful geologic WONDER: Artist Palette! And it visits a real ghost town: Rhyolite! For all the info, click here. Bonus: come the Tuesday prior and ride CORPScamp Death Valley with us, then ride HGH!

Death Valley Century, Ultra Century, and Double Century™ - Fall edition is held annually in October, providing incredible, one-of-a-kind, 108-, 144- and 197-mile cycling routes to Scotty’s Castle, Ubehebe Crater, and Hell’s Gate in Mother Nature's greatest sports arena, Death Valley National Park! The field limit is 400 riders total and it always sells out. With full rider support, roving SAG vehicles, and impossible-to-get-lost routes with very little traffic, there's no better place to ride a century or double century cycling event! For all the info, click here.

Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic™ is held annually in April and features 101 miles with over 10,000 feet of climbing and three different ascents of San Diego County's Mount Laguna! HYou will climb San Diego's highest point via Sunrise Hwy from the north, via the fabled and car-free Kitchen Creek from the south-east, and via the little-known and truly epic Pine Creek drainage from the west. There are just three stop signs and NO traffic lights on this incredible route which starts and finishes just 44 miles east of San Diego in Pine Valley, CA! Options include 45-mile and 75-mile routes. Info here.

Past AdventureCORPS Productions include CORPScamp Shasta in 2008 and 2009, Rough Riders Rally in 2010, 80 For Haiti in 2010, the Team Race Across America Bicycle Race in 1992 to 1996, Adventure Sunday in 1996 to 1997, LA Marathon Bike Tour in 1995 with over 12,000 participants, American Lung Association's Klamath Loop Bike Trek and Misty Redwood Run in 1993, Earth Day Sports and Fitness Symposium at the Biosphere in 1993, Santa Fe Outdoor Performance Training Camp with Steve Ilg in 1993, Mt.Shasta Snowshoe Safari in 1994, Earth Journey British Columbia Triathlon Stage Race in 1991, HPV Race Across America Bicycle Race in 1989, Furnace Creek Spring Tour in 1999 to 2003, and the Southern California Brevet Series in 2001 to 2003. From 2001 through 2004, AdventureCORPS' Chris Kostman also served as founder and 50% partner in Planet Ultra and all of its events. AdventureCORPS is pleased to have produced Ride to Cure Diabetes events on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation from 2001 through 2007 in Death Valley, in Monterey in 2003 and 2004, and in the Santa Rosa Wine Country in 2007.

For reports, results, and images from past events we've produced, visit the Results & Webcasts page.

The AdventureCORPS Websites

www.adventurecorps.com (where you are now) is a useful and entertaining resource for information and inspiration dedicated to adventure, energy, and insight. We archive extensive materials regarding all the things we're into, including over 240 articles about cycling, snowshoeing, triathlon, adventure, ultra-endurance sports, cave and technical scuba diving, archaeology, exploration, extreme races and events such as Badwater Ultramarathon, Furnace Creek 508, Death Valley Century & Double Century, CORPScamp Death Valley, Ultraman, Great American Bike Race, Race Across America, Iditasport, Triple Ironman, Ironman Triathlon, and much more. You're in that site right now, so head to the front page, "The Write Stuff" section, or the navigation menu on the left side of this page to check it out!

www.the508.com is the official website for the Furnace Creek 508 Bicycle Race, held annually since 1983, and an extensive on-line resource for ultra-endurance cycling, ultra relay racing, and the AdventureCORPS way of life. The site features over 150 first person reports on the race, dozens of articles on training, nutrition, strategy, equipment, plus an archive of all the webcasts from 1999 to the present. If you're into cycling, especially ultracycling, or Death Valley, the Mojave Desert, and the Mojave National Preserve, then you will want to visit this site to read about this "Great American Bike Race" which is known cross the globe as "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport."

www.badwater.com is the official website for the annual Badwater Ultramarathon 135-Mile World Championship and an extensive resource for ultramarathon running. It features scores of first person reports on the race, articles on training, strategy, heat conditioning, organizing a crew, plus an archive of all the webcasts from 1999 to the present. If you're into running, especially ultrarunning, or Death Valley, then you will want to visit this site.

www.XO-1.org is the official website and blog for the Rough Riders, our cycling lifestyle club. The Rough Riders slogan is "Any Bike, Anywhere" and we believe in riding any distance, in any conditions, over any terrain, at any time of day or night. That sounds really hard-core, perhaps, but mainly we enjoy getting "out there" by riding roads, dirt roads, trails, and paths on whatever bike we happen to be on or have handy. Sometimes the pavement's long gone and we're still on our "road bikes" or some bike that would be commonly considered inadequate for the job - and that's just fine by us! Rough Riding is not defined by the type of bicycle or type of riding surface. Rough Riding is a state of mind, a riding style with limitless freedom and an all-pervasive sense of adventure.

Our Services

Please contact us to book the following:

  • Indoor Cycling Workshops led by Chris Kostman. (World-wide.) Info.
  • Personalized bike fitting and riding efficiency analysis by Chris Kostman. (Offered in the Los Angeles area; other locations poosible.)

We are also available in other capacities:

Adventure Media Correspondent for Print, Web, and Broadcast
Chris is one of the founding fathers of adventure sports writing and editing, having published more than 250 articles in almost 40 different publications since 1984. Chris was also the founding Senior Editor, with Michael Bane, of Over The Edge, the short-lived but trend-starting adventure sports magazine published in 1994 by Larry Flynt. Since 2008, Chris has been a columnist for Endurance News. Nearly all of Chris' work is archived here on this website.

On camera, Chris was the subject of a National Geographic Explorer feature which aired several times in 1997 on TBS to an average viewership of 1.6 million, then aired regularly in 175 markets on the syndicated version of Explorer. The episode documented Chris' experience exploring Alaska's Iditarod Trail by mountain bike and snowshoe in February of 1997. It won the Cine Golden Eagle Award for excellence in documentary film-making. Chris co-produced, wrote, and narrated ESPN2's coverage of the Race Across America bicycle race from 1993 to 1996 and has appeared as an adventure, extreme sports, and fitness personality on MTV, Good Day L.A., CBS San Francisco, and many others. See his media bio or contact us to secure his writing, editing, and on-camera talents.

Special Event Development
When a company, group, or organization wants to host or produce a unique outdoor sporting event that involves hundreds or thousands of participants or covers hundreds or thousands of miles on the open road, they often call us. We turn ideas into reality. We are extremely detail-oriented, efficient, and competitive in every way. Some of our past creations / productions include:

  • Ride to Cure Diabetes events on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation from 2001 through 2007 in Death Valley, in Monterey in 2003 and 2004, and in the Santa Rosa Wine Country in 2007, raising over one million dollars annually.
  • Team Race Across America Bicycle Race, an epic non-stop transcontinental race. The concept was Chris'. He created, promoted, and directed the race from 1992 to 1996.
  • LA Marathon Bike Tour with over 12,000 participants; the first cycling event ever held in conjunction with a major marathon, it was first held in 1995.
  • American Lung Association's 1993 Klamath Loop Bike Trek and Misty Redwood Run to benefit lung research.
  • Biosphere II's 1993 Earth Day Sports and Fitness Symposium.
  • Earth Journey British Columbia Triathlon Stage Race, a three day journey through BC's best, 1991. Based upon the Ultraman Triathon on Hawaii's Big Island.
  • Outdoor Performance Training Camps, multisport workshop retreats presented in collaboration with Steve Ilg, author of "The Outdoor Athlete."

Fitness and Lifestyle Workshops, Retreats, and Small Event Development
We have had the privilege of developing or creating, and leading, several programs, workshops, and small events for health clubs, fitness enthusiasts, and outdoor athletes. Some of these have taken on a life of their own beyond us, while others we will still produce on demand. Our creations include:

  • RoadRacers Indoor Cycling Program for the Bodies in Motion chain of health clubs in Los Angeles, CA. Chris created and managed this innovative program from 1996 through 1998.
  • FlyWheel Indoor Cycling Workshops and specialty classes, regularly presented anywhere on demand by Chris since 1995.
  • Adventure Sunday outdoor adventure day. Chris created this day of outdoor adventuring in the West L.A. area for The Sports Club/LA and Bodies in Motion, but we we can duplicate and host it most anywhere else. Each eight to twelve hour day is a unique adventure in itself. Activities usually include a veritable smorgasbord of urban athletics, such as hiking the Santa Monica Mountains, running the 4th Street Stairs, trekking on the beach, plus indoor cycling, kinesthetic training, and more. Tons of fun with no competition. This event is held "on demand"—we produce this for small groups only upon request.
  • Mt. Shasta Snowshoe Safari, a three day adventure retreat originally created by Chris for the editors of Shape and Men's Fitness Magazines in 1995.