Yeti Adventure Challenge Silkeborg
Team Work Behind the Scenes at YACS
Rob Howard / 15.08.2018
Adventure Race organisation is a complex business, and every race requires some local support just to get off the ground. Sponsorship and close ties with host venues are essential to help the enthusiasts and volunteers who provide the passion and the people to stage the race.
A great example of this is the Yeti Adventure Challenge Silkeborg, which is about to start in Denmark, and includes a full length expedition length course for the first time, to run alongside its popular one-day AR festival. (The ‘Masters’ course is 450km and is now part of AR European Series, which is the first time a Danish race has been part of an international series.)
Running since 2004 the race is organised by the Silkeborg Orienteering Klub and like most races began as a low key affair attracting a small and enthusiastic entry, then gradually becoming one of the bigger races in Denmark, but getting little attention out the AR community, let alone internationally.
Some of those involved played a part in setting up the Danish AR Union and hosting a National Championships, but the big change came 4 years ago when Yeti came on board as sponsors along with the host town of Silkeborg and other local businesses. These key partnerships have changed the race into an international event.
Yeti are down clothing and sleeping bag specialists and are based in Silkeborg. I spoke to their CEO, Erik Moller, this morning, about the race and their involvement.
“We have a unique set-up here”, he said, “as we have a group which oversees the management of the race and they are separate to the team who organise the race itself. Yeti, the town of Silkeborg and other sponsors like the Radisson Blu Hotel are on this managing committee along with a representative from the Orienteering Klub, but we are not involved in the logistics of putting on the race, preparing the courses and maps, or managing the volunteers.
“This way the work is spread out and no one person is wearing too many hats. Everyone has an easier time and can concentrate on what they are good at, and they don’t get burnt out by too many demands being put on them.”
“Yeti provide a lot of time and resources to the race,” he continued, “as well as marketing and management skills. And we provide the prizes and financial support too of course. Radisson are an obvious partner as an international brand and they offer a base for race operations and rooms for visitors etc, and the town supports the event as part of its campaign as the Outdoor Capital of Denmark.”
The cash prize for the expedition length Masters race this year is 10,000 Euro, and the town provides the ideal base with its network of surrounding lakes and waterways, large forests covered in a network of trails, and a central position in Jutland so it is not far either East or West to the coast.
The Radisson is just across a courtyard from the Yeti offices and is alongside the river and the lake shore. The shorter one-day Fighter and Challenge courses start and finish in this area, the Masters race will finish there too, and teams can arrive at the finish by boat, bike or on foot.
“When we came on board we insisted the races take place as much as possible in the town,” said Moller, “and it has created a great atmosphere and encouraged more people to take part.” (There are 86 teams of 3 in the two shorter races this year.)
“It also means the longer course racers can finish alongside many more teams and are cheered in by big crowds as we try to time it so they all finish around the same time.”
The first year the race was in the town the Crown Prince of Denmark took part and that really put the race on the map! Since then some top international racers, including Team Seagate and Urtzi Iglesias of Columbia Vidaraid have travelled to Denmark to race, and this year the AR Euro Series involvement has attracted teams from France and Sweden. Going forward the race is looking to attract many more international visitors and to host a European Championship.
Anna Movin of the SOC told me, “Not everyone was keen to see such big changes to our race at first. Some worried it would be ‘taken over’ but we still organise it and will be providing 80 volunteers over the next few days. They can feel the enthusiasm in the town for the race and enjoy being part of it, and they know too that the race makes a big contribution to the funding of the club.”
Everyone who works on the race is a volunteer and it is a non-profit event which puts any excess back into the club, which in turn helps create the community spirit the race has.
Staging an expedition length race means being out marshalling on Thursday and Friday, and not just over the weekend, and for 3 nights instead of one. It’s a big step up for the race organising team, but over the past few years they taken great strides forward and they know they have the town of Silkeborg and its businesses behind them.
Adventure racing is all about team work after all.
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