AR for corporates?

A few weeks ago I forwarded an email to the group about a team-build... err.. team development concept. This concept seems to have achieved success in Europe and the US and now the series includes South Africa. It all culminates in an event that pits the 4 top teams from each of the 7 participating countries against each other. I've just received their event pack.

Intelligent Sport's Challenger World (www.challengerworld.co.za) can be thought of as an "adventure race for corporates". They have day and night stages, multiple disciplines (mountain biking, trail running, kayaking, ropes and night navigation) and the good ol' 4-person team element. The SA event (in October) is one of a series taking place around the World and if you and your team qualify (4 teams from each country go through) you then go through to the World Team Challenge in the US December; to represent your company and country.

The event includes three elements: Strategic, Physical and Intelligent. Looking at this list of elements... troops, this is adventure racing; neatly packaged and made attractive and accessible to non-racers.

When I first received the note about this event I went to their website; and the first thing I looked for was the price. Their rates were absent on their website (my radar was twitching) so I emailed them to ask about this. They kindly posted their event information pack to me.

So, I'm sitting here as I type with papers spread all over the place and I've just watched a lovely DVD production of the UK Challenger event (I can say that their event information is presented professionally and neatly).

A few things that have caught my eye:

1. 4-person team format with multiple disciplines: I'm seeing the fundamentals of AR coming through loud and clear - teamwork, many disciplines, trying situations, problem solving, decision making, bonding etc. I'm sure the person who first developed this concept watched a couple of Mark Burnett's Eco Challenge productions and altered the concept to make it easier and friendlier and attractive to corporates.
2. 2-day, 2-night event; staged multi-day AR format
3. BIG companies have entered these events in the UK. Any big name that comes to mind is probably on their client list.
4. Charity involvement: every major event is involved with a charity and this one is no exception (note that your company's donation/pledge to the charity is in addition to your entry fee i.e. not included in your entry fee).
5. PRICE: it costs R45,000 ex VAT (R51,300) to enter each team of 4-people. Entry fee includes accommodation, meals, running suits (they look like our orienteering suits) and "use of specialist equipment"

My first thought was - oh my goodness! This is almost R13,000 per person for 2 days (and 2 nights) and you'll have to fund your transport to the event venue (W. Cape). Then I got to thinking about it...

Big corporates probably wouldn't blink at this amount. They pay all kinds of hefy charges for things purely because they are corporates. I wrote a thing to Runner's World a few weeks ago about the Game Challenge Relay, which was charging R50 per person for a 6-person relay team, where 2 people run/walk a 2-kilometer route, 2 people run/walk a 4km route and 2 people run/walk a 7lm route. I felt sorry for the suckers paying R50 to run/walk only 2km! I wouldn't even get out of bed for 2km and I certainly wouldn't pay R50 for it. A good point was made on the Runner's World forum; people are not paying for this, their companies are paying for it. And thus R25 per kilometer was justified...

When you take a closer look... I'd assume that mountain bikes are provided for all participants. You don't need support crew (although you can bring along two additional squad members at R8,500 ex VAT each; these are not competitive substitutes as the core 4-people are the ones taking part), you don't need support vehicles, you don't need your own mountain bike, you don't need a kayak, you don't need mandatory equipment, you don't need a backpack, you don't need to bring race food... All you have to do is show up and thrash other corporate teams. When you look at the event in this light... well, R13,000 per person doesn't seem quite as steep (especially when you are not paying for it).

Anyway, the long and the short is that the price had me gasping for air. But, this event is not aimed at "Lisa the adventure racer". The event is aimed at corporates who challenge each other in the business world and presents them with the opportunity to challenge each other in the adventure sport environment.

Nonetheless, I am curious as to what the fee would be to send the winning 4 South African teams to the US in December? I'm sure the company would be expected to foot the bill?

To win something like this would certainly be prestigous for any company, especially within the event and amongst the participants (just like adventure racing)... Perhaps a new avenue for AR.co.za would be as an employment agency to source adventure racers, as staff, for companies looking to enter (and win) this event?

Alternatively, a number of us may come in very handy as "corporate adventure racing coaches"? Yeah... this would work. Corporates, give me a shout. I'll get your team ready for this challenge (for a fee)...

Ergonomic, 3D bottle-shape, lumbar pack

I've been wanting one of those hydration lumbar packs (aka hip packs) for some time, having seen runners with them at races overseas (hip packs are very popular in the US). Today I got my very own Salomon Twinbelt (thank you Salomon), a 2 x bottle hydration lumbar pack.

Before I get to the product trial, I'll explain my interest in lumbar packs.

I drink a lot when I run, even on cool days. I find that my mouth gets really dry so I sip, sip, sip the whole way. What this means is that whenever I go out running I take water; either a bottle or my hydration backpack (Salomon Raid Revo 15l). It's a bit of a nuisance to carry a bottle and when my backpack is almost empty it doesn't sit as snug as when it is loaded. In the last two weeks, with the cooler weather, I've been for some runs without any hydration, settling for slurping water from irrigation systems - an acquired skill! But when I get back I'm always incredibly thirsty. This ain't good.

I've been interested in lumbar packs for ages because:

• your hands remain free
• one or two bottles are adequate for most training runs so it offers an alternative to using a hydration reservoir and backpack
• the zipper pocket is a perfect place for munchies, keys and your cellphone
• I've wondered what it feels like: backpack hip belts end up around your waist... would the lumbar pack sit on my hips or waist?

The Salomon Twinbelt has two bottle carriers (and comes with two bottles). I put water in both bottles (each half-full) and headed out for a 30-minute road run this evening.

When you walk, the lumbar pack sits on your hips (lumbar spine area; lower back). Very comfortable. When you run, you do need to tighten the belt around your waist or it will jiggle up and down on your hips. For guys, who don't have curvaceous hips and waists, it may very well sit on your hips.

Once fitted did it jiggle up and down? Nope, and I didn't have to tighten the belt too tight either - just enough to fit well. As I started sweating it stuck even better.

Are the bottles really ergonomically designed? The bottles are a "3D" design (a bit like a triangle bottle-body shape), which means the one side lies flat against your lower back. Logical eh? The bottle carrier pouches are positioned such that you can reach back with your right hand to pull out the right bottle and the left hand to take out the left bottle, with ease. No contortionist moves required. And the bottle-fit is snug; a good tug is needed to get the bottle out and you need to give it a bit of a push to get it back in. Nothing too strenuous. The good news is that the bottle doesn't jiggle around. A nice idea is to put juice or a hydration drink in one bottle and water in another.

Other features of interest:

• a removable pocket; sits on your front right hip and is attached to the belt. I didn't use it tonight but this is the place where I would definitely stash lip balm and eye drops.
• a rear zippered pocket: this is where I put my phone. It is an unsuspectingly roomy pocket.
• rear gear carrier: criss-crossed bungy cords between the bottle carriers (on top of the zippered pocket). Perfect for holding your wind/rain jacket.

All in all I was pretty happy with the Salomon Twinbelt on this first outing. It exceeded my expectations in terms of stability (not jiggling up and down) and I look forward to really bonding with it on Saturday morning when I'm meeting friends for a 20-odd kilometer road run.

Monday, 16 April - hip pack worked even better on Saturday than Thurs night. I got it just right and had a bit more weight in it with the bottles more full (in the beginning anyway). Nice, nice, nice.

The Little Red Hen

This theme has actually been brewing for some time; and I was reminded of it this weekend at the UGE Events sprint in Krugersdorp when I saw the friendly and familiar faces at marshal points along the route...

As you well know, Adventure Racing is not a mass participation sport like road running, road cycling, mountain biking, soccer, rugby etc.

The "adventure racing" event with the most participants is certainly the Mudman series in KZN. The event includes a 750m swim or 4km paddle, a 5km trail run and a 20 km mountain bike ride. Team format is individuals or teams and entrants are members of the public, or school & corporate teams. There's also an U10 kids event. The event welcomed 800 entrants in February 2007.

Ugene Nel's Quantum Adventures had 155 teams (approx. 330ppl) this past weekend. The event included 20km mtb, 5km trail, water crossing & obstacles.

For both of these series the routes are tagged and navigation (even basic nav) is not included (they could be more classified as off-road multisport than AR as such...)

The UGE Events races are 30-45km in distance and also include mtb, trail running and ropes/obstacles/tubing. Basic navigation is included (road maps, orienteering maps etc). Max numbers here are around 200 entrants.

Once you start looking at 100km races... well, entries are in the region of 40-60ppl and as for 250km events (Swazi Xtreme being the biggest at approx. 160ppl) an average is in the region of 40ppl.

Although I have digressed, what I hoped to illustrate above is that AR is a small sport.

Most event organisers have day jobs. They organise events because they can and because they enjoy putting on events. But, each event needs man-power in the form of volunteer marshals to oversee transitions, certain checkpoints, start, finish, registration... there's a lot that happens on the ground to make an event possible. And, as you've probably noticed, it is the same faces you see at each race. Up country at UGE Events, organised by Eugene, Michele, Nicholas and Ryno, you'll see George and Joan van Jaarsveld (orienteerers who always volunteer their assistance at AR sprints), the Mulders (Nicholas and Michele's folks), the Bothas (Eugene's folks) and associated friends, team members and AR Club members.

Michael Graz has recently taken over chairmanship of WPASS in CT. The club's member numbers and support has dwindled to a trickle so Michael created a poll to ask the members what they wanted from the club. You know what came back? Events. Considering that Ugene puts on around one event a month I'd hope that each person that responded has been entering these... (if not, requests for more events are null and void if you're not doing the existing events).

Events need an organiser, they need volunteers to help and they need participants. The fable of the Little Red Hen comes to mind. Everyone is keen to eat the bread but no-one wants to grow the wheat and bake the bread.

Again, this isn't only about events, it's about our adventure racing clubs. These clubs have been created by people around the country to provide a central community within various areas. Speaking for AR Club, there are a core of people who organise events (we have to organise a paddling event and 2 orienteering events each year for our Provincial associations), club evenings, club activities and such. The other Provinces are no different in that a few people handle club affairs. We're just lucky in Joburg in that the club has been going for the longest (about 5-years) and that we have greater member numbers because of our multisport affiliations and that over the years we've built a loyal base. Clubs are a wonderful infrastructure for knowledge, comaraderie and activity, but they do need to be supported.

So, the moral of this blog is the following:

• Regular volunteers, you are treasured and appreciated. Thank you.
• Event organisers, thank you too for presenting events for us to enter. We appreciate that you spend your weekends scouting for races instead of lying under a tree in a hammock with your feet up after a tough week at work.
• Join your nearest adventure racing club, attend their club evenings, make friends within the clubs and offer to organise a social club trail run or mtb ride.
• Volunteer to marshal at an event; it is a great way to meet other racers and it may give someone who always marshals an opportunity to actually take part.
• Instead of requesting that more events be organised, why don't you take the initiative and organise something for everyone else?

Thoughts from the week

The past week seems to have been quite busy... musings about Xterra, children and running and the new 3-day, staged SPORT event at Swazi Xtreme 2007.

Xterra
Well, I'm so glad that I did the Xterra Lite. It was cooking in the Magaliesberg, especially since we only started at 09h45. The Swim went well (I wore my cycle shorts - worked well and meant that there would be no need to change from a swimsuit). My say that I actually felt a little nervous waiting for the start and was quite hyped up until about half-way through the stretch. I didn't get kicked, I didn't get drowned and the whole experience was actually quite pleasant.
The mountain biking started with some technical single track, which - as can be expected - caused a bottleneck. Thereafter it was excellent and the Xterra crew can be commended for finding such excellent single track sections.
The run wasn't anything to write home about but it was pleasant and made good use of what was available in the area. By 12-noon it was baking under the full power of the sun and I could only feel sorry for the Xterra course people who had to do the 6km route twice.

It was fun waiting near the finish to watch people coming across the line; a big AR contingent was there so there were many friends around. My surprise of the day was being awarded 3rd woman in the Xterra Lite and receiving a Duesouth R100 gif voucher (I was surprised 'cos I thought I was further back and the entry form had said no prizes for Xterra Lite).
Organisation was good and there were lots of marshalls out in the field. All in all I recommend that you give at least an Xterra Lite course a try. It was a good experience and I'd definitely enter one again.

Road running
This morning a small field of runners took on the Germiston 10/21km races. I say the field was small because it seems that the rest of Gauteng went to run the Vaal Marathon, a nice, fast and flat qualifier for Two Oceans and Comrades.

As many of you know, I work for Let's Play, which is Supersport's social responsibility section; it's all about getting children off their butts and to regularly participate in any form of activity. As such, I get to hear a lot about rugby clinics, cricket coaching etc. These are a) all male orientated sports and b) all equipment, facility and coaching intensive. Running (and walking) is for everyone (girls and boys) and you don't even need shoes. I've had these thoughts for months (actually, since I started working there 9-odd months ago).

I've decided that in my dream world I'd like to see all primary schools implement a compulsory route that children have to do every day. They can walk and talk with their friends or run the course and challenge their friends. Different distances for different ages. All they have to do it complete the circuit and then get down to their school work; mornings would probably be best. Maybe they can do it at any time of day and they can only leave the school premises if they have a post-curcuit stamp on their hands (like night club stamps). For some it could be quiet time to think thoughts and appreciate seasonal changes in the trees. Others may try to better their previous times. Others will enjoy the time spent with friends.

A proactive teacher could have different route activities for each day. One day it could be running then walking between lamp-posts / driveways. Another could be 5 jumping jacks at each gate where there is a barking dog. Some days could be compulsory walk days (I'd never advocate compulsory run days 'cos some just hate running and I'd rather hope they'd discover the pleasure when they're older).

So, if you're a teacher and you're reading this... give it a go. At least for your class. And let me know how it goes.

AR
As you're aware, race information for Swazi Xtreme 2007 is now available. The most drastic change from previous years is the modification of the non-stop 120km SPORT event to a 180km staged, 3-day SPORT event.

Those a little hesitant to do the 250km were perhaps looking forward to the non-stop short course and may be a little disappointed? Well, you've got two wide open options... if you've did the 120km last year, use this opportunity to move up a step to the non-stop 250km PRO event. But if you're still new to the sport or not quite up for the longer event, enter the SPORT event and don't be put off by it being staged over 3-days. This is actually a gem for those who really battle with the lack of sleep experienced at non-stop events. But this doesn't mean that the SPORT event will be easy...

In October 2004 I attended the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest in Borneo, a course designed and managed by Ian Adamson with John Howard, both AR legends, as technical director. Outdoor Quest was a 5-day staged AR where the teams would race for about 6-hours a day. This was one of the most physically challenging events I've ever witnessed. Why? a) Humidity and heat were extreme and b) every day the pace was fast, fast, fast. And, always remember with staged racing (incl. running and biking events) that in the morning, when you wake up after a good sleep, you may be a bit stiff from the day before but you'll still have to get out there again.

Another really good feature of the new format SPORT event is that the teams will use the same transitions as the PRO event so there will be good spectator appeal and a good vibe.

All in all I think this is a good change and I do hope that more novice teams will be persuaded to enter and that others will accept the push to take on the non-stop event.