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Race the Rockies Revived

Chris Koch / 14.09.2006

Early in the year, February, Adele Frizzell, the president of Race the Rockies Ltd. announced the cancellation of the Golden race. In her words, “The reason is simple: my career is taking me out of province, and there is no one to run the event in my absence.”

Race the Rockies has been known for putting on an excellent event in Western Canada for the past three years. It was also one of the few races that allow solo overnight competitors.

This September, Adele announced that Race the Rockies was back - “Mike Melnick has taken over as president of Race the Rockies, while I am moving on to other ground. I\'ve had some of the best times of my life planning, organizing, and running these events with you folks. Now I\'m passing the torch to Mike. As a former RTR competitor, Mike understands RTR and wants to build on its success. He has raced internationally and is active in the Alberta Adventure Racing Community. He is committed to putting on the same high quality races you\'ve come to expect with RTR - great mountain biking, epic scenery, and superbly organized events. I feel that you are in good hands with Mike.”

SleepMonsters.ca took the opportunity to find out more about Mike’s plans for Race the Rockies Ltd. When asked about his plans, Mike replied, “Besides keeping the tradition of putting on well organized and scenic races, we plan to use the Race the Rockies brand to raise the profile of Adventure Racing and bring in some new faces to the racing scene. To do this, we\'re looking at putting on training clinics, partnering with educational institutions, and offering at least one beginner level race annually. On top of this, we\'re looking at lowering the barriers that have traditionally been the tipping point of whether a team races or not. I don\'t want to say more than that until we can confirm that we can follow through on some of these ideas.”

Mike decided to get into the game partly because he knew he could do a good job at it and partly because he believes that adventure racing is still ready to bust out of it\'s \'fringe\' status. \"I\'m planning on using Race the Rockies to get adventure racing more into the public eye.”

What do you get when you buy a race? “When I took over Race the Rockies Ltd, I received a heap of stuff. There was course scouting stuff like map software and GPS, signs, banners and a heap of t-shirts.”

Mike brings a solid background to being an adventure race director. He has been racing since 2002. In describing his first race experience, “My first adventure race was in the Inner Limits\' inaugural race and our support team decided to go for breakfast instead of meeting us at the end of the paddle. We tromped through the underbrush of Fish Creek in our soggy shoes, carrying plastic bags with our mandatory gear and despite that, we pulled ourselves into 11th out of some 70 teams. I\'ve been hooked since.” His biggest race was the Patagonia Expedition Race in February 2006. “What an experience! There was stunning scenery and remoteness like I have never seen before. At one point in the race, we were a day and a half travel from the nearest evidence of civilization. Wow!”


Mike supports his adventure racing habit as a computer programmer for a small startup company in Calgary. Expect a revamped Race the Rockies website with this background.

So what can we expect from Race the Rockies in the immediate future? Race The Rockies has joined forces with Wayne Nyman to put on an Urban Adventure race planned for September 30 in Edmonton. The race course takes place in the river valley of the city, one of the most scenic valleys in an urban centre in Canada. It\'s designed with the new adventure racer in mind, to get more people out to enjoy the outdoors. To ease the logistics, teams can even have Race the Rockies provide support and a boat. All that and a big after party for a bargain basement cost per participant. Check out all the details at www.racetherockies.com.

Expect Race the Rockies to announce their 2007 schedule in early November. Mike knows we like to have the ability to beg early for our time off. Mike will also be at the fall western race directors meeting taking place in Kelowna in November.