Race the Rockies Cancelled
Rob / 20.02.2004
One of the most ambitious races planned for this year, the 30 day Race the Rockies, has been cancelled due to a lack of registrations.Race Director Adele Frizzell, who spent 2 years researching the 3300km route, announced the news and is asking those who considered, or wanted to enter, but never made it, to complete an on-line survey.
She is looking for feedback to help create a more successful race in 2005 and said, “Right now, we are exploring our options - another 30 Day Race? A 15 Day Challenge? Or a smaller section of the course? Stay tuned, as we plan to run a long event in 2005 based on your feedback.â€
It’s a simple checkbox page, so no long answers are required, and anyone filling it in can choose reasons from, ‘Can’t get the time off’, to ‘Conflicts with another race’, or ‘I’m unsure I’d finish a 30 day race’. Sponsorship being hard to find and a price tag of nearly $12,000 per person will have been the key factors no doubt.
Such ambitious long races have been run before in New Zealand, with the Xerox Challenge way back in 1990 and more recently the New Zealand Wild Places Challenge in 2001. But the 2003 Wild Places Challenge had to be cancelled, and without major financial backers to cover race and competitor costs they are always going to be difficult to stage. And in a TV dominated media sustaining interest in a month long race in the most remote locations is a hard sell to sponsors.
At the other extreme Race the Rockies are having more success as their 18 hour challenge, to be held in the Southern Rockies at the end of June, is 60% sold out already. You can read more about that race and see the on-line survey here.
