National Indoor Adventure Race

The Challenge

Rob / 21.03.2002

Now here’s a challenge. Stage an adventure race indoors, in a space 25x33m that’s competitive and tough enough for country’s top racers. Then try and fit 18 racers on it at once. Now, turn up the pressure by lining up a few major sponsors and putting it on in front of 30,000 people. Oh yes, put it T.V. too.

Mr. ACE Races, Phil Humphreys, was the man set that challenge, to stage The Renault Kangoo Indoor Adventure Race for the first ever Outdoors Show at the National Exhibition Centre (N.E.C.). “I thought the concept was a bit of a joke at first,� he said, “but it wasn’t a challenge to refuse.�

“Originally they gave me 33x33m and I wondered how to do it, but then they cut it back to put in spectator seating! That’s when the idea of a canoe pool went out of the window. As a spectator event it had to have visual appeal, so the zip-wire was included and I wanted teams racing head to head. It had to be a long race too, but with a different kind of endurance, so there’s more emphasis on short bursts of power. Initially, I had the idea of 3 hour long stages for each race, but decided it was better for spectators to watch six 30 minute stages.�