Sponsorship Opportunity for Australia's Biggest Adventure Sports Series

News Release / 22.10.2012

Opportunity opens to stamp name on the biggest event in Australian adventure sports

One of the brightest opportunities in the adventure and outdoors pursuits market has become available with the announcement that Australia’s biggest adventure racing series – the Anaconda Adventure Race National Series – is seeking a new naming rights partner.

The Series, which includes the world’s biggest adventure race, has been sponsored by outdoor retailer Anaconda since the event’s launch in 2005.

Beginning with a single event in Lorne, Victoria, the format of a mass participation, fast-paced, off -road adventure race with ocean swim, kayak, mountain bike and trail run legs quickly caught the imagination of competitors. Entry numbers from the outset were always the highest of any adventure event in the country. That fact, combined with the national and international media coverage gained, allowed the series to expand interstate and, for one year, internationally into New Zealand.

Since its inception the series has grown phenomenally in line with a broader growth in community interest in health, fitness and specificallyadventure sport. While the premier long distance event – taking in 50-65km of off road course - remains essentially the same, the series has expanded over the years with a Junior Survivor addition to encourage the next generation of primary school aged adventurers and, new this year, a Mini adventure race designed for those new to the sport of adventure racing.

The Anaconda Adventure Race National Series remains in place for 2012 with the Augusta event on 3-4 November set to attract more than 3,200 competitors across its long course, Mini and Junior Survivor formats. The final ‘Anaconda’ Adventure Race will follow at Lorne, Victoria, December 8-9, with a sign up of more than 2,000 competitors.

“While Anaconda will not be renewing its sponsorship beyond December, the Series will continue into 2013 and beyond,” confirms Rapid Ascent’s founding director John Jacoby. “It’s just a matter of what its name will be and that will come down to whichever brand jumps at what we believe is a rare and valuable slice of real estate in outdoors pursuits in Australia: to stamp their name on the nation’s biggest adventure event series.”

“Over the past seven years, tens of thousands of athletes, outdoors lovers, thrill-seekers, and weekend wilderness warriors have tasted the adventure on offer at our events. Today we have a huge community of regular competitors across teams and individual entrants who keep coming back for more. We will continue to provide them with an event that provides beautiful wilderness courses, a friendly atmosphere, and unique athletic challenges.

“We also believe that the event is a great way for brands to engage with and excite a very attractive target market, our competitors generally being of a highly desirable demographic relevant to many brand offerings.

“The series offers the opportunity to connect with that desirable audience in a unique and powerful way, using adventure and the event format as a highly credible face-to-face forum,” says Jacoby.

The Series currently includes three rounds, one each in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, the latter being the World’s Biggest Adventure Race by participation, this year selling out within three days of entries opening.

The Augusta Race also attracts plenty of international attention, last year luring BBC Television adventurer, Ben Fogle, to the challenge, the result being a full episode on Fogle’s adventure TV series, Lonely Planet’s Year of Adventures. The West Australian round has also regularly been the focus of national / international multisport TV program ‘M7’, shown on OneHD and abroad. This same event was the finalist in the Australian Events Awards back in 2009 showing the popular heritage of the series.

“Essentially the National Adventure Race Series offers the opportunity to align your brand with a growing event, a growing sport and a growing community of people who aspire to a healthy and fit lifestyle and who regard the outdoors as their ideal playground for leisure pursuits,” says Jacoby.

WATCH: a video encapsulating the series action at: http://youtu.be/lUTsnNaYgsE

Anyone interested in finding out more about the potential to become naming rights sponsor of the National Adventure Series should contact Kim Neilson, Sponsorships Manager at Rapid Ascent on tel: 03 5261 5511 or email kim@rapidascent.com.au.

For an overview of the current series, see: www.anacondaadventurerace.com

Rapid Ascent is regarded as Australia’s premier adventure event management company, being responsible for a series of adventure, multisport, mountain biking and trail running events across Australia, along with the management of Australia’s largest regional fun run.

For an overview of Rapid Ascent: www.rapidascent.com.au