Raid the North launched with opening ceremonies

The Raid the North extreme race competition officially got underway on Friday with a festive opening at the Lester Centre.

The competition which has had to see a last minute change made due to the floods of early June now sets its compass for the Charlottes and a grueling course destined to test the stamina of all participants. The Daily News featured the opening night ceremonies on the front page of Monday’s paper.

TEAMS READY FOR SOME EXTREME FUN
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, June 25, 2007
Page one

The Lester Centre was packed Friday night for the opening ceremonies of Canada’s most notorious adventure race, Raid the North extreme.

Many of the teams, their sponsors and supporters were in attendance anxiously waiting for the grand unveiling of this year’s course. Some teams and members were not able to make it, either still making their way to Prince Rupert or sidetracked by the hospitality of one of the city’s establishments.

There were many laughs to be had throughout the night, starting as Tourism Prince Rupert’s Bruce Wishart opened the ceremony.

”I’ve been trying to figure out for the past year and a half, why are you guys doing this? said Wishart. “I thought, They’re really crazy’ But I’ve figured out many reasons why you’re going out for six days with little sleep, and busting your butts, and trekking through uncharted terrain. It really sank in for me when Geoff explained to me, ‘For many people, this is their holiday.”

After Wishart thanked everyone gathered, Frontier Adventure Racing President and race director Geoff Langford took over as the night’s MC, first thanking everyone who helped make this year’s Raid on the North Extreme possible, even after learning their original plan was no longer an option.

“There were times I was sitting here, looking at the weather and thinking about the situation, wondering, ‘How are we going to pull this off?” said Langford. But I’ve been completely blown away by the support of the community and our partners here. In under two weeks, we were able to change everything around, logistics, trucks, cars, safety plans, rescue boats, everything to make this race happen.”

More laughs came as Langford began introducing the 20- plus teams and their local sponsors, especially when he came to local foursome Coastal Disturbance.

“And we’ve got the local team here, who we didn’t give a sponsor because the whole town is their sponsor really,” said Langford.

“Five bucks says they get lost first!” someone immediately yelled from the crowd, causing an eruption of laughter.

Before the course was finally revealed, Langford had one final thought for all the visiting teams and their supporters.

“The community has supported us in so many ways, they’ve just been all over the map to make this event a success for you guys. So I really encourage you to support local businesses, go out and drink and eat and buy stuff, and leave a great mark on the community. Because we really want them to be excited to have us back some day so we can use that other course we didn’t use this time!”

The came the moment everyone had been anticipating, and the course was finally revealed on the large screen, using Google earth technology to virtually ‘walk’ through the terrain,

Course designer Lawrence Foster took the mic, and began explaining the logistics of the intense six day course. The first four days of this year’s race begin with a fairly long paddle through the Queen Charlotte Islands, followed by a significant trek up to roughly 3,500 feet, crossing a ridge that will give racers a 360- degree view of the island, from where, on a clear day, they will be able to see Prince Rupert. After descending the mountain, racers will grab their bikes for a really long ride down old logging roads, taking them eventually through every community on the island. For more information on the race and the new course, the public is encouraged to attend the pub night at Breaker’s tonight, where photos and video of each team’s progress will be available.

Keep checking the Daily News this week for regular updates.