Discussion: Urban AR as stepping stone to wilderness AR?

I posted early this summer about an experiment five of us adventure racers were trying in West MI and said I would share results. We were sick of longer races getting cancelled and seeing people flock to warrior dash "adventure races." So we put on two 4-hour races in Grand Rapids, promoted almost entirely through word of mouth, Facebook and free online calendars. Mostly urban nav on foot and by bike, some basic orienteering/map reading in forested areas near the city, a little single track, and to really get racers' and the media's attention some Amazing Race-type challenges (egg launch, mental puzzles, stair climbs, CP spotting from top of building, etc.).

The result was 400 newbies at clinics before the races, 1,500 racers (85% newbs), and over 1 million people exposed to adventure racing through media coverage by all the major TV networks, all the major papers, and several top radio stations. They ate it up like it was this incredible new sport we invented. And it was to them!

We found in post-race surveys that racers had not done a wilderness race because #1, they didn't know these races existed and #2, using a compass freaked them out. So we really eliminated both barriers for these newbies and are now set to promote the heck out of the wilderness races next spring (we have a winter adventure race at a local ski area so we're focused on that right now).

Not anything brilliant we did - it was simply filling an unmet need here - but wanted others to be aware of this strategy to get more people into adventure racing. Urban races are nothing new but the concept of using a sequence of clinics, urban races with Amazing Race elements, facebook buzz and media hype, and then funneling people into wilderness races is not something I'm seeing. Hope it gets used more. Happy to answer questions. www.grUrbanAdventureRace.com

I repeated this post in the orienteering community so maybe it's easiest to respond there.

Well done!

I guess the million dollar question is whether or not they will stick around if you deliver typical adventure races. Judging by note #1, at least a fraction of your participants would, and given your numbers that fraction will dwarf most communities I know of!

I think universally AR's biggest enemy is that no one knows about it. I'm hosting a race this weekend and it's frustrating to know that there are quite likely people living a few minutes away that would love to participate, develop, grow the community and help the sport thrive, but they've just never heard of it.

As for note #2, I'm quite curious. Was the survey question leading? I'm just wondering whether or not the participants would have said using a compass was intimidating had they not been setup to say so.

Again, great job. With numbers like that you could make a living at this stuff.

Oh, and by the way, one of my favorite races I've ever done was an Urban one.

You are right. That is the million dollar question. A lot say they want to get into it, but talk is cheap. I'll share results next year.

Here's how the latest survey question was worded: What is keeping you from doing a non-urban race?
1. 36.7% Lack of compass experience
2. 35.6% Not aware of these races
3. 33.3% Gear is costly
4. 26.0% Too busy to do more races (and not enough time to train)
5. 25.4% Prefer the urban environment
6. 24.9% Lack of mountain bike experience
(212 responses)

I did quit my job this summer and sort of make a living on this so far. Passable income, immeasurable benefits. Grateful for my wife who likes her job.

Some would say this is selling out but if you could locate a race near a city, add in even just a couple of physical challenges that you could call Amazing Race-like challenges, and then promote it with local media and facebook, it would be huge. City events also bring in a lot more sponsors, which also have huge facebook and email lists, not to mention cash.

Definitely not selling out, Mark!

What fee structure did you use for your urban events? $50/racer x 1,500 = a great race budget for sprint events!

Found the youtube link to the Subaru Urban Outback from 2002? 24 hours in the Toronto Urban jungle. Lots and lots of media coverage but then again almost all ARC AR races had some TV coverage in the early days. This was one fun race.

I don't get on this site enough but in regards to untamed adventure's question about fee structure, we are generally at $55 early bird and $65 regular per person and they pay as a team of two. For our winter race, we are at $45 and $50 because they order what they want for lunch (ski area) and we have fewer expenses (no tents/portajohns to rent, no city permits, no police/EMT, etc.).
www.grUrbanAdventureRace.com if you want more info or email me at mark@MIadventureracing.com

hammer, was that you rapelling off City Hall? Cool to see the old video.:)