It’s official: the call has been put out for the 2nd VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE 2015. The out-of-doors obstacle trail race will once again take place in St. Wendel, Germany, a fun town with a penchant for high-profile sports competitions. While last year’s inaugural weekend event was restricted to members of professional rescue forces / special units, the event will be open to the general public as of 2015. Anybody who feels up to the challenge can sign up for Saturday’s VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE, or the namesake Night Run. Sunday morning is strictly reserved for Kids’ Races. Sunday afternoon should garner the limelight as it’s been set aside to allow professionals of various national civic emergency services (i.e. fire brigades, police units, armed forces, technical relief agencies) to playfully test their skills against one another. The venue is close enough close to the French, Belgian and Dutch border to attract an international lineup of competitors.
Everyday heroes, the simply sports-mad and many more fun-oriented athletes from around the world are bound to have penciled-in the dates of the 2015VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE 2015. May 23-24, 2015 marks the weekend when heroes and those aspiring-to-be will meet to see who’s fastest across slippery mud, along precipitous ropeways, up towering walls and through windthrown trees. And so should you!
Participants may sign up as individuals or as teams (of at least three) to give chase on the 5-kilometer course with its fifteen obstacles. Three distances are on offer to the competitors – depending on whether they opt for one, two or three loops of the course. But anyone toying with the idea of taking part in the VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE should be aware that there are very specific prerequisites for participation in this demanding steeplechase. For one, racers obviously need the physical and mental stamina to make it through the elaborate course. In addition, a good sense of orientation, a head for heights, sure-footedness and excellent motor skills are required to successfully negotiate the obstacles. Adrenaline and team spirit should help with the rest. For instance, on the ‘Tower’, a 15-foot ramp of a 110% gradient beckons the intrepid. Not to mention the ‘Boondock Swamp‘ where windthrown trees require quite some imagination to get through. Or the ‘Mudslide‘, ‘Mikado‘, ‘Rooftop Run‘, the ‘Hedgerow Tunnel‘, …the list goes on.
Event organizers remain tight-lipped about the whole lineup of obstacles to maintain an element of surprise for team and individual participants in Saturday’s day and night-time races. Sunday will prove all-out fun for the kids! The morning’s ‘School Run‘ and the popular ‘Kid’s Race‘ will ensure there never being a dull moment for children age 4 to 16.
Sunday afternoon, however, it’s “grown-up” time again – for real-time heroes to strut their stuff. Teams of two members each from either the police forces, the fire brigades, the Armed Forces or the Technical Relief Corps will enter the stage to compete in either the Men, Mixed or Women category. Team spirit will go a long way here, as the slower of the two members’ times will count towards the ranking.
“We are very happy to organize this unique event for a second time around and to offer an even bigger challenge to attract a wider circle of athletes and spectators”, shares race coordinator Julia Conrad of PLAN B event company GmbH. “VIKING Footwear supports us as main sponsor of the event and their products and expertise fit the HEROES CHALLENGE experience to a tee.” Helma Tobies, VIKING Footwear’s country manager, thinks likewise: “After the successful premiere of the VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE in 2014 we knew right away that this kind of event had a future. As such, we’re thrilled to be act as this year’s title sponsor again. All of us really look forward to the 2015 Whitsun weekend which promises more fun, more obstacles, and an even more extensive entertainment program than last year.”
Indeed, while participants in the VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE slog through the course, friends, family and spectators have almost unlimited trailside opportunities to watch the race from up close – perfect to cheer on the protagonists! Whenever ready for a break from the action, the extensive expo area with trade representatives from numerous outdoor goods manufacturers provides a chance for distraction during the two-day event.
Anyone ready to register for the VIKING HEROES CHALLENGE 2015 can do so online as of 31st October 2014. The sooner the better! Additional information on the event itinerary, the rules and regulations are available at www.heroes-challenge.de.
