Red Bull’s Race the Sun challenge is back, and this year it is heading to Tenterfield.
Ten teams from across Australia, with six competitors each, will take on the 24-hour relay challenge.
Starting from Surfers Paradise, competitors will travel over road, dirt and trail to complete the 345km course, and beat the sun to Tenterfield.
“It’s an annual event that started a couple of years ago by Courtney Atkinson, who is a very good athlete,” said Kerri Hampton, owner of Bad Manners.
“Courtney has travelled the globe for running events over the likes of many years, and now based on the Gold Coast, he decided this year that he’s going to take the Red Bull Race for Sun event from service Paradise to Tenterfield.”
“Which is a phenomenal distance.”
Teams will head of at sunrise, approximately 6:29am on Friday May 31st and hope to beat the sun to the finish line on June 1st.
How Tenterfield is making it happen
Gaining an event with globally recognised brand Red Bull continues to put Tenterfield on the map and pays credit to the tourism masterminds behinds town’s image.
Kerri Hampton has been part of that driving force, looking for any opportunities to highlight this little town in the northern New England.
“We have identified for Tenterfield that events are going to be a core part of our tourism program,” said Kerri.
“Having a name like Red Bull, which is, you know, synonymous with sport all around the world, choosing to come to Tenterfield means a lot.”
“The more people that can come to the town for the first time and experience what we have out there with the altitude and the fresh country air, the vineyards to the north, the heritage, and being in a country town and all that we offer, that they will come back.”
“I have a background also with Courtney.”
“We used to race triathlons competitive together many, many years ago, and he came up to Bad Manners last year and they figured that it was the perfect location to have the event finish there because of the room, the fire pits and what’s around.”
And more importantly, the local economy gets a boost.
“It really does help the local economy,” said Kerri.
“If you’re bringing in events in town, you’ve got accommodation, you’ve got cafes, you’ve got restaurants, you’ve got the local petrol station, so the incremental revenue that events bring to a town like Tenterfield is huge.”
The finish line
The community is invited to join athletes at the finish line at Bad Manners and see what is takes to beat the sun.
“The fire pits will be roaring and we’re going to be open from probably five thirty in the morning.” said Kerri.
“The idea of the event, obviously, is to beat the sun so, hopefully we’re going to see some of the first athletes arriving around about six thirty on Saturday morning.”
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