Awards Celebration an Event to Remember at Marine Park

SkiToSea · Site Admin Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Posts: 67

In 2006 race director Pete Coy asked me to take the newly created Awards Chairperson position on the Ski to Sea Race Committee, I jumped at the chance. My wife, Heather, and I have been around sports and racing our entire lives, and between the two of us have attended literally hundreds of races and their awards ceremonies: The Eco-Challenge, the Outrigger Canoe World Championships, the Seattle Marathon… right down to the Studebaker Wheelbarrow Race at the El Dorado County Fair.

The intensity and quality of these events, the number of racers and size of the crowds and the venues they’re hosted in literally span the globe and the full spectrum of participant experience. And having seen and taken part in such an array of different ones, I can say without a doubt that the Ski to Sea Race ranks in the top 1%.

The Ski to Sea Race has the world class athletes and the passionate weekend warriors, with well over 3000 racers in all; it covers every type of challenging and spectacular terrain, all of it worthy of post cards and coffee table books; it’s graced with thousands of excited spectators, supporters, photographers and reporters lining the course; and it’s got the decades-plus of history cementing its place as a truly legendary event. My job, then, is to make sure the final experience of the whole day of racing and cheering lives up to that legendary status the Ski to Sea Race has earned.

We started last year by adding or revamping several sets of awards, including the Whatcom Cup perpetual trophies to ramp up the recognition of our local heroes, and the Top Gun category to acknowledge the fastest male and female athletes in each leg of the race. These additions were met with universal thanks from the racing community. We were also given the challenge of delivering all 642 plaques, medals and cups in less than one hour to avoid the curse of most awards ceremonies – having it become boring – and we met that goal with a few minutes to spare.
That high-energy presentation and the positive feedback we got afterward inspired us even further, and in the year that’s passed since then we’ve become fully committed to making this important, memorable part of the event a peak experience for everyone.

The entire scene at Marine Park, including the kayak-to-run transition and finish line, results boards, vendor booths, and an ever-increasing infusion of racers and spectators is, simply put, the highest-energy gathering of the entire day. The notion of capping it all off with an “awards ceremony” just didn’t fit, so we’ve replaced the word and overall concept with the all-new “Awards Celebration!”

We’re going to kick it off with local vocalist Danielle Delisle’s awe-inspiring National Anthem. We’ve got music mixologist Ryan Paul splicing together a 14-song soundtrack to lace through the stage arrival of every division’s teams. DJ Drew Graham will spin the music and co-emcee with us. We’ve got piles of exciting shwag from over two dozen different local sponsors to broadcast into the crowd in between awards. And we’re still dedicated to keeping the whole party moving steadily forward to wrap it up around that one-hour mark.

The true soul of the Celebration, though, will come from the teams, their crews, and the spectators who show up not only to be recognized themselves, but to pay tribute to each other, all 3000+ racers, and nearly 1000 volunteers. As a racer myself, nothing is more impressive than the teams from all different divisions, who show up after the race with all 8 athletes, decked out in their matching gear, maybe they get on the podium maybe they don’t, but their fists are the first in the air and their cheers the loudest for the teams who reach the podium. Any team showing this level of pride and respect for sport, whether they were first place or three-hundred-and-first in the race, are the true essence of Ski to Sea and racing in general.

The world’s best races – and the Ski to Sea definitely qualifies as one of them – recognize that every part of the experience, from registration and check-in, through the race itself, and to the tail end of the Awards Celebration, plays a role in achieving legendary event status. We’ve laid the groundwork, and all that’s needed is for you to come and help us make the 2008 Ski to Sea Awards Celebration the undisputed best in the history of the event. Brandon Nelson, Awards Chair

In addition to being a well known local kayaker, Brandon Nelson is a realtor at RE/MAX and lives with his wife Heather and newborn son Hayden in Sudden Valley.