31/08/2025
To our Escape Raid competitors,
Is it possible to count yourself so unlucky, and yet so lucky at the same time? The odds of having a bushfire break out on course on the weekend of a long planned event resulting in its cancellation is certainly unlucky. But how fortunate are we that we received the message to stop the race less than 10 minutes before a field of competitors ran off into an active bushfire? Ultimately, everyone was able to evacuate safely and live to race another day. It serves as a reminder that the places we count as our playgrounds in adventure racing and rogaining are wild and unpredictable, which is part of their draw.
Given the massive effort to organise an event of this nature and the overcrowded race calendar heading into summer, we will not be rescheduling the remaining stages of the Escape Raid this year. We do, however, plan to return with the race in winter next year and have some very exciting plans around additional land acquisition to grow the event: stay tuned for a future announcement in this regard.
The Raid Adventures cancellation policy does cover situations where we have to cancel an event mid-race due to acts of nature, with typically no refunds offered. As you can appreciate, as an organiser all of our costs are locked in at that point: permit fees, catering costs, map printing, medic fees, fuel, kayak hire, prize purchase, camp fees, insurance, burnt controls (!) and time. However, we do appreciate the support the race has received from competitors and want to make sure you guys are looked after, so we are happy to offer race credit for next year's Escape Raid as follows:
- Competitors who had entered the Escape Raid Full event and those that had purchased the Supporters Camping Package: a 50% credit on entry fee (up to the value of a full entry fee) on any of the Escape Raid events offered in 2026, non-transferable.
- Competitors who had entered the Escape Raid Trek or Bike only event: a 100% credit on entry fee (up to the value of a full entry fee) on any of the Escape Raid events offered in 2026, non-transferable.
As noted, we have some very exciting plans to mix the format up for next year which I think will be very appealing to all competitors, so stay tuned there. When it comes time to enter, contact via email and we will ensure the appropriate credit is applied.
As always, a big thank you to all our volunteers who put so much work in behind the scenes. A special shout out to Kerry Power who spent a full week preparing food for last night's dinner, but also to Adam Power, Paul Guard, Sally Staton, Brett Penridge and Amanda Koopman, along with Somerset Regional Council for support of the event.
One final piece of housekeeping is working out how to return our race bibs for those that took them home. This may need to be a combination of handing them in at the next race or posting them back. Can you please respond to the email sent out if you have any of our race bibs and we'll work something out on an individual basis.
As always, stay safe on the trails and we hope to see you back at a Raid race soon,
Liam
(Photo: looking back west at smoke over the trekking course as the fire grew while we were collecting controls from the kayak stage).
