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Published: July 31st 2006
The Rubber Donuts... all in position.
This was the line of donuts the competitors had to run across for the first competion.Each year in Bremen; Germany, Hakke Beck run a regatta on the Wesser River.
The competion has been running for seven or so years now and it is a very popular event for the whole town as well as tourists.
Each year approx. 1000 people enter the compition to be able to race, and only 100 teams are selected. You are only allowed to race once in your life, making it even more of a challenge to be chosen.
Each team is two people, either 2 guys, 2 girls or a mixed team and prizes are allocated to all categories.
The winning team that comes first over all is given 1500 euros to travel the world - nice prize!
So the race - I bet your wondering what its all about...
Well each team is allocated a red rubber donut floaty and all contestants are taking out into the middle of the river on a boat... and one by one each teams number is called out.
They then have to jump over board and swim to their numbered donut and climb aboard.
Once everyone is ready, the task is then to paddle 1.6km
The Competitors...
All lined up waiting for their turn to run as far as they can. upstream with no paddles. You are only allowed to use your arms or legs.
So with the race being explained - now we can tell you about what happened this year...
For the first time this year they had a new competion which they did before the actual race.
This race consisted of 70 or so of these rubber donuts all tied together to form one long line... and 10 contestants were chosen at random with the task of running along these donuts to the end. The winner being the one who gets the furthest.
From a spectators view, it didnt seem too difficult... but as we soon found out it was very hard. The majority of the competitors didnt get past the first 10, with only 2 people making past 15.
It was a funny sight to see each competitor say how many they were going to reach, then fall into the water after only making to 3 or 4.
So the race was finally done when a guy, who had worked out the tact of walking on these things so well made it to the twenty-nineth! The crowd was cheering and clapping for
All the fans
The river banks were filled with fans and supporters (take note of the bridge in the distance). him, it was very cool!
After this we got up from where we were sitting to follow the regatta upstream.
Oh I forgot to tell you - there is also a competion for the best supportive by-standers, eg: costumes, make-up, banners, songs, chants...
So being in the spirit of it all we were supporting a 2 girl team from Colombia, (who we didnt actually know) well our friends were supporting them, so we tagged along to support.
The race finally began at 5.30 with the winning team taking approximately 30min to reach the finish line.
We followed the race from the river side, trying to find our team and support them.
The crowds walking along the river were massive, it was like a pilgramage walking to the finish line.
Reaching the finish line but on the opposite side to the festivities, alot of the support team decided to leave (including us) without even knowing what position the team came. As we left the faithful support crew joined the long line to catch the ferry across the river to meet up with their team.
To celebrate the finish there was a big party at Cafe
The Wind...
wanted to join in... not making it any easier for the competitors! Sand, which is a river side cafe set up like a beach with volley ball etc. There were live bands and fireworks to keep party goers happy, but we never actually got to the party.
The race and the atmosphere was awesome... the crowds were supporting their friends and the competitors, some of them being clowns, made for a good show.
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