Behind the Scenes at the Emerald Enduro

Have you ever wondered what goes into running an Enduro World Series? Well 7 stages, with 14 kilometres of course tape, 9000 spectators, 120 volunteers, 400 racers and over 30,000 litres of water for the bike wash. It takes this, and a little more to run the Emerald Enduro!

Sun shining, rollercoaster like trails and a crescendo of heckling, chainsaws, and cow bells, it’s not hard to see why the Emerald Enduro has swiftly become the riders favorite event of the year. The Enduro World Series has seen an unprecedented growth rate in its juvenile years, with individual races already becoming classics, none more so than the Emerald Enduro. You can have the best tracks in the world, but if it doesn’t have the right people behind it, it will crash and burn, and it is this that has made the Emerald Enduro so successful.

Behind the slick running of the Emerald Enduro is a team putting more than their moneys worth back into the race and Irish scene, the squad at Biking.ie have run the event faultlessly thanks to the passion and commitment from everyone, the marshals, medics, spectators, right through to the top and event organiser Niall Davis. Therefore it’s amazing to discover that such a well run and widely loved race actually ran at a loss in 2015…

“We had close to 120 volunteers over the weekend, I’m so grateful towards them as we would be lost without them”

The Irish are billed as one of the warmest and welcoming nations and it holds true in its racing too! The race is a real family affair, for example with Niall’s sister working in registration and his brother keeping things running smoothly in the car parks, even Niall’s seven week old son came to keep a watchful eye over things. Everyone involved in the race was super helpful and friendly, giving the event a ‘grass roots’ atmosphere just with the likes of Jared Graves and Tracy Moseley rolling past you!

This year’s round was the second time the EWS had visited Ireland and both times have left quite a mark and for the same reason. Both years we have been blessed with some spring sunshine and a story like home victory for Greg Callaghan, much to the joy of the riotous Irish crowd. But pretty much as soon as the final wheel crossed the finish line and last drop of champagne left the bottle in 2015, the planning had begun for next year. How could they improve on a seemingly perfect 2015?

“It was surreal, half way through the day I looked at the times and Greg was leading… Of course he was, everything else is going perfectly!”

No one sees or even thinks about the mountainous level of preparation needed to host an EWS, but it takes months, almost a year in fact, of planning for permits, licenses, cabins, electricity and much more before focus can even think of switching onto the venue and race itself. Then when focus does switch to the venue, it takes at least three weeks with long hours to put everything in place, the trails need maintained, roads put in and there’s the small task of assembling the event village / race expo. The team from Biking.ie are from inexperienced when it comes to hosting races, they run a smooth national race series through the rest of the year, drawing on every part of their experience to put Ireland on the global stage, they learnt a few things from 2015 and worked hard to make this year even smoother and more sustainable.

“In 2015 we ran the event at a loss, in 2016 we just about broke even. We have no title sponsor but run as good an event as possible on the budget, the event has had a massive effect on the local economy and the Irish scene…”

The crowd is one of the event’s biggest assets and challenges, the party like atmosphere is unrivalled with the race drawing more spectators than any other, helped by Greg Callaghan winning the previous year. The sheer volume of fans could pose a large headache if not managed correctly, but thanks to clear signposting, maps and helpful marshals it all run smoothly and everyone got to witness another piece of history with Greg winning, again! The Biking.ie team knew they didn’t have the large mountain vista or wildly long and eye ball popping gnar of some other rounds, but what they did have was the most enthusiastic fans and put extra emphasis on helping them to have a top day. Walkways, accurate maps with walking times and riders arrival times, great catering to keep them fuelled up and even a DJ up the hill to get the party started a little earlier! When Richie rolled through into third Greg lept out the hot seat and the pits erupted, my hairs were well and truly stood on end with everyone leaping out going crazy, a memory that will definitely stay with me forever.

“The event runs on good vibes, a lot of motivation, passion and above everything else everyone involved going above and beyond, putting everything in they can to make the best event possible”

Running such a great event not only takes a lot of time and commitment but money at the end of the day. The Emerald Enduro amazingly doesn’t have a title sponsor which makes it all the more incredible at putting on such a faultless event, in 2015 the event ran at a loss, and in 2016 just about broke even. Over these two years the event has made something more valuable than a profit, it has had a huge effect on the local economy and the Irish mountain biking scene. This would never have been possible without the passionate people behind the event going above and beyond to make the Emerald Enduro the best event possible.

For more information visit emeraldenduro.com