Race Around Brisbane Comes First

“A great day, nice people, fun activities and lots of action.” "It was legen... wait for it... dary!"

This is how two of thirty six participants summed up the Griffith University Student Linx inaugural Race Around Brisbane, held Saturday 13^th March. Eight teams of international and domestic students set off from South Bank at 9am with a map in one hand and a list of challenges in the other. The goal? To earn enough points to win a share of the $500 worth of prizes on offer.

But getting to this stage was no small feat. Student Linx Coordinator Andrew Monaghan and his team of event management students began planning the Race Around Brisbane in early February. Promotion, itinerary planning, registration and scoring all had to be considered. Developing this new event allowed for some great creative brainstorming, but also made it difficult to know what would and wouldn’t work. The aim was not only to provide a fun social event, but to give new students the opportunity to explore locations useful for their study and social life. So the team spent many trial-and-error sessions – including a practice race in torrential rain – to improve the way they would deliver it. It could well have turned into a logistical nightmare!

When race day arrived, the enthusiasm of participants was clear, with some turning up at the meeting point forty minutes before the official race start!

Posing with policemen in Queen Street Mall, swimming at Streets Beach and giving group hugs in the Botanical Gardens were just some of the challenges teams completed during the two and a half hour race. The Green Earth Festival and St. Patrick’s celebrations added to the excitement and made for some fantastic photos, with one team even managing to get onto a parade float!

It was certainly never meant to be a marathon, but some teams ran to the Nathan campus finish line all the way from Garden City. It was no wonder the free BBQ lunch disappeared quickly! While the participants mingled, the event team was hard at work scoring photos, collected items and written answers to determine the winners. There were prizes for first, second and last teams as well as a most creative photo award, with Tim Tams all round to finish off.

A survey at the end of the day gave an indication of what students thought. 90% of respondents said they would participate in the race again, whilst 80% were likely to keep in touch with their team mates – most of whom they didn’t know before. To top it off, all respondents said they would attend another Student Linx event.

The Race Around Brisbane started the semester on a great note, so if you want to be part of Student Linx’s next event, check out their Facebook page.

Written by Danielle Van Geest