Lake Wanaka Contact Tri Series – Elite Race, 20th January 2012
Late last year in an effort to increase the number of elite competitors and support the Contact Tri’s continued presence in Wanaka, local Wanaka triathlete and Olympic hopeful Doddsy (Tony Dodds) laid down the ‘Doddsy International’ challenge. In a quest to bring more world class athletes to the race, Doddsy announced he would double the prize money from his own pocket if anyone could beat him. This generated a huge amount of media coverage, increased local spectator turnout with thousands showing up chanting ‘Doddsy, Doddsy’ and attracted several international triathletes including World Number 5 Frenchman Laurent Vidal who ended up narrowly beating Doddsy for first place in a nail biting race!
This year the event is recognised as an official ITU World Series race, meaning valuable points are on the board for international triathletes. Creating added incentive to come, but there’s more.....
$10,000 for first place!
In 2012 the stakes are increased, to attract the big boys, we also need the big prize pot.
Our audacious Doddsy International mission is to Quintruple the prize pot and raise $10,000! The first place prize has been set at $2k, one anonymous sponsor has already contributed $2k and we have another $1k pledged, so only $5k to go!
That’s your bit. We are asking sponsors, fans and local businesses to get involved. The bigger the prize, the bigger the turnout and the bigger the flow-on benefit for Wanaka’s community.
What we need from you
We are looking for contributions towards the prize pot, all businesses and fans that put forward prize money will be mentioned on Doddsy’s website and via Doddsy’s Facebook and Twitter profiles (over 1,300 fans).
We are asking businesses for minimum contributions of only $200 each.
If cash isn’t something that you can offer we are also on the lookout for some ‘uniquely Wanaka’ prizes. Something that showcases Wanaka and attracts athletes not just for the $$ but for the awesome time they can have in Wanaka afterwards.
For any businesses interested in a major contribution ($500+) we would definitely be interested in discussing a way Doddsy could work with you to maximise your marketing exposure.
What happens if Doddsy wins?
Doddsy is a man of his word and doesn’t think it would be fair if he took the additional prize money himself should he win – which he is aiming for!
He has pledged that should he win, he will donate all the prize money raised to Cystic Fibrosis.
What’s planned?
We’ve already managed to secure lot’s of interest in the lead-up to the event and hope the following will help to maximise attendance, thanks very very much to everyone who has helped us get this far:
- Doddsy International Video Challenge, to be filmed and released late November. Thanks to Lake Wanaka Tourism.
- Doddsy International Media Release, to be distributed via national and international sports media with the assistance of Triathlon NZ and SportConnect.
- Doddsy profile in the Otago Daily Times, profiling both Doddsy and the upcoming race.
- New Doddsy website launching early November, thanks to NV Interactive.
- A triathlete dinner at the Lake Hawea Tavern the night before. The Tavern will be putting on a feed for all of the elite competitors, this is open to the public to come and meet and mingle with the athletes.
- We are also working on a ‘Wanaka Day Out’ for athletes, showing off the sights and activities in Wanaka, including helicopter rides, claybird shooting and hopefully lots more.
This year the race will again be broadcast LIVE on TV1. The day before TV1 also run interviews featuring Doddsy and fellow triathletes taking in the sites and activities Wanaka has on offer.
Contact
