What if it rains? We have to admit it: we still can’t do miracles when it comes to the weather. We have been organizing +100 Hercules Trophy editions in very different weather conditions and it’s the one thing that we just cannot control.
Being a sports event and a festival, everything goes on. Even when it’s raining, even when it’s cold. In case of thunderstorms or heavy winds, we do, however, take a couple of drastic measures to ensure safety and security of the participants, e.g. pause the competition for some time, bring down inflatables in windy conditions or replace one or more challenges with a safer alternative.
We’re prepared for different scenarios:
- Every Herculean labour has a dedicated tent for shelter;
- We provide lots of hot drinks, hot meals and hot showers to make everyone feel comfortable;
- At the Hercules Village there’s enough inside warm and dry space for everyone to sit and enjoy the party;
- Our safety manager has a rain & storms plan and coordinates with the core team on a continuous basis.
Some challenges might become rather muddy, but that doesn’t kill the atmosphere. On the contrary… People feel alive and heroic after a rainy day of sports. And by the way, did you know that the best Hercules parties are the ones after a rainy day? Must be due to some magical raindrops…
Here’s an interview with founder Yves Vekemans dating from 2013 where he talks about the rain scenario.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zs5HUe6HJU&w=560&h=315]
Picture from one of our favourite movies, Any Given Sunday (by the way, that’s also the movie where coach Al Pacino gives the most powerful speech on teams).