The last time Obstacle Racing Media wrote an article about Atlas Race was in April of last year. We had been informed by Hunter McIntyre and a few other Atlas participants that they had yet to be paid for race winnings. In addition, they had “postponed” races and some participants were out registration money. We reached out to Atlas back then, but they would not give us an on the record statement. The best we could get out of co-owners Scott Gephart and Lance Landers was that they had new investors who had big money they were about to receive. We were told that it would all be happening “soon”. (You can read the complete article here).
What happened next was that their remaining races, scheduled for San Diego, Boise, Denver, Portland, and Dallas all went away and Atlas Race went radio silent.
Fast forward to September of 2014, and we received an email from Lindsay Waterhouse, a PR director from Nclusive Agency. She sent us a press release stating NFL Pro Bowler Dwight Freeney was Atlas Race’s new partner.
We immediately reached back out to Lindsay, and to co-owners Scott and Lance to find out more. We got a phone call from Joe Yates, head of Business Development at Atlas, who requested that we send all inquires to him.
Here is what we sent:
Joe,
Thank you for taking the time to get these answers for us.
Tell us how you came to work with Dwight Freeney?
Have all athletes been paid from all previous race winnings? Teams and Individuals? If no, how much is outstanding?
Are there any outstanding debts for vendors from previous races? (Portopotties, obstacle constructions? medals? etc?)
Are there any participants who signed up for races, who requested a refund, who are still owed money?
Will you continue to have team and individual payouts at future races? If so, what will those amounts be?
How many participants are you looking at your next event? How about the next 2 after that? How many in 2015 over all?
What is your plan for success in a crowded market with some previous blemishes of owed money and cancelled races?
Please feel free to contact me if you need clarity on any of these questions.
That email did not get a response. So, after a few days, we reached back out to Lindsay, Scott, and Lance. None of them got back to us.
Part of Atlas Race’s new Pro Team
Since we sent that email. Atlas has made several announcements. These include a collaboration with OCR Warrior, a partnership with a DJ to create obstacle music, a street team, a Best of The West Challenge, a “Couch To Course” training program, and a new pro team which includes Hobie Call (now on his 4th OCR company).
In February of 2014, with 2 well produced races and a hearty schedule, some were ready to call Atlas Race the next big player. They had gotten favorable reviews from ORM and Dirt In Your Skirt. Then, nothing…
So what now? With 9 races officially scheduled for 2015 and 9 more listed as “pre-registration”, are you ready to take them seriously? Is an NFL player’s money, and lots of promotion enough to get you to sign up?
Is Atlas Race destined to be the West Coast’s answer to Battlefrog, a race which everyone loves and has the goods to back up the hype? Or could a few races with low turnout cause more cancellations and a death knell, not unlike another race which once had a similar race map?
Matt B. Davis
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I registered for an Atlas race in Phoenix back in 2013 and STILL waiting for them to come here. I had asked bout a year ago if I was still registered and when they were finally coming. I was told yes and they were working on it. To date I receive emails promoting various things and other race locations as well as notices that you can pre-register for Phoenix. I sent an email last week asking what is happening with Phoenix and not heard back yet. I am disappointed and a bit angry over the whole thing. I just want to run their race, hope it is good and they continue to do well. We need more quality races here in the desert.