Where Cyclists Meet Lumberjacks
by Doug Gillett
The Aflac Outdoor Games are on the move—both
literally and figuratively.
After calling Columbus’ South Commons home for
its first two years, the Games will bring its family-friendly
slate of outdoor activities to the uptown riverfront
area at Columbus State University’s RiverWalk
campus; it’s also scheduled for a month earlier than
usual (May 21-23) to try to lure people outdoors before
the grueling heat of a south Georgia summer sets
in. Organizer Warner Neal, president of Columbus-based
hospitality and event-management firm Outdoor
Events, says the intent of the move is to broaden the
event’s appeal and its array of activities—and to position
it for further expansion as uptown Columbus
grows and diversifies.”
Herbert Greene agrees. Greene is the executive director
of the Columbus Sports Council, which is partnering
with Outdoor Events for the third year to bring
the AOG to Columbus.
“Last summer, we asked ourselves whether we
wanted to continue having it on South Commons or go ahead, make a move, and start acclimating
everyone to what the event is
going to be like in the future,” Neal said. “So we made the decision to move to the
riverfront near CSU’s green space. Our
goal originally was, and still is, one day
when they start doing whitewater rafting
on the Chattahoochee River, to incorporate
that as a major component.”
With the help of a title sponsorship
from Aflac, Neal started the games as
an offshoot of the Stihl equipment
company’s Timbersports Series, in which
athletes compete in a variety of woodchopping
competitions. The axe throwing,
chainsaw carving and “hot sawing”
events return from previous Games,
along with archery competitions, dog
jumping and agility events, and the Pig
Bowl, a barbecue-cooking contest open
to both professional cooks and backyard
grilling connoisseurs.
But the event’s organizers have made
a point of “keeping it fresh” by adding
new events, the biggest of which is a series
of bicycle races on a closed course
circling the CSU campus area. There
will be a total of six races for everyone
from beginners to professional male and female cyclists. Neal says that cycling
enthusiasts who have traveled to Athens
for the spring Twilight Criterium races
will find plenty to enjoy about the races
planned for this year’s Outdoor Games. “That’s a huge event up there,” he said, “and we wanted to create something
like it.”
The Games’ move uptown also means
that local dining and drinking establishments
are being invited into the mix. “A ticket to the Aflac Outdoor Games
gets you admittance to the event and
admission into nightclubs, free cover to see different bands,” Neal said. “We’re
really changing the dynamics of the
whole event.” Outdoor concerts also will
be hosted at stages on Broadway and at
Woodruff Park on the riverfront.
“The event, as a whole, is intended to
get families to come out and get kids out
to enjoy the outdoors and see something
different—don’t just sit inside and play
video games all day,” Neal said. “We’re
trying to provide enough different options
that people may go down to see the
bike race or the dog event and say, ‘Holy
smokes, I never thought I’d see that
here—maybe that’s something I want to
do.”
In the long run, Neal says his hope is
for the Outdoor Games to become a
major annual boon to the city’s economy.
This year, he and Greene estimate, the
competitive events alone could bring as
many as 1,000 contestants and family
members to hotels, restaurants and other
establishments in the Columbus metro
area. But as the Outdoor Games grow in
stature and add more events, Neal says it
could also become a regular fixture on
the calendars of athletes and sportsmen
around the country.
From the moment Neal moved back to Columbus in 2003
and began hearing talk about the plans for a whitewater rafting
attraction in the uptown section of the Chattahoochee River, he
envisioned a major event that would include rafting, kayaking,
and other water sports, putting Columbus on the map as a major
hub for outdoor activities. “From that point on, everyone I’ve
talked to, I’ve talked about how adding whitewater rafting can
completely change the dynamics of this area,” he said. “When
the time is right, we want to make whitewater one of the
biggest components, if not the biggest component, of the
Games.
“We don’t see why this event can’t expand from Dillingham
to 14th Street on both sides of the river,” Neal said. “People
can come here, they can have the facilities of a nice hotel, they
can have nice restaurants, and they can see what Columbus is
all about. We want to position the Outdoor Games as the
biggest outdoor event in the area, and I don’t see why we can’t
host the biggest whitewater rafting event in the country right
here.”
For more on the Aflac Outdoor Games, including event
schedules, photos from past events, and information for
prospective vendors, go to aflacoutdoorgames.com or columbusgasports.com.
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