South Okanagan’s Freak’n Farmer race is no more

One of the South Okanagan’s most popular races has been cancelled.

Hoodoo Adventures announced in a press release today, May 6, the Freak’n Farmer Adventure Obstacle Race will come to an end for the foreseeable future.

The race, which was featured in an episode of The Amazing Race Canada, has been hosted at Oliver’s Covert Farms for the past eight years.

“It is with extremely heavy hearts that we make this announcement. This was not an easy decision at all,” Hoodoo Adventures co-owner Lyndie Hill says in the release.

The race began in 2012 after the idea of a mud run that paid homage to a farm was born on at Covert Farms.

The event's popularity spread and participant numbers skyrocketed from the original 65 runners that took part in the first event.

The race was featured in a 2015 episode of Amazing Race Canada, which brought even more exposure to the race. In 2016, more than 2,000 people participated.

Participant numbers began to drop in 2017, however, and sponsorships also began to decline. The Coverts and Hoodoo Adventures, who have more than 100 years of event organizing experience behind them, found it one of the toughest events they have ever organized.

With a team of 12 people taking almost two months to prepare for the event, the workload has become too much for those involved and along with the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to end the race.

“We have valued the partnership with the Coverts and we have become family. Together we are looking for and considering new opportunities and we are excited about what the future may bring. As one door closes, we are aiming to open another, so please watch this space,” the Hoodoo Adventure team says.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to tips@infonews.ca and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.