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kayak races called the Mill Race Massacre and the Iceman Championships. Vancouver Lake Regional Park is a big tourist and event destination, said Zach Stratton, marketing assistant for the Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office. "This is a beautiful 234-acre park, not far from downtown, with 35 acres of main- tained area with open grass fields, picnic areas, parking, and 2.5 miles of lakefront. Plus, it features views of Mount St.
Helens, Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams." Tourists and athletes flock to the Rapid
City, S.D., area for a variety of Black Hills terrain, including the Needles, the Badlands, and the Hanson-Larson Memorial Park, located in the heart of the city, noted Domico Rodriguez, sports and events sales director for the Rapid City CVB. "The park has a mountainous ter- rain, perfect for mountain biking and trail running."
Natural Venues, Unique Challenges Chris Bischoff, tournament director with the MasterCraft Pro-Wakeboard Tour, said finding a centrally located venue with approximately 2,000 feet of straight water- way more than 12 feet deep, with 1,000 feet of flat shoreline for vendor set up— plus a sloped shoreline for spectator view- ing with plenty of space for parking—can be tricky. "And then after we find that, we have to hope that we can get approval from the local municipalities to have the event on that particular body of water, which can prove to be a major challenge." Thus, a good local CVB or sports coun- cil can be an event planner's biggest asset, Bischoff said. "The Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation is great to work with and has helped to make Volunteer Landing in Knoxville one of the best of the summer stops for us." Lakes and rivers often cross city, county
or even state boundaries, which means that planners have to be prepared to work with multiple entities. Parks can present similar issues, said Dave Haglund, commissioner for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, speaking of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Cross Country National
Spectators were entertained by the feats of professional lumberjacks during the STIHL Timbersports Series held in Lake Charles, La. The event featured male and female participants from all over the world.
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S.P.O.R.T.S. 2012
18
August 2012
www.sportseventsmagazine.com
Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana CVB