On the final morning of Outdoor Retailer in Minneapolis, dozens of participants and volunteers gathered at Theodore Wirth Park for the inaugural 57hours Adventure Race, a 90-minute orienteering course built with the Minnesota Orienteering Club and supported by The Loppet Foundation.
As OR attendees and content creators were getting ready to explore the “urban outdoors,” Charlie Hilligoss, founder of Gallant Tiger, was handing out his signature product—peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“We want to build Gallant Tiger by getting the sandwiches into people’s hands in the places they naturally belong, and this was exactly that,” he says. “Seeing racers enjoy them was pretty special.”
Through this new interaction, OR is banking on going back to its roots of founder-led innovation and bringing the products, the buyers and the influencers in the space where it belongs—outdoors. Minneapolis, famous for its trails, mountain biking, paddling, lakes, and forests, is just the place.
“Outdoor Retailer brings together the people shaping the outdoor industry,” said Viktor Marohnić, founder of 57hours. “This race gives them a way to experience Minneapolis through movement, navigation, and teamwork in a unique urban setting.”
More than 75 attendees were selected to participate, with many having little or no orienteering experience. As the morning fog lifted, they set off on a choose-your-own-adventure course in search of hidden checkpoints, with a 57hours trip to Greenland as the grand prize at stake.
Winnebago, Red Wing Boots, Granite Gear, and other brands offered support and prizes, while Frost River gave out waxed canvas bags stuffed with local goodies.
The race was also part of the Wild Reach initiative, with creator network Popfly powering the connection to content creators, who were encouraged to document their experience across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, blogs, and other channels.
“These are dynamic, extraverted people, excited to try this new sport and recording content,” says Stephen Regenold, a strategic advisor to 57hours and founder of GearJunkie. “I think it really brokered the energy of the event.”
As a Minneapolis local, Regenold was excited to see the level of engagement. “Watching the Instagram reels and YouTube content after, it was very rewarding to see people jumping into a stream, getting all messy to get to a checkpoint flag at 8.30 in the morning before they had to do the business event downtown. That was a definite moment for me.”
For OR 2027, Regenold is advocating for a full day of outdoor activities adjacent to the trade show. He says, “You want to test out the hiking boots or the backpack or the mountain bike. Engaging the brands in outdoor activations would be a big part of that.”
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