2009 Event

In September 2009 event participants gathered in Tromsø, Norway, "the home of a thousand mountains", to take on the Cisco Euro Challenge.

Thirty-seven corporate teams, with determination to succeed, battled through three days of tough challenges with six event stages that tested their mind, body and spirit.

Congratulations to the event winners Telenor and winners of the Team Fundraising Award, Scottish Water, and the winners of the Company Fundraising Award, Azzurri Communications. 

For the first time this year we also had a Water Industry Cup presented to the highest performing team from this sector, this year the winners were Southern Water.

Below is a taster of what the teams faced - or read more about the challenges on the IMG website (opens in a new window).

Stage 1 – Snap Happy

This all-running stage had teams visiting 24 image points located round Tromsø.

Stage 2 – What's the big deal

Teams departed for the islands of Sommarøy, a vibrant coastal area that lies to the west of mainland Norway and Tromsø Island.  This was a physically and strategically demanding challenge where teams had to win as much money as possible by playing Blackjack in the Intelligent Sport® Casino! With NOK 1,000, or a yellow chip, that the teams were given to begin their betting frenzy, they then had to run and collect playing cards from across the network of islands to take back and play the dealers with.

Stage 3 - Orion's belter

Navigate to accelerate

Credit: IMG

This stage required teams to do some careful plotting and planning in order to succeed. Teams quite literally needed to 'Navigate to Accelerate', the exact sentiment of the event sponsor Cisco. As well as the huge emphasis on careful and clever planning in this stage, it also set out to challenge a whole new set of physical skills as the teams took to the pure white beaches, sheltered bays and narrow channels of Sommarøy by canoe!

Stage 4 - Pentago

This intellectual board game required exceptional focus and concentration which was very challenging after the two stages the teams had already endured today. You could see that many were mentally and physically drained but spirits were still high and with this stage carrying as much weight in points as any of the other stages, the room certainly didn't lack a competitive atmosphere.

Stage 5 – Saddle thor

In the saddle at Saddle Thor

Credit: IMG

This stage was a crucial one for the teams and the first one they had to complete by bike. As the penultimate stage of the event, the results of this mission could make or break the mindsets of the contenders going into the final – the Intelligent Sport® Grand Prix and despite the somewhat adverse weather conditions, teams were not ready to give up!

Stage 6 - Grand prix

Finally the big moment that everyone has been gearing towards arrives… the final stage of the 2009 Cisco Euro Challenge! This was the last opportunity for the teams to gather points to push themselves up the leader board and it is also the adrenalin fuelled stage that makes up the eagerly anticipated TV show, 'The Brain Cell'.

As with every Intelligent Sport® event, the Intelligent Sport® Grand Prix, or ISGP, is a fastest-to-finish multi-discipline circuit broken up by a series of four Brain Cell's™.

Captured Moments

Check out our photos from the event on flickr (opens in a new window).