A community for ocean lovers
The Race for Oceans Relay
The Race for Oceans Relay is an annual event that combines sports, beach cleaning, and knowledge sharing in a unique way. Like the Olympic flame, a baton travels up along Denmark's west coast. The lines of nature set the framework, while the baton is carried over land or by water by a community of people with various backgrounds.
The route stretches from Sylt to Skagen - a stretch of 456 km. The route is divided into 47 sections, and the disciplines are primarily running/walking (approx. 15 min./per k.) but SUP and kayaking are also possible. The length of each section varies between 2 – 49 km, depending on section and discipline.
Everyone, who enters this event, is on the same team and will jointly bring the baton forward. Please notice that security is priority. This means that there might be sections, where activities on water will be cancelled due to conditions and the baton must instead be transferred by running or walking when possible.
On chosen locations along the route, there will be a beach clean-up, which is organised in cooperation with organisations, companies as well as local ocean lovers.
The route
The Race for Oceans Relay starts in Sylt and ends in Skagen. The route covers 456 km and consists of 47 sections spread across 10 days.
The 2022 Relay was special
As something special for this year, the Relay continued its journey along the east coast of Denmark. Here, the baton was sailed from Skagen to Aarhus in collaboration with X-Yachts.
Along the way, we made stops in 13 ports, where we did port clean-ups and found the microplastic type, plastic pellets, in 11 out of the 13 ports. It was impactful to find plastic pellets in more enclosed waters, but it only emphasized that the oceans are interconnected.
At these port clean-ups we also used underwater drones to explore life below the water surface, marking the first time we incorporated technology into our activities.
Beach clean-ups
Since 2021, we have had other ocean-loving people joining us for beach clean-ups. We also refer to it as Walk & Talks, depending on the concept of the day.
Often, families, friends, companies, schools, and scouts have joined us for an inspiring experience on the beach adapted to each different group’s individual needs.
Do you want to join a beach clean-up?
Keep an eye on our activities on our social media platforms. You are also welcome to send us a request for a beach clean-up on our mail hello@raceforoceans.org
The big plastic pellets hunt 2023
n the summer of 2023, we hosted a huge plastic pellet hunt, which took place for six weeks straight on 10 beaches in North Jutland. This summer project was supported by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
During the six weeks, a total of 42 beach clean-ups were held with 762 visitors. The youngest participant was 10 months old and the oldest was 82 years. Together we collected a total of approx. 19.067 pcs. plastic pellets by hand - this corresponds to 572 grams!
The project was an awareness campaign about plastic pellets on Danish beaches. You can readmore about the challenge with plastic pellets under Technology menu. Here, you will also find information about our latest project - a technology project that will do something to the problem!
Other activities
Since 2019, in addition to the Relay, we have organised various types of activities and beach clean-ups.
The Line of Ocean Plastic 2022. In September 2020 we received a Danish SDG Award 2020. We celebrated the award together with our ocean-loving community by building Denmark’s first Line of Ocean Plastic between Blokhus and Løkken – a 15 k. stretch. The Line of Ocean Plastic took place over 7 days and was named "Project of the Week" in week 42 by DR Ultra.
Virtual beach clean-ups 2021. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions bach in 2021 we couldn't gather people for beach clean-ups. Therefore, we arranged the first Virtual beach clean-ups in Denmark. The concept was simple. Everyone with passion for the ocean could participate by going to their local beach and collecting ocean waste. All participants were encouraged to take a picture with some of the collected plastic in their hands and share it with us on social media. We experienced a wide support across Denmark and people found the event both meaningful and inspiring.