Ali Gordon

The Sunset Relay

The time had come, after some long training sessions, Lydia & myself were about to embark on the experience of a lifetime, The Sunset Relay. Athletes, bloggers, journalists, celebrities and competition winners were teaming up to cover 1300km across Northern Sweden. The purpose of this relay was to raise awareness of the dangers of sun exposure and the importance of prevention. We spent the first day travelling from London Heathrow Terminal 2 to Kiruna Airport in Northern Sweden. We arrived at 11pm and took an hour and a half coach journey to Abisko where we were surrounded by beautiful views. This was also the first time in my life I had seen complete day light at this time of night, it felt extremely surreal.

After a few hours sleep in Abisko it was time to get stuck into the relay as we began the 3rd and final leg of this journey. We travelled around from check point to check point in a huge coach which was kitted out with beds, social areas & most importantly food & coffee. The atmosphere was amazing, with everyone encouraging and cheering each other on as each person took part in their stage of the race. There were participants from all around the world, from New Zealand, France, Netherlands, Sweden, & of course the UK. The race ran for 96 hours and never stopped, my first leg was a 26km bike ride at 1am followed by a 8km canoe at 11am with 5 times coast to coast champion Richard Ussher. The experience was incredible and an amazing humble guy to share it with.

I had to share the images above with you guys as I was astonished to find out that the water in Sweden is so clean you can drink straight from the lakes. The participants bathed, drank & washed their clothes during the Relay. Being out on the road 24/7 meant we all embraced nature just a little bit more. The landscapes were stunning and air so pure.

Another aspect I had to tell you guys about was the amazing crew and team that organised this huge operation, The event was covered by various media channels and the equipment being used was so cool, Drones, Go pro’s Camera crews & Helicopters where all brought in to capture this amazing event.

After 4 days of daylight and 1300km covered, the whole team grouped together to race the sun in the final leg of the relay. Finishing off in Lulea we had completed the race before sunset & celebrated this incredible experience together in the street. An amazing accomplishment with some remarkable individuals all in aid of raising awareness of the dangers caused by exposure to UV rays. Together against sun dangers, relay the message.


This post is in collaboration with Garnier.