Raid Centrale Paris
Val de Durance
The Organizing Team
A bit of history
Day 1 Start
Whishing to unite students and companies around a sportive challenge, a group of engineering students from Ecole Centrale Paris created in 1999 what would become Raid Total Centrale Paris until 2010, and Raid Centrale Paris since.
At the dawn of the 14th edition, it is clear that Raid Centrale Paris has hugely developped : from the creation of a Company day to the recent quality certification to ISO 9001, going through the creation of the Prologue or the environmental certification to ISO 14001, many things happend in these thirteen years!
More than 80 organizing students
The staff during the Prologue
Since its creation, the whole of Raid Centrale Paris organisation is conducted by the students. They see in it a unique occasion to invest themselves in a large-scale associative project, involving their love for mountain and sport. Indeed, the challenge is omnipresent each year as everything must be rethought due to the change of location. The responsabilitiers are handled by a score of second year students, supported by around 60 first year students, which will carry the torch next year.
An event prepared all over the year
Staff HQ during the Raid
Throughout the year, these students prepare with passion this sportive event. From the months following the race, a new team is elected to begin the planning of the next edition. It starts with a reflection on the potential hosting sites. In October, weekend expeditions take place to check out the candidate locations and outline the itinerary. Once the site is chosen (by vote), a week-long expedition during All Saints' vacations allow us to draw in detail the itinerary. Meetings with local authorities, inscriptions management and promotion in schools and universities occupy the organizing team until April. At last, the final touch comes in the last week before the Raid.
14 sections for an optimal organization
Staff of Corsica 2011 edition
The variety of the tasks imposes to the team a particularly rigourous internal organization, similar to that of a professional company: the work is divided into 14 sections cordinated by the board of the association.
The Itinerary section draws the course of the race and organise the activties on a level with the Raid ! The Logistics section ensures that everything needed during the five days of race is available. The Security and the Environment sections are in charge of the protection of those present at the event and of the environment, respectively. The Company and Concurrents section to "recruit" sponsors and competitors. The (Internal and External) Communication, the Design and the Marketing sections convey the image of the Raid, while the International section spreads it all over the world ! The Prologue section organizes a typical day of race near Paris in February. Finally, the Planning section occupies all these people and the IT section provides good work tools and design this website.
During the Raid, it is the whole of the team, regardless of section, which sees to everything.
By the way, other student associations of Ecole Centrale Paris come to lend a hand :
- Centrale Num for the photographic coverage,
- NX Télévison for the video reports,
- not to mention Band'a Joe brassband !
Therefore, it's a group of more than a hundred who give life to Raid Centrale Paris each year.
These students are nevertheless helped by professionals such as doctors, physiotherapists and qualified guides in order to ensure the security and the comfort of the concurrents.
See you on the 22nd of April 2012 !
