Ekofisk March begins

by the Norwegian Petroleum Museum

Offshore workers have limited opportunities to exercise during their working or leisure hours. Some get enough physical activity from the work they do, while others use the gym.

— The Ekofisk March. Photo: Husmo Foto/Norwegian Petroleum Museum

The Ekofisk March, which has been an annual tradition since 1985, is an event which combines both physical exertion and social interaction.

Through the checkpoint. Photo: Husmo Foto/Norwegian Petroleum Museum

The march covers all the installations, and how many circuits need to be completed on each platform has been carefully calculated.

Petroleum engineer Roger Schulstock started the whole thing in 1985 by taking the initiative to stage a summer march around the Ekofisk Complex. With 312 participants, this event created an appetite for more.

The true Ekofisk March began the following year, when Schulstock and others had made detailed preparations and ordered diplomas, badges and medals for everyone who completed the course.

This has since become an annual event which calls for a good deal of administration on a voluntary basis. Peak turnout in some years has been 2 500, with an annual average of 550. In all, 23 000 people have completed the march.

The event has joined Norway’s mountain walking association, but one requirement for taking part is a job in the Greater Ekofisk Area. However, some exceptions are allowed.

Participation was a special prize announced by the association one year for members who deserved special recognition for taking a mountain walk despite a handicap.

The winner, Johs, was blind. His arrival on Ekofisk with a white stick was a pretty unusual sight in a workplace where everyone needs a valid health certificate. But nobody could spot that he was unable to see when doing the Ekofisk March with his wife.

Profits from the sale of T-shirts and the like have benefitted good causes, with the Salvation Army being the recipient on the 10th anniversary.