Behind the Scenes: Catering

Today’s deep dive interview will focus on everyone’s favourite topic… food!

Over the next few months, we are going to be shining a spotlight on those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the Dragon’s Back Race and Cape Wrath Ultra happen! Today we will be talking to Tim Glasby, Catering Manager for Ourea Events.

What is your role?

“I’m the catering manager, so I’m in charge of creating, making and delivering the food which keeps the competitors and event team literally “running” during an event.

It sounds so simple, but like every other aspect of Ourea’s events, the amount of detail that goes into the planning before the event and the execution during the event is quite something to behold!”

How does catering work on An event which is constantly moving location?

“All our main meals are either cooked or part cooked in a kitchen in Kendal prior to the event. The food then gets packed into freezer vans, refrigerator vans or ambient vans. On a longer event, like the Cape Wrath Ultra or the Dragon’s Back Race, that’s 2 freezers, 2 fridges, 2 ambient and 2 vans to carry the kitchen. All that gets packed at HQ and, as the event progresses, we get extra deliveries of food along the way.” 

Could you describe a typical day working in catering on an event?

“I guess a typical day working on the catering team during an event for me starts at about 02.00 - 02.30. This is when the breakfast team starts their working day! It takes time to cook all the food for breakfast, so if you’re a competitor and you're going to start running at 06.00, ideally you need to eat at 05.00. Once the kitchen doors are open, we get a steady stream through them without a break, so we have to have enough food cooked and ready to serve right from the word go – that’s 300 - 400+ people, and that takes time, hence the early start.

And then the fun really starts! 

For anyone who hasn’t witnessed or taken part in one of our events, especially the multi-day expedition races, the daily logistics and infrastructure can be quite mind boggling. Essentially, the whole camp has to move location every day, so from a catering perspective, that means we have to clean down and then break down a large, complete commercial kitchen, which is made up of both electric and gas ovens, hot cupboards, rice cookers, hot plates, microwaves, chip fryers, bain maries, tables, chairs, hand wash sinks, pot wash etc and pack it into vans. Some of these items weigh 100s of kilos and require four people to lift them!

We then drive to the next location which could be a couple of hours away, and then rebuild it back into a working kitchen, which includes electrics and hot and cold running water. 

Once the kitchen is rebuilt, it has to be sanitised before any kind of food service is permitted.”

“Now it’s time for the breakfast team to handover to the Afternoon/Evening Crew.

The first thing they do is make pack-up lunch bags for all the event team that will be out on the hill during the day. This is done a day in advance and refrigerated for pick up by the teams at breakfast the next day. 

Then, for half the team, it’s time to start preparing the afternoon snacks for the hungry runners coming in. So that means making soup, getting all the various cakes we have out on display, and firing up the chip fryer (on average we get through about 125-150kgs of chips a day. On one very wet, windy and cold day during the Cape Wrath Ultra we got through 220kg!) 

The other half of the team start preparing the evening meal, which starts being served at 6pm. A typical meal would be something like a lasagne. All Ourea’s events are vegetarian, so no meat or fish. However, we still have quite an array of diets to cater for. So a lasagne turns into a vegetarian lasagne as well as vegan lasagne, and a gluten free lasagne, and just about every other permutation you can think of. This will be served with a garlic and herb slice and a fresh green salad with zesty dressing. Followed by a pudding with custard, cream or ice cream.

The kitchen finally closes at 10pm, then everything has to be cleaned, sanitised and then it’s time to prep for breakfast. Lights out in the kitchen are around 23.30! 

I’m hopefully in bed slightly earlier than that, as I have another early start!”

How do you decide what food to serve at the event?

“Well, first and foremost where the main meals are concerned, it has to be a recipe that we can actually deliver in the time frame we have on the event. So realistically, that window is about 3.5hrs-4hrs. Anything longer than that and we’d miss the kitchen opening time.  

The meal has also got to be a balance between something that actually tastes great, but also provides all the nutrition that someone running 30+ miles a day needs. 

We always try and offer something green and fresh every day, so the salads, slaw and dressings get made in the afternoon just prior to the kitchen opening.”

What are the biggest challenges you face / any examples?

“One of the biggest challenges for me personally is sourcing, cooking and delivering a menu which caters for everyone’s dietary needs. 

Again, it sounds so simple, but can take hours sat in front of a computer trying to find the right product. Once I’ve found it, then it has to be ordered and sampled. For every main meal served at one of our events, the meal will have first been cooked in my kitchen at home. Then it’ll be cooked and served to the Ourea office team and if they like it and we get the go-ahead from them, we’ll go into the kitchen and cook 100’s of portions of a particular meal. Which add up to 1000’s of meals over the duration of an event like the Cape Wrath Ultra or the Dragon’s Back Race. The finisher meal for the Great Lakeland 3 Day is for over 1000 people and served in a time window of just 3hrs.

If I’m putting on Belgium waffles at breakfast (vegetarian), then I also want to be able to offer them to vegans and those with gluten free diets. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but sourcing anything that isn’t mainstream takes time and comes with a hefty price tag. 

Sourcing ingredients before we’re even in the kitchen can take hours of research.”

What is the best thing about working on catering?

“In catering you become a very tight knit team. It’s hard work, but because of the long hours you really come together as a team. It’s also hugely rewarding. The people serving the food get to see and interact with the participants every day, and you really get to see how much of a difference you can make to their journey and experience. It’s tough, but definitely worth it to be part of such an amazing team.”