Hitchhiking races

There are a lot of hitchhiking races, mostly in Summer.

Europe

 * Eurizons was a hitchhiking race through Europe with about 50 participants, which took place in 2006 and 2007. It was organized by GLEN (Global Education Network) and included some workshops about the Millennium Development Goals.
 * Race to Riga was a race from Faro, Portugal, to Riga.

Belgium

 * Route du Soleil is an annual one week race for Belgian students organized since 2010, from Belgium to "one of the sunniest destination in Europe". In the summer of 2011 they will even try to break the world record of biggest hitchhiking race with 900 participants. To deal with the number of participants, the different routes have a one day shift so they don't all leave and arrive on the same date. The final winner is decided between the winners of each route during a later race. Several prizes are to be won and the organization also provides some entertainment, food and camping facilities along the way, but this all has go be paid for, the registration fee (for 2013) is a mindblowing EUR 320.
 * The Big Belgian Hitchhiking Contest was an annually event, starting in Ghent. The race is 300 to 500 km long and lasts one day. The third edition took place in October 2008 and doesn't seem to have been repeated since.

France

 * The Pouce d’Or is a yearly race over a week-end in the beginning of autumn. The winner is the one who manages to reach the furthest point and come back before the race is over. It is organized by "Ecole Centrale de Nantes" since 2003 and gathers up to 120 people. In 2012, 3 others schools joined in (Centrale Lille, Télécom Brest and Agro Montpellier). Note: it seems other French schools/universities organize similar races but without advertising or communicating publicly.
 * The Hitchhiking Contest was an unofficial event, from Paris to Dakar in 2011.
 * The Jack Kerouac trophy organized in 2012 by the 'Binouze Hikers'. A one day race from Paris to a bar in Normandy, in which around 50 people took part. No sign it will be repeated.

Germany

 * The German hitchhiking society Abgefahren e.V. is organizing the yearly German Hitchhiking Championship end of May/beginning of June since 2008. It's a one day race taking place in Germany with 80 to 100 participants. Since 2012, teams had to choose 3 intermediate checkpoints among the proposed one. It is to avoid having to many people following the same route at the same time.
 * Tramprennen is an annual hitchhike race across Europe, which takes place at the end of August since 2006. The race lasts usually two weeks and is divided into different stages. Step by step the participating teams (2 or 3 people) are getting closer to the common final destination. It also supports the charity organization [Viva con Agua] by raising funds for WASH (water, sanitation & hygiene) projects. 117 participants took part in 2012. Several other races are affiliated with tramprennen, mostly around the university Easter break period.

Lithuania

 * The Vilnius Hitchhiking Club has been organizing the annual Baltics competition since 1997. The competition itself pre-dates the foundation of the VHHC by two years. It takes place at the end of April, usually over a distance of around 1,000km, the last edition, Baltics 2012 attracted 33 pairs. (The record was set in 2010, when 44 pairs took part)

Netherlands

 * The BOC organizes races occasionally just for fun, usually starting from Utrecht, Netherlands.
 * Some Dutch people from Uden in the Netherlands are organizing a hitchhiking competition once a year, known in Dutch as the Liftwedstrijd (Website gone, Prino 01:29, 24 September 2010 (CEST), new website up: http://liftwedstrijd.hermesgent.be/ )
 * AEGEE-Groningen organises every year hitchhiking races to several cities in Europe, with a cultural program and a lot of going out in the night being there! Usually during the week-ends! In October 2010 we will go to Copenhagen!

Poland

 * The Klub Przygody from Poland is organising a hitchhiking competition once a year in the beginning of May. Mostly they start from Gdansk to some destination in Europe.
 * Students from BIT The Travelers Club of the Wrocław University of Economy every year organize the [http://www.autostoprace.pl/ Auto Stop Race with around 200-250 pairs. The event takes place during a Polish long weekend, at the beginning of May, most likely since 2009. The race starts in Wrocław.

United Kingdom

 * The University of Sheffield is organizing a hitchhiking race every year:
 * The Bummit to Belgrade was a hitchhiking race in 2007 with 200 students from Sheffield to Belgrade.
 * The Bummit to Tallinn (via Leipzig) took place over Easter 2008 with over 300 students from Sheffield to Tallinn.
 * The Link Community Development organizes an annual race from the UK to Morocco and Prague for charity.
 *  The University of St. Andrews Charities Campaign organizes a hitchhiking competition once a year in January. In 2008 they will hitchhike from Scotland towards Amsterdam. - Link broken 00:34, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Australia

 * The Big Green Hitch first took place in march 2013. It supports the Friends of the Earth NGO by raising funds. This edition was a one week 1000 km hitch hiking race from Melbourne to the Mouth of the Murray River (near Adelaide) along the Great Ocean Road. 14 participants took part.

''Know of any other contest? Add it here!''

See also hitchhiking for charity

Hitchhiking competitions