Head of PR leaves the race

Hans Petter Dalby (39) trekker seg fra ledelsen i Finnmarksløpet AS etter å ha vært presse- og informasjonsansvarlig for løpet de siste fire årene. – Det ligger ikke noe dramatikk i dette, forklarer Dalby som forlater skuta i løpet av høsten.

Hans Petter Dalby (39) resigns his job after four years as the Head of public relations and media contact for Finnmarksløpet AS. – There is no drama behind this, Dalby explains. He leaves the job sometime this fall.

When I became an employee in 2006 my goal was to participate in creating a larger interest for the race in the biggest national sports media channels and among people in general. After Finnmarksløpet and sled dog racing in general have received such positive attention, in particular over the past few years, I feel that I can hand over the important position as Head of public relations to someone else with relatively clean conscience, he smiles.

While Dalby has been responsible for PR, long distance sled-dog racing finally has reached the front pages of the biggest sports media, also in the capital Oslo. During the hectic race season the sled-dog mushers are mentioned in the media almost as often as other famous winter-sports competitors. At the same time has Finnmarksløpet become a sports- and media happening that people outside the sled-dog milieu are engaged and interested in.

A lot of this is because of Dalby. He has worked 24-7 to promote and sell Finnmarksløpet. One of his most important milestones is getting NRK’s – the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s – sports dept. to show daily news updates from the race. This has placed Finnmarksløpet among the top of all winter sport events in Norway. Also, the international interest for Finnmarksløpet is much bigger today.

With his background as a competing musher in Finnmarksløpet, a volunteer through many years and his “media personality”, Dalby has been met with respect everywhere. There is no doubt that many will miss him – for his knowledge, his open-mindedness and his positive attitude, both among the local and foreign sports media and among the volunteers at Finnmarksløpet’s own media centre during the race.

Knowing him, we might see him in Alta at some point – with or without dogs. Mushers like him never get done with Finnmark!