The file is lying on the desk, and the binder it belongs in is on the shelf behind you in the office. You do not have to be dealing with an exceptionally lazy employee in this situation to realise that they are not going to get up to fetch the binder. After all, it is far more fun to give yourself a measured push away from the desk with both feet and speed backwards towards the shelf. The sporty ones take the return trip the same way – after all, the child in every man or woman also needs a little nurturing, even in the driest working day. As with everything that is fun, this principle has turned into a sport: a novelty discipline.
- The global rise of the novelty sport of “office chair racing”
- Different variations and an astonishingly similar set of rules around the world
- Desk chair tuning is explicitly allowed
- Office chair racing, extreme ironing and bog snorkelling
The global rise of the novelty sport of “office chair racing”
It is well known that André Franquin, the great Franco-Belgian comic artist and creator of such brilliant series as “Spirou and Fantasio”, “Marsupilami” and “Gaston”, had an anarchic sense of humour. In that respect, the antihero Gaston was his most important work: through the adventures of this office worker – appallingly unproductive and good-for-nothing by conventional standards, but all the more creative for it – Franquin immortalised a little of himself. While Gaston is largely indifferent to the conventional use of office furniture, he develops an almost athletic enthusiasm when it comes to putting it to unintended use. He fits it with pedal drive, invents seat shells that let him ride down handrails, devises a hanging-chair transport system for sprawling office buildings – and during working hours he happily races against the clock in an office sport of his own: office chair scootering.
What sprang from the genius of a one-of-a-kind artist decades ago is now reality: office chair racing exists as a fun sport enjoyed around the world. But let’s start at the beginning. While Gaston kneels with one leg on the chair seat and pushes off with the other foot, whizzing through office corridors in competition, the “actual sport” is based on two principles: using gravity to your advantage and minimising resistance, similar to the principle of a soapbox race, or a sprint push on the flat – or a combination of both. At least that is the conclusion of extensive research in the depths of search engines, partly with the aid of a Chinese keyboard. Because who is really surprised? Office chair racing is a huge thing in China. According to unreliable sources, however, the Japanese are said to be the inventors. Until a few years ago, a team in Bad König in the beautiful Odenwald region organised a German championship that even made international headlines. In San Clemente, California, people take a relaxed approach and also allow longboards and wheeled sofas to race. As in so many other walks of life, the British are not immune to this curiosity either, and there are also tournaments in Australia, France, Sweden and Spain where the focus is on speedy progress aboard a piece of office furniture.
Different variations and a surprisingly similar set of rules worldwide
Whether downhill or on the flat: these daredevil ladies and gentlemen compete against each other on their rolling furniture and try to cross the finish line as quickly as possible. Unlike most other sports, tuning is expressly allowed in office chair racing, and it is up to the participants’ imagination and craftsmanship how they convert their chair into a rolling racing machine.
As we all know, an office chair consists of a backrest, possibly armrests, a swivel seat, a height-adjustable central column and a star base to which four or five castors are attached, depending on the model. According to most rulebooks, the castors may not have a diameter greater than 20 centimetres, must be freely movable and, naturally, must not have any form of drive. Rumour has it that one particularly ambitious office chair pilot fitted his vehicle with rockets and is currently flying a course around satellites in Earth orbit. There is also a rumour that at least the second part of that rumour really is just a rumour.
Desk chair tuning is expressly permitted
The office chair is actually steered simply by shifting your weight – and that’s where the fun begins. Anyone who has ever rolled across a room on an office chair and tried to take a bend under control knows that it’s practically impossible. The resulting contortions of the racers are correspondingly spectacular, as are most attempts to influence the direction of travel with their feet. Whether they are sitting on the chair, lying on their stomach or on their back makes no difference: the elimination rounds, which usually follow a knockout format, produce an equally wide range of bizarre body positions. Speaking of “knockout”: actively interfering with opponents is also prohibited, according to most rule books. In plain English: anyone who kicks a rival out of the way, roughs them up while passing, or deliberately affects the direction of the opposing vehicle will be disqualified.
A popular tuning measure is to add weight, although a sense of proportion is needed here: if too many weight plates are attached to the swivel base, the vehicle is too slow getting up to speed – if there are too few, precious seconds are lost. Particularly popular among office chair racers are extra-wide “orthopaedic” office chairs, which run much more smoothly than the entry-level model. Other tried-and-tested measures include changing the office chair castors, upgrading the bearings or simply using lots and lots of good lubricant.
A tuned-up office chair like this can reach a full 35 to 40 kilometres per hour; accordingly, protective gear is seriously required or at least strongly recommended. A helmet, elbow, knee and wrist guards are just as common as gloves. Given that a standard office chair with an average seat height of 50 to 70 centimetres allows for a significant fall, even a full-face helmet is advised. Because if there’s one thing for sure, it’s this: crashes are part and parcel of these rolling contests and are often an elaborately staged part of a choreography that is doomed to fail – serving only to amuse the spectators.
Office chair racing, extreme ironing and bog snorkelling
If a book on fundraising ideas is to be believed, there are even office chair racing world championships – and, for that matter, globally organised tournaments in worm charming, extreme ironing, shin-kicking (!), cheese rolling, bog snorkelling and nettle eating – though with that last discipline, one can only hope the challenge is simply spelling the sport’s name correctly. As with all fun tournaments, office chair racing is mainly about having a good time. Local organisers are therefore free to set their own rules, for example allowing pushers, creating an obstacle course with water coolers, copiers, potted plants and wastepaper bins, or even staging a pedal chair race in true Gaston style – anything goes, as long as it is enjoyable, lifts the mood and puts the creative misuse of swivel chairs on castors centre stage.