Adventure Racing

Adventure Racing

A sunny but windy morning saw Jamie, John and Ross arrive at the amazing Sandbeck Estate to take part in the  Safe @ Last, Big Adventure Challenge to raise money to help people that run away from home in the South Yorkshire area, a worthy cause indeed.

There was a small gathering for this event, many sporting fancy dress. The vibe was good as we attended the safety briefing and we were looking forward to anything that the organisers could throw at us. New boy Ross was well up for it as he inflicted his particular brand of warm up (pain) on his team mates. We couldn't complain too much as it seemed to work!

The 10K route took us around the estate on woodland tracks. Every so often we were diverted into the woods to tackle an obstacle, be it wading 100m through water and mud (sink or not to sink?), low ropes (need longer arms!), spiders web (Ross my conkers!), Hogs pit (phew!), ditch dash ('ave it!), net climb (mind your bits and pieces!), etc.. These small challenges were all fun and broke up the excellent course.

The team dynamic worked well and saw us doing our best time for this type of event 63.59 minutes.

A thoroughly enjoyable event and one that we hope runs next year... We will definitely be there to support it.

AAA Adventure Challenge: Darley Abbey: Sunday16th May 2010:

A bright but breezy Sunday morning saw Team 71 (Jamie, John and new member Richard ) turning out for this 10k challenge race. The race consisted of 2 laps of a 5k double or quit course with a river crossing, 85ft mud bank climb, a swim across the River Derwent before returning to the rugby club to complete an assault course comprising balance beams, 4ft hurdles, hay bale climb, a crawl through drain pipes then under a cargo net before taking on a 12ft a-frame.

We set off and soon settled into a steady pace keeping within the main group. Round the Rugby club before heading out into the park along the river for around 2k. We crossed the river by the old railway bridge and zig zagged through the park to the mud bank climb. This conquered we ran back down the hill to the river. John was squeezed into a kids sized PFD and the river crossing began. Emerging on the other side breathless due to the water temperature we made the short run to the obstacle course. We polished these off in some sort of style!!! The A frame being the slipperiest and most awkward thing on the course. Then the dilemma... DOUBLE OR QUITS!!?

Well, like the idiots we are we ran round the whole thing again, just for the fun of it!

A good race for beginners and intermediate competitors.

and... we proved that fat men can run!

Open 5: Ruthin: Monday 5th April 2010:

The weather was awful, the skies black and the rain hammering down on the drive to Wales, however when we got there it cleared slightly.  The wind still blew, but the rain was to hold off for the final open 5 of the year.

All looked good; the updates said there was to be a short cycle to the start. 8k uphill is not short! We had decided to start with the run in our usual format and set off up the very steep path to the ridgeline missing our 1^st control.  After hitting the ridge the run went of without a hiccup.  John was actually running without moaning and we picked off more controls than in previous races enjoying a fun steep descent back to the transition.

Transition was swift, onto the bikes and a very fast descent ensued into the valley.  It wasn’t before long that John started to flag though, and things were going horribly wrong.  We were sticking to our intended route but John was struggling and started to fall apart.  All energy levels wrong and no amount of food or liquid seemed to help.  All our efforts seemed to now be on getting John round in one piece.  That we did but then 200 meters from the finish John’s bike decided to self destruct.  Snapped chain!!!

Then the “short cycle” back!!!!!!

All in all not the best day at the office but we have learned from it.

Open 5: Peak District: Sunday 6th December 2009:

To say that the day started out wet would be an understatement... it was absolutely tipping it down as we registered and prepared our kit for the event.

We decided to run first, going for only one control point across a series of very muddy fields. We were back to transition in under 30 minutes and away on the bikes.

The cycling was awsome, linking together some of best trails that the area has to offer. The paths were running with water, making riding particularly interesting, especially on some of the steep, rocky down hills that we negotiated in between control points. The rain eventually cleared leaving a bright but cold day. By this time we had completed most of the more technical off road stuff that we had planned to do and were on fast, gently rolling bridleways.

On reflection, we could have visited more control points during the run as we completed our mountain biking circuit with time to spare.

A fantastic event in an equally stunning area...

We are looking forward to our next one.

We set out at 9:53, aware that 2 hours was less time than we were used to having. With this in mind we decided to go for the big points. It soon became apparent that these were on bridal ways away from the main roads. Well, that's what we were here for... a spot of mountain biking!

John took the map reading duties as he knew the area reasonably well, Jamie had the control point descriptions and the waterproof pen.

The first few points were found easily and despite the weather forecast , the sun came out, warming things up nicely. We then set out along a farm track turning right onto a grass track into some woods. Emerging from the woods the track disappeared. Before us was an open, waterlogged, muddy field. This was negotiated with great hilarity downhill to the bridge CP. It was then we realised our error. We had to retrace our tracks back uphill to the road across said field... Bugger!

Well, we made it back with 3 minutes to spare and a total of 155 points, so no time penalties... phew!

A good event, we learned a few hard lessons but, we will be back!

Jamie and John arrived not so bright but early at Thornbridge Hall, nr Bakewell in the Peak District. The order for the day was a 4 hour race split between mountain biking, running and a short orienteering course on the grounds.

We elected to orienteer first, completing the course in under 20 minutes. Then through transition and onto the running stage. We visited 3 control points on Longstone Edge before heading to transition and the bikes. The weather was warming up nicely and we were glad to get the run out the way.

The bottom of Monsal Dale was our first port of call, a fast road descent followed by a long climb out, killer! The route we chose took in some fantastic scenery and a couple of technical bridleways which were to prove interesting!

We finished out event in 3 hours 40 mins and collected a total of 227 points.

The event was well organised and a good day was had by all... Looking forward to next years series.

The event involved racing across the country from Whitehaven to Robin Hoods Bay over 4 days. The stages included Running / Walking, Mountain Biking and Kayaking. We raced as a team of 3, meaning that only 2 of us were racing at any one time. We had a support crew that comprised of Ali, Tracey and Julie, who looked after us during the event.

Day 1: Whitehaven: The first kayaking stage was cancelled due to the sea being rather lumpy, so a 10k run it was then! Next onto bikes and into the Lakes. Kayaking Buttermere and Crummock Water in a thunder storm adding to the excitement. We accidently set off our emergency beacon during this stage, leading to a 2 hour search of the lake... whoops! Transition and onto Robinson, Dale Head and over Cat Bells to Keswick.

Day 2: Keswick: 6:00 start and a short ride to Thirlmere. A pleasant paddle down the lake followed by a slog over Helvelyn, coming down Striding Edge... interesting but fun! Into the boat and a choppy paddle up Ulswater, doing a little surfing along the way. Bikes again over the Shap hills to Kirkby Stephen. 

Day 3: Kirkby Stephen: 6:00 start and a walk over 9 Standards.. eerie, boggy and hard work! Into Keld for transition to Mountain Bikes and a fantastic ride via Gunnerside and a fantastic set of down hills to Castle Bolton. Staying with bike and a road cycle to Northallerton.

Day 4: Northallerton: 5:00 start and a road cycle to Swainby, followed by a fantastic walk over Carlton Bank to Clay Bank car park. Onto bikes for the best technical riding of the event, over the moors to Glaisdale. Staying with bikes taking in the coastal cycle path to Robin Hoods Bay and the finish... PHEW!

We would like to thank everyone who has supported us and our School.

Click here for C2C Photo Gallery.

For further event reports and photos visit the Sleep Monsters website.

Follow this link to read race report by Marshall Jim Rounsley... our new best friend!