Race report: Mountain Hardwear Open 5 Adventure Race

The Peak District, Bakewell - Sunday March 6, 2011

Race four of the Mountain Hardwear Open5 Adventure Race series commenced in the early hours of Sunday morning at Bakewell in the Peak District. Two hundred and eighty seven outdoor athletes showed up eager to explore the tracks and trails by foot and bike in this beautiful area.

The event was the penultimate race in the Mountain Hardwear Open5 Winter series. Open5 races are held at different locations across the UK and competitors are given a map and 5 hours to visit as many of the marked control points as they can. Some controls can only be collected by mountain bike and others only on foot.

It was a crisp, cold morning as the racers gathered at the Bakewell Agricultural Centre. This is a fantastic venue which lends itself to putting on this style of event, with a huge foyer for registration and attached to it the Farmers Feast cafe which had bacon butties ready to go from 8am.

Racers opt to either bike or run first - which is tactically more beneficial is hard to judge but most competitors play to their strengths and choose the discipline they are most skilled in first. The biking tracks and trails in this area are fantastic - the climbs are smooth with swooping descents through the countryside. The bikers climbed from one escarpment to the next collecting points on route, some of the trails got pretty muddy but that is half the fun. Bikes were exchanged for running shoes or vice a versa on completion of the first discipline. The run was just as challenging following trails nearby the centre that ran alongside the river or along the railway line.

The event ran very smoothly with great weather, a spectacular venue, amazing scenery and great tracks and trails. A few of the competitors managed to clean up the entire course which is an incredible achievement and a credit to their swift navigational and route choices.

Post event a competitor was heard commenting that the route offered an unexpected safari element as they had passed through a llama farm and then through herds of deer in the land surrounding Chatsworth, not to mention the scattering of sheep.

Event planner and adventure racer Ian Hughes said “You only had to see all the smiling faces to see what a great day everyone had in the peak district national park! “

Special thanks must go to The Bakewell Agricultural Centre for allowing Open Adventure to host the registration and to the Farmers Feast for providing great food, especially the bacon butties. Open Adventure would also like to thank all the local land owners, especially Chatsworth Estate and the Peak District National Park Authority who enabled the racers to visit some of the area’s most beautiful locations. Thanks must also go to the marshals for all their hard work on a demanding day.

If this article has sparked the adventurer in you then have a look at the list of remaining races in this series at www.openadventure.com – we look forward to seeing you at our next event

Mountain Hardwear, Open5 Series: Grizedale, Lake District – 3rd April

Overall Results

Female Pairs

Male Pairs

Female Solos

Male Solos

Mixed Pairs