The Adventure Race of a Life Time
On Thursday last week over 30 teams of Adventure Racers arrived in Keswick for the start of the adidas TERREX Adventure Race. The 400km route was finally revealed to them for the first time and race planner Bruce Duncan had excelled himself by starting the race with a twist. Much to the surprise of racers they were not really starting in Keswick but being transported in the early hours of Friday morning to Morecombe Bay and starting with a run across the bay! This was just the beginning of an incredible journey through night and day non-stop across Cumbria.
Thursday 26th August – The Prologue
Teams congregated outside the Moot Hall in Keswick for a bite size adventure race before the main race commenced the following day. Local teams had also entered this free race which consisted of a run, orienteering, swimming and canoeing! It was fast and furious, the adidas TERREX team and planetFear.com crossed the line side by side. The planetFear.com team just won this first section - Not a good start for race favourites!
Day 1 - Friday 27th August - Crossing Morecome Bay
Coaches arrived early at Bolton le Sands as the sun rose above Morecombe bay. Racers had to commence no later than 0730 for this section and it was to the relief of race organizer Bruce Duncan that teams were lined up ready to go. No errors could be made at this stage! Racers had to follow the laurel twigs set out by Cedric Robinson the Queens Guide across the bay. No shortcuts were allowed and teams received strict instructions before they set off. With a huge cheer the race commenced and teams could be seen snaking across the bay. It was a perfect day, sun shining and a gentle breeze. Racers had to negotiate a number of deep water channels on this 24km long journey to the first control at Humphrey Head then across to Chapel Island and finally back on terra firma at Holker Hall. Throughout the race teams have to ensure they reach each transition time by the cut off, so they have plan the best route for their team to enable them to reach each transition in time with the most points. This means that the less experienced teams can still complete the race doing a shorter course and finish at the same time as the more experienced teams.
From Holker it was straight onto the bike and a 110km Mountain bike ride which took them to the West and the village of Ravenglass. In this section teams also had to complete special stages which included a gorge scramble at Church Beck , an orienteering section and a MTBO in Grizedale. Teams were arriving in the dark at the 2nd transition in Coniston. Paddling was next on the menu by moonlight the length of Lake Coniston.
Day 2 - Saturday 28th August - Coniston to Langdale via Windermere and Great Gable
From Coniston teams trekked over the Furness Fells to Lake Windermere for another paddle. In order to collect all the controls on Lake Windermere you actually had to paddle one and a half lengths of the lake! After the paddle teams caught the Bowness to Hawshead Ferry to pick up their bikes for a short ride over to Langdale. The rain had set in as Teams embarked on the next trekking stage. Racers began the trek up to Stickle Tarn and here the plan had been to go up Jakes Rake but conditions made this unsafe. Racers were redirected up Easy Gully, which was sheltered from the weather. At this stage a lot of teams chose a shorter route in the central fells, and team adidas TERREX was one of few teams to complete the whole route which included an abseil off Esk Buttress.
The first team (adidas TERREX) left this transition in the early hours of the morning and were back onto the bikes, they had not slept yet but the rumour is they finally found shelter at Rydal before starting the mountain bike ride up towards High Street.
Day 3 – Sunday 29th August – Mountain biking, more paddling and more trekking!
Teams were nearly blown out of their saddles up on High Street and it was a challenging mountain bike after what was turning into an epic course. It was into transition at Pooley Bridge and another paddle down the length of Ullswater Lake. The weather had started to clear up as teams set off up Saint Sunday Crag and onto the summit of Helvellyn, along the Dodds and finally down to the start of the Old Coach Road at Dockray. For the fastest team this was a 6 hour section. It was the end of the day and adidas TERREX team set off down the old Coach road on their bikes, up to the Blencathra Centre and then over to Skiddaw House and Dash Falls. If that was not enough they made their way through the woods up to Whinlatter and around the South Loop and finally down to Hawse End. It was at this point so close to the finish in Keswick that adidas TERREX decided to sleep!
Day 4 – Monday 30th August. Finally back to Keswick!
After a longer than planned kip they started on the final Canadian canoe orienteering course around Derwent Water and a section of foot orienteering at Manesty – it was a tough and mentally challenging finish for the teams who had been on the go for over 70 hours! Finally the end was in sight and they made their way up from Crow Park and into Keswick town Centre. Team adidas TERREX had won the race in a total time of 71:31:32. Tom Gibbs commented that the fatigue makes taking even simple decisions a much longer process. You might spend 5 minutes deciding which pair of socks to put on!
Teams continued to arrive until just after mid day on Monday and that is the great thing about a race like this that all teams get back at a similar time though they may have all covered a shorter course than the lead team.
Open Adventure would like to thank James Hook at adidas for sponsoring the event making this event possible.
If you would like more information about the race then look at www.adidas-ar.com. The race will be televised on Channel 4 November 7th at 0730. If you want a sneak preview of the footage it can also be found on the website.
The adidas TERREX adventure race has been the most difficult and the most rewarding race I have done and I'll definitely be doing it again! The course was very challenging and I'm proud of the way our team worked so well together; pushing through injuries, blisters, zombie-like tiredness and associated grumpiness. The hardest part was moving through each night and it's at times like this that we push the boundaries of what we do, teetering on the edge of exhaustion, confusion and hypothermia. We kept eating, kept moving and kept safe by looking after each other and our previous mountain experience proved essential. Each morning after a couple of hours of cold sleep, we felt refreshed in the new daylight and ready for another day doing the things we love. adidas Terrex and Open Adventure have provided a race of the highest caliber and it was everything I hoped it would be. Emily Brooks (Keswick) Team Planet Fear B
