Battling the Elements in the Nokia Coast To Coast Challenge
News Release / 23.09.2010
Hundreds of nervous competitors lined up for the inaugural Nokia Coast to Coast Challenge on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th September to cross Scotland from East to West Coast in a multi-sport race. The event featured a ‘Challenger Class’ to complete 109-mile course over the weekend with ‘Expert’ and ‘Racer’ class groups given a single day on Sunday 19th.The challenge started by a windswept Nairn beach, North East of Inverness, shortly after 7am and kicked off with a 7-mile run that finished in the shadow of the imposing Cawdor Castle, setting for infamous deeds in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
The competitors then faced a 47-mile bike ride through spectacular Scottish Highlands scenery, including a gruelling climb to the day’s highest point and a downhill run to Fort Augustus, before another transition and a short run to Loch Ness and the kayak challenge completed the first day with a welcome pint on the lawns of the Lovat Arms.
Challenging early conditions with a heavy downpour later improved with the sun breaking through and the mood of the field correspondingly improved as well. The event village that night featured a number of ingenious ways of drying damp kit and the generators proved popular for soaking trainers.
Competitors had already experienced the varied terrain and environment of the Scottish Highlands with the coastal beach start and links golf courses followed by town and narrow country lanes giving way to reveal the wide, open, spectacular countryside of the region and the splendour of Loch Ness, over 900 feet at its deepest point.
First day honours in the Challenger men’s class went to Brian Dempster from Team Lifecycle who clocked 4 hours .57 seconds, while Georgina Sharples and Sara Symington held the overnight lead in the women’s race with a time of 4:09.42. Fastest mixed pair were Natalie White and Tim Austin from Kendal who recorded 4:18.34 at the end of the first day.
The Challenger competitors rose early on Sunday morning in Fort Augustus, picked their bikes up in the transition area and were given the choice of what time to start, between 7 and 9am, with their time activated once they went through the line. There were a few eager beavers at 7am while many competitors took advantage of the chance of a couple of hours extra kip. Many of the competitors switched tyres to deal with the off road terrain and technical riding that they would now be encountering on the second day.
Sunday’s route featured 37 miles of on and off road cycling via Fort William and Invergarry, on the west side of Loch Lochy, in the shadow of one of Scotland’s famous Munroe’s, to the transition area at Glen Nevis, in the heart of their Highland experience. They then encounter a fourteen mile slog on foot along the side of the UK’s highest mountain, before the final push – a 1 mile kayak along Loch Leven to the finish at Glencoe Hotel, Ballachulish.
