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Mountain Hardwear Open 5 Series Start in Forest of Bowland

News Release / 20.10.2010

On Sunday 7th November Slaidburn in Lancashire will be the first venue for the Mountain Hardwear Open5 series for 2010/11. Open Adventure are hosting a five hour adventure race through the magnificent Forest of Bowland and are offering people the chance to explore the area by bike and on foot. If you live in the local area that enjoy getting out running and mountain biking on the fells so why not take the opportunity to join in the muddy fun?

The event will be part of the Mountain Hardwear Open 5 Winter series and is open to solos and pairs over the age of 18 wanting to take part from first timers to elite athletes. The Open 5 races are all at different locations in the UK and within 5 hours you have to visit as many points (controls) as you can on the map. Some can only be collected by mountain bike others by foot. Each control is worth varying amounts of points and yes you guessed it, the one with the most points after 5 hours wins. If it’s your first race why not pair up with a more experienced racer and give it a go!

Perhaps not quite as easy as it sounds as you have to carefully plan your route, to ensure you maximise the number of controls you can get and be careful not to be late back otherwise you get penalties!

Local planner and adventure racer Emma Van der Gucht has been working hard visiting all the paths and trails and talking with local land owners, Forestry Commission and United Utilities to ensure that racers get to visit some of the area’s most beautiful locations.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Slaidburn Village Hall for hosting the event and most importantly providing food for the hungry racers!

There will be prizes on the day from the event sponsors Mountain Hardwear for the top spots in all categories, a chance not to be missed and well worth getting muddy for http://www.mountainhardwear.com.

Entries are still open, so if you fancy giving it a go visit the Open Adventure website at www.openadventure.com for more information.