ITERA-lite Wales

The ITERA Lite Course is Revealed

Press Release / 25.07.2024

Dolgellau Rugby Club was the location for teams to meet and register for the second ITERA Lite today and they arrived on a slightly damp and cool day, with the surrounding hills swathed in low cloud and mist. 

Teams had travelled from all over the world (from 13 countries in all), and some were wearing race clothing from World Championships or with the names of races in North America, Europe and Australasia. Others had their own team kit, the most striking being the black and white uniforms of the Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team. 

The team had been in the area for a couple of days, riding local trails and trekking in the nearby hills to get used to the terrain and conditions.  They leave little to chance!  Only Malin Hjalmarsson has raced in Wales before, at ITERA 2014, and she told the team how beautiful the Welsh countryside is.  (She will be hoping for a better result this time as in 2014 her team missed one of the final checkpoints and went from the podium to unranked.)

The team primarily chose the race as it was well timed for preparation for a World Champs in Ecuador and they wanted a longer race to get back into competition after an injury to Oskar Svard.  “We think the terrain must be slow and difficult from the timings of some of the legs,“ said Svard, “as we would normally expect to move quicker.” Even so they thought they would take longer than the predicted 40 hours for the quickest team.

Ben Turner from defending champions, Team Endurancelife said, “We have no plan to beat SAFAT, or anyone else!.  You can only really run your own race and do the best you can, and anything can happen in these races.”

There were numerous changes to the team line ups when teams registered, notably to Team Rachel’s Irish Adventures led by Rachel Nolan.  Paul Mahon and Diarmuid Collins dropped out to be replaced by Shaun Stewart and Kevin O’Brien.  Nolan said, “They are 3 young and fast racers and we’ll see how we go!” 

The US racers with Adventure Addicts Racing said, “We came over as we know other US racers who all speak highly of the courses and organisation at ITERA ... and also because it’s a lot cooler  here than at home!”  The Expedition Canada team is husband and wife James and Cara Galipeau, and while James is one of the most experienced racers in the world, it’s a first multi-day race for Cara.

After the registration and team photos, everyone met up at the Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor Dogellau, where the hall was full to capacity with expectant racers, ready to hear the details of the course.  (This is the biggest race in the UK for many years, perhaps going as far back as the 2007 World Champs.)

After a welcome in Welsh from course planner Gary Davies and a briefing from Race Director Paul McGreal (including a tutorial on the complex rights of way in Wales), it was time for the Big Reveal.  In traditional ITERA style the 6m high course map was slowly revealed on stage, to the accompaniment of singing in Welsh by Davies, and with a hall full of phones pointing towards the stage!

The route was quickly explained, and it starts on the north coast in Llanduno with a 5km run on the Great Orme, followed by a river paddle to take the teams inland, then goes on to include the Carneddau and Gylder ranges, mountain biking in Coed y Brenin Forest (the National MTB centre), the slate mining country around Blaenau Ffestiniog, a rogaine paddle on Trawsfnydd Lake and finishes on the rugged Rhinog Hills.  Course planner Adam Rose thought the stage 4 35km trek on the Carneddau and Glyder ranges would be the crux of the race.

The maps and route books were quickly given out and teams set about studying the route and preparing their maps. They need to have handed in their gear and bike boxes and be on the buses at 9.30 tomorrow, ready for the drive to the start, and the race will start at midday.