Lythgoes Adrenalin Rush

Paddles into the Night – They’re Off

Rob / 26.05.2002

After a fairly relaxed afternoon there was a flurry of activity in the 20 minutes before the start as teams came to the waterside to make final preparations on the kayaks. Some were organised, fitting compasses, maps and waterbottles and heading up to the start line under the nearby castle walls. Others were rushing about with too much to do in too little time. There were hugs, team photos, good wishes and lots of smiles with everyone happy to be setting off at last.

They all made it to the start banner on time where Brian Elliot had a final word with the captains and wished them all luck before counting down and firing a blast on the air horn. Adrenalin Rush 2002 was underway! The racers sprinted, a little awkwardly in their spraydecks, 300m along the shore to leap into their kayaks.

The North Face were the most organised and quickest away, passing the castle again then heading under 2 bridges and out onto upper Lough Erne. Conditions were good, there was even a little weak sunshine just before the start, but large black clouds hovered nearby. The winds were light and the water calm, and the result was some fast times, much faster than expected.

On the way to the first PC teams had to visit 5 ‘Deichings’ – intermediate, unmanned PCs’ where they use an orienteering punch to mark a race tag secured to their floatation jackets. All 4 teams members have to punch and at the first dieching there was a melee around the signpost it was hung from as the teams arrived close together and everyone tried to ‘clip’. Then they were away again up the loch taking in another dieching on the tiny island of Montgomery rocks on the way. Both Swedish teams were at the front early on, along with The North Face.

The initial estimate for arrival at PC1 was midnight for the leaders, but that was quickly revised to 10.00 pm! When they get there they switch to mountain bikes and have a tough start, straight uphill on a steep staircase and into Lough Navar forest, they are on trails for a while after that but parts of the route in the deep of the night around Lough Deary are in very rough, open country. They will be glad to see the dawn.