Quest ARS

---

A Forest Quest

Pippa MacDougall - Questars / 25.10.2004

Teams arrived at Swinley Forest with just a clue that the eighth race in the Questars series would have a slightly different format. All became clear with the issue of race instructions at registration when it was revealed that instead of the usual three stage format the race had no less than five stages.

Another break with tradition of starts every 30 seconds was a mass start at 10 o\'clock. Each team lined up on the start line and after activating their electronic scoring devices collected an envelope containing Stage 1\'s ‘Hill Challenge’.

This turned out to be a map observation quiz requiring close scrutiny of the competition maps.
Teams had to find and name hills marked on the map and arrange them into up to eight categories ranging from three hills named after trees to three hills that could be consumed. In addition to the planners proposed answers racers found one or two additional hills and imaginatively placed them into one of the set categories to earn 40 questars and get their race off to a flying start. In fact all but four teams managed to get full marks and in the process closely familiarise themselves with the competition area over which they would be navigating for the rest of the day.

The brain teasing didn\'t stop there as teams had to think through their best strategy over the next three stages of mountain biking, a trail run and a canoe stage. All ‘A’ roads were out of bounds, so teams had to consider the best route and order to visit the variably valued checkpoints, and also consider the amount of time to spend on each stage. There was a mystery fifth stage as well, worth an additional 160 questars - details of which were only available after four and half hours. So, lots to think about!

The canoeing was at Horseshoe Lake near Yateley which teams accessed during their mountain bike stage. In very light wind the well sheltered lake provided calm conditions for novice teams and masters alike. This did not prevent a fair amount of \'360 degree canoeing\' as the inflatable canoes showed again they had a will of their own!

That said many teams were lightening fast around the five canoe CPs, despite the location of the next one being revealed progressively at each CP.See All Event Posts