Lythgoes Adrenalin Rush

And the winners are …… Omniglow Lythgoe

Rob / 30.05.2002

At 06.12 on clear, calm Thursday morning the 2 kayaks of Team Omniglow Lythgoe silently glided up the river Erne towards the finish of Adrenalin Rush 2002. Jim and Nicola Davies, Noel Hanna and Gary Robertson painfully scrambled on to the shore, stretched their legs and ran across the finish line together, smiling with delight at their victory and relief at making the finish after 3 and a half tough days.

It was a great performance, but victory was so nearly torn from their grasp. “That was a terrible night� said Jim Davies, “we were so lost and when we came into the final bay Team UK were coming out the other way. They said it was landlocked, but we gave it a try and found a way through. I think they’ll be gutted.�

His sister Nicola said, “Jim was navigating most of the night and we had a system going from island to island, taking bearings from each, but I’m not sure it was working too well. When it got light Gary took over more as he recognised some features.� Gary added, “There were hundreds of islands and in the darkness you couldn’t what was and wasn’t an island, especially looking up from water level. If you stopped to take a bearing the boat spun around and you didn’t know where you were.�

Not that it mattered now, they’d made it, and for Jim and Nicola it was their second win as they were on the winning team in the first ever race 2 years ago. On the finish line they hugged the sponsors of their team and of the race, a delighted Peter and Gillian Lythgoe, but offered the chance of transferring to a hotel for a hot shower they just shook their heads. “I’ll just stand in the showers in the leisure centre – I’m too grotty to go anywhere else,� Nicola said. They’ll sleep in their tent alongside the other competitors.

Noel was reflecting on what it took to win for the TV cameras. “You have to be fit but it’s mostly your attitude that counts. If you feel you can’t do it then you’ll fail, but if you decide you really want to you can succeed.� He wasn’t resting on his achievements either – he flys out to N. America on Monday to start The Beast of the East on Wednesday!