Open Adventure - Open5 Series (North Pennines)
Opening up the Pennines
James Thurlow (Open Adventure) / 22.10.2005
The North Pennines was to provide a new area to Adventure Racing and to many of the competitors who travelled to this remote part of the country. The setting was Blanchland; a picturesque village set on the river Derwent, flanked by the rising Pennine moors on either side.There was a distinctive Northumbrian twang in the air with the majority of the competitors haling from the north east, Whitby, Durham, Newcastle, Hexham, Hull for around half this was the first time on such an event. You could smell the trepidation (and did it smell!) as many questioned whether they could manage the five hours.
For Joe Faulkner the man behind NAV+ART training weekends, a night in the local Lord Crew Arms meant that after his registration he needed to claim his full English breakfast prior to five hours on the hill. It certainly didn’t slow him down – the secret is out.
With the laminated maps given out at registration, participants set about scheming the routes to be taken, keeping in mind that the race director can blow plans by declaring some of the controls are worthless. Competitors could elect to run or bike first, with the majority electing to run. Mild panics on the start line with Andy Sallabank the Open Adventure starting official for the day demanding to see waterproofs and a whistle (he’s also deputy team leader for a Lake District Mountain Rescue Team!) Competitors hastily found spare whistles from the depths of kit boxes.
The values of the controls were strategically spread out with the unusual approach of placing lower control values at the edge of the course. Top competitors who wanted to do well would have to really stretch themselves for the low values to make the difference in the final placing. The scores were also weighted towards the MTBing, for many competitors it wasn’t until they returned from the run and started to mark the MTB values that this sunk home.
Some 15 minutes after setting off on the cycle Meg Hine and David Thornley were back, having a terminal bike failure (broken freehub). It was not the last, with snapped chains and bent derailleur’s falling victim to the single track on the North Pennines. Lindsey Tench and Kath Woodley suffered on their first race with a snapped chain at the far end of the course, with no means to fix it they had a long walk home.
As the marshals took in turns to visit the local tea shop, competitors returned with happy faces to change discipline, with some taking the time to pull out a picnic and a flask and others, like Keith Read from Team High5, barely taking a chance to breathe. See All Event Posts
