Mountain Hardwear Open5 Adventure Race Series #1
Open AR Attitude Pays Off for Accelerate
Stuart Hale (Team Accelerate) / 29.01.2007
We asked Team Accelerate to review how they tackled the recent Open5 at Hebden Bridge. They entered three classes and came away winning each. So what have they been up to in preparation for such a successful start to the season?“Preparation and planning�, said Stuart Hale, the team manager, “are just as important a skill in adventure racing as handling the bike, personal fitness or route choice and navigation�.
For Team Accelerate preparation started the day before the race. The competing squad met then to discuss the event, pooling knowledge and looking at local maps. The route was not known, only the general area and the point for registration. The run section would be navigated using OS 1:25,000 and the bike section using the less detailed OS 1:50,000.
Team members entered included the highly considered Tim Higginbottom (Male Solo), runner up in last years OMM Elite section; Caroline Bullard and Eddie Winslow (Mixed Pairs), an established and increasingly successful duo; with Adam Haynes and 16 year old son Will (Male Pairs) taking on the challenge against more seasoned pairings.
Tim chose to go with his strengths and run first, as did Will and Adam. Eddie and Caroline felt that a good bike section would be the best way of getting ahead of the opposition and ensuring a high value of points were collected in the 5 hour time limit.
One common thought amongst the Accelerate entries was that timing was critical, ensuring that each finished inside the time limit as the level of competition was such that it could come down to the wire in terms of points. For those new to the Open5 series and Adventure Racing these events are score based. In other words collect as many points as possible within the time limit, form both the bike and run sections to win. Penalties exist for anyone who exceeds the time limit.See All Event Posts
