National Indoor Adventure Race

---

The Gladiators

Rob / 11.03.2003

Into the arena they go, ready to battle it out for the entertainment of the crowds …. but who will survive to take the crown? Picking potential winners is no easy task and race organiser Phil Humphreys commented, “In 5 years of organising adventure races, I don\'t think I have ever staged one with quite such a strong field ...� Whatever happens it’s likely to be a close contest.

It’s going to be a new team name on the trophy for sure as last year’s winners Parrot/Lythgoe are not taking part. Nicky and Jim Davies decided to give this race a miss but Ben Bardsely is back for another go with ‘Saab Salomon’, racing with Helen Jackson and Morgan Donnelly. Two other members of their squad are also taking part as well, Pete James and Tom Gibbs are in Team ‘Bristol’ with Jue Panter,

An in-form Marc Laithwaite is leading Team ‘Genetic Potential’, who pushed Parrot/Lythgoe right to the line in a tight finish last time. Once again he’s racing with Dan Corner and Fiona Lothian, both world class duathletes, and this time they know what to expect and will want to go one better than second.

Other teams to watch out for are ‘Nike ACG’ with Anna McCormack, and Finnish racers Pasi Ikonen and Eero Jappinen and ‘Ireland’ (Noel Hanna, Gary Robertson and Lynne Stark) and ‘One.Tel Hebridean Challenge’ (Gary Tompsett, Nicola MacLeod and Phil Davies). The latter two could have a battle royal with Team Bristol in the final heat, by which time they will know the scores need to claim the two places in the final for the highest scoring heat losers. They’ll have less time to recover though.

Gill Watson’s team,‘Rubicon/Sealskinz’, felt they should have made the final last year when the scores had to be adjusted, but they lost out so they may have a point to prove as well. Gill is one of several names on the start list familiar from the current ‘Tough Enough for the SAS’ programme. Others are Rob Priestely, Iona Robertson, Eddie Winthorpe and Tracey Alexandrou. Phil Humphreys may not shout at them like Eddie Stone, but he’ll make them suffer!

Full team lists are on the ACE Races web site.See All Event Posts