Blaise Battleships

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Fun at the Battle of Trafalgar!

Andy Kempson (race organiser) / 18.07.2007

The incessant rain didn’t manage to dampen the fun at the first ever running of Blaise Battleships. This inaugural Mental Race, set around the picturesque Blaise Castle estate in Bristol had competitors trying to solve puzzles which would help them sink ships in a game of Battleships, with the theme “Battle of Trafalgar� cropping up throughout the race.

EventHead’s managing director Andy Kempson set the runners off at 10am, after giving a briefing to the expectant competitors. First off was a 2.5km run to the answer sheet give-out point.

Each solo or pair received their personal answer sheet, which included an empty 10x10 Battleships grid, details of the ships they were trying to find, and the time bonuses available. On the back of the sheet they would find some puzzles to solve on the move, and a very useful clue.

Solving each puzzle during the race would give the runners grid references - combination of letter (indicating the row) and number (indicating the column) - which should be used on their answer grid to give a “hit� on a ship.

Next the runners visited Blaise Castle itself, at the highest point of the course, where they were required to solve a Minesweeper puzzle and a dice puzzle.

Then they headed back down from the Castle, grabbing a drink from the friendly marshals manning the water station, and finally off the muddy trails onto the paved paths of the estate, stopping at the top of the valley for an IQ puzzle.

The course continued downhill to the Mill, a central point for the second half of the course which the runners would visit three times. Here they found a Spot the Difference puzzle, which was based on a diagram of the fleet formations at the Battle of Trafalgar. Most teams solved this correctly - but this was more a test of how fast you could solve it!See All Event Posts