Sweatshop Trailplus Adventure Race Series
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Paul Magner - Trailplus / 04.06.2003
The hottest day of the year greeted 51 three-person teams at the first of the 2003 Sweatshop-TrailPlus Adventure Race Series, assisted by Salomon and SIS, which took place on Saturday 31st May. Very early on the heat was turned up on all but the front two teams as the majority of the field headed off-course, opting for some additional mileage!After two successful years at the RMA Sandhurst, the race had found a new venue just four miles away at Gibraltar Barracks, Yateley. With the beautiful Hawley Water close by and part of the army assault on offer as an additional challenge, everything was set until Trailplus were hit by an eleventh hour army bombshell!
Despite previous full course plan and venue approvals, nesting birds was the reason behind an area of 10 square miles becoming unavailable at the last minute. (Woodlarks and Dartford Warblers apparently.) With event director, Keith Anderson, working overtime to rework a course that featured 3 running sections, a mountain bike stage and a canoe leg that involved two ‘island hops’, competitors were hit by temperatures that reached 30 degrees centigrade.
The majority of the 51 teams were competing in ‘adventure racing’ for the very first time and, very wisely, took fluid on board at all possible opportunities. At the sharp end of the race, ‘52 Degrees North’, from the Living Well Health Club in Sutton Coldfield, finished in 2 hrs 48mins and 43 seconds, ahead of ‘Ingarfield Condor’ in 2:50:27 and a ‘melting ‘Pure Cheese’ in 2:55:04. However, it became evident that a number of teams had not completed the full mountain-biking course due , in their opinion, to incorrect instructions from one of the on-course marshals. This was particularly unfortunate for the competitive Team 52 Degrees North who were understandably disappointed to be denied as the winners through what they saw as no fault of their own.
With the marshals on station until gone 3.00pm (the event started at 10.00am), and with the front teams eager to head for the cooler comforts of home the organisers decided to award each member of the first three teams with the ‘first prize’ of a pair of Salomon Flagstaff shoes. Later analysis of the marshal scorecards showed that it was in fact Ingarfield Condor who had the legitimate claim to overall event winners. They will be back on the 26th July for the second race in the series to defend their title over a new course and with a new race format.
First Overall Team (of 3): Ingarfield Condor (Des Adkinson, Alan Ingarfiled & Will Lawrie)
First Mixed Team: Keas (Anita Luxton,John O\'Sullivan & Tara McQuinn)
First Female Team: CKF (Karen Gallantry, Clare Phillips & Fiona Holmes)See All Event Posts
