Dynamic Adventure Racing Endurance
A Perfect Day in the Forest
Brett Martin (Esporta Brighton) / 29.01.2008
Saturday 26th January dawned a bright and beautiful morning. The temperature was nearly perfect at around 10 degrees with little or no wind as the 59 teams (94 individuals) registered for the race at Dynamic’s race HQ, Thorney Hill Community Centre, Bransgore, in the southwest corner of the New Forest. After suitable food and beverage at Flossie’s usual superb “event café�, and a race briefing, the field started, with 1 minute intervals, at 1000 hrs.
The course over the New Forest was in nearly perfect condition with beautiful weather and not too much recent rain, offering a potential for some fast race times. Dynamic had laid out 18 MTB checkpoints and 18 Run checkpoints over an area of roughly 100 square kilometres, taking in a range of terrains including dense wooded inclosures, open heath land and bog and fast gravel cycle ways. The farthest MTB points were about 12 km from Transition and the farthest Run points were roughly 10 km away.
The biggest grouping of competitors was from the newly formed Brighton Esporta multisport club, who had entered 5 teams (4 male pairs and 1 mixed pair). However, they were but mere novices compared to the serious contenders Nick Gracie/Warren Bates male pair (Aberdeen Asset Management) and Tom Gibbs (Team Whyte)
solo male.
As the event reached its late stages, a magnificent crimson sky heralded the onset of night for the last hour of the race in darkness. By 1830 hrs, it was all over.
Dynamic’s organising duo of Nicky and Simon had set out the course perfectly. The checkpoints were well thought out, well described and suitably placed. A perfect balance was struck between difficulty and distance, evidenced by the fact that one competitor managed to clear the entire course (1000 points)…..the male solo winner, Tom Gibbs with a finish time elapsed of 7 hrs 51 minutes, a superb effort which left most of us “also ran’s� somewhat lost for words. Tom’s effort was closely followed by Aberdeen Asset Management’s equally impressive score of 965 out of 1000 possible points. They had missed only one run checkpoint, but unfortunately over run their time by 10 minutes, thus losing a further 20 points.See All Event Posts
