Dynamic Adventure Race; Challenge
So, there are a lot of hills then?!
Detica Ladies / 08.05.2008
06:15 Sunday morning, and a forecast of rain ahead - but Mivy and I from team Detica ladies were optimistic! We crammed our bikes and numerous changes of clothes into the back of my little car and headed down to Dorset. A few spots of rain appeared on the windscreen as we conquered our first of three navigation mess-ups of the day ... a short double loop around Bournemouth ensured that we had all of the angles covered for any CPs located at beach-front ice cream parlours.Back on track we soon rounded a corner and Corfe Castle came into view – situated in majestic glory between two ominous looking ridges in the morning sunshine. Surely these hills would be too steep for anyone to put checkpoints on them. We were greeted by the DAR flags in not-so-sleepy Church Knowle, shortly followed by the arrival of our final team member, Sarah.
So, there are a lot of hills then?!
This was my first experience of a Dynamic Adventure Race and I was keen to register, get my hands on a map and get on with the task of deciding where to go. My plan was simple – avoid hills, muddy footpaths and anything that looked like a stinging nettle. Evidently this isn’t the way Simon and Nicky set the course so I simply resolved to make it back in one piece.
Team Detica girls looked long and hard into deciding on a route that would be easy to navigate and that would optimise the points gained during the running stage. We were ready, we were off …straight up a massive hill!
All went well to begin with; the first three check points were scooped up with no hiccups. Then came the second navigation mess-up of the day. It appears that the red arrow on our compass doesn’t actually point South and cows definitely hunt in packs. To cut a long story short, our escape route involved “descending� a near vertical (!) bluebell wood mainly on our feet but in some cases on more padded parts of our anatomy. It was all very pretty but 'there be mud under those bluebells'!
Back on track, we decided bridleways were a safer bet and bar a few sticky (interestingly smelling) boggy bits we managed a few more checkpoints and came in 3 minutes ahead of time.See All Event Posts
