Questars Race 3
Chasing Checkpoints
David Hunt (Questars). Photos by Jon Brooke / 22.07.2008
The third event in the Rivette 2008 questars Adventure Race Series was held on Saturday 19 July in the ever popular Cannock Chase. It is three years since questars visited the Chase so both organisers and participants alike were pleased to be returning to a favourite area for adventure racers.At the Race Briefing varied terrain was promised. The Chase certainly delivered this. It has delightful deciduous woodlands and coniferous plantations, and many areas of open heathland. With the special permission of the local estate some splendid parkland close to the event centre added further variety to the course. Additionally teams enjoyed a scenic stretch of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal on the kayaks and the canal towpath has recently been designated as an off road route and this too was incorporated into the many course options.
Variable weather complemented the varied terrain. Just as the last Masters teams were starting their races the threatening clouds opened and provided the first heavy shower of the day. The gusty wind that was proving problematic to golfers at the Open also impacted on teams as they criss-crossed the Chase. Thankfully the temperature was mild and the sun frequently came out and rewarded everyone’s exertions by shining strongly at the end of the day, enabling teams to enjoy their hot chilli outside after the event.
A remote run/bike transition in the heart of the Chase opened up many different routes for teams. Everyone started and finished their race on bikes and could then pick up biking checkpoints at anytime between visiting the two transition points. This gave rise to virtually every team taking different routes and teams spreading themselves widely over the area. Do take a look at the full results on the Emit website http://www.emituk.com/ where you can review which route each team took and their split times between each CP.
The kayaking stage was based at a lock a little north of the event centre. The six kayaking checkpoints and the Quest fleet of stable sit on top kayaks were divided in two – half north and half south of the lock. Most teams therefore did not need to portage their kayak around the lock -just enjoy the calm water and water birds whilst collecting CPs. Being in sync. with each other is key to success when paddling and interestingly a good number of the eight teams that cleared all six canal side CPs are husband and wife teams……
Trail running checkpoints were scattered liberally across the core area of the Chase. This gave rise to many strategic decisions as to when to turn back to the transition point. The sole participant to clear the whole run stage commented that he’d particularly enjoyed this mental challenge as to which checkpoint to visit next.
Another little surprise for this event was revealed when teams collected their Checkpoint Values and Descriptions card under the big yellow start arch. This normally reveals the three dummy checkpoints on the run and bike stages. Teams were surprised to find that only the run had dummy checkpoints and that all 18 red CPs on the map were able to be visited on bikes to collect points. This gave even more route options whilst on bikes and acknowledges that the Chase is a mecca for mountain bikers with its myriad of off road routes.See All Event Posts
