Irish Adventure Racing Championships
Irish Adventure Race Series Round 4
Brian Elliott / 25.07.2003
Race 4 in the Irish Adventure Race Series was held in Co Kerry on 12/13th July close to the town of Killarney. I hate to use the term but it was very much a game of two half's with day 1 being the race and day 2 the adventure. Things kicked off at 9.30 a.m. on the Saturday with a modest turnout but also a good mix of hardened and novice teams. The bike section took the teams over the Gap of Dunloe into Black Valley to the bike drop before heading off on foot over the exposed mountains (Purple & Tomie's Mountain).
The sun was breaking through and for a change so heat exhaustion was more the concern than the usual hypothermia. The visiting team to Ireland 'North Downs Mountain Rescue' lead the way to the bike drop followed by 'Eoin's Team' and although NDMR were proving to be the fastest on bike and foot the two teams arrived back after a few hours with only seconds between them due to the slightly technical orienteering section along the shores of Lough Lean (lower lake).
Two of the newcomers who obviously were not reading the Forum on SleepMonsters after the last race broke a bike chain going over the hilly Gap and had nothing to fix them with. Fortunately one of the medical team were not just carrying stethoscopes and bandages but had a chain splitter and after some emergency road side surgery had them going again.
Once on the bikes again the lead teams were battling it out but NDMR just managed to hold the lead on Eoin's Team as they followed track and road along the opposite side of the lakes. It was unfortunate that in the more populated area around Muckross House several markers were removed but as with all the other markers they were in clearly defined areas so not too much time was wasted concluding that they were missing.
At the bike / kayak switch over Eoin's team stopped to fit a sail to each of the kayaks giving NDMR a head start. While the orienteering aspect of the race is not normally difficult some of the markers do require a little thought and CP18 was just one of those points. It was a Landing Point on the lake but you had to approach an opening in some tall reeds before you could see the marker on a tree. NDMR spent some time looking for it but once Eoin's team started to close in they assumed it was not there and pushed on.
Bun Os Marshall in the meantime has been holding third place but came into their element on the water and were closing in fast and along with Eoin's Team landed on the concrete jetty to punch CP18. A short blast along the River Laune took teams to the finish of day one with NDMR finishing 7 minutes ahead of Bu Os Marshall with a further 6 minutes before Eoin's Team arrived. PC18 carried a 30 minute time penalty so things were heating up for day two. Unfortunately Michelle of Team Trabolgan took ill and they had to drop out just before the kayak section.See All Event Posts
