Wendover Woods Family Adventure Challenge
Family Adventure in the Woods
Neil Thubron / 28.10.2008
It was a beautiful Autumn day when the first ever UK Family Adventure Race got underway. The location was Wendover Woods, an enclosed Forestry Commission area with great tracks and paths, although rather undulating!For this inaugural event there were 30 teams taking part varying in size from 2 to 4, varying in experience from some to none, and with children’s ages ranging from 6 – 16 years old.
The objective of the event was to find as many checkpoints as possible to gather as many points as possible on bike and on foot in 2.5 hours.
Following a detailed brief and demonstration by the race organiser, Neil Thubron, teams set off between 1300 and 1400. Some chose to walk/run first some chose to cycle. It was clear early on that most teams favoured spending a little time on foot and then maximising the time on bike.
The checkpoints were well spread with many at the bottom of some pretty big hills.
Some teams were clearly taking it very seriously. Team 2 led by Jonathan Bright came tearing into transition to swap their shoes and pick up their bikes, only to find that one had a puncture! Others were taking it a little more leisurely and taking their time in transition having a tea or coffee and something to eat.
As the end of the 2.5 hours drew closer and closer teams started to head back. There were clearly some issues with being able to tell the time as there were 7 teams over time, one team. The Funky Foursome led by Paul Quilter were 30 minutes over time so notched up minus 300 points, although they did go to the most running checkpoints, and the young children in that team (Jack Quilter being 6) were very tired at the end !
There were some outstanding performances and 2 teams managed to collect all the bike checkpoints, this was Team GB, led by Graham Baxter and the unnamed team led by Anne McRorie-Shand.
The winners in the Under 11 category were Loder I (led by Sandy Loder) who amassed a great score of 435 points with no penalties, and in the Over 11 category the winners were the team named Mdot (the Ironman team) led by Mustafa Salih who scored a fantastic 480 points including a 20 point penalty. Team GB actually scored 510 points but were 5 minutes late back so missed out on 1st by 20 points.
The teams then enjoyed a BBQ / teas and coffees etc. afterwards which helped add money to the overall sum raised for the two charities The NSPCC and Facing Africa.
Overall the feedback from the day was outstanding with many teams wanting to know when the next one was going to be.See All Event Posts
