Mountain Hardwear Open5 Adventure Race Series #1
Malham Meanderings
Anna Sloan (Team Top Bananas) - Photos by James Kirby / 06.03.2009
Sunday the 1st March 2009 saw the fourth Mountain Hardwear Open 5 in the series at Malham. We drove down on Saturday arriving at the campsite in the dark, with the weather looking settled if cloudy, and positively warm compared to the previous event. The next morning we realised not only what a beautiful place Malham is, but also how popular it is with the public. Through out the race we thought Dave Johnson had done a fantastic job planning the course so that as well as taking in the main tourist attractions, we didn’t spend all day having to avoid the numerous day trippers (all slightly confused as to why all these people were running past in different directions with maps).
Chris and I were competing as two solos rather than our normal mixed pair as I had missed the first couple in the series and Chris had started it solo. I decided to run first, not for any scientific reason, but my bike shoes are broken and once they are on they take an allen key and a lot of swearing to remove (therefore not great for a swift transition). I wasn’t the only person with shoe issues during the race, apparently Dave Morrow was spotted trying to put new shoes on in transition, complete with the tissue paper still in the toes!
Having looked at the map before the start an obvious running loop took shape; starting up past Goredale scar (a good scramble to start the day) onto the fell then back in past Malham Cove, luckily my pre planned route encompassed not only all the high checkpoint values but also most of the others so without any delay off I went.
The scenery was stunning throughout, and the hills short but steep. The text book limestone scenery provided a great, if slippy, backdrop to the run. A bit of local knowledge would have been useful at Malham Cove, both Chris and I (at separate times) looked for a way down the East side – only to discover when at the bottom why that was not a very sensible plan.
The controls on the bike stage unfortunately didn’t really fit with my pre planned route and I ended up changing my mind at the start of the leg. With hindsight the clockwise circuit was probably more sensible than the anti-clockwise loop I took, although it was a good way to see everyone out on the course as I think I saw almost every one I knew cycling the opposite way to me at some point (always a sign you’ve gone the wrong way round). See All Event Posts
