Dynamic Adventure 12 hour D.A.R.E. - Forest of Dean
DARE - Team Endurancelife’s First Outing
Ian Grace and Mark Bottomley / 04.06.2009
With Team Endurancelife finally up and running, we couldn’t wait to get racing! With a few tough training sessions under our belt, it was decided that the first race for Team Enduarancelife was to be the DARE. A 12hr non-stop score event, involving the 3 standard disciplines of kayaking, mountain biking and running. The event was open to 70 pairs only (although not that many entered) and was based in the village of Studland in the Isle of Purbeck.
The Isle of Purbeck isn’t really an ‘Isle’ at all, it is a landmass of around 60 sq miles which is almost completely surrounded by coastline and includes rolling chalky ridges which run down to Old Harry (a chalky rock stack), standing proudly in the sea. It is the gateway to the Jurassic Coast, offering spectacular views and a diverse mix of terrain, making it the perfect location for an adventure race.
We were greeted by the usual scene on Saturday morning, a mass of competitors sorting out kit boxes, checking maps and filling water bottles and bladders. Having met up the night before to register, we were surprisingly calm, collected and organised. After listening to the briefing (during which the heavens opened!) and locking our bikes in transition, we were ready for the ‘off’ at 10am.
The wind was blowing hard and the rain was on and off, so the decision on what to wear was a difficult one. The first section of the race was to be a run along Studland beach, picking up a few checkpoints along the way, to the kayak start. Hoping to save a bit of time at the Kayak transition, we decided to wear our waterproof trousers and tops from the start. All well and good………until the clouds cleared and the sun came out, making for a hot and sweaty run. Luckily though, the sun did stay out most of the day which, with the wind as strong as it was, made the race far more enjoyable.
The first checkpoint down and no problems as we headed up the beach for checkpoint two and there was a bit of a navigation mess up at this one as we hunted around the sand dunes for the access track to the beach (with many competitors following in our footsteps). As the rest of the field went running up the beach it became clear that we had headed too far inland so we about turned and headed back to the beach where the CP was quickly located. Oh well ... from first to last in 5 minutes ...See All Event Posts
