planetFear Open5+
Close Competition at Coniston
Rob Howard / 19.05.2010
The setting at the northern end of Coniston Water was perfect. A sloping pasture, gently mown by the resident sheep flock, was the race venue, with surrounding views along the lake and of the Coniston Fells above. The forecast was for a warm and dry Cumbrian spring day and in his own backyard James Thurlow of Open Adventure had taken on the role of course planner himself for the first this years planetFear Endurance Series. Everything was set for a special race and the Open5+ delivered.The start/finish field was part of The National Trust’s extensive properties in the area and as such not a regular event location. The Trust were enthusiastic supporters of the race and the strong relationship with Open Adventure is a healthy sign for adventure racing and allowed theracers access to areas which had never been used for competitive races before.
Those lucky racers were given their bright red event bibs (apart from last year’s winners who claimed the yellow series leaders bibs) and briefed on the treats in store for them in the 5 hours of competition that lay ahead. As many had figured out from the pre-race notes there were a few changes to the regular Open Adventure format, and one of the additional special challenges was described as “a bit full on� with the option for only one racer to take part, for half the available points.
Another change was a mass start at 10.30, and this always adds to an event. There is more tension and banter, a lift in spirits when everyone runs off together and later on of course, there is a mass finish around the closing time. With a 3,2,1 from James the race was off and stage one was a treat. It was a run around Tarn Hows (for those on the long course at least), one of the jewels in the crown of the Lake District National Park, and one of the places no event had been permitted to use before now. The route passed through the surrounding woodlands, right around the Tarms and back via Tarn Hows wood to transition.
Next up was an optional orienteering section in the sun dappled terrain of nearby High Guards Wood, and with 120 points on offer for relatively little effort it looked like easy points … but the notes warned; “This is hard!� The snag was there teams could only punch 4 controls to win 30 points for each, but they were different controls for each class and placed closely together so it would be easy to punch the wrong one. If that happened you got -30 points, and there were no second chances. It was a cunningly set trap and it caught some pairs out, including Anthony Emmet and Helen Jackson. See All Event Posts
