planetFear Open5+

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Anglesey Adventures

Ian Furlong / 27.05.2011

Another month, another Open Adventure race to look forward to. This time, the first of the planetFear Endurance series, the 5+. Basically an Open 5, with a bit extra. Should be fun. I was joined by Matt “I’m going to be slow, been on a year long party travelling the world� Yarnall. We last raced together in the London Rat race 2 years ago and did pretty well, so I knew I’d not be dragging him around.

The event was based in Holy Island, on the far West tip of Anglesey. Due to the location it was no surprise to learn at the event briefing that we would be getting wet, and the forecast was for the conditions to pick up later on. T he race consisted of a kayak stage, an abseil and a foot orienteering section, with bikes used to get between them and to pick up a few outlying controls. Matt and I decided that we would give the whole course our best shot, knowing all the top teams would clear the course in the 5 hours, especially considering the kayaking stage had been cut short and a swim section had been removed completely.

We started well, glad to have made the decision to switch to the slickest tyres I could get for my mountain bike (if only I had a cyclo-cross bike, which would have been ideal). Heading as directly as we could to the abseil, to avoid any queues later when more teams arrived, we found ourselves racing alongside/getting overtaken by Team For Goodness Shakes. We kept passing each other on the route, which was interesting figuring out who was making the better route choices.

We quickly at the abseil site and using my new super lightweight harness, which has more in common with a thong than a device designed to stop me from falling off a cliff, we dangled over a fantastic drop into a huge cove. Once at the bottom, the only way back up was through a cave followed by a short swim in the sea and a scramble up a cliff. A great ‘trouser filler’ as event director James Thurlow likes to call them.

Ignoring a slight nav issue finding one CP as I failed to adjust to the large scale map (1:10k), the rest of the run section went well, sticking to our strategy of aiming to clear the course. We passed Tom, fellow Leeds AR member who was racing under the team Ales By Mail, with AR virgin Paul. Tom asked how the abseil was. Knowing that if I told him he’d have to swim to get out of the cove he’d never do it, I just gave him the thumbs up and spared the details.See All Event Posts