Wadenhoe Winter Challenge Series
A Winter Challenge
Rob / 25.01.2004
The Church field above the village of Wadenhoe, near Peterborough, sits on a rise looking across the pastoral Nene valley, but for 4 Sundays each winter it is anything but a tranquil setting. It’s the unlikely venue for the Wadenhoe Winter Challenge Series, an off-road Quadrathlon ... with only 3 disciplines. Or two if you do the run-bike-run option. It was started about 7 years ago by Eric Hatliff, who lives in the village, and felt the GB Quadrathlon squad needed some winter training to keep them in shape. Now he runs the 4 race series each year and as the entry form says, “This is a very low key event, entries have been as low as 6 and as high as 40, come along and enjoy competing for sports sake�.
So there are no road signs to guide you to the field where most of the action takes place, if you are entering on the day you need to know where to go! The race is more multi-sport than Quadrathlon, with a bit of the repetitive pain of circuit training thrown in for good measure. It starts with 2 and a half circuits of the field (3 miles), dipping down steep slopes to the boggy riverside on the way, then there is a 2 mile paddle, followed by 6 miles of off-road riding, again round the field, and a final, mile long run to finish.
For the third race in the 2003/4 season the weather was bright and fine, as good as it gets in January, and 30 competitors, mostly regulars on the Quadrathlon scene set off down the hill from the start. In fact they seemed to all be ‘Wadenhoe regulars’, it was a like a small club with everyone on first name terms. (Eight others opted to keep off the water and do the shorter run-bike-run option.)
They all had some stern words from Eric Hatliff before going, about not cutting inside the markers set around the field. “If anyone does it, that’s it, I’m not organising the race any more. It’s a first and last warning!� He added, “The river has come right in, so you’ll get wet feet on the boggy bit by the shore, but stay out of the reeds. They are in an SSSI ….. whatever that is!�
They had a longish wait too, as one competitor was having problems with persistent punctures on his bike. Four inner tubes and 20 minutes later he was ready and they were off! See All Event Posts
