Merrell King Winter

A Winter Gathering in Denmark

Rob Howard / 10.01.2014

Seventy adventure racing teams are currently assembling at the sports hall at the town of Graested in Eastern Denmark for the Merrell Kong Vinter race.  The race is for teams of two or three, and is one of the bigger events on the growing Danish racing calendar, partly as it’s the only winter race and teams are keen to get racing again in the new year. It is also one of the longest established races in the country (now in its 4^th year) and often attracts some visiting international teams, with racers coming from Sweden, Finland and Estonia for this year’s event.

The sports hall where teams are registering is named after the nearby forest, Gribskov, which is one of the largest in Denmark and will feature strongly in this weekend’s course. It is also close to one of the largest lakes in the country, Esrum, where the kayaking stage of the race will take place.

The kayaking will only feature for those on the longer Masters course, which has 26 teams, including many of the top Danish racers and the visiting Estonian and Swedish teams.  The race is very close to Sweden and teams can drive across the bridge between the two countries or take a short ferry ride.  It is also attracting some Swedish teams who want to compete in longer races as many of the Swedish multi-sport races are shorter.

The Estonian team are returning after racing last year and while they are competitive they regard the race as winter training for longer races.  They said that they hope there is lots of running as they have not been on their bikes and kayaks much recently, but they know the race requires strong navigational skills, which is one of their strengths.

The Masters course will start at 09.00 in the morning, with teams getting the race maps an hour earlier, and the leaders are expected to take 14 or 15 hours to complete the full course. So all the teams will be racing into the night, and those who are slower will race right though the night as they have 21 hours before the course closes. The route includes forest trail mountain biking, and numerous orienteering challenge stages with specially printed maps, visits to places of special interest (Neolithic sites, castles and a monastery), and the kayaking on Esrum lake.  (Winter kayaking safety regulations are strict in Denmark so they will have to stay close to the shore at all times.)

The Challenge Course is expected to take 6 to 7 hours for the leaders and excludes the kayak stage and the longer mountain bike rides. Like the Masters course there are some optional CP’s for those teams who need to shorten the course a little but the closing time is the same, so they can stay out for 21 hours if they want.  The best known name on this course is former World Champion Petri Forsman of Finland, who is doing the shorter course while recovering from an injury.

The weather forecast for the weekend is for some rain and the trails are said to be very muddy, but the temperature could dip towards freezing by Sunday morning so the teams will have to deal with wet and cold conditions before they reach the finish line back at Graested.

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