Portugal XPD Preview

Average Joes / 27.11.2008

On Friday morning Team Average Joes will be joined by Irish AR Denny and Irish AR Ballyfree for the flight out to Lisbon to compete in the Estoril Portugal XPD adventure race.

For team members Rowan McMahon, Kate Hebblethwaite, Jonny Gallier and Paul McArthur this will be their first time racing outside Ireland and the UK - and for Rowan, Kate and Jonny it will be their first expedition length race. Portugal XPD will be the climax of a very successful year for a team that only formed in January 2008. With consistent top 5 placings throughout the year and with wins in the Total Experience Adventure Race, Irish Adventure Race Series and the Galway Rat Race, the Joes will be hoping to use Portugal as their first stepping stone to reach the AR World Championships in 2010.

The four-day non-stop race will be based in and around the magnificent Estoril Coast on the west coast of Portugal and will allow teams to explore the vast potential of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. The main disciplines will be trekking/running, mountain biking, canoeing and inline skating. Other activities that the team can expect include climbing, caving, surf kayaking and swimming. There will be a mix of mandatory CPs and optional CPs (90 CPs in total) for the teams to navigate to. Only the very fastest teams are expected to complete the full 712km course in the time allocated with race organisers anticipating that “good judgement, focus and teamwork will be decisive to overcome the challenges of the course”.

Aside from the daunting prospect of four days of sleep deprivation, the Joes will also need to overcome language issues, a different mapping system and inline skating – a sport that never really caught on in Ireland or the UK. Whatever the outcome, Team Average Joes will use the event to gain valuable racing experience and, most importantly, to have fun.

The race can be followed on the Portugal XPD website http://www.portugalxpdrace.com/estoril08/en/index.php