Open Adventure in the Peak, on the Road, and at Sea

Rob Howard / 04.03.2011

It’s time for another Open5 this weekend and the Mountain Hardwear sponsored series heads ‘south’ for the 4th of 5 races in 2010/11. The venue this time is in Bakewell with the courses set in the Peak District National Park. (It’s a busy weekend in the Peak as the High Peak Marathon is also taking place this weekend.)<br />
<br />Local planner and racer Ian Hughes has been working hard visiting all the paths and trails and talking with local land owners, especially Chatsworth Estate and the Peak District National Park Authority to ensure that racers get to visit some of the area's most beautiful locations. The event centre is based at the Bakewell Agricultural Centre and after the recent rains conditions are going to be muddy!<br />
<br />With the series titles and the top prizes of £500 of Mountain Hardwear vouchers to be decided on the 3 best scores there is still plenty of time for changes in the rankings ahead of the final race, to be held in Grizedale on April 3rd.<br />
<br />With the planetFear Endurance series and the adidas Terrex Coast to Coast race still to come there is a busy year ahead for Open Adventure but they are also expanding the ‘Open Portfolio’ into a more varied range of sporting challenges in single disciplines. <br />
<br />For those of you who like to get out on your road bikes a new series of National Trust Sportives has recently been launched with events in July, September and October, and there is a new ocean kayaking race off Anglesey on May 22nd. Details are on two new websites; <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.oceankayakrace.com')" class="main">www.oceankayakrace.com</a> and <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.opencycling.com')" class="main">www.opencycling.com</a>.<br />
<br />[There is a great video of the last race at Kirkby Stephen from Simon Walker and his son. It really show how rough the conditions were, but thankfully the forecast is better for the race this weekend. Go to the next page to view it.]