Olympic Canoeist ‘Campbell Walsh’ Tries Adventure Racing With Tri-Adventure ...

News Release / 08.12.2011

Tri-Adventure were delighted to have Campbell Walsh in attendance at two of their ‘Sprint’ adventure raced this past Autumn. Campbell who has an impressive track record in the canoe slalom area (World Cup Champion, European Champion, twice a World Championship bronze medalist and an Olympic silver medalist) shows that the transition from other outdoor sports to the adventure racing circuit is a logical, fun and addictive move ...

Campbell tells us about his adventure racing experiences, along with some tips for others thinking of taking the leap into the sport:

<b>When did you take part in your first adventure race?</b>

“Other than a vague awareness of expedition length races, I only found out Adventure Racing on a smaller scale existed when I went to the Selection weekend for the G4 Landrover Challenge at the end of 2008. I was having a few months off serious training following the Beijing Olympics, and applied knowing absolutely nothing about it - I thought it might be interesting!

It turned out to be a fantastic 3 days of tasks and challenges, I seemed to do surprisingly O.K., and I met loads of cool people who introduced me to the fact there were a wide variety of navigation based adventure races out there.

It's quite likely I'll retire from slalom racing at the end of 2012, so expect to see me at lots more adventure racing events after that.”

<b>What do you like most about adventure racing and find the most challenging about it?</b>

“The thing I like the most is the fact you have to use your brain to work out your strategy, route choice and navigate. It's much more interesting than following a marked out course. Plus the fact it is off-road.

The thing that challenges me the most is the length of a lot the events on the circuit. I spend all my time training for a 90 second canoe slalom race, so 5 hour or longer races are a little daunting. Tri-Adventure offer a ‘Sprint’ 2hr adventure race for beginners which is perfect for me, I’ve completed two of these recently and plan to work my way up to the 3.5hr ‘Experience’ event in June 12. Hydration and fueling become an important issue for me to avoid cramps or bonking!”

<b>What did you think of the Tri-Adventure race experience and are you planning to enter more events?</b>

“The Tri-Adventure races are perfect for me. At 2hours, they are not too long so I can handle them and they don't tire me out too much for proper training the following week! Also they are reasonably close to where I currently live in North London, and at the right time of year for me to be able to do them. The courses were great with lots of options in strategy and route choice.”

<b>What would be your top 3 tips for someone thinking of entering an adventure race for the first time?</b>

1) Make a map board for your bike ... cycling off-road, holding and reading a map are not easy to do at the same time - you will either fall off or get lost!

2) Start slowly and build into it. Mistakes are often made when going to the first checkpoint by rushing. (Learnt from experience)

3) Make sure you drink enough fluids and take on board some food or gels during the event.

<b>Can you sum up adventure racing in 5 words or less?</b>

Multisport
Off-road
Strategy
Navigation
Challenging.

If like Campbell you want to try something new for 2012 visit <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.triadventure.co.uk')" class="main">www.triadventure.co.uk</a> where you’ll find lots of advice and tips for newcomers to the sport along with event calendars sure to offer something to suit everyone.