Spring in the Chilterns with Questars
Press Release / 27.04.2026
It was another glorious day in the Chilterns for the second race of the Questars 2026 Summer Series. Spring had properly sprung!
The Oratory School provided an excellent venue to explore a lovely part of the Chilterns, where the bluebells were out in force and the trails were in near-perfect condition. Racers commented that it felt like riding through Tuscany in parts! Added to that there was a lovely stretch of the River Thames for the paddle.
At just over 26km and with over 400m of climbing, the run course was a toughie and it was no surprise that only one person across the day completed the course – with Mark Logie doing so in a time of 2:35.
With 55km of track and trail, and over 800m of climbing, the bike route was another beast of a course, yet an impressive six teams managed to clear it with Campbell Walsh quickest in an unbelievable time of 2:51.
The 6.3km paddle included a bit of flow and the chance for a horrible headwind on the way back to base, so it was a tough one to judge. A lucky thirteen teams managed to clear the course, including Stewart Graham (59:10) on the shorter Novice category. Campbell Walsh was quickest in an incredible time of 52:26 ahead of Tom Hards (54:18) and James Lea-Cox & John Pattinson (54:41).
This stage proved to be the most profitable with teams picking up an average of 2.27 points per minute kayaking, compared to 1.87 points per minute on the run and 1.84 points per minute on the bike.
With recent dry weather the course had dried out, leaving the trails in near-perfect condition. Despite this the planners were confident the course could not be cleared, though they added a couple of extra checkpoints the week before the event after a final recce showed how quickly the course was running! They were right, but only just! Campbell Walsh dropped just two checkpoints on his way to a winning score of 976 points. An incredible performance.
The glorious weather tempted racers to stay out on the course, meaning that penalties outweighed rewards on the day. There were some impressive penalty contributions with Michael Miller, Katie Webber (115) and Jon Ward (155) all joining the 100 penalty point club!
As ever, the race base was abuzz with stories of adventure and misadventure at the finish. Kev Stephens had to run his bike back from the kayak after his tyre slashed open and Andrew Ryan had his bike stolen from off his car in the Premier Inn car park! Fortunately he was able to ride on the day as Cyclexperience saved the day with a hire bike. It was just as well as he was racing in a team with his sister who was visiting from the Middle East.
It was a home stomping ground for some of our regular racers. with Hall-of-Famer Jeremy Waite seeking pre-approval to go 50m off the map to visit his house during a Questars event – a dream for many I’m sure!
All in all, it was another amazing day of Questars racing. Thank you to everyone who came out to take part, to our volunteer marshals, media team, and medics for the day,
Attention now turns to the next race in the Summer Series in the Brecon Beacons in mid-June. It is a two-day event and not to be missed! (You can race for just one day if you want.)
Full results and pictures can be found from the website, as well as details of the rest of the races this year, and lots of advice for those who want to try Questars for the first time.
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