Happy Birthday to Spiders …

Rob / 18.10.2002

It’s been a great first year for the Spiders ARC, launched by Simon Coppen-Gardner in October 2001 after he’d “accidentally arranged for 2 teams of complete strangers, and AR novices to race at a Blue Eskimo”.

Now the club numbers 150 and is the biggest, and maybe the only AR club of it’s type in the UK, and is regularly found by those who’ve seen or heard of ‘adventure racing’ and are looking to get involved. By putting teams together, to compete and have fun, the club has grown rapidly.

There were 20 or so newcomers competing at the Trailplus event in May and they’ve raced regularly all year. By the final Ford Ranger race at Swinley Forest there were 30 Spiders on the course and one of the teams ‘Huntsman’ were racing up with the leaders. There were good performances during the year under the ‘SS Chimp’ banner too and with some sponsorship ‘Thomas Cook’ went on to compete in the first British Championships, finishing in a creditable 7th.

\"The growth of the club is just a reflection of the massive growth within Adventure Racing over the last year.\" says Simon, \"and we are ideally placed to continue nurturing that during 2003 and beyond.\" There are plans for more teams and trips to races, training and social events, and one of the best things is membership is free – which is the way Simon wants it to stay.

If you’d like to get involved take a look at their ‘Team Site’ on SleepMonsters.com where you can read more and see profiles of some members. There are email and web site links on the page.