Dynamic Adventure Racing
Don’t Forget the Map!
Jonathan Mayne (DAR) / 22.07.2004
There was a gentle hubbub as competitors marked up their maps, planned their routes and discussed how much ground they could cover in the 2 hour run section. The Dynamic team was on hand to answer the many questions on a whole variety of topics – what kit was needed, how to use a roamer, what does a checkpoint look like.
As the competitors headed off into the woods, many runners thought that the 15k run could easily be completed in the possible two hours time limit. Little did they know that the terrain and navigation was going to be challenging. Peaslake is surrounded on all sides by steep hills and a network of paths that are not all featured on the map. One could draw a comparison with the forest in the Blair Witch Project!
Male pair Andrew Reddington and Nigel Bush won the run stage, accumulating 212 out of a possible 300 points, Michael Austin and David Wakefield came a close second with 206, with Nick Rowe, Mark Gray and Debbie Rhodes winning the team category with 196 points, the same score as Nigel Clemens in the male solo category.
Many competitors found themselves lost in the myriad of paths and fire tracks in the woods south of the village hall, but everyone arrived back at base safety, albeit some were a few minutes late. As Flossie’s kitchen did a roaring trade, cups of tea were drunk and sandwiches were scoffed as the competitors prepared for the mountain bike stage. The hour flew by and in no time there was a queue building at the kit check as people made their final preparations.
There was very little difference in the points separating the top spots, so the mountain bike stage was going to be crucial in defining the winners. There was a reasonable amount of route choice with a variety of terrain – road, bridleways and fire tracks. Many of the bridleways provided some superb single track descent, unless of course you were going in the opposite direction!
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