Dynamic Adventure Racing
Tough Times on the Marlborough Downs
Jonathan Mayne (Dynamic Adventure Racing) / 21.11.2004
With over 50% of the competitors being complete beginners to adventure racing, the toilets were noticeably busier than they had been on the Saturday! In between queuing, the competitors marked up their maps, discussed potential route choice and, following guidance from the DA team, made a mental note to stay out of the woods south of the village unless absolutely necessary.
The two hour run gave the competitors a number of choices – they could head out and do a long loop, which would pick up the checkpoints with the greatest values, but they risked being late back and losing all the points they’d worked so hard to earn. There were also a number of shorter loops, which allowed competitors to pick up a number of smaller valued checkpoints if they had time.
Marc Balston, Graham Atkinson and Andrew Kirkwood in the team category and Guy Chessel and Marina Steadman in the mixed pairs scored a very impressive 260 out of 300. Close behind them was male pairs Nigel Finch and James Thackary with 242 points, with mixed pair Stuart Rowell and Anna MacPherson with 240. Male pairs Christopher Stone and Alex Guise, and Peter Normand and Roger Maitland-Jones scored 230, creating some healthy competition in the testosterone fuelled male pairs category!
With the morning frost well and truly burnt off, the competitors headed off on their bikes. The majority chose to avoid the dense population of red contour lines on the Marlborough Downs and kept to the fast roads and rights of way south of the village. Keeping south only allowed them to collect 200 of a potential 450 points and those choosing to head North were rewarded with more points, stunning views and some great mountain biking, which certainly tested the padding in those MTB shorts!
David Attenborough romped home with 330 points, a film crew and the discovery of a number of new species!* Shortly followed by Christopher Turner with 304 points. In the battle of the testosterone, Michael Austin and David Wakefield outbiked their competition, returning home with 300 points. The mixed pairs was won by Guy Chessel and Marina Steadman who added 290 points to their winning first stage score.
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