CARE Adventure Race
Beginners Take CARE
Neil Munro (CARE International) / 08.04.2005
The race was split into two stages, and began with a 2- hour walking/running orienteering route around the forest. Stage two was a bicycle orienteering route, again around Swinley Forest and there were 10 checkpoints on each stage.
In both cases the 10th and final CP, could only be found if teams had collected a number from the first 6 CP’s to make up the 6 figure grid reference number. There was also a 10 minute team challenge on the course where teams had to move across an open space standing on and moving wooden blocks provided to them.
The race proved to be a highly competitive, and the atmosphere was friendly and cheerful, helped by the beautiful spring weather. Team Fisher lead the way after the initial running section with an impressive 210 points, a lead of only 1 point over Team BP. There was still all to play for, as only 20 points separated the top five places, providing teams with plenty of motivation for stage 2.
The mountain biking section in the afternoon was where the race was won and lost. Team Fisher proved again that they were the top team with a fantastic score of 250 points to give them a total of 460 points. The Finch Coasters came through as a formidable force on their bikes, jumping from joint sixth to second place by the end of the section with a final score of 410 points. Third place went to Advantica team B who proved consistently strong all day with a final score of 344 points.
Race Organiser Neil Munro commented, “Many of the people here were looking for a way into adventure racing and the course length and having a great venue like Swinley Forest encouraged them to have a go. A few teams got lost, or struggled to find some checkpoints, but everyone who took part enjoyed the experience and the courses were just achievable by the leading teams. I’m sure most of those who took part will be looking for more races, and CARE may hold another similar race later in the year.�
The CARE Challenge Adventure Race was organised and managed by CARE International UK, with all profits from the race going towards CARE UK’s work. To learn more about CARE visit www.careinternational.org.uk.
CARE also run a series of corporate challenge events through the summer. To find out more about the Challenge Series visit www.challengeseries.org.uk.
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