The Wilderness ARC
How Wilderness ARC was Won!
Ruth Martin / 25.08.2005
As their kayaks ground to a halt, Team No 7, Aberdeen Asset Management, looked totally spent. They raised smiles and paddles and resignedly drew themselves out their boats to make that final effort to portage the vessels the 10 metres to the finish gantry.
The moment they broke through the finish ribbon amidst showers of champagne, the expressions of Warren Bates, Nick Gracie, Ruth Metcalfe and Chris Near changed instantly from tiredness to glee. They’d done it! At 11.05, Team Aberdeen Asset Management had wholeheartedly won the inaugural Wilderness ARC becoming 2005’s British Adventure Racing Champions and gaining qualification and fully-paid entry to the Adventure Race World Championship.
Glugging Moet, Warren Bates answered for the team when asked how they felt: “Tired! Brilliant! It was tough enough! The weather kept it interesting. And now I’m desperate for a cup of tea!� (Which was duly brought to them from the nearby monument visitor centre.)
They found the course challenging and amazing. The word “brilliant� came up a few times as they described their experiences, and at least twice the ecstatic bunch exclaimed they couldn’t wait to do it again next year. They reckoned that trekking across the Aonach Eagach Ridge on the first day would be their favourite memory while Chris reckoned the 300ft abseil was pretty stupefying. Due to the extreme weather, the abseil was cancelled straight after Chris reached the bottom and Ruth reported much relief when told she’d have to walk down the ridge instead.
They weren’t really sure how much sleep they’d accumulated through the course, admitting that they only grabbed 5-10minute kips intermittently, and once remarkably when three of them huddled together in a telephone box for a 10 minute powernap.
Chris Near pointed out: “The others did! I refused to have any part of it!� But the last night cycling through Ardnamurchan required more sleep than they were prepared to allow: “We all nearly finished the race too soon with spectacular bike crashes – we all fell asleep on our bikes last night.�
SleepMonsters
