Fulda Challenge Selection
The First Day
01.10.2005
Among the competitors are ten adrenalin seekers from the UK. The five men and five women have been training hard over the past few months to ensure that they give themselves the best possible chance of securing a ticket to Canada’s Yukon Territory. Over three days of exciting sporting action, the ultimate team of one man and one woman will be decided.
Event One: Half-marathon
Day one of the demanding schedule commenced with a run cross 20km of tough terrain. With an altitude change of over 1,100m, the competitors commenced the agonising run in the beautiful town of Prad. Starting 900m above sea level, the athletes ran on roads, mountain tracks and hiking paths before they reached the highest point of 2,100m.
In an impressive display by the UK hopefuls – the first country to have all ten competitors over the finish line – Mark Chryssanthou finished second overall and secured the maximum five points from the UK’s male competitors. Surrey Police Officer Kate Balchin was the first of the five UK females to arrive back at base and also went straight to the top of the leaderboard.
Event Two: Tree Climbing
If there was one event of the day that depended largely on luck, it was the tree climbing. Not familiar to any of the UK competitors, each of them had two minutes to reach the top of the 10m tree and ring a bell.
The five points were awarded to the person who completed the task in the quickest time. Portsmouth-based Martin Yardley and Brighton tour guide Susannah Madge each took five points to bring them back into contention.
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