British Adventure Racing Championship Final
Recovery and the Race Resumes (Monday 30th)
Rob / 30.09.2002
The last team (Polar Travel Company) didn’t come in until just after the 01.00 deadline this morning. All the teams were tired after a big first day, some disappointed and some with gripes about the way the race had gone – the same as in every big race.
After time adjustments it was Team Wales who came out ahead, by just 7 minutes from Lythgoe, who were 30 minutes ahead of Salomon X-a – it’s a close race. These teams had a long rest in camp, set up at in a farmyard and camping field just below Cadair Idris. With a section of the course suddenly ruled out of bounds on stage two the expected 6.30 start was put back to 09.30, so the leaders had 12 hours in camp – an unheard of luxury! This was even better news for those arriving late.
, aches that needed massaging and emotional team members who needed their spirits raised or tempers soothed. Back-up is a job with a lot of specialised skills! In the morning they would be doing a lot of maintenance work on the bikes while teams ran over the mountain.
Anthony Emmet of Thomas Cook was waiting for his team until just before midnight and they had a sorry tale to tell. “They’d missed a checkpoint on the Karrimor Trail, which they were upset about, then in the rush to get back missed another, so we dropped right down the leaderboard,� he said. “We’d prepared food for them, and even had their clothes and wash kits by the shower block (with the right change) so they could go straight in, but they just wanted their beds. We fed them and the collapsed into their sleeping bags. Then we had to think about charging all the batteries – thank heavens we’d brought the means to do it off the car battery! Fortunately, they were all in a better frame of mind in the morning!�
Some of the many stories from the night before emerged in the morning. Team Last Minute had missed another of the checkpoints on the Karrimor Trail and Sealskinz High Five were still struggling through, despite getting lost and injuries to the team. They’d arrived at the abseil too late, it was getting dark and they were the only team not to do it, which they weren’t happy about.
Everyone set off together in the morning and getting to the first checkpoint was a steep climb, up the Pony Path onto the summit of Cadair Idris at 893 meters. The weather was still perfect, clear skies and sunny, and the views for those who paused to take them in, were panoramic and dramatic. The summit was only the first checkpoint though, there were 3 more optional points on the full route, taking teams out along the ridge to Craig Lwyd, then cruelly down 500m into the valley and finally back up onto Mynydd Moel. Then it was over Cadair Idris again before getting back to camp.
Team Wales kept up their lead all the way, often with Helen Jackson out in front – she is perhaps the strongest on the team. Lythgoe were never far behind however and like all the top teams except Team Wales, were using towing systems. (ACE Races were the only ones using trekking poles.) Last to the summit were Bare Naked Racers and they wisely opted to do only one optional control point and then return to camp to make the transition to bikes again. The rest of the day will be spent in the saddle.
SleepMonsters
