Dynamic Adventure Challenge - Marlborough Downs - Sept 10th
September Sizzler in the Marlborough Downs
Nicky Thomas (Dynamic Adventure Racing) / 18.09.2006
Bleary eyed competitors started to fill the hall and as they tucked in to Flossie’s bacon rolls the hall came to life and there was soon a buzz of anticipation. The largest race categories of the day were the male solos and mixed pairs.
Many of the competitors were new to adventure racing and the Dynamic team were kept busy giving crash courses on navigation and route choice and dishing out bags of encouragement to the newcomers doubting their own abilities.
One of the virgin teams was Team Dee Caffari. In May this year, sailing celebrity Dee became the first woman to sail around the world, non-stop, against the prevailing winds and tides, single-handed on a yacht built for a crew of eighteen! Dee’s team are competing in the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge in November, a celebrity adventure race over 6 days in Tasmania. The team were using the Dynamic Adventure Challenge as training and to experience their first taste of adventure racing and hopefully pick up some hot tips from the Dynamic team.
When Simon delivered his race briefing the sun had already burnt off the mist and it was clearly going to be a very hot day for racing! He explained that checkpoint number 7 had been moved from it’s planned location to a position further south since he’d been made to feel very unwelcome by a pack of large dogs from the nearby manor house when he’d attempted to set it out!
Clearly he didn’t want competitors to have the same experience, but that didn’t stop him from sending them along some rather overgrown footpaths and subjecting them to numerous nettle stings. He told the competitors, “I had to pick my way through the nettles, leaving my limbs fizzing for a week, now it’s your turn!�
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