Questars Race 4
Questars 2009 Concludes in the Cotswolds
07.09.2009
At the pre race briefing teams were welcomed and advised that they had ahead of them some great terrain to explore on foot, bike and on the water. The north Cotswold Hills, countryside and villages made for very varied terrain with a lot of off-road biking and trail running and great views. What’s more teams were told to look out for and enjoy copious amounts of free energy boosting food liberally distributed all around the course … Wonderfully plump blackberries were in every hedgerow, and were devoured in large quantities by those teams not intent on winning positions in the hotly contested eleven prize categories and the overall series leaderboard.
Teams from all across the UK took part, including some who had travelled all the way from Northern Ireland, Perth in Scotland and even Dubai. The weather was considerably kinder than there with ideal conditions for adventure racing â€" calm, cloudy and cool. As with all Questars there were key choices to make right at the start of the race. The location of the three dummy checkpoints on the trail run and mountain biking stages, plus the value of all 36 available checkpoints, were revealed on the start line as teams collected that all important Checkpoints Card.
Those teams with early kayaking slots headed down the taped route to the nearby kayak transition point. Kayaking time slots have been distributed evenly over the four event series so that teams in each category had a mix of time slots. In this way the different options of kayaking first, last or in the middle of the race have been provided to all competitors.
Once on the River Avon teams quickly adapted to the moving water, to locate each of the six bankside checkpoints. It was a real strategic decision whether to go for the furthest and most valuable kayaking checkpoint. Collecting 45 points was enticing but also held the risk of being late back and picking up a 50 point penalty.
The trail run stage kept close to the river for a significant section. Indeed SleepMonsters photographer, Kirk, took many great action shots of kayakers on the river and runners on the riverside path. One riverside string of checkpoints entailed the runners crossing the Avon over a weir and a lock before deciding whether to head back to base or take to the slopes of Bredon Hill in search ofthe highest value checkpoints. Those that did brave the heights were rewarded with panoramic views of the Cotswold Edge to the south, across to The Forest of Dean and Black Mountains and nearby Malvern Hills in the west and the extensive Midlands Plain to the north.
There were even more points available to the mountain bikers with checkpoints scattered over both the flat river plain and the far from flat southern part of the map. Many teams reported that the ride up the hill was very tough but was rewarded with exhilarating descents. Every one of the top teams took different routes when collecting the biking checkpoints. So again it goes to show that the fourth discipline of Questars events â€" making key strategic decisions about which checkpoints to visit, in which order and with which route - is as important as fitness, stamina, technique and transitioning quickly.
SleepMonsters
