Mountain Hardwear Open5 North Wales
Tough Series Finale for Open5
Dave Lawrance / 08.04.2010
The weather was reasonably kind, with dark skies never delivering their promise and a brisk cool South Westerly keeping the sweat at bay. The normal format ruled, with 5 hours to bag as many mountain bike and run checkpoints as you could by any route you choose. Over 250 competitors showed up to take part in the competitive finale to the series.
There seemed to be a finish line consensus that this was a tough one. Muddy trails and heather-covered hills made it hard going to reach many of the high-scores, and with checkpoints scattered around the tops and flanks of the main feature ridge, if you weren’t climbing, you weren’t scoring. Good navigation was also important, with many checkpoints positioned off the beaten tracks, mountain marathon style. It was a credit to the course setters Jon Montgomery and Tim Higginbottom for pushing the boundaries of the normal race formula.
The finish line was a mass of bodies, gear and relieved grins. Many competitors were pleased to confirm with each other that it was tougher than normal. But then, it’s not supposed to be easy is it? At least we provided entertainment for the locals. A couple of walkers kindly confirmed that they were enjoying watching the suffering of competitors from there well chosen lunch spot in front of a particularly claggy stretch of trail up near Ffrith Mountain!
If you haven’t visited the area, it comes recommended. Next time you are planning a trip to mountains and trail centres further west, why not check it out? There are some great bike descents in most directions from just west of the Moel Famau trig point, and the ridge line would make a great run. Ruthin has got all the essentials.
Many of the series champs were up on the leader board again today. John Houlihan nearly lost out after a diary-mishap had him turning up 24 hours early. All was not lost though the flight was rescheduled and the race was on. All us mere mortals can’t fail but to be impressed with the winning scores, knowing how hard it is to get just a few extra points.
In the male solos, John put in an awesome performance, clearing the course (605 pts) with just over a minute to spare. In the ladies solos, Heather Burrows snuck in just 5 points ahead of Natalie White. Mixed pairs were once again dominated by Helen Jackson and Clive Parry, who powered home with an impressive 540 pts. Kim Collison and Neil Hamblin took the male pairs, a full 86 points clear. Sue Booth and Louise Hanley pushed hard at the end to score 444 pts despite being 8 minutes late. Great efforts all round, whether or not you made the leader board!
In summary, this was yet another great event from Open Adventure. Great locations, fantastic prizes from Mountain Hardwear and brilliant route setting throughout the series.
SleepMonsters
