Injury forces the leaders out (Sunday 6am to 2pm)

Rob / 14.04.2002

Through the afternoon and into the evening of the first day the rain continued, heavier at times, and the promised clearer skies never materialised. There was no respite from the cold except to keep moving, and no hope of drying out at all. At least on this first phase the race stayed at a low level, on and around the broad river Spey, on country lanes and in the forest.

After teams made it through the orienteering stage in the early morning they trekked along ‘General Wades Military Road’ to reach the ruined Ruthven Barracks, a collection of craggy crumbling walls left in ruins in 1746 in a battle between Bonny Prince Charlie and the English. The impressive ruins are perched on an hilltop and the teams had to search through them to find some information off the wall plaques before continuing.

After so much riding and trekking the paddling stage was on the Spey in 2 man Canadian canoes. It’s slow moving, broad water - not technically demanding. Third placed Bridgedale Ireland did come up with one twist, lashing both canoes together to create a stable ‘raft’. They were keeping a steady pace behind the leaders, not gaining or losing any time.

If the canoeing didn’t need any particular technical skill the same couldn’t be said of the Extreme Mtb stage. In the slippery conditions there was some doubt about whether it would go ahead, but for leading teams at least it did. Once again Golite Goretex and Parrot Lythgoe arrived together, setting off up a steep switchback track which became increasingly broken and difficult.

There was a twist here too - only 2 were riding, and the other 2 had to run. They could switch if they wanted, but for the descent the two most confident and skilled riders were needed. It was steep, very broken singletrack, with occasional drops - not easy when you are tired to the point of exhaustion and riding with a heavy rucksack. Goretex Golite came down first, Ski Sharp and Anna McCormack riding – cautiously.

Parrot Lythgoe were a few minutes behind but in trouble. John Lowther was limping awkwardly after the recurrence of an old groin injury and back down on the road he decided he had to pull out. “It was a really hard decision as we were all having so much fun, but there is no point in pushing on injured. I would just slow the others down and they’d end up looking after me. I was gutted to have to quit in my first adventure race, but there will be others.�

With the rest of the team continuing unranked this left Goretex Golite in a clear lead but the competition behind them was hotting up. Bridgedale Ireland remain less than 2 hours behind, not a lot in a race of this nature when no one has slept yet. There are other contenders too, Total Avengers, Total Adventure and Cannonball are all within another hour of Bridgedale Ireland. All could still potentially win but much will depend on the night ahead, on which teams get lost, and if they sleep.

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