The adidas Terrex Adventure Race
Onto the High Street
Rob Howard / 29.08.2010
Some made the ascent of Easy Gully on Pavey Ark, took in the nearest CP’s and quickly returned to Langdale to sleep. Many had chosen to pack a tent for this reason, and those who hadn’t had the option of a large open tent the race marshals had erected so they could shelter.
One of the earliest to return, at just after 23.00, were the race leaders adidas Terrex, who had undertaken more of the trek in daylight and kept up their relentless pace, and of course, they had completed all of the route. Nor did they stop to sleep at this point, taking just 30 minutes to reorganise themselves and set off again at 23.33, though they said they would look for somewhere to sleep later. It wasn’t until 04.56 that the next nearest challenger (Accelerate B) left Langdale, so their lead is approaching 5 hours and barring any mishaps looks unassailable.
Most returning teams did sleep in the transition, huddled against the cold and the wet. Karen MacDonald of the Haglofs team was hugging the tea urn in an attempt to warm up and said, “I should just have stayed here all night! It’s my favourite place.� Her team had problems as Mick Kenyon had an inflamed or infected eye. “We had to guide Mick down as he could hardly see, so it we were moving slowly and got cold. I think it’s partly the stress of racing and we all react in different ways. Me, I just cry, but not last night as I was concentrating on helping Mick.� As she watched planetFear leave she shook her head and commented; “I’m amazed how tough people are!�
At the same time Anthony Emmet of planetFear looked out into the torrential rain and shrugged saying, “I still don’t know why we do this!� His team were wisely filling their water bottles from the tea urn and while they did so team mate Sally Ozanne talked about the high and exposed abseil on Esk Buttress. “The wind was blowing the lighter racers like me around and as a result the rope had become snagged and slightly damaged. It was just the sheath broken, but the race staff closed the section after that.� Later she asked if it was OK to cry if she was feeling bad and Anthony Emmett said, “Yes, but don’t be too noisy about it.�
Haglofs were spending a long time in transition and after getting some advice from the medics James Thurlow took a decision to pull the team out, something he has never had to do before. “They were not really capable of making a decision,� he said, “and you can’t take chances with eye injuries. His sight could be permanently affected so there is no choice really.� A tearful Kenyon was taken off to hospital to be checked out while this team prepared themselves and set off again.
SleepMonsters
