Questars Trio Race - Cotswold Hills
Questars in the Cotswolds
David Hunt (Questars) / 06.09.2011
The event was variously described by participants in their post-race feedback as:
'a fantastic event - great course, great atmosphere, great people!'
'fun, challenging and very worthwhile'
'a brilliant day out. Exploring new terrain with good views - great fun.'
'fun, energetic, fulfilling, great value event'
or simply ' funtabitastic!'
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. It was also highlighted that checkpoint 13 had been located right by a damson tree groaning with ripe fruit for hungry participants to enjoy! MuleBar again provided participants with free pre-race energy bars or energy gels.
Teams from all across the UK and further afield took part, including three from Lithuania. The weather was kind, with good conditions for adventure racing. 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 team collected that all important Checkpoints Card.
Those teams with early kayaking slots headed down the short route to the nearby kayak transition point. Kayaking time slots have been distributed evenly over the event series so that teams in each category have 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, and located upto six bankside checkpoints. It was a real strategic decision whether to go for the furthest and most valuable kayaking checkpoint. Collecting it's 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. Riverside checkpoints drew the runners along the Avon before deciding whether to head back to base or take to the slopes of Bredon Hill in search for the 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.
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