Day One – Run, Ride and Navigate

Tim Lloyd / 18.04.2002

Stage 1 - Trail Running/Orienteering

This was a 2 hour orienteering run, starting and finishing in the arena, with teams navigating around Woodbury Common. It proved quite a challenge, with many footpaths and trails leading in all directions, but with no rain for the past 3 weeks the trails were fast and the going easy. It was clear from the start that the race would be fought between a small number of fast teams. Team Big Pack Kona set the benchmark with a blistering run, collecting all 200 points in 1:24:25, with Team Wales a close second in 1:25:15 and Team McSweeny third in 1:32:29. 14 teams successfully scored maximum points within the time limit, so they all tied for first place going into stage 2.

Stage 2 - Mountain Bike Orienteering

This had a total of 325 points available within 3 hours and the route covered approximately 45 kilometres over a variety of surfaces, everything from single track to tarmac. Several route options were chosen, but only 2 teams gained maximum points within the time allowed, perhaps because some obvious routes were marked ‘out of bounds’. Team McSweeny were home in 2:44:02, with Team Big Pack Kona scraping inside 3 hours by 23 seconds. Wadenhoe High Five and Team RMR Bristol also had a good biking leg, moving them into joint 3rd overall.

The highly rated Team Wales had a horrendous stage; they suffered from 2 punctures and the team separated for a while, then arrived back late having missed some checkpoints they should have collected. This effectively lost them any chance of winning as they were 80 points adrift of the stage leaders.

It was on this stage that the only major accident of the weekend occurred, with Andy Baker of ‘The No Toolers’ crashing out on a fast downhill section, leaving his team, including Quest MD Martyn Ward, to continue (unclassified) as a pair. Having visited A & E, he was diagnosed as having some torn ligaments, but no concussion, and is recovering well.

Stage 3 - Night Navigation

The night navigation (or rather twilight nav. under the clear skies) provided the opportunity for the top teams to consolidate their lead, with 150 points available in 1 ½ hours over a course covering approximately 10 kilometres.

Team McSweeny did exactly that, finishing comfortably within the time in 1:16:38, however, a mistake by Big Pack Kona cost them two checkpoints and 45 points, dropping them to second overall. One other team to gain maximum points on this stage was North Downs Mountain Rescue, coming in with a time of 1:28:37.

Team Wales were third on the stage. They visited all checkpoints but dropped 1 minute, which cost them 5 points. Despite this, they moved up to 5th overall with 2 stages still to go. Team 4Kinnel were more than an hour overdue resulting from an injury and being ‘disoriented’. The organising team were on the point of starting a full search when they turned up.

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