The Beast
The Penalty of The Beast
Carrick Armer / 05.08.2017
It's been a busy day on The Beast so far. The lead bunch all stuck close together overnight, never more than half an hour seperating the first three, with four and five staying close as well. Moxie Racers lead for the greatest part, from Fanad Head lighthouse, down through Doe Castle and onto Ards Forest Park in the early hours of the morning.
There was a treat in store, though, as a prelude to the orienteering stage. From the car park transition, the teams made their way through the forest to CP20 to collect their maps for the orienteering. They were greeted at the CP, a beautiful sandy bay at the end of the peninsula, by marshals, their wetsuits, and a puzzle. The four team members had to swim out, to collect numbers and letters from six bouys out in the bay which decoded a combination lock on a small trunk back on the beach. That trunk held both their treasure (a bag of Haribo each) and their orienteering maps.
The pace of the lead teams caused some minor issues here, as Moxie Racers and the other lead teams arriving at the CP before there was sufficient visibility for them to safely swim. The marshals made the decision to hold each team there for 30 minutes, allowing them a short sleep but preserving the positions in the race. All teams have been given this time-out.
The fast and furious pace continued after this, as teams raced down through the cuttings and the embankments of the old railway, to Iain Millar's cottage and the first big trek. Over the rough mountain and bog of the Altan Farm circuit, Columbia Ireland played a few trump cards and managed to take the lead, moving from fourth up to first back at the cottage. "We took a few gambles, but they seem to have paid off" said Eoin Keith, as they changed their shoes and shovelled down some of the race-provided chilli and rice. They also don't know that their close rivals Moxie Racers are being served a penalty at the end of this trek, apparently having received incorrect instructions at CP20. It's believed that after the hold at swim, they have understood that they could miss the orienteering CPs and head straight back to transition. They average time of the other teams to complete the orienteering has been taken, and Moxie will serve a 43 minute no-kit-access stop/go penalty when they're ready to leave for the 10km bike to the next transition and trekking loop.
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