Described as a "true test of endurance, an adventure race over 5 hours incorporating trail running, mountain biking and navigation."
The rules of the event (which is not unlike Race 13 ~ Questars Adventure Race except without the kayak stage):
- Registration opens at 08:30. Collect your race number, waterproof map (necessary as its bound to get wet) and SPORTident dibber (that you use to record the checkpoints visited).
- The event starts at 10:00am and finishes at 15:00pm (that will be the 5 hours then).
- It is a mass start with all competitors starting on foot. Competitors are welcome to buddy up and race in pairs or teams.
- Using your map navigate to as many checkpoints and cover as much distance as you can within the 5 hour limit.
- Competitors may only transition once from foot to bike.
- There will be a number of checkpoints to collect set over a course of approximately 25km trail run and 55km mountain bike (amazingly some usually manage to cover all of this within the time limit!)
- Competitors must collect a minimum of one run and one bike checkpoint to qualify.
- Each checkpoint is worth 10 points (34 each regardless of distance worth the same amount).
- Competitors will incur a penalty of 1 point per 30 seconds they are late back.
Drove on a slightly different route just to add variety as driving in/out of London can get very monotonous. Only two things of note. Firstly there are some real idiots (mainly in white vans) that tear around at that time of the morning and secondly as soon as you cross the M25 the landscape is beautiful.
At Peaslake in good time to park up in the car park we'd started the race from the day before. This was where we were leafleted by a very nice lady trying to get us to join the Friends of Hurtwood ~ especially critical due to the cut in their grant funding. Shows real commitment to the cause getting up that early in the morning to lobby a bunch of total strangers. Then it was off to the village hall to register, receive your race numbers, get first sight of the map and the checkpoint locations, and have the first (of a number) of free cups of tea/coffee. What a civilised approach ~ looking at the map, planning your routes while sipping on a cuppa.
Couple of things I noticed in the village. The pub was already open and doing a roaring trade in 'proper' coffee and breakfasts and the village shop was likewise doing a roaring trade in drinks, Danish, sweets and in my case jelly babies. It wasn't just a question of those of us racing either, this area is a Mecca for mountain bikers . There's a great piece with loads of pictures on the British Cycling website: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/recreation/article/rec20091201-Where-to-Ride--Surrey--MTB-0 and even a specific MTB orienteering club based in the village (http://www.peaslakemtbo.com/).
Having planned my routes, taking extra care NOT to include any of the slopes I'd run the previous day, I reckoned that I'd do about half the running ones (approximately 10k) and as many of the bike ones as possible taking into account that I was a bit tiered from the running on Saturday. At 10am sharp we were off with the 60 or so competitors haring off in different directions. About six had decided to go in the same direction as me ~ consisting of a steep initial climb onto the ridge and then a good few checkpoints without too many inclines (well not substantial ones at any rate). First one done and off towards the second which proved annoyingly difficult. you know when you're convinced you're somewhere on a map when you so obviously aren't (it happens to me frequently in a race like this). Well myself and another guy were in that boat when a very helpful bystander taking pity on our confusion pointed we were at the wrong junction of paths and we were 50m away from the checkpoint.
This was when we decided to 'buddy-up' for a while as obviously neither of us were particularly good at map reading whilst running. We got chatting ~ he did triathlons, I do triathlons; we've both taken part in some of the same ones. His bike splits and run times are similar and swimming was the weakest discipline. Obviously talking while running does slow you down a bit but we'd both decided that a) we were not out to win (there were some very serious competitors and some serious 'kit-envy' at the start) and b) were really in it for a nice (if energetic) day out. From his point of view there was c) his mum lived in the next village!
Next we compared notes on orienteering races. He was recounting his first experience (with the same company - Tri Adventure) when he'd noticed a very attractive Sandhurst officer in full uniform turn up to one of the races. Once changed, at the start she had run off purposely and he'd followed, with another guy in tow, obviously thinking that "army officer + orienteering = no brainer!" Unfortunately it seemed that map reading wasn't her strong point and the three of them ended going a couple of miles off the map and needed to ask directions to find their way back. Somewhat incredulously I listened to this litany of disaster ~ but had to come clean, I'd been the other bloke! So we'd actually raced together before, got lost ~ so it wasn't the most inspiring of buddying-up! However apart from one minor hiccup we did pretty well covering all of Holmbury Hill (site of YouTube clip and photos with a view in the background from race 33). After 8 of 17 checkpoints I decided to call it a day on the run (feet hurting and blisters forming) while he went off to do some more running.
Back at transition entered into a discussion of the merits of jelly babies as opposed to the 'sports gels' for giving you a burst of energy. My argument was they tasted nice (gels are mainly yuk) and cheap (gels are nearly three time the price) ~ debate won!
It was possibly on the summit of Leith Hill in 851, that Æthelwulf of Wessex, father of Alfred the Great, defeated the Danes who were heading for Winchester, having sacked Canterbury and London.
The 18th century Gothic tower "Prospect House" was built by Richard Hull of nearby Leith Hill Place and was constructed between 1765 and 1766. He built it with the intention of raising the hill above 1,000 ft (305 m) above sea level. The tower is 19.5 metres (64 ft) high and consisted of two rooms "neatly furnished", with a Latin inscription above the door announcing that it had been built for not only his own pleasure, but also for the enjoyment of others. Hull provided visitors with prospect glasses, similar to a small telescope, through which to survey the extensive views towards London and the English Channel, each some 25 miles (40 km) away, and thirteen counties on a very clear day. When he died in 1772, at his request he was buried under the tower. Following his death, the building was stripped of its contents, doors and windows, and fell into ruin. As a result the tower was filled with rubble and concrete, and the entrance bricked up.
In 1864, Mr Evelyn of nearby Wotton House decided to reopen it, but the concrete made this difficult, and so the additional turreted side-tower was added to allow access to the top of the tower. The National Trust now run it.
It was also at this spot that I resisted stopping for an ice cream from the NT shop and we had a rain shower. After the climb though, it was remarkably refreshing and welcome.
Obviously what goes up must come down and I had a fantastic long decent northwards towards the North Downs. It was just as I was crossing the railway line that a couple of fellow competitors went past. I stopped to take some photos and checked the map. I realised even bumbling along I'd covered a fair old distance and was at the point furthest from the HQ. After what proved to be a slog up the North Downs escarpment, it was then along the top and kind of flattish for about 13km. Of course this would leave me at the other furthest point from the race HQ ~ but I decided to go for as I could come off the ridge at any time and just head back as the crow flies if I was short of time.
Being the downs it was muddier than the Greensand Ridge to the south, so in true MTB style I got well and truly covered. I made it all the way along to Newlands Corner, venue of Race 29. At this point I had about 45 minutes to the cut off time after which you start to get penalties (in effect if you are 5 minutes late you've lost the value of one checkpoint so you've really got a fine judgement to make). I thought there were kind of two more on the way, certainly not much out of my way with the added advantage I didn't have to use the A25. With 25 minutes remaining I'd managed both checkpoints and then it was off back along the roads as fast as possible as I had about 8km to cover. One hill nearly finished me off but the advantage of having a map-board mounted on your handlebars paid dividends. It allows map reading as you go along (on smooth straight bits at any rate) and another advantage is that you can't see your front wheel. On rough down-hills in particular the tendency is to look at where you're planting the front wheel rather than scanning and planning the route ahead (as I was taught on a MTB course). Anyway it certainly proved it's worth on the way back, allowing me to actually make it with 10 minutes to spare. Could I have reached another checkpoint in that time? Nope - I was knackered! Two free cups of tea later, and swapping results and stories with my earlier 'buddy' (Damian Pool) I'd recovered enough to have a look at what I might have been able to reach but chatting with the eventual winner (who'd managed to reach 32 out of 34 of the checkpoints ~ phenomenal!) he had gone for it and said it had been a ridiculously steep hill. Looking carefully at the map, I realised it was Pitch Hill, one of the hills from "The Hurt" ~ I am so glad I didn't go for it! Some abiding memories apart from the sheer beauty of the area, is when you have a race number on you people are remarkably tolerant. Even though cars were being held up by a road race as well us us, there didn't seem to be any conflict. Likewise off road, even though we were disturbing people's Sunday afternoon walks, they were remarkably friendly. The only bit of minor hassle was at Newlands Corner where the 'day-trippers' were ~ the kind that never go more than 400 yards from their cars, and it was more a lack of consideration for anyone rather than targeted at cyclists or horse riders.
RESULT: 11th out of 40 men (13 out of 57 total) with 220 points in a time of 4:49:58
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