Team Inov8

Team Number: 25

Race Position: 8

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After finishing 6th in last years Open Adventure Coast to Coast race, Team inov-8 are back, putting their best foot (wheel and paddle!) forward to tackle the 2010 Adidas Terrex expedition length adventure race. The team is based upon the experienced adventure race pairing of Kim Collison and Neil Hamblin (3rd male pair Open 12 and Open 24 this year). Working as an outdoor instructor, Kim has an excellent broad range of skills, which will be particularly useful for the continuous nature of Terrex, whilst, Neil will be the one to catch on any downhill mountain bike section. After competing in the C2C race last year, youngster Lucy Harris (world mountain bike orienteering championship GB representative) is again part of the team, and is looking forward to keeping pushing the guys on! The fourth team member, Robert Little (former junior international fell runner) has previously competed in the Hebridean challenge adventure race, and brings a strong running background to the team. Having 2 team members aged under 26 we believe we could have the lowest mean age of any team in the event, a philosophy supported by inov-8 that adventure is for all.

Terrex is a great opportunity for the team, and whilst hoping to enjoy some cracking views (weather permitting!) of the Lake District we are aiming to be as competitive as possible. What this may mean on day 4 after likely over 200 miles of racing we are not quite sure, but we will be pushing to the end.

In this aim we are supported by leading off road shoe specialist inov-8. Adidas Terrex will be an excellent opportunity to test their kit in an expedition length race. The Cumbrian fells shouldn’t pose a problem to the team, even in wet conditions, due to the fabulous grip of inov-8 shoes. Though, we are also catered for in the faster street type racing of the Keswick prologue by X-Talon 212 and 190s (and maybe even a new racer).

Thoughts after the race may take a while to write down, but look out for postings at http://team.inov-8.eu/

“Once it gets into your blood, off road running is a powerful narcotic”