Team Sleepmonsters

Team Number: 29

Race Position: 14

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After a bit of a break from having a team competing in UK adventure races Sleepmonsters.co.uk are pleased to announce that they will be fielding a new team to compete in the adidas TERREX Adventure Race in the Lake District. 

The team will be lead by Erika Henson and comprises Graham Crabtree, Chris Lomas and Ian Grace, and they thank adidas for their support.  The team has plenty of UK and international race experience under their belts and although they don’t expect to be leading the race, they aim to give the race a really good run for its money. 

Erika has been racing in the UK since 1999 and has achieved notable results in various events such as Questars, Ace Races, etc. She has also competed in many expedition races over the years including the ARC (2006), WARC (2007), Hebridean Challenge (2008). Erika’s main strength is her paddling and she has completed the Devises to Westminster canoe Marathon in 2008 and hopes to make use of these paddling skills in the race. Notable international races include completing XPD Portugal in 2008 and she has recently taken part in the Patagonia Adventure race with Chris.

Graham Crabtree hails from a Mountain biking background and has phenomenal technical riding skills and can easily whiz down some of the serious technical descents likely to be encountered in the Lake District. Having worked as a cycle mechanic, we are certainly hoping not to rely on Grahams ad hoc trail fixes. Grahams MTB exploits have included an unsupported End to End in 2002, the Trans Wales (2005), Trans Scotland (2006) and Trans Rockies in 2007. Other notable races include the Hebridean Challenge (2008), Open 24 (2008), Devon Coast to Coast (2008) and Portugal XPD 2008.

Chris Lomas got into the outdoors through Scouts, climbing, hiking, skiing and kayaking regularly, as well as taking part in all the usual sports at school. Chris spent many years climbing in the Alps before getting into Adventure races starting with the 1-day Ace Races. Chris started his expedition race career with the ARC (2006) in Scotland with Team Fast and Light. This result enabled him to qualify for the WARC following years World Championship held in Scotland. After relocating to the Peak District Chris now concentrates on fell running and long distance MTB events. Chris raced in Chile with Erika at the Patagonia Expedition Race.   

Ian Grace has been called in to replace an injured team mate. He started adventure racing while working in Hong Kong in the 1990’s. Without a large variety of events to take part in he had to mix and match with what was on the calendar. This ranged from MTB events to Triathlon, and hill running across the peaks of Hong Kong. When the Action Asia challenge series was introduced in 1999 he was hooked. While in HK he took part in Mild Seven Outdoor Quest in Borneo, and various other one and two day races around the region including China and Thailand. Since returning to the UK in 2006 he has taken part in a variety of UK races including the two day Ace Races, Questars, DARE and the Endurance life coastal marathon.  In the 140 mile Devon Coast to Coast Extreme in 2009 Ian finished in fourth place. He celebrated his 40th birthday by taking part in the Bull of Africa World Series race in 2008 and the following year came third overall in the Untamed NE World Series race in the USA.