adidas TERREX Race News

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Final Day and Finish

On the final day of the adidas TERREX adventure race the clock was ticking down towards to the midday course closure and all eyes were on the finish line by the Moot Hall at Keswick. It had been another bitterly cold night, during which teams were spread across the final sections of the course in the Skiddaw Forest and on the purpose built trails at Whinlatter forest, orienteering at Hawse End or open canoeing on Derwentwater.

There had been talk of the leaders finishing close to midnight and reliable estimates a finish between 2-4am, but for those on the finish line the wait for the first race winners would be a bit longer. Chilled by the downhill riding at night and exhausted by their fast pace and lack of sleep the adidas TERREX team arrived at Hawse End needing to sleep, though they only had the orienteering and canoe orienteering stages to complete. Steve Birkinshaw said, “Nick was at a real low point and barely able to stand up, so we had to sleep.” They also knew they had a big lead, and kept in mind that there were high potential penalties on the final two stages, a cunning ploy by course planner Bruce Duncan to put pressure on teams right to the finish.

Having been refused entry to the marshals hut the team huddled down together in their bivvy bag in the coldest part of the morning, and them proceeded more slowly towards the finish line. “The 1.5km orienteer felt more like 15km,” said Birkinshaw, “and it was difficult in the dark.” As the team were on Derwent Water they experienced one final race sunrise, and with mists rising off the perfectly still waters of the lake it was a beauty. Having visited all of the checkpoints put in front of them the team then beached their canoes and jogged slowly up into town to cross the finish line at 06.50 and claim the title of the first adidas TERREX adventure race winners. Their total finish time was 71 hours 31 minutes 32 seconds.

The team, comprising Tom Gibbs, Nick Gracie, Nic MacLeod and Steve Birkinshaw spent some time on the finish line talking to the press and Gracie explained how their race had gone to plan. “We knew the race would be close at the start with just few hours between teams and planned to push harder in mid-race, particularly on the treks, which is when we gained most time.

“The race was a good confidence booster ahead of World Champ, and ideal timing as I think it will take 4 weeks to recover and we go to Spain to defend our title in 4-5 weeks. We’ve not lost a race since the last World champs, so we looking forward to the race, but will have a slightly different team. Nic is away with the army of Afghanistan so we will be racing with Sonia Clarke from New Zealand.

“Compared to other big races this was a little shorter and there was not the same sense of making a journey as we know the area so well. We even recognised many locations of CP’s used in previous races, but we did all get into one or two new places and there is no doubt it was a very demanding course.”

Through the rest of the morning the remaining teams crossed the line, some still having the energy to run in hand-in-hand, while others could barely shuffle over the line, having given their all. On a bright, sunny day the finish line was abuzz with stories from the race. There were tales of survival on Scafell during the central fells trek, amazing sunrises and sunsets and moments of elation like the biking descent off of High Street. Every team will have their own stories to retell and memories to share for years to come.

Ian Hughes commented, “That was a totally amazing journey - a really life enhancing experience. I think we do these races because we can and to see where they lead us. We’ll probably still be talking about this for years to come.“ Irish racer Eoin Keith was so impressed with the Lake District he said, “The Lake District National Park must be the best scenery in the whole of the UK and Ireland!”

There were no surprises with the remaining podium places as the lead teams were well established in their positions. Team ‘Accelerate B’ finished in second place as the only other team to complete the full route before the course closure time and it was impressive performance with two of team in their first long race and two young racers in Dan Halliday and Caz Bullard on the team.

Third and last to finish were planetFear.com, who were the third team to reach all of the checkpoints, though the final two were just outside the course closure time. Chris Near had pushed through despite the pain from a badly infected foot and team captain Anthony Emmet paid tribute to novice racer Sally Ozanne, who had joined the elite team at the last moment and had only ever raced a 24 hour event before saying; “She left everything out there and was really mentally tough.” Perhaps more than any other competitor she lived up to the adidas Terrex motto of ‘Impossible - is nothing’.

All the teams assembled for the prize giving at 2pm where Bruce Duncan said, “I planned a route I would want to do ... well most of it anyway and set the standard of navigation high. You’ve all risen to the challenge and judging by your smiles at the finish I think the work that went into the course has been well received.”

James Thurlow said 26 of the 32 starters had finished the course with teams intact, and all of the teams had at least one member finish – a remarkable achievement in such a long race and probably unprecedented in AR World Series events. James Hook of sponsors adidas spoke before giving out the prizes and said, “The event is an absolute inspiration and adidas are proud to be associated with you, your sport and this event.”

Section: Day 4 Monday 30th of August at 14:00

Day 3 Summary

A day which dawned with most teams out trekking in the mountains in torrential rain, ended with the majority of teams out in the mountains once again, but this time under clear skies with temperatures dipping down to 4C on the tops.

At the start of the day exhausted and sodden teams were resting up in Langdale or finishing off the long trekking stage through heart of the Lakeland peaks. It had been a night of constant rain and high winds, making movement and navigation difficult and many teams has tales of searching for checkpoints or helping exhausted team mates back down to the transition. Phil Humphreys of Exposure Joystick has a severely swollen ankle, but was able to go on but for Mick Kenyon of Team Haglofs the race was over. His team mates had helping him down after he developed an inflamed eye and was struggling to see, and Race Director James Thurlow made the call that he should go off to hospital for a check up.

It seemed at the time that the rain would never stop, but by mid-morning the sun was out and teams were on the next cycling stage, riding northwards along the High Street ridge, although some teams opted to stay low and on the roads. Those who went up onto the ridge found the climb hard but the reward was a ride along the tops with sweeping views either side and a rapid descent that put a grin on all the competitors faces.

Race leaders adidas Terrex were the first to ride the ridge after an overnight 2 hour sleep in a church. On the tops all were blown out of their saddles, but it didn’t slow them too much as by now they had a 5 hour lead over their closest rivals. The only other teams still racing the full course were Accelerate and planetfear.com and they remained close to each other until the transition at Pooley Bridge at the end of the ride.

Here teams got into their kayaks for the final time to begin the paddle down the length of Ulswater and Accelerate were quicker in transition and on the water than their rivals, who are working wonders to get their novice racer Sally Ozanne round the full course and in contention for a podium place.

By mid afternoon both these teams were setting off on the final trek of the race, which took them up onto the Helvellyn range. By nightfall the slower teams were on this trek while the front runners were on the final cycle stage through the Skiddaw Forest and the leaders were closing in on the finish in Keswick town centre, where they are expected in the early hours of Monday morning.

Section: Day 3 Sunday 29th of August at 07:44

Coniston to Langdale via Windermere and Great Gable

Day 2 saw the race leaders, team adidas Terrex gradually extend their lead, one more team became unranked, and by nightfall all of the teams were out in the hills on the longest trekking stage of the race.

For the slower teams the day began with them finishing the paddle on Coniston water, then crossing the Furness Fells to get over to Windermere for another, longer, paddling stage. The trek across was a stiff climb and one CP in particular was difficult to find in the dark, causing event the lead teams to search for 40 minutes or more.

After this the next transition was at the YMCA National outdoor centre on the shore of Windermere, and this was one of the main race hubs with permanent tents the teams could sleep in and a big canteen where tea and toast was in constant supply and teams could sit out of the driving rain. As teams passed through here it was a chance to check their positions and by this stage only 3 teams had completed all the course to date. These were adidas Terrex, Acclerate B and planetfear A, who all left within an hour of each other. After this however, the adidas Terrex team gradually extended their lead.

Three teams have pulled out of the race so far, Accelerate B, Camracers and Cooley Raid. All had one ailing or exhausted team member, but after some rest all continued as unranked teams of 3, so you will still see them on the results board.

After the paddling on Windermere, which meant kayaking twice the distance of the lake to get all the CP’s, teams took the Bowness to Hawkshead Ferry to get to the bikes again, the undertook a short ride into the Langdale Valley. This is a tourist hotspot and the transition was at the foot of the path up to Stickle Tarn, a very popular tourist walk, though it is a steep climb up the valley side. The teams joined the tourists, but they were going much, much further than the tarn and back. Their route goes right around the central Lakeland fells and includes an abseil on the exposed Esk Buttress, high above the Esk valley in which they were orienteering just yesterday.

The route is not as long as originally planned however, as 4 checkpoints have been taken out to shorten the route. The following mountain biking stage has also been shortened.

The final team passed through Langdale at 18.15, at which point all the teams were on the trekking stage, and most will be out all through the night, before they can return to Langdale.

Section: Day 2 Saturday 28th of August at 21:47