Home Quest News A scorching end to the 2011 Race Series

A scorching end to the 2011 Race Series

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Adventurer racers from all over the country descended on Thetford Forest at the weekend for the final event in the 2011 Questars Adventure Race Series. This two-day race called Q2 The Quest Challenge attracted everyone from seasoned competitors, who had done all five previous races in the 2011 Questars Series, to complete beginners for whom this was their first adventure race.

You can’t always rely on the British weather but you can rely on the weather to do one thing and that is to add to the challenge of an adventure race; and this race was no exception. The weather forecasters had been predicting a mini heat wave all week and they weren’t wrong. Temperatures reached the high twenties (80+ degrees Fahrenheit) on both Saturday and Sunday making the challenge tough for some.

Strategy was key and this was emphasised at the Event Briefing. Participants were warned about various trade-offs they would have to make throughout each of the four stages, and in particular whether to attempt the optional challenges or not. Complete a challenge quickly and ‘easy’ points could be earned, but spend too long doing it and you could jeopardise your result, not just for that stage but for the whole race.

An ideal situation

The event field was ideally situated in the centre of the forest giving instant access in all directions to the patchwork of pine trees, heathland and broadleaf woodland that is Thetford Forest. Being so remote, it was not possible to show the England - Scotland match, but this didn’t mean events in New Zealand were forgotten, for the event was themed around the Rugby World Cup. In the first stage participants had 200 minutes to visit as many rugby players as possible both on foot and by kayak.

The Tri-Adventure team collected more points than any other team in stage 1 but they picked up a penalty for being late off the water which meant they dropped to second place in the Masters category, 15 points behind stage winner Kevin Stephens who amassed 390 points.

The two hours for rest and recovery before the start of stage 2 quickly disappeared as participants prepared themselves for the next stage. For some this began with cooling off in the beautiful Little Ouse River which flowed peacefully alongside the event field.

Tricky navigation

The second stage was a 150 minute mountain biking stage with the option of completing a long or short orienteering challenge on foot. Accurate navigation was crucial for both elements. Thetford may be fairly flat but this only added to the difficulty of identifying where you were as it can all look much the same in the forest. Kevin Stephens won the stage with 350 points to extend his overall lead in the Masters category to 100 points over his nearest rivals: Mixed team, Competitive Coasters.

The heat of the day quickly seeped away as the sun dropped below the trees and the light began to fade. By the time stage 3, a night trail run, began at 20:30 hours there was a notable chill in the air and the stars were out in force. It was a beautiful night and this was epitomised by one team who, after getting slightly lost, finished over an hour late, still with smiles on their faces having enjoyed the challenge and experience.

Novice Malcolm Young managed to collect more points than anyone else, including all the Masters competitors, but in doing so went slightly over the 75 minute time limit and hence finished second overall in this stage, seven points behind the Tri Adventure team who scored 179 points. With just one stage to go Team Tri Adventure had moved up to second place overall and reduced the gap between themselves and race leader; Kevin Stephens, to 90 points.

Another scorcher

Clear skies greeted participants again on Sunday morning, and the sun didn’t take long to burn off the dew and the few wisps of low cloud that had formed over the calm river. It was still fairly fresh when the Masters started the fourth stage at 08:40 hours but by the time the Novices set off an hour later it was already getting quite warm and it was clear that it was going to be another hot one. This final stage was a culmination to the whole weekend and as such involved everything, in previously unvisited areas of the forest.

Participants decided whether to run or bike first and how long to spend doing each, so everyone could create their own race plan to best suit them. Each team was allocated a window within which they had a maximum of 60 minutes to visit as many kayak checkpoints as possible. And there was also an optional cerebral challenge to cap it all off. Some teams enjoyed the respite the challenge provided but others lost track of time and, rather frustratingly for them, spent too long trying to complete it.

The Tri-Adventure team won the final stage with 695 points but it was not enough to take the overall lead away from Kevin Stephens who finished 25 points ahead with a total score of 1534 points for the whole race.

At the prize giving everyone congratulated each other on completing their own personal challenge before prize vouchers, to spend with adventure racing retailer Likeys, were awarded to the top teams in each class. Series prizes from partners Timex, Silva and Likeys were also handed out to those individuals at the top of the 2011 Questars Series Leaderboard. Before this race Tom Davies from team Tri Adventure had won sufficient races to amass the maximum possible series score of 5000 points and in doing so create an unassailable Series lead. Tom was therefore duly awarded the Questars Series trophy and crowned the 2011 Questars Series Champion to a much deserved round of applause from his fellow competitors.