Open 24 - 3rd Place

Last weekend saw Neil and I down in North Wales for the Open 24 where we finished 3rd in a very competitive adventure race field only to be beaten by two teams each with a current or ex world champion's in. The race started with a coasteering prologue on Anglesey in jellyfish infested waters, however they were not stinging just a shock when your hand touched one. The mass sea kayak start, from Rhosnieger beach, was cancelled due to high seas. Plan B was a trail quest start with a trail run mid way through before on to the Menai Straits for a paddle leg in sheltered water. After a steady start with 24 hours in mind we held pace with some of the lead teams. The paddle leg went really well in the new boat with our paddle speed greatly improved however still some work required to cut the faff time down getting in and out.

There was another lane quest section taking us to Ogwen Cottage for a night time section over the Glyder range. With the mist down making navigation tricky we picked a good route picking up the controls really well with only a few minor navigation errors due to tiredness. With on strategic mistake, going for a control with too much height lost meant we lost time on John Houlihan and Tom Gibb. The race moved onto a transitional bike leg across to another trek stage. Both Neil and I at first light walking up through the forest, felt the draw of sleep, just managing to keep on our feet till we felt refreshed. After crossing some boggy mountain tops we headed down some mines to search down tunnels for controls. The final section was a MTB leg around the forests of Betws y Coed made for some hard strategic choices with tired heads, with us fading slightly Tom and John's strength showed through for them to surge to the win with a flourish of points in the final couple of hours.

The final result was third place in the 24 and just missing out on second place in the endurance series by half a percent. Looking forward to the Terrex...