May Questars Race Report 2006

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27 May 2006 : The Brecon Beacons

Race Report

Over 300 adventure racers from all over the UK and beyond converged upon the delightful village of Llangors yesterday to compete in the second event of the Questars adventure race series. Llangorse lake is the largest natural body of water in South Wales and is wonderfully set in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The lake waters had been been augmented by the heavy rain in the week before the race and the whole countryside was pretty waterlogged. Forewarned at the pre event briefing to be aware of the slippery conditions adventure racers wisely revised their intial planned routes as they started to experience the wet conditions. Many trail runners returned to the run / bike transition point with gleeful reports of overtaking mountain bikers on the muddy bridleways!

Despite the inital rain and low cloud paddling conditons were near perfect on the lake. Many teams took advantage of this and cleared the whole course earning themselves maximum points on the kayaking stage. The other stages proved much harder.

Trail running checkpoints were scattered across the locality on footpaths and on the nearby open access hills. The morning mists made the latter a real challenge. Particular congratulations to the three male solo racers (Andrew Wood, Simon Proud and Chris Volley) who still mananged to clear the whole trail running course.

Mountain bikers quickly realised that the bridleways were going to make slow going. Many took longer routes to avoid the worst of the mud and still accumulated very impressive scores in the biking stage. Those that made it over the 1000 foot summit of Allt yr Esgair were rewarded (at least later in the day) with magnificent views. From this height the colourful fleet of sit on top kayaks looked like a rash of giant waterboatmen scampering across the still waters of the lake. Both the Black Mountains and central peaks of the Brecon Beacons showed themselves in full glory as the sun came out to greet adventure racers home to the finishing line.

Even more welcome were the enticing smells of bacon rolls and homemade soup emerging from the warmth of the village hall. After reviving showers and lots of food and drink teams gathered for the prizegiving very soon after the last teams had returned. Congratulated upon achieving their own chosen routes in such tough conditons all teams gave each other a rousing round of applause. Prizes were awarded to the winners in no less than thirteen classes and categories, which are detailed below.

These scores will add into the series leaderboard. Teams' best three scores from the four Questars events in the series count towards achieving the overall Questars trophy as well as leading positions in each of the classes and categories.

The next Questars event promises to be very special. Its located in the beautiful Isle of Purbeck in Dorset close to Poole Harbour, the magnificent ruins of Corfe Castle and the chalk ridge of the Purbeck Hills. Based at a large sports centre in Wareham the event lends itself to those that wish to come adventure racing by train as its less than a kilometre from the main line train station on the London line. Make a date in the diary for Saturday 8 July and book your entry early. All Questars events sell out well before their closing dates.

Results of the Brecon Beacons Questars event:

Questars Duo:

Real Food is Best - John Worth - 390 points

Die Tryin' - Ian Grace & Dudley Manning - 345

Climbit - Adam Bunning & Ian Teague - 330

Questars Trio Novices - Ladies :

Taking the Plunge - Sarah Peck - 365 points

Bateman - Cath Batetman - 335

Cardiff Chicks - Elen Willis, Catherine Crimmins, Malin Falck & Rachel Jones - 310

Questars Trio Novices - Mixed Teams:

Dirty Habit - Lindsay Jenkinson, Duncan Burley & Sam McKeith - 435 points

Far Canals - Libbie Jones & Steven Jones - 398

22 Engineer Regiment - Sean Arundale & Ben Stephens - 355

Questars Trio Novices - Veterans Teams:

HAVA B Team - Paul Vernon & Chris Atherton - 450 points

HAVA A Team - Nick Howle & George Ashford - 430

Pilgrim Elite - Donna Thomas & Nigel Thomas - 355

Questars Trio Novices - Family Teams:

The Davies Men - John, Jason & Jonathan Davies - 235 points

Questars Trio Novices - Mens Teams:

Delirious - Joseph Hussey, Alec Gass & David Reid Rowland - 501 points

Too Little, Too Late - Edward Turner, William Crawforth, Tom Corbett & Chris Jamison - 490

22 Engineer Regiment - Dave Barnham & Edward Martin - 470

Questars Trio Novices - Mens Solos:

Staffs Fire and Rescue - David Stevens - 460

Herselman The Late - Schalk Herselman - 455

I-tanium - Steve Corcoran - 445

Questars Trio Masters – Ladies :

Rachel Bowen - 575 points

LloydsTSB Women - Gemma Barlow, Kate Brown & Suzie Wands - 535

LloydsTSB Women 2 - Amy Whiteley, Jane Caldwell & Susanne Hughes - 535

Questars Trio Masters – Mixed :

No Mates - Lucy & Paul Wells - 585 points

The Hornbys - Sue & Frank Hornby - 520

SleepMonsters - Fi Spotswood & Gary Bridgeman - 520

Questars Trio Masters - Veterans :

The Unlikelies - Ken Piddlesden & Robert Robinson - 675 points

Team Goodman - Chris & Mark Goodman - 525

No Threat - Sarah Bland & Patrick Davies - 515

Questars Trio – Mens Teams :

Key Largo Beach Boys - Steve Loom, Stuart Husselbee & Tim Williams - 665 points

Two Short - Simon Horton & Andy Yarrow - 650

Downwind - Carl Silver, Neil Cooney & Paddy Gamble - 645

Questars Trio - Mens Solo and overall event leaders

Matthew Leathwood - 805 points

Lost in the Trees - Andrew Wood - 770

Simon Proud - 695