- Wednesday 13 November 2024
A crisp and chilly autumnal morning greeted us in Berkshire Downs at Downland Sports Centre on Saturday for the start of our 2024 Winter Series. The only thing missing was the rain, which racers were grateful for, but the race director secretly (or to be fair, not so secretly) relishes as an added challenge in the day. We had a record number of racers to our winter events with entries filling up a week beforehand (a reminder to get those entries in early so you’re not disappointed!), and we couldn’t have been more excited to welcome everyone to such a wonderful area and a treat of a course!
Recent dry weather had made for a really nice course with lots of fast terrain add in the undulating hills and spectacular views from the Ridgeway, and it made for a terrific day of adventure racing.
As is often the case, most racers (73%) opted to run first on fresh legs. The course did slightly favour runners, with teams picking up an average of 2 points per minute on the run versus 1.7 points per minute on the bike.
Seven teams managed to clear the run course, all using a different route to do so, with Campbell Walsh fastest in a time of 2:02:53, ahead of Simon Phillips in 02:05:13 with Doug Bewley, Carl Silver, Tom Hards, David Chaplin and Hannah Sellers all also clearing the course. Simon Jennison had a great run picking up 2.93 points per minute, level with Campbell Walsh for the most efficient run of the day. In the female category, Isabel Boyd picked up 2.52 points per minute for the best run of the day ahead of Sarah Russell (2.25 points per minute) and Jodie Brinson & Caroline Howe (2.20 points).
Two people managed to clear the bike course with Gary Davies quickest in 2:59:33, ahead of Sam Thorne in 3:47:54. Campbell Walsh was most economical picking up 2.65 points per minute ahead of Sid Hardy (2.51 points) and Carl Silver (2.49 points). In the female category, Isabel Boyd picked up 2 points per minute for the best bike of the day ahead of Shelly Huffner and Vanessa Fisher (1.87 points) – not bad considering they sent through a picture of themselves enjoying a pint partway round (continuing a tradition started at our Chilterns event last year)!
Overall, rewards for finishing early outweighed penalties for finishing late with over 80% of teams finishing within the time limits, but there were a few notable exceptions with Mark Biegel picking up an impressive 110 penalty points by finishing 55 minutes late in the three-hour taster event! A couple of teams timed their races to near-perfection with Edward Gillett finishing five seconds inside the time limit and Team Frozen Desert Gophers (Ian Price and Andrew MacDonald) finishing just four seconds inside – no doubt after a furious final cycle to the line!
The event was a fun one for us to put on as it was a new area and one that seemed really popular with everyone, new and experienced. We now look forward to seeing you all at our next event in Dursley in the Cotswolds on the 7 December, for another, no doubt, spectacular course and race – get that hill training in as Dursley is not flat!
Full results can be found here and pictures here. Thanks for making our first event in our 2024 Winter Series so great. We can’t wait to do it all again in four weeks’ time!
A summary of the results follows:
Run-only (2 hours)
In the run-only category, Compton local Patrick Gillies had a superb run, topping the podium with 342 points in 1 hour 57 minutes with Oscar Sly (320 points) in second place and Giles & Eve Humphreys-Evans rounding off the podium with 283 points. Ruth Brownlee finished as first female with 227 points despite a 58-point penalty for enjoying the course just that bit much and coming back 29 minutes over the time limit.
Bike-only (2 hours)
In the bike-only category, Andy Wayland topped the podium with a great ride to win with 235 points in 1 hour and 54 minutes ahead of team Wheelie Tyred (Rebecca Pope, Christopher Masters, Annes Stevens) with 195 points and C Squared (Clare & Chris Gibson) with 165 points.
Duo Taster (Run & Bike 3 hours)
In the female category, Team Stok Kangri (Danielle Cook, Gemma Tinsdale) topped the podium with a brilliant 331 points ahead of Mandy Hibberd on 286 points with Team Cartman (Hannah Chapman, Grace Cartwright) making up the podium with 232 points.
In the open category, Ross Remnant topped the podium with a superb 416 points ahead of Sid Hardy on 400 points with Peter Lancaster third on 388 points.
In the mixed category, Team Map n Compass (Kathryn Heppinstall, Alan Lester) topped the podium with 276 points.
Duo Full (Run & Bike 5 hours)
In the Open Teams category, Fuzion Adventure Racing Team (Graeme & Aidan Williams) topped the podium with an excellent 600 points having stepped up from the taster category last series. They finished ahead of Running and Tea Club (Steve Reeves, Mark Groom) on 572 points and The Dirty Mappies (Simeon Adams, Sam Neal) on 565 points.
In the Mixed Team category Team Mongaru (Katherina Pederson & Nick Gracie) got their series off to a flier to win with a score of 660 points ahead of Team Gill (Emma & Richard Gill) on 593 points and Sibling Synergy (Andrew Brett, Jo Chapman) on 563 points.
In the Female Team category Team In Search of Control (Eleanor Thackeray, Pollie Boyle, Julia Robson) won the day with a brilliant 590 points ahead of Escaping the Kids (Charlotte Duncan, Belinda Robbie, Rebecca Galea) on 541 points and the Mad Old Tarts (Maggie Salter, Liz Jones) on 505 points.
In the Female Solo category, Isabel Boyd continued her impressive form from last time out to win with a superb score of 652 points ahead of Ella Pyman on 566 points and Julie Banton on 547? points with Vanessa Fisher and Shelly Hufner just missing out on the podium by 4 points to finish on 551 points.
In the Open Solo category, Campbell Walsh, our 2023 Winter Series champion, had a great race to win with a score of 795 points ahead of Carl Silver on 760 points with Gary Davies rounding off the podium with 755 points.
Vets Category
In the female category, Ella Pyman topped the podium with an excellent adjusted score of 634 points ahead of Maggie Salter & Liz Jones on 611 points and Pollie Boyle on 599 points.
In the open category, Dave Salter had a superb race to win with an adjusted score of 761 points ahead of Rob Smart on 716 points with David Chaplin rounding out the podium on 694 points, just ahead of the chasing pack with Nick Gracie (690 points), Phil Haycock (689 points) and Jeremy Waite (699 points) just missing out.
The 2024 Questars Winter Series
Our Winter Series continues on Saturday 7 December from Dursley in the Cotswolds. There are two more races in the Series with events taking us to the New Forest and the Forest of Dean.
Anyone entering into any of our adventure races will be automatically entered into our Series Championship with each individual’s top three one-day results counting towards the final Championship position. Full details can be found on our Series Championship page.
