- Tuesday 10 December 2024
Well, what a weekend of firsts! Due to forecasted storms, it was the first time the national emergency alert system was used on such a large scale and it was the first time that we took the unprecedented step of giving out our checkpoint values and descriptions at registration (rather than at race start). Recent heavy rain and forecasted winds meant we altered our course to avoid certain areas and we felt that, given this, it was best to give racers as much time as possible to plan accordingly. Hopefully racers didn’t enjoy this too much, as we will not be doing it again!
It is often said that the hardest thing about adventure racing is getting to the start line and this was truer than ever with nearby storms making travel difficult and preventing a number of racers from joining us on the day. The forecast for the event area wasn’t too bad and our main fear on Friday was that the weather hitting Bristol and South Wales would move and engulf our area of the Cotswolds as well. Fortunately, the forecast held true and our racers were treated to blustery conditions with only a small amount of rain thrown in. Not quite the near-perfect race conditions we had in the Berkshire Downs in November, but raceable conditions all the same.
We would like to give an extra-large THANK YOU to all of our amazing staff, medic and media teams. They made the event possible and we were so happy to be able to keep it open. Then, of course, we want to thank all of the racers that showed up on a very blustery Saturday morning in Dursley, where there was a very real fear that we were going to be standing on a sad, lonely start line by ourselves.
We like to bring a bit of festive cheer to our December race and, although there was no time to sprinkle some excellent festive puns into the briefing (don’t worry, these are all saved for next year), we were able to offer racers mince pies, (non-alcoholic) mulled wine and a couple of bonus checkpoints to make the event as Questive as possible!
As is often the case, most racers (71%) opted to run first on fresh legs. The changes meant that, overall, the course slightly favoured bikers, with teams picking up an average of 1.88 points per minute on the bike versus 1.61 points per minute on the run.
Three teams managed to clear the run course, all using a different route to do so, with Campbell Walsh fastest in a time of 1 hour 57, ahead of Thame the Trails (Tim Blair, Andrew Lewis) in 3 hours 21 and Team Wet Socks (Joanna Taylor, David Taylor) in a time of 4 hours 26. Dave Chaplin also came close dropping just one checkpoint. Campbell Walsh had a great run picking up 2.9 points per minute for the most efficient run of the day ahead of Tom Hards (2.7 points per minute) and Tom Emery & Ben Ansell (2.37 points per minute). In the female category, Helen Chapman picked up 1.8 points per minute for the best run of the day ahead of Waspy’s Wonders (Isla Reynolds and Nina Ingham with 1.66 points per minute) and Julie Banton (1.61 points per minute).
Two racers managed to clear the bike course with Campbell Walsh quickest in a time of 2 hours and 52 minutes ahead of Andy Wayland in 4 hours 26 minutes. Eddie Winthorpe, Andrew Woodhouse and Mark Montgomery also came close dropping one checkpoint each respectively. Campbell Walsh was most economical picking up 2.67 points per minute ahead of Simon Jennison (2.6 points per minute) and Andrew Ryan (2.54 points per minute). In the female category, Julie Banton picked up 2.26 points per minute for the best bike of the day ahead of Helen Chapman (2.16 points per minute) and Wally’s & Proud (Jodie Brinson and Caroline Howe with 1.91 points per minute).
Overall, rewards for finishing early outweighed penalties for finishing late with over 90% of teams finishing within the time limits (possibly the best finishing stats ever!), but there were a few notable exceptions with Team Yellow Bellies (Jamie Rowe, Adam Rose) picking up an impressive 135 penalty points by finishing 27 minutes late in the five-hour event and Michael Weston picking up 68 penalty points for finishing 34 minutes late on the three-hour taster event! A couple of teams timed their races to near-perfection with two of the run-only teams (Oscar Sly, Dean Thatcher, Richard Bennett, Mike Combellack, Matthew Macmorland, Rose Bosnell) finishing within two minutes of the time limit!
We really like Dursley as an event base and I’m sure we will be back again, possibly sooner rather than later, as there are loads more trails and bridleways to explore (especially given that we moved our event course away from a lot of them!).
We now look forward to seeing you all at our next event in the New Forest on 11 January 2025, for another spectacular course and race. The hills of the Cotswolds will be replaced by slightly flatter terrain but, to steal and distort a quote from Greg Lemond, it doesn’t mean things will be easier, you will just go faster!
Full results can be found here and pictures here.
Thank you for bringing the festive cheer to our event. We can’t wait to do it all again in five weeks’ time!
A summary of the results follows:
Run-only (2 hours)
In the run-only category, Oscar Sly, Dean Thatcher and Richard Bennett had superb runs to win with a score of 226 points ahead of ETO1 (Mike Combellack, Matthew Macmorland, Rose Bosnell) on 206 points with Team Toads (Gill Elias, Mick Playle, Marcia Gonsalves-Thompson) completing the podium with 174 points.
Bike-only (2 hours)
In the bike-only category, Team C Squared (Clare & Chris Gibson) improved on their score in the last event to finish on 185 points and win the day!
Duo Taster (Run & Bike 3 hours)
In the female category, Kathryn Heppinstall topped the podium with a brilliant 253 points on her first solo outing with us, to win ahead of Team Snails (Anne Beastall, Jodie Mitchell) on 168 points.
In the open category, Ian Ross topped the podium with a superb 390 points on his first outing with us ahead of Michael Weston on 92 points.
Duo Full (Run & Bike 5 hours)
In the Open Teams category, Tom Emery and Ben Ansell topped the podium with an excellent 638 points ahead of Chris&James (James Price, Chris Perkins) on 592 points and Thame the Trails (Tim Blair, Andrew Lewis) on 467 points.
In the Mixed Team category Team Truffle Hunters (Damon de Boor, Shelly Hufner, Rob Smart, Steve Burnham) had a brilliant first race together to win with a score of 671 points ahead of Mark & Steph (Stephanie Gibbins, Mark Harris) on 596 points and with Team No Brunch Bar Left Behind (Robert Griffiths, Charlotte Griffiths) completing the podium with 430 points.
In the Female Team category Wally’s & proud (Jodie Brinson, Caroline Howe) won the day with a brilliant 447 points ahead of Waspy’s Wonders (Isla Reynolds, Nina Ingham) on 387 points and Stupid idea (-1) (Elizabeth Sale, Naomi Giffen) on 335 points.
In the Female Solo category, Helen Chapman had a superb race to win with a score of 641 points ahead of Julie Banton on 566 points and Susie Peart on 480 points.
In the Open Solo category, Campbell Walsh, continued his imperious form to win with a score of 810 points ahead of Tom Hards on 722 points with Eddie Winthorpe rounding off the podium with a devilishly brilliant 666 points just ahead of Doug Bewley on 660 points.
Vets Category
In the female category, Julie Banton topped the podium with an excellent adjusted score of 574 points ahead of Susie Peart on 509 points and Joanna Taylor on 423 points.
In the open category, Steve Burnham and Rob Smart shared the victory with an adjusted score of 681, ahead of Eddie Winthorpe on 676 and Kevin Stephens on 623 points.
The 2024/25 Questars Winter Series
Our Winter Series continues on Saturday 11 January in the New Forest before finishing in 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.
