- Wednesday 18 June 2025
What a day for the third race of our 2025 Summer Series; from electric skies the night before to winds that took your breath away, quite literally, Dorset did not disappoint! Our event took place from just south of Wareham on the Isle of Purbeck and once again we had glorious sunshine (and hills and wind, don’t forget the wind – don’t imagine any of you have especially on that last 300m to the finish!).
Thank you to everyone for coming out to drink in the views, clamber over the hills (there were loads), and enjoy a bit of that holiday feeling. The venue was a bit more rustic with the barns keeping most of the wind at bay pre- and post-event, but what a stunning location! It was lovely to have a number of you camping with us Friday and Saturday nights to really make the most of the weekend.
Our Dorset event also played host to the annual Royal Artillery Adventure Race and it was brilliant to have such a showing with 27 teams signed up. The Royal Artillery Adventure Race continues to exemplify the balance of physical challenge, skill development, and esprit de corps, making it a valuable and highly anticipated fixture in the Royal Artillery calendar. The attitude and behaviour of everyone from the Gunners was outstanding, with all service personnel entering the spirit of the event and being excellent ambassadors for their regiments.
This was the tenth running of the event and there was a great mix of returning racers and those dipping their toes into the world of adventure racing for the first time. One such returning racer was Major Dan Gallagher who has been involved in each previous running of the event and he, along with race partner Captain Tez Matthews, used their experience to good effect to come out on top overall.
The Isle of Purbeck is one of our favourite areas to race with varied terrain and rewarding views – but that always leads to us setting impossibly big courses! The kayak leg was on a lovely stretch of the River Frome with a nice quite section upstream of Wareham and a busier section around the town itself with the tide and river flow also adding an extra element of planning for this leg. The run and bike legs took in the ridges around Corfe Castle which were resplendent in the sunshine! There were also a couple of bike checkpoints right on the south coast with glorious sea views for those teams willing to put in the effort to get there – an impressive 20 teams managed to do so including one in the Novice category – Team Escape the kids (Annie & Harry Griffin) who were clearly trying to get as far away as possible!
At over 25km and over 300m of climbing, the run course was big and it took a brilliant effort to clear it with Ben Hawkins (03:00) the only one to do so! Six teams got pretty close with Jeremy Wormington (3:06) dropping just one checkpoint and Phil Pattulo (2:55), Ed Gillett (3:08), Benjamin Griffin & Tim Seers (3:20), Scott Richardson (3:23) and Emma Hill & Caroline Gillespie (3:27) dropping two checkpoints. Robert Carter & Ed Gurney had the most profitable run picking up 2.3 points per minute and Emma Hill & Caroline Gillespie had the most profitable run in the female category picking up 1.75 points per minute.
At over 50km and over 1,000m of climbing the bike route was another beast of a course, and Tom Davies was the only racer to clear it in a very impressive time of 2:59. A few others gave it a really good go with Kev Stephens (3:07) and David Carr (3:21) dropping just one checkpoint and Carl Silver (2:40), Andy Prince (2:46), Nick Gracie & Katherina Pedersen (3:24) and Nicky Griffin (3:32) dropping just two checkpoints. Andy Prince had the most profitable bike leg picking up 2.56 points per minute and Nicky Griffin had the most profitable bike in the female category picking up 2 points per minute.
The kayak was just under 5.5km which made it one of our shorter ones but what it lacked in length it made up for in wind, tide and river flow! An impressive 22 teams managed to clear the course including four teams in the shorter Novice category. Rob & Katie Burridge were fastest in a time of 46:01 followed by David Broad & Joe Treverrow in 46:57 and Robert Carter & Ed Gurney in 47:20. It’s always a little harder as a solo and Jon Heissig was the fastest solo in a time of 48:58. In the Novice category, Stewart Graham was fastest in a time of 49:23 followed by John Banks & Chris Walker in 50:25, Andy Whitlum & Jacob Whitlum in 50:39 and June & Julia Kingsbury in 53:26.
The kayak leg was the most profitable with teams able to pick up on average 2.5 points per minute compared to 1.64 points per minute on the bike and 1.41 points per minute on the run – a little lower than normal and a representation of just how tough the course was!
The sunshine and glorious course meant that racers were in no hurry to get back and penalties far outweighed rewards on the day – by 1,300 points! The Duo participants once again earn the praise of the race directors by being in credit on rewards overall. Elsewhere there were some brilliant penalty performances with Mervyn Haumann an impressive 49 minutes late on the six-hour course and the Garibaldis (Martin Blanche, Matt Showan, Conrad Bailey) 43 minutes late on the five-hour course!
Our adventure Racers of the day award goes to Sibling synergy (Jo Chapman and Andy Brett) who paused their race to assist a deer, which had become stuck in a fence.
It was great to have help from a few of our regular racers with Mandy Hibberd assisting at the kayak transition as she was not able to race, Kev Stephens and Bonnie van Wilgenburg helping to collect in the checkpoints and Iain Porter, Sandy Benchetrit, Christopher Bloomer, Richard Fielder, Duncan Sneddon and Lyndon Sutton all helping with the pack up. Thank you!
All in all, it was another amazing day of racing, we really like the area and will definitely be back!
For us, our attention now turns to our next event in the Peak District (12 & 13 July) and the Chilterns (13 September).
We look forward to seeing you all soon.
Full results can be found here and pictures here (you can also download high-res images for free here – you can search using either a selfie or your bib number).
A summary of the results follows:
Bike-only (2 hours)
In the bike-only category, The Foys (Rachael & Robert Foy) had a brilliant race to win with 227 points ahead of Lionel Cox on 95 points.
Run-only (2 hours)
In the run-only category, Felicity Hooper put in a terrific performance to win the female category with 206 points ahead of Poppy Hawkins (145 points) and Clueless with a compass (Jessie Snow, Jo Crutcher) on 120 points.
In the open category, Joe Collins won with 231 points (the best score of the day) ahead of Gentleman Spoofers Team 3 (Mike Hemsley, Matthew Golds) on 147 points and Kevin Green on 128 points.
In the mixed category, Jelly Legs Running Club (John Cross, Jennifer Cott) won with 165 points ahead of Team Lew1s (Emma & Richard Lewis) on 105 points and Team Gerkey (Stephanie, Miles and Barry Nabbs) on 33 points – Miles was our youngest racer of the day and did an excellent job navigating his parents round the course.
Duo (Run & Bike 5 hours)
In the Duo category, David Carr topped the podium with 595 points with Jeremy Wormington in second on 500 points with Go Low, Go Big (Tom Bignell, Rob Loweth) in third with 458 points.
Royal Artillery Adventure Race (Run, Bike & Kayak 5 hours)
In the Female category, YOs – The C Team (2Lt Cowan, 2Lt Farrow-Wilton) had a terrific race to win with 317 points ahead of 26RA – Double Ducks (SSgt Katy Hillman, Capt Erin O’Loughnane) on 231 points and 47 Regt RA – Team 1 (SSgt Griffiths, Sgt Ambler) on 205 points.
In the Mixed Team category, YOs – DS (Maj Jump, WO1 Mostert) won with a score of 336 points ahead of 32RA The BNOC’S (Sgt Debono, Sgt Jones) on 317 points and 32RA – 18 Bty Gnrs (Gnr Ansell, Gnr Cracknell) on 200 points.
In the Open category, 32 RA – Only Here For The Fridge Magnet (Maj Dan Gallagher, Capt Tez Matthews) topped the podium with an excellent score of 545 points ahead of 32 RA – The Buckers Captains (Maj MacDonald-Armitage, Capt Carl Wray) on 519 points and YOs – Ollie and Olly (2Lt Liston, 2Lt Freer) on 490 points.
Trio Novice (Run, Bike & Kayak 5 hours)
In the Female category, The Queen Bees (June & Julia Kingsbury) had yet another brilliant race to top the podium with 460 points ahead of Laura White on 385 points and the Muddy Mamas (Jenny Burton, Emily Hartley, Caz Winch, Susan Fridd) on 317 points.
In the Mixed Team category, Sibling Synergy (Jo Chapman, Andy Brett) won with a terrific score of 518 points (the best score of the day) ahead of the Mad Milfordites (Bonnie Moody, Tom Garfath, Joe Payne) on 457 points and KP nuts (Chris Thorne, Millay Vann) on 426 points.
In the Open category, BAW Stars Legacy Edition (John Banks, Chris Walker) topped the podium with 449 points ahead of Bin Juice (Daniel Sanders, Nick Jenkins, Mark Preskett) on 430 points and Knox It Off (Ian Chapman, Stefan Knox) on 421 points.
Trio Masters (Run, Bike & Kayak 6 hours)
In the Mixed Teams category, Team Gill (Emma & Richard Gill) won with a brilliant score of 766 points ahead of Team Leaping Fish (Nick Gracie & Katherina Pedersen) on 725 points and the Tongetwisters (Lucy & Oliver Tonge) on 679 points.
In the female team category, Fuelledbychips (Emma Hill, Caroline Gillespie) had an excellent race to win with a score of 643 points ahead of the Mad Old Tarts (Maggie Salter, Liz Jones) on 595 points and Waspy’s Wonders (Isla Reynolds, Nina Ingham) on 575 points.
In the Open Teams category, Team 14 (James Bennett, Scott Heys-Limonard, Ben Smith) won with a terrific score of 797 points ahead of On Yer Bike (Robert Carter, Ed Gurney) on 705 points and
Fusion Adventure Racing Team (Graeme & Aidan Williams) on 665 points.
In the Open Solo category, Tom Davies won with a terrific score of 881 points ahead of Carl Silver on 852 points and Gary Davies on 830 points.
In the Female Solo category, Nicky Griffin had another brilliant race to top the podium with 602 points, ahead of Ella Pyman on 565 points and Toni Flint on 540 points.
In the Vets Open category, Carl Silver had a terrific race to win with an adjusted score of 865 points ahead of Dave Salter on 817 points and Phil Pattullo on 803 points.
In the Vets Female category, Maggie Salter & Liz Jones won with an adjusted score of 729 points ahead of Nicky Griffin on 701 points and Ella Pyman on 641 points.
The 2025 Questars Summer Series
The next stop for our Summer Series takes us to the Peak District (12 & 13 July) before a final stop in the Chilterns (12 September).
Anyone entering into any of our 2025 adventure races will be automatically entered into our Series Championship with each individual’s top four one-day results (or equivalent) counting towards the final Championship position. Full details can be found on our Series Championship page.
