- Monday 30 September 2024
This month we speak to our Female Vets Series Champion, Ella Pyman. Although relatively new to the sport, Ella is a brilliant racer and consistently performs really well in our events. Read on to find out how she got into adventure racing and what her top tips are to make your next Questars adventure race a success. Enjoy!
When did you participate in your first Questars adventure race?
My first race was in Dorset in 2023, I entered the novice category as a pair.
Roughly how many Questars adventure races have you participated in?
I have done exactly 9!
What do you like most about Questars adventure races?
Questars adventure races are the whole package – stunning locations, brilliant organisation and the anticipation of the chilli at the end!
What do you like most about adventure racing?
Adventure racing is a great challenge for mind and body.
Why did you first get into adventure racing?
I did my first adventure race with an adventurous friend in 2021 as I thought it sounded interesting and I was keen to mountain bike somewhere different. It was fairly disastrous in terms of navigation on the bike but I was hooked!
What advice would you give to someone just getting started in adventure racing?
As I still feel like a novice myself I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer. I think it’s probably just to give it a go!
What is the best piece of advice that you were given when you started adventure racing?
I got a top tip from an orienteering friend (I only started orienteering after my first AR as I realised I needed to improve my map reading) who used to participate in mountain marathons. He suggested having a couple of pieces of string measured at 5km and 10km at the map scale so that you can measure your planned route to check feasibility of the distance more accurately. This has been great for overall planning. (But goes out the window as soon as those pesky dummy checkpoints are known.) I’ve got lots of top tips from reading the ‘adventure racer of the month’ news articles – especially like the suggestion of tucking the map/controls in the leg of your shorts on the kayaking – though I’m not sure what happens if you are wearing leggings or baggy shorts!
(Pro-tip – a lot of our racers use strong elastic bands around their legs to keep map/controls in place whilst kayaking if they are wearing leggings or baggy shorts. Just make sure the bands aren’t too tight or too weak – wider elastic works better)
What is your strongest and weakest race discipline? How do you combat your weakest discipline?
Mountain biking is definitely my favourite. I need to learn some actual technique for kayaking.
What does your training plan for an adventure race look like?
My background is triathlon so I am used to training on most days of the week and I’ve just carried that on, although I’ve mostly replaced the swimming with running in the hope it might make me faster along with trying to work out which S&C exercises are best to help with kayaking.
How do you fuel yourself for a Questars adventure race?
Porridge for breakfast. I’m still learning/experimenting about nutrition for the race itself. Dolly mixture is now my sweet of choice, I try to make energy bars (oats/peanut butter/maple syrup/dried cranberries) to take on the run and the bike and keep a protein yoghurt drink, a packet of crisps and a sandwich in transition.
What type of bike do you normally use for a Questars adventure race?
Trek Full Suss carbon trail MTB – because that’s what I had already. I’m full of admiration for other racers on gravel bikes – there’s plenty of descents on Questars races where I was very happy to have the option of full suspension and a dropper post!
What’s the worst mistake you’ve ever made during an adventure race?
Not reading the control description and trying to go to a dummy checkpoint the first time I raced solo, and then not reading another one and riding past the control but deciding I should ride down a big hill and back up again as the checkpoint had a high value.
What’s the weirdest/funniest/strangest thing that has happened to you during an adventure race?
Slowly toppling over on my bike at zero miles an hour because I was in the wrong gear into the flooded Serpent Trail in the South Downs race in March – I disappeared into the icy water up to my chest and had to have a full change of clothes at transition – only to get hailed on as I set out on the run!
(I think the weather at our South Downs race will live long in the memory for a lot of racers!)
What is the most difficult part of adventure racing?
Strategy planning and reading the map – though the large print has made life much easier (though those bits of string need recalibrating).
(NB: we give the option of larger print maps for our Vets racers)
Thank you so much Ella! Some terrific advice for those looking to get into adventure racing, we really like the string idea and is something we have regularly used when racing ourselves to assist with strategy and route planning.
Fancy giving adventure racing a go? Click on the link below to our upcoming events:
