- Thursday 15 May 2025
The second race of our 2025 Summer Series took place from Godalming in the Surrey Hills and once again we had glorious sunshine! Everyone seemed to enjoy soaking up the sun and making the most of their time on course… more on that to come.
A big thank you to everyone who came out to race or support in a fabulous new race area for us and a huge thank you to Gerrad Ferrier who suggested the area to us having taken part in our Cotswolds event last year. It is a stunning area with loads of variety: dry mud, wet mud, sand, woods, steep climbs and furious descents, what more could you ask for!?
Out on course, at just over 24km and nearly 400m of climbing, the run course was a toughie! Despite that, five teams managed to clear it with Tom Davies fastest in a time of 2:16 ahead of Jeremy Wormington (2:43) The Favourites (Adam Brown, Ellie Nightingale, Ezra Knott – 3:14), Escaping the Kids (Charlotte Duncan, Belinda Robbie – 3:18) and Scrambled Legs (Oliver De Ste Croix, Richard Pearcy – 4:06).
At over 50km and with 800m of climbing the bike course always felt impossibly big and so it proved with no racer able to clear the course. A few gave it a good go though with Syd Hardy closest, dropping just one checkpoint for a score of 450 in 3:44 with Stephen Dadswell and Tom Davies both dropping two checkpoints to pick up 430 points.
The kayaking provided some of the biggest challenges, not necessarily the kayaking itself, more the getting in and out of the water! It certainly was a kayak ‘launch’ not for the feint hearted, and we had quite the attrition rate – probably our highest ever. Once on the water, at 5.6km, the kayak leg was achievable within the one-hour time limit for those teams willing risk potential penalties for being back late! In total, 25 teams completed the kayak section in the correct order, including four from the Novice category. Team ETS (Tom Walker, Elly O’Connell, Sam Lee-Gill, Andrew Birkett) were fastest in a time of 48:18 followed by Tom & Jerry (Harry Smith, Thomas Cann) in 50:35 and Pedal to the Paddle (Robert Sharman, Lewis Webb) in 50:44.
The 50-point penalty for being even a second over the maximum one-hour time limit can make the decision to go for an extra checkpoint an expensive one. The Power (Michael Scott, Pete Page) were the only team to finish over the time limit but others came mighty close, notably Team Houseateers (Derek, George & Arthur House and Sarah Illman) who finished just three seconds within the time limit!
The kayak leg was the most profitable with teams able to pick up on average 2.5 points per minute compared to 1.45 points per minute on the bike and 1.53 points per minute on the run.
The sunshine and glorious course meant that racers were in no hurry to get back and penalties far outweighed rewards on the day – by an impressive 1,600 points! The Duo course were the only participants who seemed to have packed their watches with everyone coming back within the time limit. Elsewhere there were some brilliant penalty performances with Team Old Bats on Bikes (Ginetta George, Alison Whittaker) an impressive 55 minutes late on the two-hour bike course! Elsewhere, we had six teams join the one-hundred club with Scrambled Legs (Oliver De Ste Croix and Richard Pearcy) the biggest culprits by amassing 285 penalty points!
There were some fantastic performances out on course with Tom Davies taking another race win in the Open category, Bonnie Van Wilgenburg doing the same in the Female category and Eleanor Broughton winning the run-only category. Kevin Stephens had a mighty fine day out to win the Vets category having only just returned from a multi-day race representing Team Questars UK in Morocco.
It was great to have help from a few of our regular racers with Emma Gill and James Lea-Cox (and son Hugo!) both assisting having not been able to race. Thank you both!
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 Dorset on 14 June before trips to 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).
A summary of the results follows:
Bike-only (2 hours)
In the bike-only category, Samuel Munday-Hall had a brilliant race to win with 211 points ahead of Ryan Griffiths on 130 points and Clare Gibson on 62 points.
Run-only (2 hours)
In the run-only category, returning racer Eleanor Broughton put in a terrific performance to win the female category with 246 points – the best score of the day. Stok Kangri (Danielle Cook & Gemma Cathcart) came in second on 195 points with The Jasons (Kirsty Murray, Ellen Berry, Stephanie Barnett, Jenn Morley) in third on 95 points.
In the open category, Oscar Sly won with 235 points ahead of Paul Rose on 223 points and Nick Mileham on 213 points.
In the mixed category, Team Momentum (Sophie Bowerman, Richard Arthur) won with 243 points – just three points off Eleanor’s score. The Misfits (Jay Allen & Caroline Roberts) moved up one place on the podium from last time out to finish in second on 217 points with Team Lost in the Woods (Robert Unwin, Lucy Unwin) completing the podium with 202 points)
Duo (Run & Bike 5 hours)
In the Duo category, Jeremy Wormington topped the podium with 631 points with Sid Hardy in second on 520 points with David Carr just six points behind in third with 514 points.
Trio Novice (Run, Bike & Kayak 5 hours)
In the Female category, The Queen Bees (June & Julia Kingsbury) had another brilliant race to top the podium with 450 points ahead of Amy Worden on 402 points and Rebecca Robinson on 369 points.
In the Mixed Team category, Team Wii Not Fit (Philip Chandler, Alistair Jones, George Randall, Andrew Symes) topped the podium with 500 points ahead of The Vans (Pip & Lewis Vanhinsbergh) on 455 points just ten points ahead of Days Like This (Grace & Gareth Davies) who completed the podium on 445 points.
In the Open category, Stephen Dadswell topped the podium with 615 points ahead of the Fulton Brothers (Luke & Erik Fulton) on 588 points and The Map is Upside Down! (Hakon By, Timothy Latimer, Timothy Miles) on 476 points.
Trio Masters (Run, Bike & Kayak 6 hours)
In the Mixed Teams category, Team Leaping Fish (Nick Gracie & Katherina Pedersen) won with a terrific score of 796 points ahead of The Favourites (Adam Brown, Ellie Nightingale & Ezra Knott) on 695 points and Team FLR (Lizzie Broughton, Ryan Sutton & Frances Merry) on 677 points.
In the female team category, Escaping the Kids (Charlotte Duncan & Belinda Robbie) had an excellent race to win with a score of 591 points ahead of Waspy’s Wonders (Isla Reynolds and Nina Ingham) on 547 points and The Mad Old Tarts (Maggie Salter & Liz Jones) on 45 points. The Mad Old Tarts collected the most points in the category with 600 but also managed to collect a rather impressive 125 penalty points for being 25 minutes late!
It was incredibly close racing in the Open Teams category with only 20 points separating the top five teams and the top two teams being tied on points! Team Fuzion Adventure Racing (Graeme & Aidan Williams) came out on top on 700 points with Team Impala (Andrew, Ben & Sam Wingfield and Phil Sapey) also finishing on 700 points being pushed into second by virtue of finishing time. Dad’s Army (Jon Cresswell, Mark Nooney) completed the podium finishing just six points back on 694 points. Meanwhile, Team Brewdog (Gerrad Ferrier, Bryan Donnelly) and On Yer Bike (Robert Carter, Ed Gurney) finished just 9 and 14 points further back in fourth and fifth respectively.
In the Open Solo category, Tom Davies won with a terrific score of 971 points ahead of Tom Hards on 815 points. It was incredibly close for the final podium spot with Carl Silver and Kevin Stephens both finishing on 802 points with Carl just nudging Kevin off the podium by virtue of a faster finishing time.
In the Female Solo category, Bonnie van Wilgenburg had a brilliant race to top the podium with 755 points, ahead of Pollie Boyle on 610 points and Julie Banton on 558 points. Laura Ashfield and Ella Pyman both picked up more points on the course than Julie but slipped to fourth and fifth respectively by virtue of late penalties.
In the Vets Open category, Kevin Stephens had a terrific race to win with an adjusted score of 862 points ahead of Nick Gracie on 844 points and Carl Silver on 814 points.
In the Vets Female category, reigning Winter Series champion Pollie Boyle won with an adjusted score of 628 points ahead of reigning Summer Series champion Ella Pyman on 619 points and Maggie Salter & Liz Jones on 582 points.
The 2025 Questars Summer Series
The next stop for our Summer Series takes us to Dorset on Saturday 10 June before trips to the Peak District (12 & 13 July) and 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.
