ACE Race - Galloway

2 days of adventure racing, and on your own so actually having to think about navigation for once instead of leaving it to whoever you're running with! Venue: Galloway hills - midway between New Galloway and Newton Stewart - great countryside and had some excellent mountain biking. Day 1 started with 8hrs to bike and run to as many checks as possible. Cleared the running course in 2nd fastest time in my category, but bonked big time towards the end of the biking. After 8hrs I was knackered and used to the events finishing after this amount of time. Instead though you got a few hours rest, rehydrate & refuel before 2 hours night navigation. Ballsed this one up big time by chosing a very bad strategy that left me running my arse off for very few points. After a very bad nights sleep I had possibly the slowest bike ride imagineable to the kayaking - 2 circuits of Clatteringshaws loch (14km). Saturdays weather was cloudy, but dry. Sunday it rained stacks. Not that you'd notice in a kayak. Got 4th fastest kayaking time in my class then onto the run, which after being sat in the kayak, felt desperate at the start - legs just didn't work. The running course was ok for the 1st half - forestry tracks, then desperate tussocky boggy hillside - slow on the way up, but fast (and slippery) to descend. Got 4th fastest time in this too, which got me 6th place overall. Going solo was the fatest way to get about the course, but you had to be a lot more on the ball with

navigation. And it's a lot harder to motivate your way around the course. The 2nd day felt so hard as you were shattered from the 1st, but then, so was everyone else. Overall though it was great fun, and I'd definitely go back for more....

Posted by Simon Triger on Mon 2 Oct 2006 | comments are closed

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