The Helly Hansen Challenge
15th October 2006
A 5am start in Newmarket saw two intrepid teams of hardy souls head off to Hampshire to take part in the second race of a three race series. The race in question was the Helly Hansen Challenge adventure race. The race took place at Longmoor Army Barracks, where they specialise in live weapons and tank training…they should have seen what was coming!
The two teams were
made up of NC&TC and Newmarket Joggers members.
Team 1: NC&TC – Neil Payne, Bruce Smart & Mark Hatley
Team 2: Celtic Queens – Karen Payne, Jenny O’Callaghan (NJ)
& Carolynn Anderson (NJ)
The competitors (159 teams of 3) lined up in the warm October sunshine with a 3km run through the surrounding woods to warm up with. The run soon spread out the field as they headed back to the transition area to pick up their mountain bikes. The mountain bike stage was a 20 mile stage through Woolmer Forest and it was to be the crux of the race for most. Bruce in the NC&TC team was in his element bombing up and down the inclines and making it all look very easy! After a good start his team members were soon making heavy work it. The main part of the race is team work and with this in mind Bruce was soon pushing his team members up the hills and encouraging them down the other side. On the bike section there were a few spills with one competitor suffering from a broken collar bone, but thankfully the Nkt athletes got round without incident apart from the odd ‘sense of humour’ failure.
Once the bike finally came to an end an intake of bananas and energy drink was required before the teams headed of on another run to the kayaking circuit. On route the run took in a steep concrete ramp used for tank training and through a maze of buildings designed for grenade practice!
After a nice downhill the teams found the Kayaks piled up some distance from the lake which of course had to be carried, which was nice of race organisers. As each team was given two kayaks and only two sets of paddles tactics would come into play. The NC&TC team quickly tied the two boats together and dumped Mark in the back, as he was now suffering with leg cramps, Bruce and Neil jumped in the front boat and promptly paddled the three laps around the course passing everyone they encountered.
After dumping the boats a further 3km run and a few obstacles were all that stood between the teams and a well deserved cuppa. With 800m to go the first obstacle came into view, the ‘plank challenge’ which crossed a steep sandy mound. The secret to this is coordination and team work which is not as easy as it sounds after 4-5 hours of racing! The final obstacle was the cargo net and a slippery ‘A’ frame which had to be crossed. The NC&TC team hauled themselves over the last obstacle to finish in a time of 3 hours 48 minutes to finish 15th overall.
Karen captain of the Celtic Queens team gives her point of view of the race…
“…We got off to a slow start and it only got slower, what with two fit members of the team dragging a dead horse (me) around the course. The bike finished us off and one lap would have been more than enough, but we did pass quite a few teams who were stopping for food and rest, but no rest for us. Second run was very hard, then we started canoeing and we steamed along, but the third run was like being in Death Valley. Managed to pass another 4 or 5 teams to the cargo net to finish in a time of 5.03, very tired, very muddy, very hungry but believe it or not me actually enjoyed it!!!”
For more information on this race series and adventure races in general:-
