Open 5+ Adventure Race in the Lakes

This event saw 10 members of Team Accelerate up in the Lakes for the first in a series of events. The Open 5+ is a 5 hour race involving Mountain Biking and Running with a timed out section down a Gill. The weather was overcast and mild with some rain. There was a mass start over at Whinlatter taking in some of the best single track in the Lakes. I was pairing up with Kev for this one as we were looking to do well in the series which will see an Open 12 and an Open 24 to come. We got off to a fast start on the bikes in a head to head battle at the front. We arrived at the first transition onto foot in 4th Place. We then headed out into the hills to gather as many checkpoints as we could in the time. These inclused one on an island 100m out into Derwent water, one on top of a 9ft wall and another down an 80m mine. My legs were quite pooped during the run and I struggled with an upset stomach after the swim in the cold water which saw me loose some of its contents. Back on the Bikes again it was a loop round drewent water and back into Keswick to finish. My legs were like jelly and it was hard work driving the bikes to the finish. We finished 5th Male Pair in the end, with me kicking myself knowing that i can go faster and felt I held us back. Its not a bad possition to be in with our stronger endurance events to come in the 12 and 24.
Congratulations to Julia and Dave who won the Mixed pairs and piped us to the post with their score. Also to Caz and George who finished in 3rd.