WAR!

Oct 23, 2011 by Raedi    No Comments    Posted under: Uncategorized

WAR Series – Powerscourt Adventure Race

I’d been thinking about doing an adventure race for ages during the summer but work and other training obligations kept putting me off. Luckily, the people at Wicklow Adventure Races free credit score report (WAR) have a series that stretches right from May to September so I found the very last one, which suited me so without hesitation, I signed up!

There are two courses to choose from in this race and I, as a Adventure Race newbie, went with the Sport version. These are the stages –

It really didn’t take that long to decide which version to do (sport)! My friend Eimear had entered too and we were both total novices. The only thing I was wary of was my lack of kayaking. I hadn’t kayaked in about 4 years, the last time being off in Hawaii with loads of dolphins around me. Something told me that this time it would be quite different Luckily, Fitsquad were offering a training morning on the kayaks so we signed up for that too! I was fairly confident heading down to that training session, how hard could it be? Oh boy, it was so hard! Firstly because it was windy and spitting rain, then I was steering us all over the place and managed to completely separate myself & Eimear from the group, then I got cramp in my hips, then I just wanted to swim back to shore. Uh oh, not what I expected at all.

This session didn’t exactly fill me with confidence so on race day all I could think about was the kayak. But we had a plan, a very basic plan, Eimear would do all the steering and I would just paddle, capiche? Deal! The day before the race I went to collect my number etc and buy the bits of mandatory kit that we had to have with us during the race. The kit list included things like heavy bandages, a foil blanket, a whistle….. Gulp! I packed all these, along with a windsheeter,  in the lightest bag I had. Its a great little bag from  that sits snugly on your back and the straps are light so never restrict your movement as you run. It also has an option for a drinking tube but I chose to carry all my fluids on the bike as there were 2 water stations on the course already.

 I felt pretty relaxed at the start line, in fact, maybe a bit too relaxed because we didn’t really listen to the organisers and went off with the first wave. The first wave was for people who had done races before and were expecting to do it in a certain time, doh! We stayed put anyway and set off down the hill and out of Powerscourt estate.

The cycle route kicked into a climb almost immediately so we got nice and warmed up for our run up the Sugarloaf!

Elevation of the run!

 I had never been to the Sugarloaf before but people had warned me that I would be doing more walking than running. This was certainly the case coming toward the top of the hill because I was literally scrambling to pull myself up onto the next step, stoopid short legs. I wish I could tell you something about the beautiful views etc. but honestly, I was just watching my steps all the time. The only time I looked up was to ‘dib in’ so they can track your time and when I tried to acknowledge the lovely, encouraging marshalls. This race had some of the nicest marshalls and lots of them too, they make such a huge difference to a race!           

The cycle from the Sugarloaf to Vartry Lakes was bliss, it was either flat or downhill for the most part. The only thing niggling me was the thought of the upcoming kayak around the lake.

Vartry Kayak

 I need not have been so dready though because it was fine, a million miles from our practice session and we cruised around the lake without getting lost/cramping/tantrums/sulking, phew!  One thing I would do differently next time is take off my shoes and socks, they got drenched!

Out of the kayaks and on to our bikes for the last leg. I was having so much fun that I was sorry to be on the last leg. It was a fantastic route, plenty to challenge us and the grand finale of the climb back up to the finish line was definitely a test. 

At the finish line the organisers had loads of tea, coffee, soup, sandwiches and loads of fruit for anyone who finished with an appetitie. We got a print out of the breakdown of our times and I was delighted to have scraped in just under 3 hours, 2hrs 58mins! I loved it, can’t wait for next year already!

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