Mountain Hardwear Open5 adventure race, Dalby Forest, 27 January 08

The going was best described as fast, very fast. It was a day for the speed merchants, and it appeared that one or two triathletes had turned out to test their fitness. Entries were up around the 200 mark, including plenty of runners new to Open5 racing. And, because this was Dalby Forest, the addition of a black squiggly line on the maps indicated the jumps and ramps of the Dalby bike descent…

For those running first, the route choice was tricky. Those that took the mud-splattered route along Stain Dale found themselves committed. Yes, there were big points to grab but it was either in-and-out for part collection, or all the way through and up to the furthest point of the run course. Decisions, decisions…

GB orienteer Dan Halliday, racing with Will Haynes, had one objective; they were going to run fast and clear the course. A time of 1 hour 52 minutes demonstrated what could be achieved, but it perhaps more clearly showed that a slower run time would have ensured that their ‘bike legs’ remained intact. Still, Dan was one of the Open5 ‘virgins’ and has plenty to learn about the courses - with that kind of leg speed he’ll soon be a force to be reckoned with.

Through the transition and onto bikes, a timed run through Dixons Hollow gave extra points for speed - John and Peter Horlock howled through this section hard, with an unbeaten pairing time of 37 seconds. The subsequent singletrack section was dry and fast, twisting and turning through the forest leaving many racers disorientated. The problem of location seemed to be further confounded as the black run crossed a clear, well-defined fire track on the ground – but definitely not on the map.

From the elusive checkpoint 33 it was a straightforward route to pick up the high scores – but you needed to be fast. Andy Conn was flying and posted 2 hours 21 minutes to clear the bike course, romping home in first place in the male solo category. He was only just clear of Phil Scarf (Team Compass Point) by five points and a close third was Alistair Morris, again of Compass Point.

In the male pairs racing was again tight and leading the way were the Skinfit Triathletes, Ian Hughes and Andy Shorney, scoring the same as Mr Conn with 570. They were ahead and clear of second and third placed pairings from Team Accelerate, Eddie Winslow and Matt Davis and then Adam Haynes and Dave Spence. The mixed pairs was also hotly contested, dominated by triathletes with Andy Mitchell and Jill Hulme (Chester Tri) taking the honours. Andrew Shaw and Nicola Parker (TriExtreme) came in second, with the SALT and Pepper pairing of Andrea Davis and Jonathon Ellis.

For the Ladies it was Heather Dawe (Team Inov-8) who raced away to win with Julia Baron and Emily Brookes close behind. In the pairs it was regulars Danielle Sheridan and Jessica Weston (Enduroar) that took the honours, with Jessie Gebhard and Jessica Anstee (The Jesters) on their coat tails. Nick Jaquiery and Jo Foster (Moor Ilkley) were just third.