Open 5 series ends in fine style...
The final race the Mountain Hardwear Open5 Adventure Race series commenced in the early hours of Sunday morning at Grizedale in the Lake District. Over 300 outdoor athletes showed up eager to explore the tracks and trails by foot and bike…
Full event release
As it was the last event in the series, every ounce of energy was exerted as this could be the decider between winning the series and coming second.
Open5 races are held at different locations across the UK and competitors are given a map and 5 hours to visit as many of the marked control points as they can. Some controls can only be collected by mountain bike and others only on foot.
The weather was fine and dry for the final event of the series and conditions for the bike section looked good with fast forest tracks and some rocky technical sections of bridleway. Some of the running controls in the woodland area were described as a little softer underfoot!
Racers opt to either bike or run first – which is tactically more beneficial is hard to judge but most competitors play to their strengths and choose the discipline they are most skilled in first. The biking tracks and trails in this area are legendary, with some amazing views across the fells from the top of the forest. One competitor commented ‘how fantastic it was to compete in an event which involved so little cycling on a road’
Bikes were exchanged for running shoes or vice a versa on completion of the first discipline. The run was just as challenging and race planner Anthony Cooper had managed to place the controls in what can only be described as some challenging and interesting locations.
The event ran very smoothly with great weather, a spectacular venue, amazing scenery and great tracks and trails. With so many possible route choices on offer and a mass of tracks, trails and bridleways competitors were challenged to find the optimal route. Nobody actually cleared the course but they came very close.
Event planner and adventure racer Anthony Cooper said “I was privileged to be able to plan an event in Grizedale, it offers a wealth of options with great technical descents and climbs, fast forest roads and manmade single tracks for the bike, not to mention the maze of paths for running“
James Thurlow, Director Open Adventure commented: “What a great end to a very competitive series, with the smallest of margins separating the winners – thanks to Mountain Hardwear for their support over the last year and to Grizedale for hosting a great event”
Male Pairs Winner Andy Wrigley from team Keswick Mountain Bikes said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Open 5 series, the event location’s, organisation and planning have been top class throughout. With the league positions not being decided right till the end the pressure was never off which made for some very tense and exciting racing in the final Grizedale event.”
The Yan in Grizedale forest is the ideal location for this style of event. Special thanks must go to the staff at the Grizedale Visitors Centre and to the Yan for hosting the event and for providing great food for the competitors.
Open Adventure would also like to thank National Trust, Forestry Commission and local land owners for enabling racers to visit some of the area’s most beautiful locations. Thanks must also go to the marshals for all their hard work on a demanding day and the competitors who signed up for the challenge. Finally we must thank our sponsors Mountain Hardwear for enabling us to put on another fantastic series of events.
If this article has sparked the adventurer in you then have a look at www.openadventure.com. Details of next year’s Open5 series which includes an extra two NEW events in the South of England will be on line soon.
Results – Grizedale
Female Pairs
1st 5 Rowena Bell-Scott/Jessica Halliday 475
2nd 11 Jill Eccleston/Sharon McDonald castlebergoutdoors.co.uk 455
3rd 401 Sue Booth/Louise Hanley BeOutdoors/Dirtwheels 40+ 430
Male Pairs
1st 402 Chris Hope/Andy Wrigley Keswick Bikes 590
2nd 38 John Cunningham/Kev Honeysett Accelerate 40+ 533
3rd 61 David Lawrance/Warren Mason Macclesfield Harriers 529
Female Solos
1st 207 Mandy Faint Big Bear Bikes 40+ 508
2nd 304 Caroline Bullard Team Accelerate 483
3rd 213 Helen Jackson planet Fear 475
Male Solos
1st 249 Daniel Halliday Team Accelerate 560
2nd 276 Alex Pilkington Haglofs 40+ 555
3rd 307 Andy Shorney 545
Mixed Pairs
1st 76 Astrid Gibbs/Tom Gibbs Team adidas TERREX 548
2nd 99 Barbara Lonsdale/Andy Mitchell Calder Valley 528
3rd 84 Julia Hobson/David Spence Accelerate 525
Overall Series Results
Female Pairs
Pos Names Team Name
1 Sue Booth/Louise Hanley BeOutdoors/All Terrain
2 Jill Eccleston/Sharon McDonald Castlebergoutdoors.co.uk
3 Helen Lambert/Barbara Lonsdale Calder Valley
Male Pairs
Pos Names Team Name
1 Chris Hope/Andy Wrigley KeswickBikes
2 David Lawrance/Warren Mason Macc Ladds
3 Anthony Cooper/Jake Morgan planetfear.com
Female Solos
Pos Names Team Name
1 Mandy Faint Big Bear Bikes
2 Helen Jackson planetFear.com
3 Rosemary Byde Edinburgh RC
Male Solos
Pos Names Team Name
1 Alex Pilkington Haglofs
2 Kim Collison Team Inov8
3 Andy Conn
Mixed Pairs
Pos Names Team Name
1 Steven Gregory/Molly Ralphson Trawden AC
2 Jackie Scarf/Phil Scarf Calder Valley
3 Emma Van Der Gucht/Jack Venner Berghaus Adventure
