Itera Expedition AR, Wales (World championship qualifier)

Enduro

Anyone else watching this race? The live coverage is fantastic. The tracking here is working very well indeed with all teams trackers functional most of the time (quite unusual!). Rob from Sleepmosters and the race organisers are also giving good updates which makes it much easier for the armchair follower to understand whats happening.

The main Irish interest is Team Moxie racers, which now has two prominant Irish Adventure racers (Chris was always on board, and Noel O'Leary was a last minute call up). They're going very well at the moment, still competive on the full course (With more than half the teams short coursed already).

The winners of this year's Beast of Ballyhoura, Czech AR, are also still competing on the full course, and are well positioned in the top 10. Some 2 weeks for that gang!

My 3 team-mates from last year's Beast winning team are also competing. Thure and Soren are on the Danish team Skandia. They've slowed a bit in the last day (seem to be getting lots of sleep), but are also still on the full course and competing well. Sally is on Team Addidas Terrex, and they are comfortably dominating the race... miles in front and looking very unlikely to be threatened. A world class display as ever from them, even without some of their best regular racers.

The weather has played havoc with the race, causing the first two kayaking courses to be much shortened due to the windy sea conditions. It also caused them to be routed around the very "interesting" Crib Goch ridge in Snowdonia. They've spent a long time cycling into the strong winds too.

Watching the pointers moving accross the maps is compulsive as ever. Its great to be able to zoom fully in and see full proper OS maps.

shotgunmcos

Yep tracking since the start, cracking race. a 1,750m Zip line at 100mph as a trouser filler!! Adidas Terrex leading from the gun and it will take a real mistake if Haglof or Swecco reel them in




Travelling the entire length of Wales in a zig zag way. Love how it all stays together until the first trek and then BOOM, teams spat out like someone dropped a grenade. Shows that navigation is the critical element to AR followed closely by teamwork strategy. Doing the Beast of Ballyhoura a couple of weeks ago Team Triharder learned a lot as any novice team would. It was obvious looking at the top teams that they moved and made decisions as a unit.


The tactics are mad enough to have you guessing who is actually leading the race! It may seem that some teams taking a more linear route, thus skipping a control and getting time penalties added to the final tally, are losing out. However the tactic employed to be up at the front of the charge may yield more time to get controls in later stages that teams picking up all controls may not have. Of course getting all of the controls is a safe bet to avoid penalties but with that strategy you have to make quicker decisions, quick transitions, quick everything and mistakes can creep in at the higher pace.


Adidas Terrex are world class and showing how it is done. Every time I see them taking a "non racing" line I think that they have taken a wrong turn but closer inspection of likely alternate route shows the clever decisions they are making. Linear in AR is not necessarily the fastest route!


Got to say that the dot watching on OS maps is a lot more entertaining than waiting for an IM or marathon tracker to register the latest split to show if X athlete is on target for Y time.


Also, where does Ivan Park get the time?! He has bundled competing at Expedition Africa, Creation and RD for the Beast and is now helping out over in Wales all within the space of about a month!


Rooting for Team Moxie with the 2 Irish boys aboard. Having a cracking race thus far being one of only 13 of 35 teams left doing the full course.


Snowdonia and Cadair Idris were game changers on top of the Kayak changes. I reckon the Brecon Beacons will decide the eventual outcome

Enduro

Just on the tactics... full course teams who have all the controls will automatically be in front of any teams who have skipped a control (As long as they make the cut-offs). Personally I prefer when that rule is not in place (as was the case in the orginal lake district version of this race 4 years ago), and it just race time and penalty times summed up which determines postion, as that gives rise to way more interesting tactical possibilites (IMHO).

But with that in mind you can understand why teams are working so hard to not skip controls.

lgk

Even Causeway is running into problems trying to get to kayak pickup points with roads temporarily closed at high tides!

sconhome

Tracking since the start and thinking of a team for next year!!

I will never be allowed race anything more than a 2 day event, the reports would be too long

career move

How come team sweco have an x on their last bike CP but they haven't been short coursed?

Enduro

I would guess that the scoreboard is being updated by tracker proximity and that the trackers may just have misstimed. I'd be surprised if they actualy missed that control. It'll likely correct itself after the next transition (A likely point to upload dibber information), one way or the other. Similar things have occured to a few other teams as well and then been corrected.

shotgunmcos

Swecco sleeping?
Haglofs burned?
Walhalla stolen a march?
Moxie sleeping?
CzechAR creeping up behind?

The runner up spot battle is anyone's guess!

sconhome

Team Adidas Terrex are away off the beaten track again.

sconhome

Looks like Team 3 are working on getting the jump of Team 17 by going off track too.

Quick thinking nav work.

career move

AKW wrote: »

Looks like Team 3 are working on getting the jump of Team 17 by going off track too.

Quick thinking nav work.

That's a nice shortcut!

Enduro

AKW wrote: »

Team Adidas Terrex are away off the beaten track again.

I'd be amazed if they hadn't figured out something clever.

The bike stage seems to be sorting out the teams in a big way, which is unusual (It is indeed usually the trekking stages which do that).

Looks like Moxie had a bad morning with a lot of back and forths trying to find the right track. I think they've missed the kayak put in cutoff now so will be short coursed. They definitely gave it full wellly to stay on the full course though.

The race for second is a real ding-dong battle. When both teams are tracking properly they're nearly always side by side. I think only differening sleep strategies have them seperated at the moment.

Enduro

Czeck AR have missed the cut off as well, and also seem to be on a small bit of a wander (all very easy to type from here.... again they've done extremely well to make it so far on the full course). Just shows how hard it is out there. The overnight weather seems to have delayed a few of the teams by quite a bit.

Enduro

Jaysus.... Valhalla seem to have managed to work their way into second. On paper they should be a very strong team, and I was surprised how far back they have been until now. Definitely a great race shaping up for 2,3,4

sconhome

There's teams littered all over the place now. Looks like Terrex are away for another wander now. Initially looks as if they are skipping the next CP to go for time but I'm sure they've spotted something.

Enduro

One or two CPs have been taken out to shorten the course, according to one of Rob's last reports, so that could be what is going on. If I had all evening I'd cross reference the route book and try and figure it out myself

Enduro

Actually, looking at where they are and where they're heading that looks to be exactly it. Control on Cruig Mawr peak is being skipped. Heading directly for Talybont on Usk (isn't Welsh marvelous )

sconhome

The boss is in with me now and we've strategised that that is what they are doing. Skip a CP, take the time penalty and get through the Beacons as quickly as possible before the depths of night.

I don't think this place is in Welsh though

career move

AKW wrote: »

The boss is in with me now and we've strategised that that is what they are doing. Skip a CP, take the time penalty and get through the Beacons as quickly as possible before the depths of night.

I don't think this place is in Welsh though

......you've been busy today :P

shotgunmcos

Enduro wrote: »

One or two CPs have been taken out to shorten the course, according to one of Rob's last reports, so that could be what is going on. If I had all evening I'd cross reference the route book and try and figure it out myself

Cough cough...
Edit: feic thought rule book uploaded for me but its too big!

Cracking race alright for 2nd. Looks like Adidas Terrex are bombing for the Brecon beacons after a decent night sleep waiting for the kayak start. Moxie, Skandia and the rest of the chasers feeling the cost of the chase

Surprised the black mtns is causing havoc, must be a maze of trails.

Walhalla may be in 2nd but they are a few hours behind swecco and haglof?!

career move

Love Rob Howard's race reports

sconhome

Our clever strategising of what Terrex were planning was ruined by a Google+ message saying that some CP's were eliminated due to the conditions.

One thing I'm learning about this Adventure racing business is that there's always someone one step ahead of me

career move

AKW wrote: »

Our clever strategising of what Terrex were planning was ruined by a Google+ message saying that some CP's were eliminated due to the conditions.

One thing I'm learning about this Adventure racing business is that there's always someone one step ahead of me

Or you could have just read Enduro's earlier post

sconhome

See what I mean about steps ahead!

shotgunmcos

Haglofs motoring but have they the gas to catch Terrex? Terrex and Swecco had to backtrack slightly for the first mtb CP on the final stage but Haglof seem to have made the right call and have gained a step.


Are Walhalla asleep?!


Moxie found a groove again and hopefully have enough to finish strong today.


What about the French team back in stage 6 refusing to take a short course, I hope they don't have a plane to catch early tomorrow!

Enduro

There's a navigator's eye view for ya! Pull in all available information to figure our what's going on

Rob's report explains nicely what happened with Moxie and Czeck AR on cycle to the last kayak. Definitely an adventurous adventure race!

The lead teams are on the last leg now and will be getting finish line fever. The 2,3,4 battle is still red hot. They were all within 2k of each other at one point earlier, and they're still all very tight. It looks like Valhalla could be sleeping in transitions though. but with no transitions left its advantage Hagloffs Silva with the lead on the course. Go Lucy!

Enduro

Good report from Rob summing up the 2-3-4 race. Looks like Valhalla are out of contention alright. Moxie should have no problem getting all the controls to home from here (fingers crossed).

shotgunmcos

Good report from Rob alright. Shame about Walhalla. They put in some push on the Black Mtns to get a nose in front of the charge for 2nd and now seemed to have thrown in the towel at the final TA. Hard to imagine not having the fight left so close to the finish ( "close" in AR terms!) but then the cost of the mid race push and the accumulated fatigue is the one factor you cannot really prepare for. The strongest teams are the most wilful throughout.


Odyssey USA could be a factor in it yet giving Haglof company and thus dragging them up the road closer and closer to Terrex. The race isn't over yet! It does look as the Sweco have been dropped.


Would be cool to see Moxie get home ahead of Skandia and Czech AR, the winners of the Beast for the last 2 years.


Looks like that French team #30 are in the back of a van, given up the ghost

Enduro

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Odyssey USA could be a factor in it yet giving Haglof company and thus dragging them up the road closer and closer to Terrex. The race isn't over yet! It does look as the Sweco have been dropped.

It's not as close as it looks. Terrex have a big timeout banked since the start of the last kayak. They won't loose from here, barring catastrophe.

sconhome

Enduro wrote: »

It's not as close as it looks. Terrex have a big timeout banked since the start of the last kayak. They won't loose from here, barring catastrophe.

Am I right in reading from the Leaderboard that they have 3.5 ish hours lead based on time?

Enduro

Terrex wins, with Hagloffs Silva in second. Total dominance from Terrex from start to finish. Great racing from Hagloffs to open up a bit of a gap on the very last stage. Looks like Sweco will get 3rd too, with Valhalla slipping back to 5th.

Everyone still racing seems to be moving well today. I reckon they'll all make it in before the cut-off. Hopefully the leaderboard calculations on penalties etc will be fairly rapid. I expect Moxie to come out with a very good result in the end.

Seeing that Add for Iterra 2016 in Ireland at the bottom of the screen should be setting up a target for everyone and anyone interested in adventure racing in Ireland. The opportunity to race a 5 day expedition race in Ireland doesn't come around too often these days.