Open Adventure's Coast to Coast (Live Tracking)

I will be toeing the start line tomorrow of the Coast to Coast Adventure Race, along with James Cracknell and about 55 other teams and solos.    It's a 4 day stage race from St. Bees to Robin Hoods Bay.   Activities include Kayaking, Running, Swimming, Mountain Biking and Road Biking.  Overall distance is about 200 miles, and my aim is to finish the race ahead of at least one other person! 

There will be live race tracking during the event.   Due to someone's weird sense of humor or purely an accident, I ended up with Race Bib #1 for the whole event, so I will be #1 (!) at least until someone finally finishes the race on Monday afternoon....

Live tracking is here http://www.adidas-ar.com/2011/tracking/tracks.php?view=solo  Click on the competitors tab on the right hand side for Bios and team information. 

For the route map, photos, and other news about the race, check out the main website
http://www.adidas-ar.com/2011/

Race report (well) after the race finishes, I'm sure!   Might need a few days of recovery after this one!

22nd Hanging Stone Leap, 24 Miles, 13 Aug 2011

After a hiatus from marathons to do some adventure racing this summer, I was happy to finally fit another long LDWA run into my schedule.  The Hanging Stone Leap didn't disappoint, with a route across the North Yorkshire Moors taking in some of the best views of the area.

Although it was raining most of the drive over to the start, the sun was shining by the time I parked my car.  Save a short bit of mist coming down when the (theoretical) gun went off, the rest of the day was juuuust right.  Not too warm or cold, clear air, a bit of breeze, and the sun peeking out through the clouds now and then.  I even <gasp> ran in shorts...in the UK...in the summer!  Still had arm warmers on though, can't be totally perfect...

A forest track started us off out of town, and then we took off into heather-covered moorland that to my amazement was blooming already.   I always love running through the moors and the purple heather made it extra special.  After 5 miles or so I started recognizing some landmarks, which was strange given that I had barely ever been to this area.  Then I connected the dots and realized that I had done the Pathfinder 15 Challenge near here the previous October.

The now familiar route took us along a nice runnable moor track and down to the waterfall at Hob Hole. (Note to self: come back sometime to all these beautiful places to really get to enjoy them rather than quickly run by!)  We then diverted onto a new route (for me), up and over a few more moors, where the steep climbs began to get a little tiring.  However,  I was happy to be sticking to my pace of about 5 mph and hoped I could sustain it all the way to the finish.

After the last stocked checkpoint in Kildale (where I forgot to fill up on water and regretted it for a few thirsty miles), we climbed up to Captain Cook's Monument.  I regretted then leaving the camera at home, but saved time by not having to drag it out and take photos :)



Photo gleefully borrowed from Wikipedia

 Back on the Cleveland Way, we then had to do a short out and back to the Hanging Stone, where I took a second to stand on top of the graffitied stone and peer over the edge.  Our last major climb (short but steep) took us up to Roseberry Topping, where the views where outstanding in all directions.  Ships out on the harbor were clearly visible, and the stone outcropping begged for a picnic lunch and a long rest stop.  I contented myself with a few Jelly Babies and a much welcomed refill of water, as I had been rationing my last few sips for miles.  Thanks to the volunteers who carried up the water jug to the checkpoint! 

I knew it was all downhill from here, and pushed hard for the last 4 miles, first down through a forest and then along a disused railway track.  The even footing let me make up some time I had lost on the slow uphills earlier in the moors.   I finished the 23.5 mile route in 4 hours 50 minutes which was close enough to 5 mph that I was quite happy. 

2011 Results are now here    I was suprised and pleased to come in 17th out of 103 long course participants!

24 Hour Adventure Race Food Log

Race recap of the Open 24 to is HERE!

The toughest pre-race prep for the Open24 turned out to be figuring out what food to bring along. 
In a perfect world, at each checkpoint I would have support there to provide the best possible nutrition plan for me.  In that case, I would choose to eat/drink cold banana smoothies, which in a warm race would provide hydration, nutrition, and a cooling effect.   With a scoop of cocoa powder mixed in for taste and a hit of caffeine, they go down quite easily.  Plus, bananas have a perfect mix of carbs, protein, and fat, and digest quickly to get energy back to working muscles. 
Obviously, support wasn't allowed on this race, so I had to bring along foods that were easily portable, lightweight, fun to eat, and quick to digest.   Some of those requirement are mutually exclusive, as I found that moist foods, which are naturally heavier, were much easier and quick to eat.  This wasn't too much of a problem as we had multiple chances to resupply and never had to carry too much food weight.

Here's what I actually ate during the Open24:
3 Bananas:  180 Calories
1 Gel: 90 Calories
1 Snickers Bar: 300 Calories
2 Bottles of Coke: 400 Calories
6 Fig Newtons: 300 Calories (these were incredibly dry to eat)
2 Handfuls of Pringles: 300 Calories
1 Bag M'n'M's:  400 Calories
1 Bag Jelly Beans: 300 Calories
1 Bag Malt Balls: 150 Calories
1 Bag Ginger Snap Cookies: 200 Calories
4 Scoops Carbo-Pro (carb drink powder): 450 Calories
6 Nuun Electrolite Tables: 0 Calories
3 Flour Tortillas w/Cheese slices: 600 Calories
Total: 3,670 Calories

That works out to about 150 calories per hour, which is much less than I thought I would be eating, given that I had planned on 200-300 calories per hour.   I had brought almost 8700 calories with me for the race, spread out through my backpack and kit bags. 

The minimal eating was probably due to the high temperatures, dehydration, and the quick tempo that my teammate and I kept up for the whole 24 hours.   Plus, we actually ran out of water during a trekking section, and although we were hungry at the time, we actually stopped eating until we found another water source, and then started eating and drinking again.  Eating without water would have made us more dehydrated.

Photo courtesy of James Kirby and Open Adventure

Caloric needs for such a fast-paced 24 hour race probably range from 12,000 - 20,000 calories depending on the athlete and relative speed.  Obviously 3,670 calories is not enough, yet a good percentage of expended calories came from stored fat, as our pace was more for endurance in each discipline rather than sprinting speed.  We did tend to eat a few bites of food a few times an hour, which kept our energy levels up, and we never felt like we were bonking.

In talking with other competitors after the race, no one seemed to eat as much as they expected or as much as they had brought.   Most comments reflected the heat and dehydration as a major factor. 

This race was preparation for the longer Adidas TERREX "Sting in Sterling" Expedition Race in August 2012.   Although I made it through the 24 hour race with minimal caloric intake, I don't think that I could continue to function for 5-6 days of racing without considerably increasing total daily calories.  As the pace on a longer race is considerably slower, stomach digestion is actually quicker, allowing for greater intake of food, electolytes and water.  However, the longer race means that we will probably be carrying more food with us with longer stretches between resupplies.  Now the question remains about what lightweight, easily digestible foods I can bring that are still palatable and appetizing.  

Jon and I on Pinnacle Ridge -Photo courtesy of James Kirby and Open Adventure

Open24 Adventure Race, Lake District, 30-31 July 2011

I had packed my kit bags thoroughly before the start of this 24 hour adventure race, but the pre-race briefing, and special stage additions threw us a few curveballs. After frantically plotting points and calculating potential routes, we spent a few minutes rearranging gear, packing up the tents, unloading the kayak, getting bikes and kit bags turned in, and finally suiting up for the first paddling stage. We made it with about 2 minutes to spare, including a brief time of me thinking I had lost my maps (calmly found by my levelheaded teammate), and by the start I was later told I had "a deer in the headlights" look. I sure felt like a wreck. Usually I'm the calm, prepared one watching everyone else skitter around, but this race was too big to comprehend, and I was lucky to get everything arranged in time for the start.

Want to know what we eat on an adventure like this???  Click here

Stage 1 - Kayak

Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Under beautiful blue skies 39 tandem kayaks took off with a splash from the shores of Ullswater. The first point was quite near the start, so in anticipation of a big fight to dib in, we skipped it. I know, I know, big mistake. What was I thinking? Making up those points later cost oodles of effort. I suggested the move, so my bad. Let's move on, shall we?
My team partner Jon and I spent the next 2 hours paddling around to most of the other kayak points, on calm lake water with no wind. It was such a nice day to be out on the water. Navigation was easy (follow other boats) and it was a relief to be out on the course and on our way. I felt much better now that I was past the anticipation and surprises of pre-race jitters. 

Special Stage: The Tunnels

Tunnels - Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Directly after transition where we deposited our kayak and picked up the mountain bikes, we got our first surprise of the race. Told we needed to bring a light and full body cover (hence the last minute rearranging), I was expecting to get soaked, and not excited about wet feet so early in the bike portion. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the dry tunnels were part of an Outward Bound confidence course. We wiggled through a few twists, turns, and ladders before popping back out just a few feet from where we started. Jon was not nearly as excited, as his height advantage on me made it impossible for him to get on hands and knees at all. 

Stage 2 - MTB

The first mountain bike path - Photo courtesy of James Kirby

The tunnels conquered, we were off biking again, in a short stage that seemed mainly to get us to the big trekking section to follow. We only picked up 2 points and most teams seemed equally happy to do the same. That could have been because the track up and over the ridge was steep, rocky, and generally un-rideable. By the top we were carrying our bikes (ok, Jon even carried mine a short way after getting to the top with his). The downhill wasn’t nice either, and we were walking down parts of it as well.



Special Stage: Pinnacle Ridge

Photo courtesy of James Kirby

The next stage was a long trek but soon after the first climb we encountered the next special stage, which require climbing helmets and harnesses, plus a homemade rope and carabiner setup close to that of a Via Ferrata kit. Surprise! The stage turned out to be a rock scrambling section with safety ropes where we could clip in, climbing exposed pinnacles in relative safety. The slow nature of the route created a backlog of racers, but as we had been “timed out” for the duration of the ropes, the delay didn’t matter. Plus it was a beautiful afternoon, so we took the time to sit down, munch on snacks, chat with our neighboring teams, and recover a little from the first 6 hours of racing.

Stage 3 – Trek


After enjoying the break during the via ferrata, and the sunny views from our perch on top of the rocks waiting our turn, the remains of the trek awaited us. We were short of water by then as the climbing section had taken quite a bit of time. Limiting our eating and drinking, we ran along the ridge past St. Sunday's Crag, Fairfield, and Great Rigg. We finally dropped down to a point along a stream to refill our waterbottles before bushwacking down to a point in Rydal Beck and our next transition. It was a beautiful evening so the views from the ridge were awesome. Sorry no camera as I was limiting weight and photo-taking time!

Special Stage: Rydal Gorge Canyoning

The "Jump" -Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Coming into transition we could see our bags and bikes but not allowed to access them before completing next Special Stage at Rydal Gorge.  We suited up with full waterproofs, helmet, and climbing gear, then hiked up to a small damn on the creek.  First we had to get in and get even our head wet, and then walk up and over the bridge and make our first jump.  It was only about 10 feet tall, and after the heat of the trekking portion it actually felt good to be wet for a change!  After the jump, we worked together to climb our way up a few hundred meters of slippery waterfalls to the final jump.  This one was much higher, perhaps 25 ft or so, and tall enough that I had time to think of a few choice swear words before hitting the water and sinking deeply into it.   With that jump complete, we were done, and running back down into transtion to dry off and find our bikes.

Stage 4 - Night MTB

This was another short section of the race, mostly on roads and level bridleways.  It was just getting dark as we started and so full bike lights were soon needed.  Highlight of the stage was stepping across the rocks over the still water in a large cave, to get to a checkpoint in back.  On this stage we also started seeing runners from the Lakeland 100, as they were meeting us on the trail for a mile or two.  I even bumped into my friend Nick Ham, with just enough time to see his distinctive flag-colored shorts and shout a greeting as I rode by!

Stage 5 - Night Kayak on Windermere

Photo courtesy of James Kirby

As a first for me, we shoved off in our tandem sit-on-top kayak for a night paddle.  I had the map but soon realized that I had no idea how to navigate with no reference points.  Luckily for the first few points, there were other boats around, and we played follow the leader to get dibbed in to a few high-value controls.  After a few points, we settled into a rythym of shooting a compass azimuth and then shutting off our head lamps and just navigating by shore lights.  With no wind, it was quite an enjoyable night out on the water.





Stage 6 - Night MTB

Sarah and Andy starting the MTB - Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Well, this was the big one.  The long night mountain bike, with a final push up and over Gatescarth Pass into Hawewater.   We randomly met up with the other pair of our 4-man Terrex team, Gavin and Tony, and then stuck together to make night navigation a bit easier.  There were a few fast road sections, and I was happy to see that my 29 inch mountain bike wheels allowed me to keep up with or stay ahead of my teammates riding their full-suspension bikes! 

We made a pretty big tactical error on this stage, though, as we skipped a long road section in favor of a shorter off-road section.  It turned out to be a beast of an unridable, hilly, rocky path, so we gained no time and lost a few points.  Unfortunately none of us were familiar with that path or we would have known to skip it.  And of course, waiting for us at the end of the bike was the high pass of Gatescarth.  With 2 kilometers left to the top, we were already pushing our bikes and out of breath.  Well at least I was, and Jon took pity on me and was towing me even as we were both pushing our bikes up the hill.   It did take forever to get up, and going down was just as rough on loose rocks and dangerous switchbacks.  It was a relief to come into transition and give up the bikes for the final time.

Stage 7 - Trek

Photo courtesy of Andy BD

With the sun coming up, we were off on our last trekking stage, which started off with a monster of a climb up to High Raise.  We wasted a bit of time looking for a point by a waterfall in the valley below the cairns, which didn't leave us enough time for the orienteering section over on Rest Dodd.  Working our way back to the next transition instead, we came in ahead of schedule and picked up a few more controls near Hallin Fell.  By that time I was almost completely spent, and the towline between Jon and I was taking more and more tension.   Another relief to arrive at transition knowing that we would no longer need to run anywhere!



Special Stage:  Kailpot Traverse along Ullswater

Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Just around the corner from the kayak start in Howtown we came to the last Special Stage.  Ditching our kayaks, we walked around to the headland for some bouldering.  The stage consisted mostly of clinging to slippery rocks just above the water line, but what's a stage without some wetness, so of course at two points we had to jump into the water as well.  Gavin and Tony were just behind us again, and got a few extra dunks as their feet slipped on the rocks!

Stage 8 – Kayak

Gavin and Tony - Photo by Andy BD

We had left ourselves just under 2 hours for the final kayak stage, which turned out to be a bit much, so we cleared the small course before arriving 20 minutes ahead of our time cutoff. I was happy to be off my feet after a long trekking section, but soon cold after the drenching we got on the rock section. In a confused move (blamed later on lack of sleep), and anticipating another warm day on the water, I hadn’t even put on my spraydeck. I got progressively colder as the wind got stronger, and even adding a waterproof jacket didn’t warm up my freezing feet. I was as close to hypothermic as I had ever been by the finish, and it was a relief to walk up the finish line, dib in, and head straight for the car and some warm, dry clothes.

Jon and I relieved to be finished! -Photo courtesy of James Kirby

But that didn’t dampen our excitement that we were finished and had some great memories of an exciting race.   With 2000 out of 3000 points collected on the course, we were quite happy to finish 14th out of 39 teams (and beat Gavin and Tony!).   In warm sunshine we got to hang out on the grassy knoll and watch the other teams stagger in, to more high five's and relieved grins. 

Sarah and Andy at the finish -Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Sarah waiting to climb Pinnacle Ridge - Photo courtesy of Andy BD

Kayaks ready for the start - Photo courtesy of Sarah

Andy dibs in below the waterfall - Photo courtest of Sarah

Getting up the nerve to jump - Photo courtesy of Sarah

Carrying bikes up the first pass - Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Jon and Dawn looking over Pinnacle Ridge -Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Tony anticipating his demise -Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Photo courtesy of James Kirby

Paragliding: Oludeniz, Turkey

I have too many hobbies.  I know this.  But each one of them is so much fun, I can't help it.  Paragliding might just be the best one of all.  My poor paragliding wing has sat mostly unused for the year I've been living in the UK.  Not because there aren't flying sites here, but because I really hate driving to a launch just to sit and wait.  Parawaiting is a national sport in the UK, as the the wind and weather just don't work out too often here.

Cue a trip down to Oludeniz, Turkey.  It might just be the best place for paragliding I've ever seen.  The weather is hot and dry and sunny, the seas are warm and clear and blue, and the winds are consistently calm.  Best of all, within a 45 minute drive of the beach is a 6500 ft mountain ridge called Babadag, which has multiple launch sites for all wind directions, and a clear view of the landing area (the beach).  I flew almost everyday, several times a day, and even got to fly next to my friend Hande during her tandem with Mahoney.  As he seems to be the only tandem pilot in Oludeniz to do Helicopters, Hande got quite a ride!   Check out the video embedded below or here!

The trip up the mountain now costs about $10 per trip for the shuttle, and another $10 (per flight) for a launch fee.  Given that I only flew once or twice a day over a week, overall it was pretty affordable compared to most paragliding tours.   Plus I got to hang out on the beach, enjoy the perfect weather, do some scuba diving, and dine on the oceanfront while watching paragliders constantly landing.  Can't be beat!

Paragliding, Oludeniz, Turkey July 2011 from Dawn Westrum on Vimeo.

Hiking Babadag Mountain, Turkey

 On our last day of holiday in Turkey, after a week of awesome paragliding off of Babadag mountain, I determined that I needed to hike up to the launch under my own steam at least once.   I arranged for my wing to be driven up to the top, as I couldn't fathom carrying it up a vertical mile of trails, and crossed my fingers that it would actually arrive at the top before I did. 

Rob and I started out at 6 a.m. in order to stay out of the burning sun for as much as possible. On the road we found a small turtle, had a good look at it, and then moved it into the bushes where it might stay out of danger of traffic.  Less than a mile from our hotel in Oludeniz, at the east end of the beach on the road, we found the stairs marked with a Babadag sign.  From there the ascent started in earnest.  The route was marked haphazardly with green dots spraypainted on rocks, and with both of us keeping our eyes peeled for the green, we managed to stay on trail most of the time.  It was an unkempt trail for the first bit, and the sharp needles on the bushes wreaked havoc on my poor sunburned legs! 

After the section of bushwacking, we came out onto a driveable rocky trail, that led up to the Lycian Way.  This was a much wider, well-maintained trail, and not nearly as steep.  We made good time here, climbing slowly above the beach and lagoon at Oludeniz, grateful that the sun hadn't reached above the mountain yet.   We passed two stagnant cisterns but didn't need water as I had loaded myself down with quite a few litres.  We would end up needing every drop in the end, as it was hot and dry. 

About halfway up on a plateau jutting out from Babadag mountain, we crossed through a tiny village, and promptly got lost.   I had only a vague idea of how the trail carved its way up the mountain, but we could see the paragliding takeoff at 1700 meters and knew we had to eventually get there.  After a few random fields crossings we got lucky enough to see a green dot, and once we figured out which way to follow it, we were quite relieved. 

Moved a turtle off the road and back into the bushes

The trail by this point had broken off from the Lycian way, and disintigrated back into merely a trail of green dots through unbroken scrub bushes.  We carefully and slowly picked our way up the sharp granite rocks, and lost the trail again, getting distracted by a faint goat trail.   Since the trail wasn't much better than anything else, we didn't sweat it too much, and started angling over to where we thought the trail had to go.   It took quite a while to find it, and in the meantime we were scratching ourselves quite a bit in the low scrub trees and loose rocks. 

Once back on the trail, again, it seemed to get even steeper and less maintained, and the last mile was just a sweaty scramble up loose dirt and rocks.  Luckily the trees were finally tall enough here to give some shade, but by then we were hot, tired, and running out of water.
It ended up taking 5 1/2 hours to go 7 miles to the paragliding takeoff, and we were quite grateful to rehydrate with soda from the shop overlooking the launch area.   The 7 miles included a vertical mile of climbing, from sea level all the way up to 5600 feet! 
I must say this is the worst trail I've ever been on.  It was diffiult to follow, steep and tricky footing, and seemed to be neverending.  The scrub was so thick at the top that views were obscured, definitely really tough. 
Since my wing was waiting for me at launch, we didn't continue up to do the last mile to the actual summit at 6500 feet.   I think if I decide to hike up again someday, I think I will go via the road, as at least it's a nice hike up through pine forests rather than cactus scrub.  Either way, the views from the top are definitely worth it, and it was much more fun to paraglide back down over the mountain rather climb up it. 

A map and description of this torturous route can be found here.

The launch area and Babadag peak

The blue lagoon of Oludeniz

The spine of Babadag as seen from Fethiye

Mike's BG Round - Leg 5, 15/16 July



Enough cake to feed an army!

 Well, I did a little of everything this weekend, including some kayaking, fell running, and a mountain biking session at the Gisburn Forest bike trails.  On each and every one of them, I got soaking wet from the drenching rain that seemed to fall all weekend long.  Squelching shoes and wringable rainjackets might be a novelty to desert dwellers, but splashing through puddles and singing in the rain gets old after a while.

So Mike sure picked a cruddy weekend to attempt his BG round, that's for sure.   As I was scheduled to join him on his final leg, I waited anxiously for text updates to see how the weather was affecting his round.  He had assured me beforehand that he wouldn't "throw in the towel", although on such a wet weekend a few extra ones might have been handy!?! 



Descent off Robinson with Keswick in view!

 Sure enough, he was (almost) on time and going strong through the first 4 legs, despite getting lost in the fog and wind and rain in the middle of the night atop a few peaks.   The rain made for deep bogs and waterfalls and generally miserable conditions for Mike and his supporters (including Martin on Leg 3).

I arrived at Honister Pass a bit early, in time to sample a couple of Helen's cakes and watch the slopes for the incoming runners.   Mike arrived only a few minutes behind schedule, soaking wet of course like he had been almost the whole round, and we set off quickly back up into the clouds on Leg 5.  Actually, he set off quickly, and I struggled to keep up with his quick pace up to the top of Dale Head.   I must have eaten too much cake after seeing how much was in Helen's car!  Luckily Mike had 9 other folks to keep him company until I caught up with him on the downhill.  Finally.  How embarrassing to be left behind by a guy with 55 miles and 25,000 feet of climbing already in his legs! 



Robinson  #42!

 But it was a credit to Mike's climbing ability that his round went off successfully, as the steep downhills were obviously torturing him at the end.  Remembering how much I had limped by the end of the Housman just six weeks ago, I was wincing in sympathy.   Well, Hindscarth summit passed uneventfully (with sideways rain and obscuring fog), and without further ado, we reached Robinson, the last of the 42 tops.   I seemed to have the only camera among the group, so we posed for a quick photo before making the very steep descent down to the road. 

Once at the bottom, there was a quick change into dry shoes and socks for Mike, and he donned his Dalham club vest for the final push into Keswick.  Amazingly enough, the sun came out for a few minutes, and a few intrepid runners stripped down to just their Dalham vests, although I was still happy to keep my long sleeves and raincoat on.   I felt justified when it rained a further 4 times before we finished.  :(

A big crowd was waiting at the finish, and Mike took the time to shake everyone's hand and pose for photos, although I'm sure he was only dreaming of a chair to sit down in, perhaps some dry warm clothes, and mostly his bed.  Back at the car still stuffed with cakes, we shared round a bottle of bubbly (this about did Mike in), and we all nobly tried to clean up a few containers of baked goods. 


Congrats Mike, for finishing in those awful conditions, with a time of 23:37!!!