Cumbrian Commotion
Today saw the last in the Helly Hansen series of races, the series has been going since September and culminated in the toughest race of the series from Grizedale forest visitors centre.
Over 1000 people turned up for the race, almost a record, a lot of teams clearly making a weekend of it, there were almost as many supporters as racers, for me however it was a great race, only 45mins down the road! Although there was a mountain bike race right outside my door in Whinlatter!!
Nick had come up from London to race and to train, and Clive was over from York. We had a good day on Saturday with some kayaking on Windermere, then a relaxed afternoon with a big pre race feed.
The weather in the morning was lovely in Keswick, but as we headed south we entered the mist, it finally burnt off just after the race started. The registration and start was the usual madness, everyone queueing all over the place, getting last minute bike bits, sorting out kit in transition, and the usual teams putting war paint on for the team look!
We knew the VOtwo team would be very fast, and decided to just race our own race, if they had a shocker we would then be in the perfect position to capitalise. Heading out at the start, people set off at a fast speed, but as soon as we hit the first hill most teams dropped away, and after the 2km run leg we were comfortably in 2nd place.
The mountain bike leg was about 20km, it was mostly on fireroads, with the occasional bit of rocky singletrack which Clive and myself loved, but Nick was having an awful time, his forks had frozen on him, so he was effectively riding a rigid bike! Riding at a good fast pace we made sure we had no mechanicals or punctures and stayed the right way up on the bikes! Coming into transition we were about 5 minutes down on VOtwo.
The run to the kayak leg was tough, up and over the hill, then a long decent to Coniston Water. It was a beast of a run out, with Nick struggling on the hills and then flying on the flat, Clive and me going well on the hills and lagging behind on the flat. We reached the boats and found they were proper canadian canoes, the water was a bit choppy, but we managed to stay upright, i wonder how many teams didn’t though.
The climb back from the kayaking was really tough, but we soon seemed to be almost back at the finish. Running the last few km’s along the fire road Clive was worried about his hamstrings, but easing up slightly he was ok to the finish. The usual set of obstacles awaited us in the finish field, the planks, cargo net, and slippery slope were all completed and we crossed the line in a time of 2hrs 8mins, about 12 minutes behind VOtwo! Those guys are super fast, and took a well deserved victory.
After having some scran in the cafe and a wee chat with the FGS guys Nick and I headed toWindermere Canoe and Kayaks to get a paddle session in. We kayaked from the boat house to YMCA Lakeside and back again, a great paddle in pretty rough weather. Finally finishing a long day of exercise we went for a we road trip to see a friend, then back to drop some kit off at my dads, before eventually getting home some 12hrs after we left, a long day out in the Lakes.
It was a great weekend, and very happy to finish in 2nd place to such a good team, Clive was very happy with his condition after not racing for a while, and Nick was loving being out in the hills again. More training next week, getting ready for the next race!
Race Photos From The Team’s Eyes…..
The team are back at home recovering from another special race in Patagonia. Last year we decided to capture as much of the race as possible through from our perspective. Below are links to some of the sections of the race…. enjoy!
Pre – Race Photos
Getting to the start line….
Stage 3 – Trekking
Stage 4 – Mountain Bike
Stage 5 – Trekking
Stage 6 – Paddling
Stage 7 – Trek
Journey to Punta Arenas – 36hrs on a Chillian Naval Vessel
Video Clips:
The teams first swim location…Click Here to view
Nicola and Bruce lead the way on the second swim… Click Here to view
Helly Hansen Prunesco Prepare For WPER 2010…..
Team Helly Hansen Prunesco are heading off to their first big race of 2010. The same team of Nicola MacLeod, Mark Humphrey, Andy Wilson and Bruce Duncan are going back to Patagonia to take on the 2010 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race.
This is a huge race, it is Chile’s bi centenary year, and as such Stjepan Pavicic, the racxe director, has planned a monster of a race, set to cross almost the whole of Tierra Del Fuego, and the Beagle Channel. (see a wee interview here with him Gearjunkie)
As defending champions and also current World Champions, there will be a fair amount of pressure on the team, but they are hoping to have a steady race, they know the conditions that will face them, and are hoping that it will be tough with poor weather, which will suit the British racers fine. ‘We are used to training in rubbish weather, we know how to cope with it, and to just get our heads down an get on with it’ said Mark Humphrey, out training in the snow, ice and now mud of the UK winter.
The team have been training hard over the last few months, running and biking in some pretty harsh conditions, as well as some good tough gym sessions, and with knowing more than 2 weeks in advance unlike last year, they should be more prepared.
Bruce has had an indoor kayak trainer set up in his barn, as the lakes have all been frozen. Mark has been out pushing his wee lad around as resistance training, Nicola has been altitude training, (well, skiing in the Alps at least), and Andy has been eating lots to ensure he has enough on his body to keep warm this time.
There are some good teams heading out this year, the full list and number of teams has not been released, but there are known to be teams from Finland, Switzerland, USA, Canada and 2 teams from the UK. Fast and Light, headed up by Simon Fisher has been onto Helly Hansen Prunesco for advice and tips on how to race, and they are keen to help each other out to ensure both teams finish, and finish well.
With only 12 days to go till the race starts, the team are rushing around trying to get all the kit from all our sponsors, and to make sure it all fits into our bags! We have had some great help from sponsors over the past year, and hope this year to be able to get them even more coverage.
I will try and post another update before we head off to Chile, but remember to keep tabs on us during the race from the race website
www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com
Team Helly Hansen Prunesco
www.teamhellyhansenuk.com
Also follow us on Twitter: @bikingbruce, @mark_humphrey, @teamhellyhansen
Photos From The 2009 Event….
Open 5 – Coast to Coast……
The first C2C event organised by Open5 involved a 4 day stage race from Whithaven to Whitby. The Helly Hansen squad had a strong presence and dominated the prizes with Nicola MacLeod competing as a solo female, Nick Gracie, Tom Gibbs and Cheryl Frost racing as a mixed team and Bruce Duncan competing in the Mens Solo category.
Read More
Helly Hansen UK ready to race in Sweden….
Team helly Hansen are in the final preparations for the Adventure Race Explore Sweden. Team Member Nicola Macleod is joined by Bruce Duncan, who raced in Patagonia, Nick Gracie and John Laughlin two experienced UK racers. Read More
Wenger Patagonian Race Win Rolls On….
3 months after the win in Patagonia articles and photos are still poping up in magazines. This time if you happen to be in Italy then there is a 5 page spread in the Italian Men’s Health magazine. A bit closer to home there is a nice 4 page spread written by Bruce Duncan in the UK’s orienteering magazine CompassSport, Vol30 Issue 2 April. If you are into orienteering then this magazine is for you with race write-ups, product reviews, fixtures etc… www.compassSport.co.uk
TEAM HELLY HANSEN UK WIN IROC- TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL
An exhausting weekend of short sharp and steep events was planned by the IROC team. The planners created two fell/trail races, two orienteering races and two MTB races. For each style of racing there was one night and one day race… six different races in total, well over 20 ascents of the local hills and about 15 hours of racing on foot and bike. There were many tired legs and lungs late on the Saturday and into Sunday morning for the 4 hour bike enduro!. Read More
Wenger Pategonian Expedition Race 2009
It all started about 2 weeks before the race was due to start, I got a phone call from Nicola MacLeod, asking if I was keen and able to head to Patagonia to take part in an expedition adventure race… Read More
Wenger Patagonian Adventure Race
The next challenge for the year is preparing a team of 4 ten day race at the tip of South America… in 2 weeks. The Wenger patagonian expedition race starts on 10 Feb and we are flying to Punta Arenas in Chile on the 5th. Read More
New Sponsor for the Patagonian Expedition Race
Prunesco are opening up their exportation into the UK, hence wishing to support a British team. They’re excited about the prospect of being involved with a strong team taking on this wilderness challenge. We are excited about them helping us to be there and plan to eat a fair quantity of the dried fruit they produce!
Prunesco S.A. are a Chilean company founded in 1941 and we’ll meet them in Santiago before the race.
