On the 17^th July 2021, Giles Nordmann, myself and Julie set out to compete in our first 24 hour adventure race, organised by Adam Rose (AR on AR).

The weather was spectacular… in fact it was so hot we wilted at one stage. Or to be more accurate myself and Giles had a few wonky moments over the course of the trek/hike. Over 24 hours we ran, kayaked, hiked, and cycled across beautiful north Wales, non-stop. When it came to the results, we claimed the race was rigged when the race director won the race (ha ha), but joking aside, for our first outing we were pleased with our efforts and no mean feat of endurance.

Giles was expert at our navigator, and we made some canny decisions to cut across the side of mountains many didn’t consider. However, only to be motivated by midges to transverse the next mountain faster than anyone before us! We climbed the side of a mountain at 2 am. I think we would not have even considered this rational if it were daylight. And in our navigator, we trusted and arrived spot on the trig beacon… even if it were from a slightly more creative approach. A moment etched in Julie’s mind as large rocks we displaced came tumbling down passed her. Sorry! And just when we thought we had overcome treachery, who would have thought sleep monsters would come out and play making the very stable and large bridge sway so much (ha ha). As daylight broke, we enjoyed a fresh and revitalised vigour fuelled on 1000 calories of Expedition Food. We cycled, hike-a-bike through bogs (no comment) and collected as many punches as we could – right down to the wire, cycling to the finish with minutes to spare.

Thank you, Adam Rose, for an outstanding event. The journey home is best described by the image of two very tired teammates. I am just sorry we did not photograph the supersise Frappuccino we ordered with extra whipped cream. Thank you, Giles Nordmann, expert navigator and for joining us on our expedition. Looking forward to seeing what 2022 holds.