One.Tel Hebridean Challenge 5th - 9th July

[Deleted User]

Hi folks,

Just a post to let you all know about this race, of which I'm the race director.

Essentially its a team relay taking in the whole of the Outer Hebrides, or there is a shorter solo version. At night the race stops and is catered for in local community halls.

The main discipline is hill/fell running but there are also sea kayaking, road biking, MTB and swimming sections. It's also not quite that simple as the teams have to double up on some sections (which they choose) and some sections run in parallel.

Teams usually form around a couple of good runners with other specialists drawn in to do the other bits, but we have often managed to help teams get together if they are struggling, especially when teams need to find kayakers.

I've done this race 3 times as a competitor and its one of the best things I've done. It's very competitive but also friendly with lots of socialising between teams at the evening meals and the scenery is as good as it gets.

Lots more info at our website: www.hebrideanchallenge.com where you can contact us, or if you want to post any questions here I'll keep an eye out and try to answer them.

Thanks,


Jon Brooke

[Deleted User]

I recently heard about this race when a couple of people in my sea kayak club where being asked to join a team.
One thing that doesn't help is the 4 star requirement. Most of the people I know never bother to get offical 'stars'. One of my friends who has every qualifaction on the planet also thought that 4 star was overdone - 3 star would make more sense. The kayaking is on tricky water, but on a race like this there will be people around - it is not like you're on an expedition with a small group of people where self-rescue and self-sufficiency is key.

(but you'll be glad to hear that a number of people are taking steps to collect stars to compete next year)

[Deleted User]

sounds like fun.. i'll bookmark the website.

i'm a loner and love solo stuff.. so might take me a while to get up to speed.. kayaking is the only thing i haven't done.

[Deleted User]

The 4* thing has been a bone of contention in the past and we appreciate that there are plenty of capable people out there who don't have the certificate. But in these litigeous days I'm afraid that more organisers are going to be having toask for stuff like this just to get the insurance to put events on. The good news is that for those who are competent all that is required is a test which should take no more than a few hours. Also you only need one kayaker in the team and we often help teams and paddlers find each other.

On the other hand our kayaking is a much more serious proposition to the usual inflatable kayak round a reservoir stages of many adventure races. We are in very strongly tidal and exposed areas (even in July there is a strong chance of surf on some of the beaches where we are transitioning) and our paddlers are in solo kayaks, not doubles.

I did write more on this on the Heb forum at Sleepmonsters.com, here:

http://www.sleepmonsters.com/forum_fullthread_window.php?thread_id=693&forum_id=1


Out of interest 'roos, what club/team was that?


Jon

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the explanation.

The club is the TSKC - Tayside Sea Kayak Club (based in Dundee). Not sure about the team, except that the person asking was called Andy and is a longtime pal of my boyfriend :-)
Pete and/or I may be joining up next year. We can both do most of the disciplines but none of them particularly well....

[Deleted User]

it's quite unusual to find an adventure race with swimming in isn't it?

[Deleted User]

That of course is just one of the many things that makes our race the best around!

In the team race there is a swim each day, with the swimmer accompanied by the kayaker to give safety cover, usually along a beach, but in one case between islands. In those northern climes you do of course wear a wet suit, which along with the salt water makes swimming great fun because you end up being ridiculously bouyant. Each swim is around 0.7 km

In the solo race there is just one swim, a mass start at the start of the first day.


Jon

[Deleted User]

Also of course, unlike most adventure races its a relay rather than the whole team being active at once. But the transitions sometimes come thick and fast, which makes it really exciting.


Jon

[Deleted User]

PS. we've found a useful loophole in the regulations: you explicitly forbid tandems, but it doesn't say anything about fast recumbents :-)

[Deleted User]

Ah...

But I haven't published the full rules for this year yet so maybe you shouldn't have pointed that out.

Actually at first glance I don't have a problem with a recumbent (though I may think about it abit more). It sounds like fun to me, and anyway there is a lot of speed difference to be had due to kayak choice, so why not allow teams to use different sorts of bike if they think that will help?

Another great thing in this race is that teams are encouraged to think for themselves and look for ways to save time with shortcuts in the route. for example a 'runner' doesn't necessarliy have to be a runner all the time, and teams can pretty much make transitions wherever they like, though there are lots of compulsory transitions. This means for example that if a run finishes on a bit of track, then you could deploy a mountain biker to do the last bit if you can work out a way to get them there.

Jon

[Deleted User]

'roos dear , take my word for it , you dont want to ride a recumbant around the Hebs, the sheep would wipe you out

[Deleted User]

Just bringing this thread up to the top for anyone who might have missed it the first time round. Still time to enter.