With two longer UK races in the year ahead for the team in the form of the Yorkshire Dales based 48 hour Terrex Swift and multi-day expedition race starting from Stirling -Terrex Sting, it made sense to start getting in a bit of team training. This was especially true as both will involve Open Canoe legs which we have not raced with to any great extent.

The team for the events is made up of Sabs, Jeff and Russ joined by George from Team Tri-Adventure but who is currently Cambridge based. George took on the task of organising the weekend on his home turf of Purbeck helped out a little by Russ with the maps. We were joined by the main Tri-Adventure team also aiming for the same races as well as fellow CamRacers Ben and Jason and some more friends to assemble 4 teams in total.

The weekend started from Brenscombe outdoor centre at 11pm with a trek over the hills and around the coast on a cold, moonlit night. In total for the weekend we would cover around 45km on foot but this intial trek was around half that. A quick transition back at the centre set us off on mountain bikes for the remainder of the darkness as the temperatures fell well below zero causing us a few challenges with frozen bikes. Around daybreak we regrouped to head on foot down to Cleavel Point to start the Canoe leg which would take us across Purbeck Harbour and up the river to Wareham where we had a spot of street orienteering to stretch the legs and help warm up.

With the tide turning, we headed back for the return with one further run enroute causing a few navigational problems as the tiredness started to hit. The final paddle was tough against wind and tide before a short portage and the final foot section back to the centre for a big meal and a bed for the night.

We learnt a lot and can start to focus our efforts now in the areas we need to concentrate on.

The 2012 season started with two events on the same day. Russ travelled up to Hathersage in the Peak District for the second round of the Dark and White mini-mountain marathon series while Ben and Sabs headed across to the Quantocks for the next in the Haglofs Open 5 series with an eye to maintaining their lead position in the series.

It was a glorious day across the country, seeing good turn outs for both events. Most of the main adventure racers had made their way across to the Open 5 but Russ was to have competition against a former rival dating back as far as the ACE Race 2-day events in the form of Phil Scarf and his teammate. The Dark and White 3 hour format is a foot based score event sticking mostly to rights of way so with the easy navigation attracts a strong field of local fell runners too. Surprisingly for a 3 hour event using a 1:25 000 map, just a single A4 sheet was used but the network of tracks above Hathersage to Stanage edge and beyond was enough to keep everyone busy for 3 hours with the winner just clearing the course with a few minutes to spare. Phil Scarf came out the victor to take second place in the M40 class edging Russ into 3rd place by just 5 points.

The Quantock hills proved to be just as much a battleground with the 5 hour format of foot and mountain bike. Despite an unfortunate choice of control by Ben and Sabs which cost them a lot of time, partly due to the recent wet weather, they had a good run leg and were consistent in the remainder of the biking to settle for second place in the mixed pairs, retaining their lead in the Series.

An excellent start to the new year!