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Ace Races Getting Motivated!

The idea of doing a multi disciplined orienteering type event had appealed to me for some time. I'd done a Triathlon some years ago and enjoyed the variety of cycling, running and swimming, as well as the preparation for the event itself.

And so it was that I teamed up with my friend and work colleague, Jack Russell, to take part in an ACE race. For once the venue for the event wasn't at the other end of the country. Exmoor is close and felt pretty accessible.

Now, Jack is a motivated sort of chap. In fact much of his work is based around motivating other people through coaching and public speaking. It's this sort of enthusiasm that means that if Jack has an idea then it has to be followed through… NOW! Unlike for that triathlon those years ago, I had undertaken little or no training for this race. As it happened, the event for Jack fell in the week after he had cycled, run and canoed from the Shetland Isles to The Scilly Isles on his 'Inspiring The Nation Journey'. However, being poles apart in fitness didn't matter. The plan was to spend some quality time together and have some fun. I would navigate and Jack would motivate….simple!

Much of the journey to Exmoor was spent coming up with silly names for the acronym ACE race like Accident, Casualty, Emergency or Another Crazy Event. What it actually means is Adventure Challenge Endurance (although on reflection some of our alternative names might have been more appropriate at times!). On arriving at the event centre on the shores of Wimbleball Lake, registration and the layout were pretty familiar. It was much like the KIMM or other big orienteering events with marquees, camping, porta-loos and even Wilfs. The campsite had a relaxed atmosphere with people fine-tuning their mountain bikes, shoe horning the compulsory safety kit such as waterproofs, torch, food etc into a Camelback and generally enjoying the evening sun. Much of the evening was spent socialising and generally picking the brains of the more experienced competitors. This ranged from those who were doing it for the first time to others who were professional and sponsored. The merits of full suspension bikes (mine had none), the pressure to pump up your boat, the use of dog leading team members whilst on foot and believe it or not whilst on the bikes was discussed. Team names seemed quite important. Some thing else we talked about at length over the weekend but never decided upon. The obvious, like The North Face who were sponsored along with The Light Blue Machine were mixed with names such as the Putney Speedos and 4 Smurfs of the Apocalypse!

The event is split into 5 stages over the two days and can be completed by solos, pairs and teams of 4 with the obvious male/ female variations. Saturday morning dawned crisp and clear and it was time for the first of five briefings that would take place prior to each stage. The X - Country Challenge is much like an orienteering score event with a number of controls having different point values. The more points you collect the better, but if you overrun the 2 hour time window you start loosing points.

Phil Humphreys, the owner of Ace Races gave the briefing. It was pretty apparent from the beginning that a lot of people were regulars and the atmosphere was relaxed. With his wife working along side him and a whole load of friends and volunteers helping out it was a bit like an extended family.

So, it was time to 'get motivated'! Even more so when we found out that it was an 8km hilly ride to the start of the X-Country Challenge. We would leave our bikes and then pick them up later for stage 2. The X-Country Challenge was familiar ground for me as it was effectively on the Quantocks, Dunster orienteering map. The map we had been given for the event was an A3 double sided 1:50000 map of Wimbleball and the surrounding area. At ACE Base we had been given the grid references of all the possible control sites which we marked on the map. At the start of the Stage we were given the location of the 'dummy' controls i.e. ones that weren't really there and an activator control (which was a compulsory one). This format was generally used for all of the stages, particularly marking your map using grid references. The dummy controls meant you couldn't really pre plan your route. The control descriptions were often features such as trees, gate posts, fences etc. These seemed to be necessary because the control boxes were actually locked to the feature and I guess might reduce vandalism.

Stage 1 went well and our optimistic target of getting all the controls was achieved with 3 minutes to spare of the 2 hours given to us. (This motivational stuff really works…!). We were pleased as this is something we had heard only a few teams had achieved on the last event. During the event we would occasionally come across a TV film crew as the series was being televised for Ch4. It's amazing how much faster you run when you know you are being filmed. A bit like spectator controls - it doesn't matter if I'm going in the wrong direction as long as I am going fast! Needless to say, many of the teams had made all of the controls. We just hoped we hadn't expended all of our energy, because we now had a 5 hour mountain bike score event in the area around Dunkery Hill.

Stage 2, The Mountain Bike Challenge, was in the same format as the first stage except we were on bikes (or in my case…not!). On the way to Stage 1 I had a puncture which we fixed and thought nothing more of. Just before arriving at the Stage 1 start I had another puncture. This didn't look good. We tried new tubes, repairs, patches, patches on patches, parcel tape around the inside of the rim, grass(!). But it kept going down. It was at this point that we met James who is a Devon Orienteering Club member and had entered in the solo class. I am not sure whether he joined us for the company or for the entertainment of trying to fix my ever-deflating tyre. But he stayed with us to for the rest of the stage and between Jack and him fixed no less than six punctures. Apparently an ACE Race record!

Stage 3 was the Night Navigation. It probably wasn't a bad thing that we had come in an hour early on the mountain bike stage just to get some rest. Jack was nursing his wounds after a crash when a bumblebee got caught inside his helmet and stung him. Quite ironic really as Jack uses the bumblebee in a lot of his talks. Something to do with scientific impossibility of them being able to fly…

Being a keen night orienteer meant I had my own powerful head torch which was our secret weapon. A lot of people had smaller torches and it dawned on me just how bright a 20w bulb can be when all the people jogging to the start turned1 their torches off as I entirely illuminated the lane. The area used for the 1 ½ hour score event was small and the map got a little confusing with so many controls on it. Added to this, some of the control boxes were again fixed to trees and fences but sometimes set quite high. Punching or dibbing often involved hanging off a branch from one arm or climbing a hedge… still all part of the Adventure, Challenge and Endurance!

Day 2 dawned. Stage 4 - the Canoe Challenge. Jack was keen to do well in this as he is a National Coach in canoeing. The navigation on this seemed limited unless you were at the front of the field (which we were on the run to the boats) but from then on it was very hard work. For 2 hours we paddled our inflatable canoe around from shore to shore dibbing controls and collecting points. There had been much talk at the event centre about the pressure to inflate the boats. Too soft and it would drag in the water, too hard and it would explode! Jack advised me 'hard was good' and so we pumped away putting a phenomenal amount of effort into getting our boat ready. It was hard (and as we found out would get a good deal more ridged as the sun came out and heated the air in the boat). We teetered on the edge of 'fast but not quite exploding'. Jack was the powerhouse and took the back, both paddling and steering. My job was to get out and dib the controls and get back in again. In fact we made up some 15 places doing this. (Although on a few occasions stepping out of the boat a little to early left me up to my neck in water).

The fifth and final stage was the Trail Run Adventure. Once again we started in our class of pairs with the other sixty teams. This is a Norwegian-type event where you get to a master map which gives you the next point to go to, punching as you go. Knowing that the normal distance for this stage was about 12-15km, it wasn't with any surprise that we found ourselves being taken around the Lake itself.

So there we have it. Celebrating finishing with the usual bowl of Wilfs chilli… our chances of getting the Ford 4x4 for winning the series didn't look good (but we did sneak into the top 10 on a few of the disciplines).

Would we do it again? Definitely! Anyone who enjoys navigation would thoroughly enjoy it. The nature of the event means you can put in as much effort or as little as you want. Orienteering experience is definitely an advantage as all the stages require navigation. The kit you need is minimal. However you do need a bike (and a puncture repair kit!). As for the acronym for ACE Race and a team name, well I guess we will have to get motivated to do another one to decide on those, but I don't think that will be difficult.

Phil Way (Devon Orienteering Club)

More information:

For more information on Ace Races go to www.aceraces.co.uk or the adventure racing website which has information on all types of events is www.sleepmonsters.co.uk

Inspired by this event, I noticed the potential application to my own area of work, which is involved in developing organisations, teams and people. The ACE Race is similar to the sorts of events that we devise. It is an opportunity for people to have an experience that offers personal and team development. Consequently I have put together an event similar to the Ace Race but which focuses on team challenge.

The 'Way Ahead Challenge' www.wayaheadworld.com is different and more accessible on a number of fronts. It is aimed at any teams within organisations, clubs or social groups who wish to test their endurance, problem solving abilities and interpersonal understanding. To complete the course the teams will be required to meet mental and physical challenges with determination, creativity and effective team working. The emphasis is less on 'competing' against other groups or companies (against whom ongoing benchmarking is irrelevant) but on learning, development and fun. The challenges whilst stretching, are aimed to be accessible to all those of moderate fitness and ability.