A quest for adventure! Triathletes take on Wales

On the 2nd September 2017, 15 super keen triathletes took to the hills of the picturesque Brecon Beacons to compete in the second to last event in the Questars Adventure Race series!

These adrenaline-filled adventure races involve 90 minutes of trail running, 2.5 hours of mountain biking and one hour of kayaking on local canals – not something for the faint hearted. There’s also an orienteering twist to the races, as teams compete to reach pre-positioned checkpoints and gain points. The tougher the checkpoint is to reach, the more points are assigned to it. At the end, the team with the highest number of points is crowned the champion.

We split-up into individual teams of three or four to take on our fellow tri members and 50 other equally fit & motivated teams. Olympic rower, Helen Glover, even decided to make an appearance! This race certainly wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.

Being a team race, one constraint was that team members could not be more than 10m apart – meaning the entirety of the threesome/foursome had to complete grueling uphill climbs or long kayaking distances to be allowed the checkpoint points.

“Sweat, tears, and a few blisters later, and all the IC teams had conquered the hills”

When the klaxon sounded at 9am, it was each team for themselves. Everyone headed off in different directions, each believing theirs would lead them to glory. The teams only ever encountered each other on the kayaking section, where slaloming tactics (potentially due to poor technique) were employed by some to try and hinder other teams progress.

Sweat, tears, and a few blisters later, all the IC teams conquered the hills and (just about) did not get lost. We then had an agonizing wait before the race results were processed and the winner announced! Luckily, tri IC isn’t competitive at all and everyone’s all for the ‘it’s the taking part that counts’ moto...

As it’s commonly known, there is only one winner and unfortunately, this wasn’t an Imperial team. However, the top-ranking IC team came a respectable 23rd overall and more importantly they were the winner of bragging rights over everyone else!

Thanks Questars Brecon Beacons – Tri IC will definitely be back for more next year.

If you’re interested in getting involved with IC Tri, please email triathlon@imperial.ac.uk