2012 North Lincs Adventure Challenge

Sunday 3rd June 2012 saw the 11th running of the North Lincs Adventure Challenge organised Lincsquad.

Even the infamous Adventure Challenge race day weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the 32 competitors bravely taking the start line in the early morning rain, ahead of them a cold and wet 36km cycle, 10km kayak and 10km river bank run.

The Sprint race competitors decided to compete in the full distance race at the last minute and looked like they enjoyed every minute, well done Tom Stead, Alan Cardy & birthday girl Denise Smith.

The Challenge race is different to many other races as competitors set off at 1 minute intervals so know one really knows for sure where they stand during the race, you just go as hard as you can to the end. However technically, the lead changed hands numerous times throughout the race.

Lincsquad’s Steve Dolby started off strong, putting in the fastest bike split of 54:45, followed closely by Lincsquad’s, Matt Stevenson (55:51). Matt Foulger and Ian Smith then put in blistering kayak splits of 45:44 and 47:14 to take 1st & 2nd on the road, followed in 3rd overall by Matt Stevenson (54:27).

The 10km run is no ordinary 10km run, two thirds of the run are uneven grass tracks along the river bank, which make it especially tough, the fastest run split of the day was Matt Stevenson (40:11), closley followed by Lincsquad newcomer Kev Fish (41:46), then Ian Smith (42:09) and Matt Foulger (43:07).

Matt Stevenson’s fast run however was not enough to close the gap on the leaders and meant he came in 3rd overall. Ian Smith overtook Matt Foulger towards the end of the run, but Matt kept Ian in his sights, with the knowledge that he started 1 minute behind Ian, so all he had to do was cross the finsh line less than a minute behind to have a chance of victory.

Matt Foulger – Overall Winner

In the end, just 33 seconds separated the two which meant that the new North Lincs Adventure Challenge Champion was Matt Foulger (Nottingham) in a time of 2:28:58, from Ian Smith (Ross on Wye) 2:29:31.

The ladies title was just as closely fought through the bike & kayak section with only a couple of minutes separating Jean Ashley & Alison Deykin, however Jean pulled away on the run to win the ladies title in a time of 3:01:14. Alison in 2nd  in 3.16.45.

The team race was won by David Durham (bike), David Ashley (kayak) & Chris Spavin (run) in a cracking time of 2:42:31, solo entry next year guys?

The award for the fastest “first-timer” went to up and coming youngster Tom Stead, who stepped up to the full distance at short notice and ranked well in each of the three discipline’s.

The 1st veteran trophies were awarded to Nigel Crowe (4th overall) & Alison Deykin on rolldown.

The local council award for the first local was presented by Carl Sherwood, Mayor of Brigg and was awarded to Adam Moorhouse.

The award for most improved (after some detailed calcualtions) went to David Finch, who knocked nearly 20 minutes off last years time, a massive improvement.

A special well done to Andrew Yeadon and Pete Chappill who are the only 2 competitors remaining who have competed in each of the 11 North Lincs Adventure Challenges, a tremendous effort.

Congratulations to all competitors today, the conditions were poor, but you all gave it everything, most of the time with a huge smile on your face, I’m sure you have inspired and encouraged others to follow you into the wonderful world of multi-sport. Hope to see you all at the Brigg Bomber in July.

Finally, a huge thank you to the many Lincsquad members, family & friends who have helped organise, set up, marshall, time keep and pack away. You have all helped make this event very special and should be extremely proud of yourselves for putting on such a great show, well done.

Final thoughts ….. can I urge everyone who played a part in today’s race whether you competed, marshalled or spectated to help us make sure that events such as these (North Lincs Adventure Challenge & Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon) continue, we need more people to enter these races, you can enter the full distance race as a solo or team competitor, or the shorter sprint version, but we need you, your family, your friends to enter and keep them alive. I guarantee you have a great time.