UK Challenge – The Aftermath

Last week in I introduced you to the UK Challenge, a 4 day endurance race that I took part in. Now that the event is over and the teams are back in the office (all be it walking like cowboys) I thought I would do an update.

Firstly it was hard. For those of you that are familiar with the Exmore area, all you see is hills. This made for a challenging, yet extremely fun 4 days.

The event was split into 7 stages including Running, Cycling and a game of checkers. The overall format of each stage was to plan and execute the best way to navigate around Exmore visiting checkpoints worth different point’s values and return to the start within a set time. Sounds easy…..Right?

The event got off to an adrenalin fueled start when I had to sprint down the hill to get a map for my team and sprint back racing against every other team. It was mayhem, people falling over, others pushing through, bundling to reach the nearest map and all done in pitch black using only torch light. From here on it was full steam ahead.

The second day started with a 6 hour biking race across Exmore. Teams had to visit as many checkpoints as possible, but everything had to be precisely planned and executed as we had to split into pairs and visit checkpoints in a specific order at certain times. The first 5 hours and 50 minutes went really well and we pushed ourselves to our limits. However with 10 minutes to go we had a mad rush back to the start and I managed to hit a rock and lose control of my bike. My head met the floor with a loud crack and I found myself face down on the floor. With a little help from my team mate we made our way to a checkpoint for me to be seen by a medic. Luckily for me I was wearing a helmet which took the force of my impact. I don’t think I would have walked away had I not been wearing It, never the less a physio session on my back and a good night’s sleep later I was ready to go.

My next stage was a draughts tournament against the other UK Challenge teams; however we had to play to lose. This was a lot harder than expected and I lost on my turn, however my team mates managed to win (lose) 3 games which we were happy with.

The final stage was a real Highlight for me, 4 of us had to run about 2km down a beach to our bikes, race to the top of a very long and steep hill, ride halfway back down, and then finally run the last 3-4km back to the beach.  Two of our team slipped on the way back which made it ever more of a challenge; however against the odds we finished the stage on time to be greeted by our fellow Microsoft teams cheering us on and champagne ready for our celebrations.

A truly fantastic event and I am deeply saddened that it is over. I look forward to competing again in future, and now I am looking for my next fitness adventure!