Carn Ingli Multisport Training Weekend
Carn Ingli Multisport Training Weekend
Quads take a hammering!
The BQA training weekend certainly lived up to its name, with quadrathletes certainly ‘hammering their quads’ racing, training, with hill upon hill, there were plenty of calories burned up, only to be put back on by the mega cakes sold at the campsite café!
Sat Am - Up at 7am for the sea kayak race, with the race briefing taking place in our boats in the sea. Ian the race director asked us to gather round in our boats for the briefing (we were thinking surely this would off been better taking place on land as the tidal current was getting stronger). The Kayak race was a 7.5 km 2 lap route around the estuary. Philip Nye (BQA) took the lead very early on in his Surf ski, followed closely by Steve Clark, Jean Ashley and Phil Binch. Towards the end of the first lap Jean moved into 2nd when Steve capsized, after smiling to the crowds he was soon back paddling with vengeance and moved back into 2nd place.Phil Nye won the race Steve 2nd, Jean 3rd and Phil 4th. In all 16 paddlers braved the race and all did well to finish. There were plenty of paddlers in sea kayaks, daggers and sit on tops, I’m sure if the sea had been much more choppy it would have been a different story for us in our K1’s. Sat Noon - The next challenge for the day was delayed slightly as we had to wait for the tide to go out a bit further for the start of the MT Bike race, which started with a hoot across the beach! Phil Nye, Jean and Dave Ashley took part. (The Lincsquad guys must have had ‘inside information’ as they only had road bikes with them!) Ohhh it was tough, a 4 km climb to the Carn Inglie Mountain top where we then did 5 laps. The first lap was really tough, and I did wonder why I’d signed up to it … but must admit by the time Id hit the 3rd lap I did start enjoying myself, the views of the Pembrokeshire coast were amazing, that was my excuse for being a bit slow ‘ just had to look at the scenery!’ The trip down the mountain and back across the beach to finish felt really good! There were some serious MT Bikers who certainly knew how to fly down hill.Glen Davies (Staffs) who was doing all 3 events had a very fast bike coming 2nd. Phil Nye came home in about 6th place so he just about held onto his lead from the Kayak, … it was going to be all down to the run! I came home quite a bit further down the field, but first (and only) lady!Sat 3.00 - Very VERY hilly 10k run race, the hardest 10k ever, the 1st 3 miles saw us climb from sea level to 1km above sea level and took in a bit of road running, beach running, fell running, sand dunes and water wading. It was mega (although Phil used other expletives to describe it !!!). Steve had a superb run and came 2nd in 36.58 out of 70 runners. Phil posted a time of 42.53 in 11th with Phil Nye in 48 mins and Jean in 50 mins, all good times on such a demanding course. Phil just managed to hold on to 1st place in the Multi sport Race, his combined time 3hrs 3mins, Glen Davies despite a faster run (46 mins) was just behind in 3hrs 6mins. Jean took the ladies prize in 3hrs 27 mins. Also at the same time, the first event of the Junior Multi Sport was a 4km run race, a much flatter course along the estuary, Kate Ashley came 3rd ‘young lady’. Sun Am - Their were lots of options on Sunday morning … if you had any legs left! The Sea Kayak expedition up the coast, which was very popular, sea kayaks could be hired as it was certainly too choppy for our K1’s. Phil, Steve and Phil Nye opted for the Cycle sportive, again options of 17, 50 or 90 miles, they decided 50 would be fine, as they had to take their better halves for tea and cake, that was their excuse anyway for not doing the 90 miles! 5 miles in Phil's chain snaps on a hill, game over or so he thought but after a 3 mile walk back towards the start the recovery van full of mechanics fixed his chain and he was off to ride the course backwards and meet me halfway round. The ride was 50 miles and took in 4000m of climbing and Phil loved it (actually he did) My excuse for not riding at all (despite very tired legs) …. was I jogged up the Mountain again, to support Kate on her MT Bike Race, the juniors had to do 1 or 2 laps depending on age. Some great young bikers hit the trail, Kate smiled all the way round, and also commented on the great views … think we both might need a bit more MTB practice before we get anywhere near the front of the pack! Sun Pm - We were all back at camp by 2.30 … time for tea and more cake! By 5.00 we were ready for our last session of the day - 9 mile coastal trail run with stunning views and a wicked wind, we took it steady (that’s all our legs would do!) I did feel a bit guilty on suggesting the coastal path, as Phil B. after about 3 miles told me he much preferred tarmac!!! Secretly I think he did enjoy the views. We all enjoyed a BBQ, refuelled our muscles, and hydrated with a few beers too! Mon Am - Steve sneaked in a 6am 5 mile steady road run while everyone else was sleeping, whilst Kate got ready for the last of her races, the 2 km kayak. Phil and Steve very bravely put on their wetsuits for a 1 mile sea swim which was absolutely freezing … just the two of them took up the challenge (although there were quite a few onlookers watching in disbelief from the beach), it took them 8 mins to swim out to the turn point tide assisted and 20 mins to swim the same distance back!!!!!. Kate came first overall kayaker home, it was just about calm enough for a K1 though the wind was really strong. She took first place in the junior girls, a great event for the juniors with lots of really useful prizes, multi tools for the bike prizes and waterproof MP3 cases for the kayak prizes ….. lets hope we can get some young BQA members giving it a go next year, I’m sure you’d love it! Mon Pm - The power kites came out in the afternoon, if anybody wanted a play … but the final event of the weekend …… open to everybody, and also with the biggest prize money of £100 …. was the Duck Race … and this was one race the Quadrathletes didn’t win! A top weekend with great weather and company. A big thank-you to Ian Hipkins for organising the events and to all who travelled a few hours (or more) to get their. We will definitely be back next year, hopefully with a few more from the BQA and Lincsquad club. TOP WEEKEND!
