Open5 event races

ThisRegard

Anyone hear of these before ? Came across it today in a magazine and it's an interesting, and quite good take, on the traditional one day adventure races, they've been going on for years in the UK.

Basically you have 5 hours to visit as many control points as possible to garner points, and the winners are those with the most points at the end of the 5 hours. You can elect to chose run or mtb points and not all cps are worth the same, some are weighted more than others so you can pick and choose which ones to go for, some also don't come online until later in the race. Routes aren't marked either so you'll need to navigate your own way to each one.

I think something like that could work quite well in Ireland and bring a good bit of tactics into your race.

http://www.openadventure.com/open5/howitworks_1.php


Edit. Mods, this should be in the Tri/AR forum, or whatever it's being called at this particular moment in time, if they'll accept it over there.

ocnoc

Was it Open5 that went to host a Mountain Marathon out West but pulled the race, possibly due to low numbers?

ThisRegard

I don't know to be honest, as I said it's the first I heard of such events.

However google gives me this which was to be organised by 26 extreme, sounds like what you're talking about ?
http://www.walkingandhikingireland.com/?p=550

elvis jones

Is it a form of fell running with check points ?

ocnoc

ThisRegard wrote: »

I don't know to be honest, as I said it's the first I heard of such events.

However google gives me this which was to be organised by 26 extreme, sounds like what you're talking about ?
http://www.walkingandhikingireland.com/?p=550

Sorry, my bad. It was 26Extreme.

RayCun

elvis jones wrote: »

Is it a form of fell running with check points ?

also mountain-biking

Enduro

elvis jones wrote: »

Is it a form of fell running with check points ?

It is what's called an "Adventure Race"...a multisports race involving hill walking/running, mountain biking, kayaking, with teams responsible for their own navigation, route choice and decision making. It's about as short as ARs come, but it is nonetheless an adventure race.

The organisers of the Open 5 are top class Adventure Race organisers. As well as the 5s there are also Open 24s.

They are also involved in the organisation of the Terrex AR, which is a 4 day world championship qualifier in Stirling this August. two years ago the first Terrex race was staged in the lake district. A few Irish teams took part, including my own. That race also had unusual rules for scoring and controls. But it added up to the best set of rules I've ever raced under, and made for a very competitive tactical race that suited fast teams, slow teams, and the race organisers. Pretty much perfect in fact.

The shamrock AR is going to be very similar to this format, but over 24 hours. So there is one of these in Ireland.

RayCun

Enduro wrote: »

It is what's called an "Adventure Race"

ThisRegard

Enduro wrote: »

The shamrock AR is going to be very similar to this format, but over 24 hours. So there is one of these in Ireland.

Actually, I was only talking about that at IMRA Maulin bit never looked into it further as I'm not in the position to be contemplating a 24 hour race at the moment.

Adventurer10

ThisRegard wrote: »

Anyone hear of these before ? Came across it today in a magazine and it's an interesting, and quite good take, on the traditional one day adventure races, they've been going on for years in the UK.

Basically you have 5 hours to visit as many control points as possible to garner points, and the winners are those with the most points at the end of the 5 hours. You can elect to chose run or mtb points and not all cps are worth the same, some are weighted more than others so you can pick and choose which ones to go for, some also don't come online until later in the race. Routes aren't marked either so you'll need to navigate your own way to each one.

I think something like that could work quite well in Ireland and bring a good bit of tactics into your race.

http://www.openadventure.com/open5/howitworks_1.php


Edit. Mods, this should be in the Tri/AR forum, or whatever it's being called at this particular moment in time, if they'll accept it over there.

Open5 sounds interesting! Must look into that!
You might also be interested in the CCAR adventure race series, http://www.causewaycoastar.co.uk/ mostly in northern ireland. After taking part in numberous multisport events over teh past 2 years i eventually got around to trying a 'real' adventure race with navigation in the CCAR series, way more fun!!!! Not all about speed, you need to use brains too!

Adventurer10

Enduro wrote: »

The organisers of the Open 5 are top class Adventure Race organisers. As well as the 5s there are also Open 24s.

Do you know anything about the Questar adventure races http://www.questars.co.uk/

or is there any other adventure races you might recommend?

Enduro

Don't know two much about the QuestARs, but judging from the website I'd guess they're a pretty straightforward. Looks like a good format with everyone able to race at their own level. Very much at the super-short end of AR. Sounds like it would be very novice friendly.

There are tons of races I'd recommend. Indeed I'd recommend doing as many as possible. The best way to learn about AR is to go out and do them.

Of the British races the swift and the sting look by far the most interesting. The format of these races mean that novice teams will still get a very good AR experience.

Of the Irish races the main one I'd be looking at is the Beast of Ballyhoura. The TEAR race is usually another excellent (and shorter) race.

Adventurer10

Enduro wrote: »

Don't know two much about the QuestARs, but judging from the website I'd guess they're a pretty straightforward. Looks like a good format with everyone able to race at their own level. Very much at the super-short end of AR. Sounds like it would be very novice friendly.

There are tons of races I'd recommend. Indeed I'd recommend doing as many as possible. The best way to learn about AR is to go out and do them.

Of the British races the swift and the sting look by far the most interesting. The format of these races mean that novice teams will still get a very good AR experience.

Of the Irish races the main one I'd be looking at is the Beast of Ballyhoura. The TEAR race is usually another excellent (and shorter) race.

Thanks for that Enduro, I am at the novice end of adventure racing so will give the QuestAR's a go first and build up to the longer ones, both training and saving, as I notice they are very pricey!!

Enduro

Take advantage of every race (the real ARs ) you can get to in Ireland as (a) it's much cheaper not having to travel abroad (b) experience is worth its weight in gold, no matter how you do in race and (c) Irish races are just as good as anywhere else!