Wenger Czech Adventure Race 2020
A “Spontaneous” And An Adventurous Race. The Dutch Adventure Racing Team Explore in Czechia
Karlijn Koerts / 04.09.2020
What is an adventure race? Well, none of us had the right answer to that question before the race started, but we were about to find out!
During the race we faced a lot of troubles and didn’t get lucky. It started during the first stage. Dennis (our small, smart and a little stubborn guy) didn’t feel well and even had to check out how comfortable the ground was in the middle of the woods. And this wasn’t because he was already sleepy. Luckily, after getting all the checkpoints, walking back to T1 and taking some wonder pills he rose from the dead and found all his energy again.
Next we set off on the biking stage. Biking in Czechia is definitely not the same as biking in the Netherlands. WE DO NOT HAVE HILLS. And this is the main excuse we will use about our bad performance during the bike ride. However, the it was the most beautiful part of the race. It was hard sometimes, especially when some of us had to carry 140 kilos up into the mountains, but we enjoyed it very much.
After the ride we had to start the canoeing stage. None of us ever want to talk about this stage again! Canoeing in the dark for more than 11 hours in the middle of the night sounds like hell. But we are very proud that we managed it, even though some of us were freezing with chattering teeth in the canoe.
And what is the reward you get canoeing for 11 hours and being awake for already for more than 25 hours? 45 km trekking, whoehoee. Again, even though it doesn’t sound like fun, it wasn’t that bad. That is until the rain started after 35 km’s and we unfortunately had to give up. (We will remember it as Olaf’s decision). Walking 10 more kilometres in the rain while knowing that the reward of walking those 10 extra kilometres would be sleeping in the rain, wasn’t doable for all of us. So we booked a taxi and drove back.
After having a hot shower and sleeping very well we found some energy to go back into the woods. Here we completed the 5 km orienteering stage as training for next year. Yes, that’s right, we will be back! We are convinced that, with some more training and more experience we will get ourselves to the finish line.
So now we might sound like a group of losers, however we did win the most important part of the race! We definitely made the party and ended the party very well. Maybe we should decrease our training hours in this and focus more on the first 9 stages for next year. And most important, we started and ended the race with a smile on our faces, finished still liking each other, and came back home safely
Last but not least, we will attend this competition for at least 2 more years because after doing something for the 3rd time you become the captain of the ship in Dutch. And that is something we are really looking forward to.
SleepMonsters
