Challenge Stu

The Sydney to Hobart race I mentioned in my last post is now pretty much over... The winners have finished, and the "battle of Bishop's Lydeard" is also over. With Paul Jackson skippering Helsal 3 , and Helen Cook aboard Team Garmin , I'm sure the atmosphere in the Bird in Hand* has been tense. It would appear that after some problems Helsal 3 had to divert to repair damage, meaning that they lost their lead over Garmin sometime yesterday. However, Garmin seemed to take a wide route out to sea in an attempt to find stronger winds, but this did not pay off and Helsal sneaked past to take line honours by 11 minutes! Pretty close after more than four days of racing. I'm sure we will hear the full story over the next days and weeks via the Wild Spirit website  and Facebook , but for now there are some fantastic photos from the race on the Sydney to Hobart site, here's a quick selection... * - A fine drinking establishment in the village

2013 has been a heck of a year! I know there's a little bit of time between Christmas and New Year, but it seems a good time to reflect. I've done some decent running and had a great time in all the races and events I've attended. I'd like to thank everyone who has helped me do these things, particularly family and friends, and Accelerate for their continued support. For those of you who enjoyed watching our "dot" on the AWRC tracker, here's a new one for you to follow... Paul Jackson of Wild Spirit sailing is about to start the epic Sydney to Hobart yacht race aboard Helsal 3. The tracking will be live once the race starts on boxing day - here . You can also find out more about the race and sailing with Paul on the Wild Spirit website , and on Facebook you can enter a competition to win some free sailing!

So, here we go... the big one! Last week I returned from the 2013 Adventure Racing World Championships (ARWC). The race was a multi day expedition race for teams of four. Our team comprised Tom and Sabrina, Dave who I had raced with previously, and me. I joined the team quite late when the original fourth member dropped out, which left us a relatively short time to actually train together. However, we were all fit and ready, and arriving in San Jose I felt very excited. The best teams in the world were all there, including last year's champions Seagate, and former winners like Thule and the UK's Adidas Terrex. Team "Great Langdale Bunkhouse" ready for action The three days prior to the start were occupied with preparation of kit and food for the race, planning as much as possible (we were given the leg lengths and disciplines a few days before the start, but the maps would be waiting for us at the start line). A few days before the start we were summoned to a