The alarm sounded at 5:30am. No need to get dressed as I had fallen asleep in my sleeping bag with all my clothes on. Breakfast was a slice of fruit cake. Mikey and I got our head torches on and headed down to the marquee to find a very sleepy looking James. Nicky made tea and then we all pitched in to get the race area of the first Open 5 of the winter ready.

At 7:50am Sim, Andy and I were asked to manage car parking........long story but we had to get 200 cars into limited space! It wasn't helped that some people parked in spaces that could have accommodated 5 cars! It was a frantic 90 mins of running about with a walkie talkie, identifying any crevice a car could fit in! Pressure was on to keep tailbacks to a minimum.

I saw Rosemary and Lucy but all I could manage was a quick hello. Once all competitors were parked and off racing, there were a few hours to relax. Most of the marshals were excited by amazing bacon baguettes! Meat is murder I thought and had a flap jack instead. A few of us teased Jim (easily teasable) about his pedal bearings being rough....with his grumpy responses making it all worth while.

I then found myself on transition duty 'dibbing' people in. Quite a cold job! Fortunately, there was a wood burning pizza oven on site and lunch really hit the spot! Many competitors were less than impressed seeing me eating the thing and refusing to share! Thankfully, guilt is rarely an emotion I suffer from.

Rosemary and Lucy appeared, having completed 4 hours 29 mins on the bike, leaving only 31 mins for their run! They went about their transition with frantic efficiency and then Lucy set off at the pace of a cat with a rocket up its bum with Rosemary looking to be working hard to keep up.

They eventually finished 4th, with a strange ohhhhh....coming from everyone at prize-giving. It's rare for them not to finish on the top step of the podium......They'd had a few issues.....Rosemary's bike shoe had fallen to bits....with her repairing in with zip ties and Lucy had punctured and then got the valve stuck. Knowing that pair, they'll be ultra-competitive for the next round. Still, a bloke had earlier asked Rosemary, if she was the one that wrote the great blog..."the best adventure racing one he knew"....He smile was big enough to split her face in two!

After helping pack up, Lucy drove me to Oxenholme for my train and Rosemary headed over to her Mum's near Leeds. On arriving home, I went straight up the stairs and fell asleep for the night!