The race base for Adventure Race Slovenia was a campsite on the banks of a lake on the outskirts of Velenje, Slovenia. Having arrived Wednesday night, Thursday was spent in a frenzy of kit checks, climbing tests, promotional presentations, a compulsory eco project, food shopping, race briefings etc. and the teams barely had time to get themselves ready, let alone relax and collect their thoughts. The energy sapping heat was already taking it's toll on everyone.

The Heat Takes It's Toll in Slovenia (www.sleepmonsters.com)

By Robyn Ferrar (Photos courtesy ARS)

The race base for Adventure Race Slovenia was a campsite on the banks of a lake on the outskirts of Velenje, Slovenia. Having arrived Wednesday night, Thursday was spent in a frenzy of kit checks, climbing tests, promotional presentations, a compulsory eco project, food shopping, race briefings etc. and the teams barely had time to get themselves ready, let alone relax and collect their thoughts. The energy sapping heat was already taking it's toll on everyone.

Race morning dawned mercifully overcast but it was not to last. After the 30-minute walk into the city centre for the promotional start, then 30mins back again, everyone was pretty tired already, the sun was blazing, and the horn hadn't even been blown. The day only promised to get hotter.

At 10am the teams set off with a short run around a small lake and were soon back at the bigger lake for a 2km there-and-back-again swim. Of the 3 British teams in the race, Team Sleepmonsters.com were first in the water but The North Face were first out (Mark C was having problems in the swim). North Downs Mountain Rescue seemed to be struggling in the hea t… or perhaps just pacing themselves for the grueling days ahead.

Many were grateful for the cooling down in the lake as the teams had a mammoth 12hr plus (+/- 60kms) trekking leg ahead of them through the Slovenian forests and mountains. The North Face, having gained a few places in the swim, lost a few again early on in the trek... one of which was to SleepMonsters who seemed to be going strong. The Czech Team Salomon Nutrend took an early lead with 3 teams hot on their heals. Not long into the trek, SleepMonsters settled comfortably into 6th place and The North Face into 9th.

Around 2pm Team EA-FIT from France took the lead but the heat and the grueling forest tracks and mountain roads were taking their toll on many of the teams. They were still going strong and looked very fresh at the bike transition where they arrived over at 7:45 - 2 hours ahead of schedule. They had already built over a 1hr lead on second place Salomon Nutrend.

In the meantime, Team SleepMonsters had dropped from 6th to 11th and Team North Downs Mountain Rescue were in 15th. At CP5 around 8pm, Nick Drew from The North Face was taken to hospital and put on an IV drip - he had been struggling to keep his food down throughout the trek and by the time he got to the hospital his blood sugar level was dangerously low. At the same time, Sue from Team SleepMonsters was suffering with problems of her own – having struggled on through the pain of an achilles injury throughout the day and night, by early the following morning at CP7 she could take no more and joined Nick on the bench. Both teams continued one man (or woman) down and several places down on the leaderboard.

Much further down the track, EA-FIT reached the 17km kayaking leg at CP13 and set off at 7:20am, almost 1.5 hours ahead of Salomon Nutrend. Team Dej Gasa (a local Slovenian team) were racing neck-in-neck with the Austrian team Nike ACG RAW for 3rd place.

The teams seemed to have lost time during the night though as they were almost back on schedule at the start of the Kayak. Here they presumably had time to contemplate another long and grueling trekking stage in the heat of another very hot day. However, at this time, most teams were still struggling through a frustratingly slow and arduous mountain bike leg.

By around 6pm, the cracks that had started to show the previous day were now felt by all the teams as gaping canyons. Whole and part teams had been dropping like flies throughout the day and even the phenomenally strong EA-FIT had slowed their pace to a crawl.

It was around this time that both SleepMonsters.com and The North Face decided to throw in the towel at CP13. Dehydration was proving a major problem as eating and drinking enough becomes even more difficult in such relentless heat. With over half the course still dauntingly ahead of them and no hope of finishing before the cut-off, they thought it wise to call it a day.

Nike ACG RAW, despite only just having dropped from 3rd to 4th place, made the same decision at CP16. Earlier in the day at CP12 they’d also had a big scare on the rope ascend with the rope popping clean out of female teammate’s ascending device! The only thing to stop her fall was her tib-lock! She was left hanging upside down and had to be rescued by one of the Slovenian climbing specialists.


Little did any of these teams know the extent of the problem, and frustratingly, had they stuck it out and made it to just one more CP, they would have received the news that the course had been shortened and they were to be offered a helping hand to at least allow them to get to the finish. Even so, it was only when EA-FIT made a second plea to the organizers to shorten the course, this time not just because of the intense heat, but because they had calculated that their Day 2 pace would only get them to the finish line early Monday morning … about 6 hours after the course was due to close! However, their main concern was that they’d not make it back home to France in time for work.

Back at the base it was action stations as all forces were mobilized in a massive logistical operation to save the race and get the remaining teams home. All teams still racing were told to stay put at whichever checkpoint they’d managed to reach. They were to wait to be collected in army trucks (yes the Slovenian army were a necessary and willing contingent in the host of volunteers) to be transported to CP21 – the start of the second swim – where they would see their boxes and get a tent to sleep in for the rest of the night. There would then be a staggered start at 5am to continue the race. As only 3 teams were able to make it as far as CP17, officially, they were the only teams to rank.

EA-FIT set off first, swimming with their kit across a lake to collect their bikes and make their way to the finish via 2 caving and 1 rope-work CPs. The final leg saw them back in their kayaks with all their kit AND their bikes heaped on, to paddle the +-2km across Lake Velenje to a bottle of champagne and the appreciation of the crowd (made up primarily of disappointed racers) on the other side.

In the end Day 3 was a success. Slightly cooler than the previous day, and with some much needed sleep under their belts, the racers had a spring in their step once again. Team EA-FIT finally banked their kayaks ahead of schedule at 10:16, followed closely by unranked local team of 3, Dej Gasa.


Last to come in at 13:15 (and last to set off at 06:35) was UK’s Team North Downs Mountain Rescue – despite having missed the most checkpoints, they were 1 of only 5 teams to finish with a full compliment of team members. They too admitted to being close to throwing in the towel the previous night, but all credit to them for sticking with it and keeping the UK on the map. They did us proud with 5th place and were rewarded for their efforts with a weekend’s break in Slovenia as their prize.

The final standings were:
1st – EA-FIT
2nd – Salomon Nutrend Czech Adventure
3rd – Bergson Mapy Scienne Beata Pietka AT
4th – Vzajemna – Pustolovec Rajd
5th – North Downs Mountain Rescue

Despite the problems experienced on Day 2 and the unbearable heat, it was clear that the race organizers are very good at what they do and more than willing to learn as they go – their organization and hospitality was second to none, and the volunteers were a great testament to what is clearly a very friendly, helpful and hospitable nation.

Many of them had no sleep throughout the race and the lead up to it, yet remained cheerful and ready to help… when we were offered to be picked up after our dinner on Saturday night we were cheerfully told “Call me anytime you want to be picked up – I won’t be going to bed ‘til Tuesday”. Slovenia is a beautiful country and full of wonderful people, and I’m sure we all hope to race there another year.