I’m pleased to report that I survived the first Montenegro Adventure Race. Thanks to Croatia Airlines, I got into Herceg Novi at midnight. Having found Hayley and Jack’s place, I crashed on their sofa until I was woken up at 6am by their baby boy. Suitably refreshed, we all pulled on the relevant gear and headed down to the Hunguest Sun Resort Hotel, where the race was starting at 7am. (We should have set our watches to Montenegro time, since we actually started at 8.30.)
Having been a late entry, I was placed in Ed Milbank’s team “The Dandies” with Ed, Charlie and Natalie. I’d never actually met any of them before, but all were excellent company throughout the day – which was lucky, because it was a team race and we had to stick together the whole way. You can view the race map here, but let’s break it down:
- KAYAK. With 9km to paddle, Team Dandies were undaunted by the fact that 50% of the team had never been in a kayak before. I paired up with Natalie in a double, and she turned out to be a natural. Charlie had a few problems at the start, but Ed stayed with him and after the turn at Mamula Island they came in smooth to Zanjice. At this point in the race we were last but, apart from some saltwater chafing, still feeling quite good about ourselves.
- CYCLE. Natalie and I went off before Ed and Charlie and stormed ahead, narrowly avoiding death by truck several times but enjoying a relatively relaxed ride over the Lustica peninsula. Once again, Ed and Charlie didn’t have much luck, since one of their bikes had a broken saddle.
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. Undaunted, we covered 27km of hill riding comfortably, realising that we weren’t going to win but enjoying it anyway.
- RUN. We reached the Vrmac Fort in a group, took a break for peanuts and raisins, and jogged off for the final 12km of running on the top of the ridge. To our astonishment we passed three other teams along the way, with only one setback – I turned my ankle on rough ground, which made the rest of the race
complete agonya little uncomfortable. I managed to continue solely thanks to the support of Team Dandies, and we romped home like true Olympians. - FOOD AND DRINK. The race participants and supporters recovered in the eco village at Gornja Lastva, another place I’d never been before. The weather had been warm but overcast most of the day (perfect race weather) but the sun came out for us at the end. The village itself was lovely, providing us with a hall to recuperate in and plenty of food and drink to get us back on our feet in time for the party that evening.
There’s a long list of people to thank: the organisers at Black Mountain Adventure Travel and Kayak Montenegro, Jack and Hayley for letting me sleep on their sofa, the kids of Montenegro Forum for cleaning up the route, Marija Nikolic and the preservation society in Gornja Lastva for their hospitality, the Sports Cafe in Herceg Novi for hosting the after-party, the other sponsors of the race, and of course – the other competitors. God, I sound like an Oscar winner.
Verdict: the Montenegro Adventure Race was an absolute blast, and I’ll definitely take part again next year. This year it was strictly for fun – next year we’ll take home the trophy (probably).