Hannington village is situated in the Wessex Downs AONB at the top of the escarpment between Basingstoke and Newbury with a good network of off road tracks. This event was both a new area for SLOW and our first MBO event of the year.
Despite some overnight rain the trails were for the most part fast and dry. The rain threatened but luckily stayed away and the sun came out.
Thirty plus riders set out from the very hospitable Vine at Hannington pub on either the two or three hour course.
The course used all the surrounding bridleways and byways as well as some of the quieter roads. Hannington is elevated above most of the surrounding countryside so a climb back up to the finish was inevitable!
With the navigation fairly straightforward, route choice became a critical differentiator for the fastest riders. Indeed, every available track on the map was used with a great variety of routes chosen. Many rider's routes took them along the famous Watership Down with views to the north out over Berkshire and the Thames valley.
Maprun was used very successfully with only a couple of riders needing to have their results reviewed for checkpoints that did not register.
Mark Humphrey cleared the three hour course with 3 minutes to spare earning himself 6 bonus points from his 64k ride. Ian Cartwright dropped just two of the ten point CP's as did Alan Elder but the latter was 6 mins over time so came in 3rd. Rachael Clay kept up a fast pace for her 57k ride to be first placed female.
A special mention for the winner of the two hour event - Sid Hardy who ran and biked for 5 hours in the previous day's Questars Adventure Race.