CheapTents Outdoor Gear Blog

The Adbu Dhabi Adventure Race, climbing in the desert.

Winter is upon us now in the UK. There was a frost this morning and there has been snow on some our higher peaks for some time now. Its time to put on lots of layers and maybe get out our winter accessories. You can’t beat hiking on a sunny winters day, seeing the snow in the trees and on the ground. The fresh, cold air invigorates your face, making your nose go cold. Best of all there is a log fire and a pint of real ale with your name on it, waiting in the country pub at the end of the walk. So why anyone would want to go to Abu Dhabi to take part in a gruelling adventure triathlon across the desert is beyond me…:-)

• Adidas Terrex Adventure Race
• iRoc Race: Run, Cycle and Orienteer on Durham Downs
• Strathpuffer 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race

Carl Loftus practising adventure running at the Winter Hill Fell Race.

We are always interested to hear from people of are taking on an outdoor related challenge to raise money for their favourite cause. We were recently contacted by tri-athlete Carl Loftus, of Warrington Tri Club, who is planning to do a bit of adventure running…

Running The Standstone Trail

The sandstone trail in Cheshire stretches from Whitchurch to Frodsham and takes in 34 miles of stunning scenery including Beeston Castle, Rawhead, Delamere and finally the Mersey view at Frodsham. And I’m going to run it all in one day!

• Ironman Triathlon 2010 Bolton
• The Marathon Des Sables Race, 2009
• Nine Edges Race Peak District

This coming weekend (6 to 10th of June) all the top orienteers will be turning their attention to Salo, Finland, for the 2009 Nordic Orienteering Championships. This event takes place in a different Scandinavian country every year. It is a highly competitive event with technically challenging orienteering races. The event also has races that are open to the public. It has been organised by the NOC2009 Organizing Committee and Finnish orienteering club Angelniemen Ankkuri.

World Champion Orienteer Graham Gristwood will be representing the UK. In an interview with CheapTents.com in March this year, he told us that

• Exclusive Interview! Graham Gristwood Professional Orienteer
• iRoc 2010 Now Open for Entry
• iRoc Race: Run, Cycle and Orienteer on Durham Downs

The Lakeland 100 (The Ultra Tour of the Lake District) is an epic 100 mile long distance trail race which takes place on the weekend of July 31st – August 2nd 2009. The event is set in the stunning scenery of the lake district and the 100 mile circular route is made up entirely by footpaths and public bridleways. Bear in mind though that just because the route is made up of paths and bridleways, it doesn’t mean that its always easy going as in the lakes bridleways can be very rugged, covered with rocks or have nearly disappeared into bog.

• Isle of Wight Walking Festival
• Nine Edges Race Peak District
• Walking Festivals & Events in September

Fresh from his victory in the UK Cup competition at the 2009 British Orienteering Championships, British and World Champion Orienteer Graham Gristwood has kindly agreed to an interview with the CheapTents.com outdoor sports blog.

Orienteering World Champion!

Born in 1984, Graham Gristwood lives in the UK and Sweden. He is a member of the Great Britain Orienteering Squad and also runs for IFK Lidingö SOK.

In the Czech Republic at the 2008 Orienteering World Championships, Graham Gristwood, Jon Duncan and Jamie Stevenson won a gold medal for Great Britain in the Men’s Relay Event.

• A Brief Introduction to Orienteering
• Exclusive Interview! Professional endurance runner: Sam Thompson
• Ian Adamson: Worlds Most Successful Adventure Racer Interview

Orienteering in the New Forest

The British Orienteering Championships 2009 are being held this weekend in the New Forest. It is nearly 30 years since the British Championships were last held in the beautiful countryside of the New Forest. The weather forecast for the weekend is currently for cloud and a maximum temperature of 10 °C.

If you would like to find out more about the sport of orienteering, please see our Introduction to Orienteering.

Orienteering World Champions

Orienteering World Champions. Source: Soren Andersson.

• Exclusive Interview! Graham Gristwood Professional Orienteer
• Adidas Terrex Adventure Race
• Ian Adamson: Worlds Most Successful Adventure Racer Interview

Recently I’ve posted about mountain marathons,  the key to enjoying fell running is good fitness. The trouble is it can be hard to get up and out and get training. I’ve decided to put together a list of tips for getting out of the house and keeping motivated.

Train with a friend
Its definitely much easier to get out onto the hills for a walk or a run if you have a friend harassing you to come out with  you or someone you don’t want to disappoint.

• Are you a heavyweight, lightweight or ultralight?
• Bicycle Touring – An Introduction
• Thinking of fell, trail or adventure running?

What is orienteering?

According to British Orienteering, the National Governing Body for the sport of orienteering in the United Kingdom,

Orienteering is an exciting outdoor adventure sport which takes place in varying terrain over various distances. The aim is to navigate in sequence between a set of control points marked on a unique orienteering map and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time. The standard orienteering distance is known as a ‘classic or long distance’ race however modernisation of the sport has introduced the ‘middle distance’ race and ‘sprint distance’ race.

• iRoc Race: Run, Cycle and Orienteer on Durham Downs
• Warrington Tri Club to Run Sandstone Trail
• Exclusive Interview! Graham Gristwood Professional Orienteer

Christmas Santa Race, Source: Flickr, Andre Pierre

I’m subscribed to Runners World mailing list so this morning I got a message gently reminding me, along with many subscribers, that I need to do more running – the cheek!  It’s not as if I stopped running a month ago or anything, OK, that’s not completely true, but for good reasons thank you very much [bad back]!!

Well if anyone’s interested in running over Christmas, there’s quite a large number available over Christmas.  Maybe check-out one of these:

None Found

A short while ago, we put out a blog post offering to provide support to outdoor sports people looking for sponsorship. We’ve had a couple of emails lately from people looking seriously at 2009 and wanting to put a big fat stamp on the achieving something truly great…whilst helping raise funds for charities.

Our first-up is Andrew McMaster, a medical student from Manchester University, who’s currently in training for the Marathon des Sables – an ultramarathon race across the Sahara desert…you can read more about the Marathon des Sables here, but here is Andrew’s first post for the CheapTents.com blog, on what will be a phenomenal achievement.

• Exclusive Interview! Professional endurance runner: Sam Thompson
• Outdoor sports athlete looking for sponsorship?
• 2008 Outdoor Industry Consumer Survey Results