Brits Pipped By Four Seconds...

It was a case of almost but not quite as Brits Team Saab Salomon were beaten into second place by just four seconds as the French Les Arcs-Quechua outfit triumphed in last weeks Saab Salomon Raid adventure race in the Highlands.

Some 48 teams from 14 different nations lined up in the early morning of 10th May 2003 at Glen Neviss to compete in the first of a series of adventure races, the highest finishers of which will qualify for the Raid Gauloises - the World's Premier Adventure Race.

Stage 1, which began at 6.30am on 10th and finished at 5.30pm on 11th, saw teams covering a total distance of 211km using a variety of environmentally sound means of travel including cross orienteering/trekking, mountain biking, canoeing, inline skating and sea kayaking.  

In a thrilling dual that went all the way to the wire, two highly respected and internationally renowned adventure racing teams - Les Arcs-Quechua of France and Britain's own Saab Salomon - battled each other for the top spot, with the French team emerging as eventual winners a mere four seconds ahead of the Brits.  

Team Saab Salomon, comprising Peter James, Ben Bardsley and Morgan Donnelly, battled against the elements (the icy wind and rain across the two days was enough to test even the hardiest of adventure racers!) to post a finishing time of 16 hours 29 minutes and 16 seconds.

Another five British Teams entered the race, including Team Thomas Cook, a young team of friends in the process of making the transformation from sportsmen and women to athletes, and Rubicon-High5, led by Gill Watson (winner of SAS Jungle: Are You Tough Enough?), for whom Stage 1 of the 2003 X-Adventure Raid Series was the first international competition.  

Stage Two of the Saab-Salomon X-Adventure Raid Series will take place in Les Arcs / Courmayeur in France / Italy in July.