Posted: February 3, 2004

Adventure Racing: Athletes Head North to Face Winter XX Adventure Race

100 of the UK's top Adventure Racers are heading to the Lake District this weekend for The North Face Winter XX Adventure Race, the first round for one of the countries most gruelling sporting series, the British Adventure Racing Championships.

The North Face Winter XX, run by ACE Races, will be taking place between Saturday the 7th and Sunday the 8th of February. Athletes will be running, cycling, canoeing, climbing and abseiling around the course that will see the lead team cover over 130km with a total ascent of over 4,000m. In total the course is designed to take the top teams an exhausting 20 hours to complete.

Taking in some of the idilic North England countryside, athletes will navigate their way between designated Checkpoints (CP's) revealed to the teams in stages throughout the event in a race against the clock. However, The North Face Winter XX clock is continually ticking so any breaks can cost vital minutes and places.

Phil Humphreys, Winter XX and ACE Races Event Director comments: "In 7 years of organising adventure races I have never managed to pack in so much excitement and exhilaration into one event. The cold winter weather and spectacular course will make this year's North Face Winter XX something to remember."

The North Face Winter XX will see the opening of the 2004 British Adventure Racing Championships (BARC). Teams can earn points at each of the 6 events that make up the Championships, with the team collecting most points after the culminating event, the Terminator X2, being crowned the winner of the 2004 British Adventure Racing Championships.

Brian Elliott British Adventure Racing Championship Director comments: "Starting the series with the Winter XX is a fantastic way to show athletes what the BARC is all about. Competing in any of the qualifying races is going to be tough but to do it in the brutal conditions of February is going to be a real challenge."

Further information, news and developments regarding the 2004 British Adventure Racing Championships is available at www.britchamps.com. For more information on The North Face Winter XX or other ACE races visit www.aceraces.com..