Eksploris Race took off on Saturday morning from the biathlon center in Kościelisko. It was a handicap start to the race, meaning that two person teams were leaving the center with time differences based on the results from Salomon Trail Running race, which took place on Friday at Butorowy Wierch. The first 18 km long trekking stage led through Gubałówka and Płazowski Wierch, where in the deep gorge the teams had to cross a rope bridge. Not even after two hours the fastest teams reached a transition area and after changing shoes they rushed to their bikes. Some uphill sections in the sun and an hour later it was already time for inline skates. Avoiding ups and downs when passing by the villages, where people dressed in their traditional outfits were going to the church, participants were slowing down only in sharp bends and steep uphill sections. After 9 kilometers, when the good asphalt road was over, they put on their sneakers and were coming back to their bikes.

In the afternoon the rain came, it got colder and in the higher altitudes it started hailing. Long descend sections, mud on the course, soaked through clothes and gloves, it all made the participants chatter their teeth even when pushing the bikes. The differences between the first three teams were not greater than 10 minutes, so before the last 13 km long orienteering stage in Kiry, they did not even bother to change their wet clothes. It would not make sense anyway, since there was a rushing stream awaiting them just before the finish line. Only wet slippery rocks, piece of rope and their own balance were there to help them…

After 7,5 hours team Navigator Suunto won the second race of the Adventure Racing Cup in MEN category; they reached a finish line 20 minutes ahead of two Speleo Salomon teams. In MIX category Speleo Salomon Thule came again in the first place, gaining 10 and 30 minute advantage over Navigator Suunto and Speleo Salomon Prijon.

Swingersi od Estery won on the Open course intended for the rookies with a very good result of slightly over 4 hours.

Reults of the 75km long Profi course

MIX:

  1. Speleo Salomon Thule (Aga Zych, Remik Nowak) 7h32:46

  2. Navigator Suunto (Justyna Frączek, Paweł Moszkowicz) 7h42:13

  3. Speleo Salomon Prijon (Kasia Zając, Daniel Jończy) 8h12:20

MEN:

  1. Navigator Suunto 1 (Maciej Dubaj, Sławek Łabuziński) 7h09:10

  2. Speleo Salomon Isostar (Darek Bonarski, Piotr Kosmala) 7h28:03

  1. Speleo Salomon Suunto (Piotr Dymus, Artur Kurek) 7h28:03

Results of the 43km long Open course

  1. Swingersi od Estery 4:22:08

  2. GreenBeerTeam 4:51:38

  3. Nie rozumiem 5:31:23

 

Congratulations to all the participants and see you at next races – in Czech Republic in August and in Kaszuby in Poland in October!

Complete results, photos and ranking results after two races are available at www.arcup.com. Short films from Eksploris Race will be soon broadcasted on Extreme Sport Channel and TVP Sport.