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Challenge Du Department 15-16 set 2007 Francia report di Federica Friz |
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Un weekend carico di avventura, divertimento, fatica e pochissimo riposo (2ore!) - Qui sotto potete trovare i pareri dei partecipanti che ovviamente si sono divertiti moltissimo, e sono pronti (quasi tutti) per un'altra di queste emozionanti esperienze. Below you can read about the challenge and the excitement of the Insead Adventure Racing Team at the Challenge du Department.
being 11 people and 9 nationalities bring a lot of attention, and we were often intervewed by the media Fede The challenge started on Friday, arranging the last things. And Saturday morning we still had to pick up the vans, collect the tshirts and do the shopping!
the van is ready, now we can leave Then we travelled 3 hrs north heading to Normandy. We started off on saturday: 2 kayked downstream for 8 kms, the other 2 were doing run&bike (1 mtb, 2 people, but only one at a time on the bike) and we were given a map to understand where to proceed. Then we swopped for the same distance. It was a lot of fun going down the river. Sometimes the water was nice and calm, some other times we went down 3 m shoots. Run&bike was on the hills, in the woods around the river, but also IN the river itself! Great excuse to get dirty and wet!
kayaking
Once we arrived at the end it was time for some archery. Every center we got a time bonus. No need to say my team (insead 2) got just 3 minutes of time bonus! insead
2
Then all in the van heading off to our next departure point. A big field close to the woods (with no toilets!) where we could eat and get some rest (i.e. 2hrs!) Some of us slept in tents, some others in the van. Then at 02:15 (yes, in the middle of the night) we were instructed on the next part: 18km of orienteering in the woods at night with no moon, just headlamps, compass and map. The first check point was a nightmare. It took us almost 1 hr to find it, and we had 30 more! They hid most of the check points really well. We ran in an area with marshes, woods, hills. It was really exciting. Insead 1 was way ahead of us after the 1st checkpoint which they found much quicker than us, but half way through we overtook them. Good feeling...no, insead people are not at all competitive (hahaha).
tracing the track before heading off to look for the check points in the night We got to our next destination over the time gate: 07:30 am and the limit was 6:30. So we jumped into the vans where our assistants were sleeping cosily and we moved to the next starting point.
ready for our next 40 kms of mtb And from here we cycled 40kms mostly off-road.
cycling at dawn We skipped 2 parts with run&bike again because of time constraints, and finally after a lot of sweat, but also some incredible views on the counstryside and a lot of team spirit and enthusiasm, we got to the coasts of Normandy. Our 2 last sections were waiting for us: 2 swum in the sea, and 2 of us had to rappel down a 50 m rock.
We
reunited and it was over. Just a great experience shared with enthusiastic
and "up for it" people, assistants included . --- Since
it was only 3 pm we decided to get a spectacular view of the coast,
and so, off we went, walking again for about 1hr. The view was breathtaking,
hundreds of m of vertical rock diving into the sea. After that,
4 other hrs until the assistants drove us back, while most of us
were sleeping, recovering from the challenging 80 kms in a little
more than 17hrs. What is amazing is that Insead 2 and Insead
1 only had 3 minutes of time difference!!! Iain “What I really enjoyed about the competition was the range of activities that we had to take part in, requiring both physical and mental strength, and the amazing team spirit that kept going throughout the race. It was also great to have two teams from INSEAD competing side by side, providing a good mix of rivalry and support. For me, the best moment was around 3am, just after the briefing session for the orienteering. The feeling of excitement and anticipation before diving into the forest in pitch darkness was just incredible!”
ready for the night orienteering Andy First of all the idea of starting inside the continent and getting to the seaside (and to the sea itself) using all possible ways of muscle driven transportation methods was great! The course was incredibly diverse. Once we were getting through the town without actually seeing the town – running/marching inside the river, under the bridges etc. A bit claustrophobic experience. On the other end of the spectrum was cycling through the fields at the dawn, enjoying incredibly pretty French countryside.
cycling at sunrise Physically it was more challenging than I would expect – running at 3 am after 2 hours of sleep is way more difficult than usual Sunday morning jog! Fortunately being constantly with your team gives an extra energy boost. But seeing a professional TV reporters chasing our car at 6AM for yet another interview will probably be my most unusual experience of the weekend! Connie I enjoyed traveling through the small French towns and beautiful landscapes. And also being the representatives of insead as the international group. Hope we can keep on traveling.
the beautiful coast of normandy
wake up to assist the runners!
Raghu Same here also, I was cursing myself when I found out that the race involved staying awake all night. But after the whole experience all I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Ofcourse it would have been even better if I had accepted Marc’s invitation to sleep in his already crowded tent, just kidding. You now have a (default) volunteer in case you decide to participate in any other race.
team Insead 1 Pipa Thanks for the invitation, It was a pleasure to follow you everywhere picking all the garbage and mess you left in every stage. The fun part is that the comment is sincere! Hopefully we do many more of these and I run too in the next one too!
what a mess! Congratulations
because you all did a great race and enjoyed it! If we continue
like this by the end of year we can run the full race in winter….
team Insead 2 after the run&bike + kayak Marc This
raid was my first one, and it was really tough. It was tough, but
at the same time very exciting, challenging, and one of my most
memorable team dynamics experience. With my team-mates, after 30
minutes of kayak we were still not able to navigate it correctly,
and instead of being annoyed and stressed we preferred to laugh
out loud, and it felt so nice! Then at 10:30 pm, after a tough afternoon,
going to bed and knowing we would have to wake up 3 hours later
for 10 hours of exercise non-stop was difficult. Then during the
night, in the middle of the forest, we found a check-point quite
hard to find and discreetly went and marked it on our passport,
and swiftly went to the next one not to show to our competitors
where it was. Finally during the last couple of kilometers of mountainbike,
at the end of the race, we put everything we had left in trying
to get a couple of precious minutes and maybe go up in the rankings!
Guil Fully agree, thanks a bunch guys ! No limits, no fear !!!!
thanks to VP for the food support! INSEAD 2 Name:
Iain Name
- Khang Name
- Andrzej Name
- Federica
Name
- Marc Name
- Ameya Name
- Guillaume Name
- Shireen
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run & bike
insead 1 
