Team Sula Sgeir - Pindos 2001 Report - 2001 Results - Pindos 2000 Report - 2000 Results - 2000 Press Release

Our spirits soared as we headed down into the village and elation set in as an enthusiastic crowd cheered us across the finishing line.  We had done it! We had completed our toughest adventure race yet!

Bravo Sula Sgeir bravo!

Pindos Crossing 2001

As the final seconds ticked away before the start, I looked around at the other teams and recognized many faces - the best competitors from last year's solo and team races were all here - the competition was going to be tough! Yet for us, Team Sula Sgeir (Donald Thomson and Gavin Earons), the real challenge was not beating the opposition but completing the race! Only five weeks before, I had checked the Pindos Crossing web site and discovered, to my horror, that the race was no longer a four-person team relay. It was now a two person team race with both team members having to complete the whole three day race - 280km of hill running, mountain biking, white water and loch paddling, rock climbing and abseiling - all carried out in temperatures approaching 40 degrees! This was going to be the toughest race either of us had ever done! These thoughts were swept aside as the race organizers completed the countdown and started the race. We were off!

Start of race - Donald and Gavin are walking at the back!

Day 1 - 108 kilometres with 1600m of ascent

Leg 1 - 13 kilometre mountain run (600m of ascent and 400m of descent).

The other 24 teams raced off up the track but we were sticking to our race plan - if it was uphill we walked! As the other teams disappeared into the distance, we hoped they had gone off too fast! As things settled down, we overtook a couple of teams and closed in on a couple more - things were looking up. Well maybe not! When the hill came into view - we saw that the other competitors were already a mile ahead and apparently half way up the mountain! They were going too fast - weren't they?

As we crossed a narrow gorge and began the climb, we picked off a team here and there. Some seemed to be struggling with the two person format, with one team member speeding ahead while the other tried to keep up. It was clear that these teams would struggle later on as the slower team member became exhausted. The ascent was a beautiful climb through what could have been a huge alpine garden - the dry rocky slope was covered in flowers and herbs.  One mixed team stayed just ahead of us all the way to the summit, with the female member of the team being towed along on a rope by the stronger male! After checking in at the summit, we set off down a long ridge back into the forest. The thick thorny undergrowth caused us a few problems but nothing compared to the problems we were about to face!

First the map, it was a colour photocopy, had no scale, was difficult to read, the writing was in Greek and it lacked a few significant features - like some of the roads! We came to a junction and I chose to take the right turn despite a couple of other teams going left. We were reassured when three other teams followed us. They followed us into a serious problem - goats. The goats might be harmless enough but their vicious guard dogs certainly were not!

Suddenly, a pack of huge dogs came out of the forest and attacked us! These dogs meant business! They had been trained to protect the goats from bears and wolves but they obviously did not realise that we were neither! We grabbed sticks, threw stones, blew whistles, shouted and screamed, formed a circle and made our way down the track through the snarling hounds. As we left their territory, the dogs left us alone and we ran on down the track - relieved to be through without injury. Things could only get better!

Or could they? Five minutes later a race marshal on a motor bike arrived and gave us news we did not want to hear - we were on the wrong track and we would have to go back up past the dogs! Sure enough, on the way back up, the dogs attacked again! Suddenly, as we tried to fend them off, the motorbike marshal roared by and the dogs set off after him. He gave us a wonderful display of bike control, led them a merry dance through the forest and we were able to pass by unscathed. After all this excitement, the long descent through the forest to the first changeover was quite relaxing.

Sakis, Donald, Gavin and Graham at first changeover

Our backup crew, Graham Meeks and Sakis Pitenis, were waiting for us with water, food and sunscreen.  As they passed us our mountain bikes they gave us the great news that we were in 12^th position. They had both been members of the Sula Sgeir team (along with Gavin Earons and Dimitri Kassiaras) that had finished second in last year's Pindos Crossing race. A full account of this race is available by following this link.

Leg 2 - 34 kilometre mountain bike leg (500m of ascent and 100m of descent).

So far so good, our spirits were high as we set off on our bikes. About two kilometres into the leg, one of the other team support vehicles cheered us on as we sped passed him. Five minutes later, he caught us up and told us we were on the wrong road! Two navigation mistakes in two legs - I was going to have to adapt to the Greek maps or we would never finish. Once back on the right track, we soon began to pick off other teams as we made our way up the 500m climb through the trees. Our pace was perfect and we felt strong as we crested the final rise and began an exhilarating short tarmac descent. After the final 4K dirt road section to the loch, Donald and I both tried to show off for the TV crew by riding through the river - unsuccessfully! Graham and Sakis were delighted to see that we had made good progress through the field and that we were feeling good. Now we were heading into unknown territory - water!

Paddling on Lake Aoos

Leg 3 - 7 kilometre loch paddle in two person inflatable canoe.

After a few unscheduled twists and turns, we soon worked out how to paddle the boat in a straight line and we set off down Lake Aoos. When the two teams in front took a left turn into an inlet, I was confident that they were going the wrong way and told Donald we should carry on further down the loch - imagine my disgust when we looked down the inlet and saw the checkpoint! Three mistakes in three legs, my reputation as a navigator was in tatters! Or was it? We later found out that this checkpoint was actually in the wrong place and that I had been right!

Leg 4 - 11 kilometre mountain run (500m of ascent and 100m of descent).

Donald and I took lunch on the move as we set out on the dirt road that led us to the two small hills. . No navigational problems this time! Indeed, when we saw teams fighting through the thick, thorny scrub on the hill ahead, we found a better route and passed a couple of teams on the short climb up to the checkpoint.

Leg 5 - 43 kilometre mountain bike leg (600m of ascent and 260m of descent).

We felt good as we set of on the last leg of the day. This long mountain bike leg included a short hill run half way through. Navigating the unmarked tracks was difficult, but we made no mistakes and reached the hill. As our tired legs struggled up the hill, we saw the goats and knew what was coming - the angry dog! Luckily, the dog might have been angry but it was also lazy! The combination of heat and a steep slope soon had it turning back to lie down in the shade of the trees. On our descent, the dog was chasing another team and we reached our bikes in one piece. 

The rest of the leg was a superb fast descent down a forest road before the final worrying tarmac section - worrying because most of the junctions appeared not to be on the map! It was a huge relief when we reached the end of day checkpoint. We had completed the first day in just over 10 hours and were in a very satisfactory 6^th place.

After a cold wash in the river, we headed for a welcome dinner by the campfire. After an excellent meal, we went back to our tents to sleep. However, tired as we were, sleeping was easier said than done! The campsite was on the rocky rubble of a disused factory. Graham reckoned he knew how an Indian Fakir felt after sleeping on a bed of nails!

Day 2 - 102.5 kilometres with 1570 metres of ascent

Leg 6 - 25 kilometre mountain bike leg (100m of ascent and 390m of descent).

This was the easiest leg of the race - but very exciting - as the tarmac descent was down a long series of hairpin bends! Our mountain bikes have never moved so quickly!

Gavin and Donald racing down leg 6

Leg 7 - 30m abseil off a bridge.

We abseiled off this bridge!

This leg came as a bit of a shock! The race notes said white-water canoeing but failed to mention that we had to abseil off the bridge to reach our canoes! Donald and I had very limited abseiling experience (Donald had only done one ten metre abseil down a rock face). But our instructor back in Lewis (Tim Pickering of Sgor) had taught us well and he gave us the confidence to trust the race safety procedures. We went for it! A few moments later we were safely at the bottom of the 30m rope and heading for our inflatable canoes.

How much further?

Leg 8 - 12 kilometre white-water river paddle followed by a 1K mountain run (100m of ascent).

This was the leg I was most apprehensive of - Donald couldn't understand how I could abseil 30m off a bridge but be scared of a couple of feet of water! The first couple of rapids proved to me that the inflatable canoe was not going to sink and that it was actually very stable. I began to enjoy myself so much that I started to wish that the river had more water in it! The river was so shallow in places that we kept grounding on rocks. We had to jump out and push or pull the canoe into deeper water. This was an exceptionally beautiful leg and we really enjoyed shooting the rapids and trying to read the best line through the shallows. All too soon we reached the end of the river section and set off on the steep 100m climb up to the village and the end of the leg. Ironically, on this water leg, the tube to Donald's Camelbak drink bottle had become trapped beneath his buoyancy aid. This meant he had nothing to drink during the leg and the resulting dehydration was to prove a major headache (literally!) for him later in the day.

The most enjoyable leg in the race?

Leg 9 - 1 kilometre run (100m descent) followed by 10K river trek (130m ascent)

We ate lunch on the way back down to the river and set off on what turned out to be one of the toughest legs in the race. If this had been a river in Lewis, it would have been pretty easy but the sun overhead in a narrow gorge sent the temperature soaring. I don’t think a single step of the way was stable. As we stumbled upstream over rounded boulders, lizards scurried out of our way at every step. The riverbed was really slippery but the water was wonderfully cool! It was certainly better than trying to cut through the thorny grass in the small fields by the river. This was one of our lowest points of the race. Donald had a blinding headache, the heat was unbearable, the ground was really uneven and, to make things worse, near the end of the leg two teams ran passed us as if they were on a road run!

At last we reached the checkpoint - Graham and Sakis appeared to be quite worried about us and thought that something had gone wrong. I assured them that, given the conditions, we had done very well just to finish the leg!

Leg 10 - 8.5 kilometre mountain bike (510m of ascent).

We took on board more food, refilled our Camelbaks and set of on a beautiful cycle up through the forest. Despite being in the trees, it was very hot as the sun was directly overhead. We had been exhausted at the end of the last leg but we were back on our bikes, using different muscles and it felt good to take the weight off our feet! We rode well and passed a couple of teams on the seemingly never-ending climb.

Leg 11 - 7 kilometre mountain run (530m of ascent and 400m of descent).

Donald was still suffering from the effect of dehydration - despite having drunk over two and a half gallons of isotonic fluid during the day! We used 2 litres each on every leg and drank more at changeovers. Making sure that we ate and drank enough was Graham and Sakis most important task - without sufficient food and drink we could not hope to finish.

The first part of this leg was a climb through thick forest, which was mercifully cool and, despite being very tired and discovering that Donald had very badly blistered feet, we made good time. Until we came out of the trees! I discovered that I had lost our map somewhere in the forest. I was convinced that the checkpoint was the next hill over a small ridge and we slowly made our way to the summit - only to find no checkpoint! Disaster! Had my memory failed me? Had we gone up the wrong hill? I was sure that we were on the right hill but with no map how could I prove it? We looked around the surrounding peaks but could not see anyone. Even if we were on the right peak, I had no idea where the next checkpoint was. We had to wait and hope that the next team to come out of the forest would show us where to go.

Ten minutes later, the mixed team, who had started the leg before us, appeared out of the woods. We could see that they were heading up towards us. This confirmed that we were on the right summit and that the marshals were missing. However, we still had to wait on them reaching us before we could find out where the next checkpoint was. Amazingly, they had found our map in the forest! I quickly worked out where the next checkpoint was and we set off to the next changeover. Unfortunately, sitting at the summit in full sun for 20 minutes or more had not done Donald any good. He showed tremendous character as he forced himself to the end of the leg despite a blinding headache and badly blistered feet.

Leg 12 - 26 Kilometre mountain bike leg with 650m of descent and 100m of ascent

It was great to get back on the bikes and enjoy the thrill of a fast dirt track descent. Strenuous in its own way but the adrenaline rush means you forgot all your aches and pains!

Leg 13 - 12 kilometre run (100m of ascent and 780m of descent).

Just to show how cruel adventure race organisers can be, they had decided that the final leg of the day was to be a 12K downhill run (over half of which was on tarmac). We left the changeover just behind another team and this gave us a target to aim at. We settled down to a nice steady rhythm and we gradually caught and passed them. I don't know how we did it but, even after such a huge day, we were able to run all the way to the finish. After over twelve hours of racing we finally reached the last checkpoint. We had done really well over the last two legs and finished strongly.

Sakis had arranged that we could have a hot shower at a nearby luxury hotel - I doubt if the hotel had ever had two more tired or dirty guests! We hurried back to the campsite for an excellent meal by the river with beautiful, fluorescent fireflies blinking around us.

End of day 2 Campsite - showing team vehicle and backup crew

Day 3 - 74.8 kilometres with 2540m of ascent

Leg 14 - 18 kilometre mountain bike leg (520m of ascent and 260m of descent).

We both woke up feeling surprisingly good. At breakfast, we discovered that we were in 8th place - excellent!

Cyclists carrying their bikes over the narrow bridge

The leg started with 25 teams trying to cross a narrow 15^th century arched bridge. Donald and I let the rest go and set off in last place. As the track opened out we began to pick our way through the field. Donald was going really well and I struggled to keep pace with him over the first few kilometres. But as the gradient increased, I began to feel stronger and we started to pass team after team. At the top of the climb we set off on, for me, the best descent in the race - a fast, twisting, single-track blast through the forest. We descended quickly but kept everything under control (nearly!) to guarantee that we reached the finish.

Leg 15 - 28 kilometre mountain run (890m of ascent and 1100m of descent).

A strong cycle had put us into fifth place but we were about to start on the toughest leg of the race.  How could we run 18 miles and climb 890m in near 40-degree heat? No amount of training in Scotland could prepare us for such a torture!

Graham and Sakis performed their changeover routine with their usual quiet efficiency and we set off up the initial 440m climb. A couple of teams passed us at a trot on the way up the steep hot climb - were we impressed? Yes! Strangely we passed them on the way down - they were now walking! We never did work out the logic of them running up hills and walking down!

We made our way down into a mountain village and looked for some water - we had both drank all our water although we were less than half way through the leg! We refilled our Camelbaks at a garden hose. I don’t know what the old couple made of two Scotsmen appearing at their house asking for water but they didn’t seem at all surprised and were glad to help.

This leg was huge and we mentally broke it down into small sections. As each section passed by, we became increasingly confident that we could reach the end. Donald's feet were in a real mess and I do not know how he managed to keep going. Thankfully, I had adjusted to the maps and I navigated to each feature on the route without a mistake - so at least we didn't have to walk any unnecessary distance. We had one more scary moment as we walked towards the sound of a pack of barking dogs. Luckily, they turned out to be behind a fence and we passed them without incident. One high point in an otherwise very tough leg was when the motorbike marshal on top of the last hill gave us a drink of his iced water.

As we neared the end of the leg, we followed other teams' tracks through a cornfield. We later found out that one of those previous teams had been shot at by the irate landowner - next time we take the detour round the field!

Sakis was again concerned that something had happened to us but Donald and I were just delighted to finish the leg - even if we had walked almost all the way. For the first time, I was certain that we would finish the race.

Graham told us that, because the leading teams had finished the leg in such an exhausted state, the organizers had decided to shorten the next leg. They had taken out 1100m of climbing from the mountain bike section. Strangely, I was quite disappointed! We had been doing very well on the bike legs and, although this would have been the hardest climb in the race, I think we could have made up a lot of time on the other teams. We will never know!

Leg 16 - 16 kilometre mountain bike (100m of ascent).

This was now an easy tarmac leg to take us back to Kastrakis and the last two legs of the race.

Gavin in full flight!

Leg 17 - 30m rock climb and abseil

We had done our first rock climb only ten days earlier back in Lewis (thanks to Tim Pickering of Sgor) and our second climb was done on the sheer rock face of Meteora the night before the race (thanks to local climber Stefanos Nikologiannis who kindly took us out for a practice). Only one of us had to do the climb in the race and, after a short discussion, we decided that it would be me.

Gavin looking apprehensive before the climb

I was more than a little apprehensive because the practice climb had caused me a couple of problems - I had difficulty choosing a route and my running shoes did not grip the rock very well. But on race day, adrenaline kicked in and I seemed to see every hold as I climbed to the top without a problem. I traversed across the cliff to the other rope and quickly abseiled down. Four minutes for the round trip - not bad for a beginner!

Gavin and Donald on Climb

Leg 18 - 1.5 kilometre run (120m of descent).

Donald and I teamed up again for the final short run down to the main square in Kalambaka. Our spirits soared as we headed down into the village and elation set in as we reached the finish line. We were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd who cheered us across the finishing line.  We had done it - we had completed our toughest adventure race yet.

Our final day had taken about nine hours for a total time of just under 30 hours for the race.  We celebrated with couple of bottles of Greek beer and headed for a well deserved shower.

Two hours later we were back for the prize giving ceremony. Sky sports would have been proud of all the music and flashing lights! The winners had beaten us by nearly 6 hours but we were proud just to have finished. We were 9^th out of 25 teams and, considering the heat, our lack of experience and our lack of training, this was as good a performance as finishing second in last year's team relay race.

Many thanks to Leader for sponsoring the local prize in the Western Isles Challenge race last year. The prize enabled us to take part in this race. Congratulations to Nikos and his team for putting together another well run and extremely challenging race. Nikos was our main contact before during and after the race and he could not have been more helpful. We had a wonderfully relaxing evening with him and his wife after the race. Thanks to Sakis for stepping in at short notice and acting as interpreter as well as assisting Graham to navigate round the Pindos Mountains. Without him we might never have seen Graham again!

Donald and Gavin celebrate finishing the race

Race Account by Gavin Earons

Photographs courtesy of Donald, Nikos and the Pindos Crossing website