The increasingly-popular Open Adventure on-foot/on-bike navigation events - with 5, 12 and possibly-unnecessarily-rugged 24-hour versions - are all set for 2008 with the first Open5 event taking place on 27 January.
The short-format Mountain Hardwear Open5 series is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular option, with 350 competitors at 2007's final event. 2008 is a slightly transitional year for the Open5 series - 2007 had five events, and there'll be a 2008/09 five-event series starting in November 2008. To bridge the gap, there'll be three 2008 spring events - 27 January (North York Moors), 9 March (Yorkshire Dales) and 18 May (Lake District). The 08/09 events will take place on the first Sunday of November, December, February, March, April and May - venues are to be announced.
Open Adventure's events have always been held in areas that are indisputably in the north of England, hence the organisers' description of the Open12's new home in the Peak District as "heading south". Even further south will be the Open24, which will be held in Wales, although which particular bit of Wales is yet to be revealed.
All of the events have their own prizes, but if you're very keen then you can chance your arm in the Open Adventure Endurance Series. Results from one Open5, the Open12 and Open24 count to your overall series total.
Full details of all the events at www.openadventure.com.
