Inaugural SandStorm race a thrilling success

Tuesday 02 December 2014

A gruelling adventure race held in St Ouen's Bay has been hailed a big success by organisers who hope to make it a regular event attracting tourists to Jersey.

The SandStorm Adventure Race, sponsored by QI Finance, and organised by Absolute Adventures saw Simon's Sand Quarry tranformed into an extreme adventure course. 120 competitors battled it out in perfect weather conditions, while also raising money for the RNLI.

Competitors undertook a series of challenges, climbing sand dunes, carrying a sand bag for a kilometre, crawling under dumper trucks and jumping in and out of dunes buried under water. 50 individuals and 18 teams of three people took part, along with six juniors.

The course was set at the working quarry and one of the organisers Sean Kinsella said they were very careful to ensure the natural habitat wasn't affected, "When we finished clearing up the site it looked like nothing had happened. The race routes were all on tracks that massive JCBs and diggers drive on all the time and we were very strict with our planning. Spectators and competitors were well briefed on where they could and couldn't go. We are outdoor people and our ethos is to experience an environment not impact on it. It is good that people can see how beautiful it is there."

Absolute Adventures plan to build on the success of the inaugural race with the next one in March. "We want to hold the race three times a year, increasing the distance, changing the course and doubling the number of competitors. We want people off island to come, we had two from the UK for this race, so hopefully it will be a draw for people to come to Jersey."

A £5 donation was made to the RNLI for each competitor and further funds were raised from spectator donations. Organisers used tyres and wood that were due to be incinerated, to build the course.

The race has been modelled on the Tough Muddler concept in the UK, part of a growing adventure industry.

Simon's Quarry has been extracting sand from Les Mielles since the turn of the 19th Century. The natural lake, which the public rarely see, was incorporated into the challenges.

Anyone wishing to register for the next SandStorm race should contact Absolute Adventures, www.absolutejersey.co.uk