Causeway Coast Adventure Racing organised its first race recently at Binevenagh.

The 'Come and Try' event attracted 34 teams with competitors from across the Province, Ireland and England and was aimed at those who were completely new to the sport.

Adventure Racing involves many disciplines including running, trekking, mountain biking and kayaking along with rope work and navigation. In addition the teams had to had to complete special tasks including a zipline and canoeing.

This event was a taster for the upcoming series of six races to be oraganised across the Province next year and was aimed at developing skills and endurance 'in would be' adventure racers.

Of the 34 teams who started the race in the morning, 32 completed the course. The fastest time was clocked up by Antrim team Tango and Cash in a time of three hours and 44 minutes,Belfast team 'Uphill Struggle' finished sercond, while 'The Young Ones' - Alistair Bratten and Gerry O' Doherty from Portstewart - came third.

The weather turned for the better for the evening barbecue in aid of Macmillan Cancer, which raised over £170.

Causeway Coast Adventure Racing are very grateful for the fantastic support and encouragement they received from a number of statutory agencies and businesses including:

• Forest Service
• Limavady Borough Council
• Alison McQueen of DCAL
• Greg Clarke from Adventure Ireland
• Holmes Cash and Carry for refreshments
• Chris Elliott for the barbecue and photographs of the event

The race also attracted sponsorship from:

• McDonald's Coleraine, who sponsored the rope section
• Todds of Campsie, who sponsored reflective bibs
• Billy Nutt of Nutt Travel, who has supported the CCAR team in their endeavours over a number of years.

The club whould like to thank members of Pegasus Athetic Club, Causeway Coast Kayaking Club and colleagues from the adventure racing fraternity across Ireland who volunteered their services as marshals for the event.