Why is there a picture of a woman on a scooter on this page?

Well, although the race has five main disciplines, teams may also use other human powered means of transport, such as scooters, if they think that offers an advantage. For example, it might be worth using a scooter to cover a short tarmac section at the start or finish of a run, or as transport to get a team member into position for a transition. Similarly, roller blades would be acceptable (though in all honesty, probably not very useful).

If you are planning on using some other form of transport though, please discuss it with the race director, in confidence, first.

Can you explain the format of the pairs race a bit more?

The pairs category will be tightly limited on numbers and so competitors will be closely vetted for experience and applicants should note that this is a serious undertaking. Pairs will complete the majority of the team course and at least one of the members will undertake the kayaking sections and therefore must be suitably qualified. Pairs may find it beneficial if both members are able to complete the kayak sections. Pairs will be completely self sufficient so no support crews are allowed; the partner not racing on the course must drive the team vehicle and be prepared to have food/drinks/equipment/clothing etc ready for the other member. Obviously without someone to drive their vehicle the logistics will require great thought to enable this, but that's just one of the great parts that make this race different from the rest! Any questions then please contact the Stephanie Sargent. We anticipate much discussion on the forum!

How hard is the swimming?

This is probably one of the most asked questions as it is obvious that many potential competitors find the idea of an 800m open water swim daunting. Our advice is "don't worry". Most people who ask this haven't had experience of swimming in a (swimming specific) wetsuit, which makes a tremendous difference to the swimmer's buoyancy (and therefore their confidence). Also, although the swims are competitive, the best swimmers will only be a few minutes quicker than the slower competitors so not being the fastest swimmer will not disadvantage your team hugely. In fact it is not unusual for swimmers to break into a bit of breaststroke during a swim to have a look round or get their breath back.

What sort of facilities are there at the overnight stops?

We use some sort of community hall or school hall for each of our overnight stops, which is where you will be fed if you have signed up to the meals package. You can also use the halls for planning or just sitting and we will hold our daily briefings there, but you must be prepared to sleep outdoors in your own tents. The camp sites that we have found are areas of land as close to the evening venue as we can source them! They are NOT camp sites in any other sense of the word and do not have facilities of their own, they are simply a lump of, hopefully flattish and not too boggy, ground on which to dump a tent for the short night hours.

There will be toilets at the evening venue but you may be some distance from them and we can't undertake that there will be any showers anywhere! Some of the halls do have one or two but please remember that there are likely to be circa 150 people trying to use them! If this bothers you a lot, your only recourse is to try to source B&B near the overnight stops. But there are lots of clean freshwater lochans and lots of sea and there are also a few showers around at public swimming pools, harbours etc.

What about food?

Each evening we ask the local hall committee, or some similar group to lay on an evening meal for us. The price for this is likely to be £9 per person per night and these meals need to be booked in advance. Although we can't guarantee the type or quality of the food that will be served it is generally a large home-made 3 course meal along the lines of: a choice of soups, a choice of main course (lasagne/fish pie/chilli etc.) and a substantial pudding such as a crumble. In recent years there has been 100% take up of the meals package and competitors have often made favourable comments about them in our post race survey.

Otherwise, teams are responsible for their own food. There are shops dotted about on the islands, including Co-ops in most of the bigger communities, but teams are advised to stock up on a few staples early on. It also pays to have a big box of snack foods in your van so there is always something handy to eat - You will want to eat a lot during the race!