Stage Six – Run for Home!
The final stage of the BG Energy Challenge was met with a mixture of excitement tinged with slight sadness that the event was drawing to a close, but before all the participants could hang up their running shoes for another year they had the stunning Rhossili Down to navigate and conquer. Embracing the picture postcard surroundings, each team had to dig deep and muster their last reserves of energy for the fastest to finish stage.
Before the teams could set foot on the course they first had to successfully complete a start puzzle. Only then would their assault on the Welsh coastline commence. Teams were required to finish the course on foot completing various mental challenges at four Action Zones (AZs) along the way. Only after successfully completing the tasks at each AZ would teams be able to progress.
Teams were called into position at the start line for one final brief from the Stage Director. Team 33, Amec occupied top spot on the leader board following their convincing victory on the penultimate stage. It was all to race for though, as hot on the heels of the Aberdeen team were Team 5, BG Brasil and Team 13, Accenture in second and third place respectively.
Amec looked to be in control from the off but then lost valuable time after struggling with the first puzzle. This left the race wide open as teams filed past heading for their ascent of Rhossili Down and out of sight.
Meanwhile the substitutes were busy attempting to solve their own puzzle that would earn their team valuable bonus minutes.
With one hour gone, teams had reached the half way mark and had started on the final leg of the course with one puzzle now standing between them and the finish line. In the end it was Team 5, BG Brasil that claimed stage victory, followed by Team 13, Accenture and Team 19, Perenco.
Despite an impressive performance from the stage winners, it was not enough to dethrone Team 33, Amec from the top of the table. The all-Scottish team from Aberdeen finished the stage in sixth position and in doingso, earned themselves the title of BG Energy Challenge 2011 – UK winner.
Winning Team Captain Paul Slater from Team 33, Amec said: “We’re absolutely delighted to win the BG Energy Challenge and it makes all the hard work over the last few months well worth it. The experience has brought us closer together as a team and given us some great memories to take home with us. The event presents a unique opportunity to meet and interact with new people, as well as raising money for a very worthwhile cause.”
It was a fitting close to this year’s BG Energy Challenge. Over the course of the weekend teams had been put through some tough mental and physical tests, but everyone agreed it had been a fantastic experience made all the more rewarding thanks to the new relationships forged along the way and the huge amount of money raised for charity.