School House is very proud of Lucy and her achievements at this prestigious event.
Well done Lucy!
After a long day and night it was good to arrive 3am at
Queens Park Hotel in Tekirova Turkey on the South coast near Antalya. After a
short 3hr sleep we had a fulfilling breakfast ready for the training event held
near Tekirova. This was a very nice area
to warm us up to the new terrain. It was a mixture of sand dunes and forested
area on the coast. It was relaxed and we were allowed to choose how to use our
time here. My fellow England athlete and new friend Niamh and I went out
together and had a memorable time. I almost stood on a tortoise as we were
climbing up on the dry lose soil. Then we managed to get the wrong side of a
crag and had to rock climb down- our first criteria to avoid on our course.
Then we ventured out onto the sand dunes and returned back to base along the
beach and visited a ruin amphitheatre along the way.
That evening we had the opening ceremony which was amazing.
We all had to queue up in alphabetical country order then the procession
started. The roads were closed and we had police escorts. The civilians were
out on the roads watching and cheering us on. It was incredible to see how much
effort the town had put into this, and it felt like we were Olympic athletes!
At the opening ceremony, in the town amphitheatre, we were welcomed by
tradition singing and dancing, by amazingly talented children, a flag
procession and speeches. It was wonderful!
The next day was the long distance event at Tekirova. We
were all put into quarantine to start with and there was a small warm up area.
The first part of the course consisted of many boulders in runnable forest. On
control 5-6 there was a massive spur to cross. It was hard to tell which route
to choose, weather to go up and over through green hashes or round on the path.
For many this was the deciding leg but I was lucky in that I didn’t choose the
best route but didn’t take too long. I was then chased by a Spanish girl for
the rest of the course in the craggy area. The run in was tiring but fun with
commentary and all teams cheering you. At the end you had to make sure not to
be caught by the mic! I was 7th on this day and first in my team so
I was really happy!
On the middle day we had a rest day where we were allowed to
do almost whatever we wanted. My team and I spent the day sunbathing on the
beach and swimming in the sea and pool. We even had a foam party! That
afternoon there was a cultural fair where all teams had a stall and were
handing out sweets and other traditional food and gifts. We also had to collect
and swap badges and loom bands with other people and countries. Having eaten
loads of sweets we gulped down the delicious buffet dinner and amazing cakes
before heading down to the amphitheatre. It was the cultural show where all the
countries performed a dance or show. England’s was Morris dancing which was
hilarious!!
The next day was the middle distance at Beycik. This was
also very bouldery and dry underfoot. Again we were in quarantine but we had to
wait longer. This was alright though as we had primary school children singing
to us! The race was very fast and you had to always be concentrating. Almost
every control was on a boulder and it was tricky to find the right one. There
were some injuries in the team but with strong runs we all manage to do very
well. Securing our third prize as a team.
The final day was very different
but my favourite day. It was the friendship event around a nearby ton, Kemer.
The night before we had to find our teammates. I was with Rikka a girl from
Finland and Martus a boy from Slovakia. We had 45 minutes to plan our routes.
There were approximately 50 controls that we had to collect between us and 3
meeting stations where you had to meet up with your team and punch together
before carrying on with the course. Our first meeting time was planned well and
we all arrived at similar times. But the next me and Martus had less controls
and were waiting for a while. The final meeting point was the final control and
when we had to run into the finish holding hands. This was amazing and I felt
like I was flying!!
That evening we had our closing
ceremony and prize giving. My team, the junior girls, came 3rd in
our category so all went up to collect our medals and massive trophy. I was
lovely to have a prize for the whole team as we had all done really well. The
event was closed with the handing over of the flag to Italy for two years’
time, then fireworks and disco in the evening before the early 1am start the
next morning!
Thank you for all the support I
received and to all those who helped me to qualify for such a great and once in
a lifetime experience.
