At the end of March, I am taking part in the awesome IGO N60 – Norwegian Challenge; a 4 day 4 discipline expedition race set in the stunning Norwegian wilderness. We’ll be doing x-country skiing, fat biking, touring ski, and a marathon snow/ice run to complete matters!! There are two other IGOs this year which look seriously tempting, one is in Montana in August, and the other in Morocco in October. But the N60 Norwegian Challenge has always stood out in particular to me as I have been captivated by the stunning Norwegian countryside for some time, and this seemed the ideal way to embrace and adventure in it.

So here is what we’re in store for in this year’s N60:

Day 1: Ski Touring, 15 miles, 3-7 hours
Day 2: Fat Biking, 26 miles, 3-8 hours
Day 3: X Country Skiing, 26 miles, 3-8 hours
Day 4: Snow Run, 26 miles, 3 – 7 hours

IGO is brilliant concept; a compressed action packed expedition race holiday, taking only 5 of your precious ‘annual days’ leave’ and ensuring you’re gonna be totally invigorated when you get back to your desk!! IGOs are based on a set formula; a 4 day 4 discipline expedition race held in the most stunning and dramatic environments in the world. It doesn’t pretend to be a brutal multi day marathon, nor a dreadfully long Atlantic row, rather a very well organised and robust challenge set in beautiful places with a great group of people.

This is the second annual N60, with a total of 20 competitors confirmed as taking part in this year’s race. The organisers have a highly capable support team in place to make sure everything runs smoothly, and that everyone is safe, because not to forget we will be in very remote parts of Norway and temperatures can quite feasibly be as low as -20 degrees celsius, so this safety net is vital for an event of this nature. Those there to keep an eye on us will include expedition leaders, local guides, experts in each of the four disciplines, medics, physios, photographers, videographers.

Competitors fly into Oslo on the Saturday morning, and then have two full days of training with pros, getting settled and checking gear etc, before the race starts on Tuesday. The last race day is the Friday, then we have a couple of days afterwards to unwind, relax and enjoy Norway. I love this format, and this is why I would be inclined to think of this as an adventure-challange-holiday-race … it’s just perfect and certainly beats being sat on a beach reading a book 100% …!!!

One of the really cool aspects is that each day, the camp is set up in a new part of the Norwegian wilderness, with teepees complete with log burners being home. As well as this, after the fat biking stage on day 2, all competitors are treated to husky dogsled rides, which again is another component which makes this a unique adventure, with the odd ‘leisure’ orientated element like this thrown into the mix!

I am really looking forward to my first IGO Adventure! I am fine tuning my kit at the moment, and I shall be writing a post on this in the next few days (love the kit aspect nearly as much as the adventuring itself .. is that sad?!!). Training is of course also underway, and hopefully I’ll be in with a chance of a podium finish .. to be continued …!!

IGO N60 – Norwegian Challenge: Event dates are from 11th – 19th March 2017. It costs £7,495pp person to have a 5* hotel set up pre and post quadrathlon, and £4,750 pp for a self-catered apartment accommodation pre and post (this excludes flights which are around £100).