Through Hell and back

Kate went through Hell last week.

She was in Sweden competing in the final of Racing Women's global racing competition.

The driving was fine (despite being on ice). Hell was simply the name of the Norwegian village we travelled through to get to Åre in Sweden for the final. The remote lakes Kate raced on were actually further away, near Hotell Kallgården which served amazing Moose meatballs.

Wikipedia states that Hell has a grocery store, a petrol station, a fast food shop, and a retirement home. Quite why someone would retire there, I'll never know. With a population density of 1 person per 2 square miles, it's going to be pretty quiet.

Kate though, was in Sweden for racing, on ice - thick ice.

150 women took part in heats across the globe, and the final 25 were here for the final.

It was truly global. Special mention goes to Fatima Albloushi who spent five days getting to Sweden from the UAE. Her baggage arrived in Sweden just as she boarded the plane at the end of the week to go back to the UAE.

Final briefing on Monday night, and then a Tuesday of seminars and training on the ice in four-wheel drive Golfs and Porsches (with all traction control turned off).

On the Wednesday morning, instructors sat bravely with competitors and assessed their car control. Kate's driving looked tidy (even with the backend swinging out and some spectacular drifts). Then it was timed laps. I thought Kate looked fast, but it was difficult to tell because there were no clocks on display and all timing was done by the assessors from a surveillance-style van at the start line.

Then we went to another lake where the chief instructor announced the 15 shootout finalists - based on points for control and lap times. Kate was one of them!

15 competitors from England, France Germany, India, Poland, Sweden, Taiwan and Wales raced round a new track, competing for 4 fully funded places racing Radicals with Racing Women.

Conditions were deteriorating by the minute. It had been warm overnight (ie not below zero), so the previous day's melted ice hadn't had chance to freeze again, and the blazing sun meant the track was getting very sloppy, giving far less grip than ice (if that's even possible). One bend in particular, proved tricky, with a number of the competitors burying themselves in the snow banks and having to endure the embarrassment of a tow out.

Then it was Kate's turn for the timed laps. 13th to go. Start slots were drawn at random. Again, fast, tidy, and a brave last turn. No way to know how she did though. Hidden timing, and the results wouldn't be announced until after breakfast the following day. So, breakfast wasn't the relaxing affair I'd hoped for.

Then the results were announced in reverse order. Could it be any more stressful! 15th, 14th, 13th, 12th, 11th and a pause. My knees were shaking. Goodness knows how Kate was feeling. Top ten. Kate was in the top ten. 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th and another pause. Top five. Kate was in the top five. The chief instructor then announced there was only 1/16th of second between 5th and 4th, and 4th was the first funded place in Radicals. 5th, Kate Broadbent! What a result. Just 1/16th of a second in it. 5th in the world.

Time for a couple of days skiing, and then back through Hell, Trondheim, and Oslo to Gatwick.

It has been a truly magical experience. And we'll be back. Driving on ice is such a cool way to train. It's definitely something we'll be repeating.

I had a reindeer pizza on the first night. That I won't be repeating.