A NEW series of adventure racing - a score-orienteering sport completed by foot and mountain bike - starts in 2005 in the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

UK adventure racer and outdoor instructor James Thurlow, who has set up his base in Backbarrow, Ulverston, is launching the Open5 Series and Open24 Adventure Race through his new company Open Adventure.

The Open5 series will be a quartet of five-hour score events for solos and pairs in the Dales (March 13), South Lakes (May 22), North Pennines (October 16) and Central Lakes (December 4).

And for the more adventurous there is the Open24, a non-stop 24-hour event at the end of July, somewhere in North-West England (July 30-31).