13 We went past the slide on the 1st lap and could see a large inflatable doughnut in the middle of the swim which obviously the runners were expected to climb up and through. On the 1st lap we had wooden floating platforms to get across the water and to be honest I was thankful for that. I had already decided not to do a 2nd lap due to the cold. The ground was still frosty that morning so the event staff informed us that the competitive wave would be allowed a timed penalty in a waiting pen for 1 minute instead of having to do the swim which I totally agreed with. After the swim zone, a few more obstacles and another inflatable seesaw, we headed back into the event village where there was a central platform you had to run across... this was while dodging long batons which were going around like clock hands to knock you off into water. I was running with a friend Claire Rosser, so we spent a while watching each other dodge a close fate of getting wet before coming to the famous.... travelator. Well, what can I say, I just stood there and thought I was going to end up looking like an Aldi item being thrown through a checkout at 100 mph funnily enough, I wasn’t too far wrong either!! There were 2 sides to choose from and one side was faster than the other. I was lucky, my 1 lap relatively fresh legs worked hard enough to get up the slower side on a 2nd attempt but watching the other racers come in off their 2nd laps you could really see what a difference 2 laps and the cold water swim had made to them. I then spent a good hour watching lots of people try every way possible to get up the travelator... we saw everything from people taking wet shoes off to actually taking shoes AND socks off, and several very close attempts with staff at the top holding hands out to help people. There were 2 people taking it in turns on the mic at the bottom of the travelator encouraging people and the general banter coming from them was brilliant. All in all, a really cracking day out, not only for competitive racing but for having some proper fun with a bunch of friends or like-minded people. This really is one of those races where I could have stayed and played all day on the big inflatable obstacles. Thank you to everyone who made the event possible. The staff, the volunteers and all fellow attendees. I truly made some unforgettable memories that day. www.roughrunner.com REVIEW : ROUGH RUNNER @RoughRunners @RoughRunners @rough.runner Photo: Rough Runner Photo: Rough Runner
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