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ForEliteAtheletes to FunRunners
RACE: REVIEW
...professionalism and all round brilliance
Safety Man. Sandbag carry followed that, up, up and
up or at least that’s how it felt, an over waist wade
through the pond with the thick, icky, sticky muddy
bottom that you sunk into at least knee deep (that’s
how I felt anyway) was a struggle without the use of
your arms to balance you and there was no way I
was dropping my sandbag in the water or it would
still be there now. After dumping off the sandbag I
felt relieved to ditch the excess load.
A good stretch of downhill running now until you
reach the 5ft walls and another kilometre later the
7ft decline walls. Scaling these with ease I felt strong
and was thoroughly enjoying every element of the
race so far. A simple drag with a chain and a solid
lump of concrete was fun just to break up the run,
mine had a mind of it’s own and managed to turn
on its side and go rolling past me to the finish point,
it was almost dragging me along, not the other way
round but I wasn’t complaining. Shortly after that I
was plunged into darkness upon entering the tunnel.
The JD boys weren’t wrong in saying it was dark.
I literally couldn’t see a thing!! Further on was the
rope up and over the bridge. So nice to see a new
use of the expanse terrain and natural obstacles in
Pippingford Park. I’ve run these trails many many
times but still saw parts I’ve never seen before.
Heading back towards the event village fills my
head with a false sense of elation. Part of me thinks
I’m almost done, the music is getting louder, I’m
heading towards the finish. The actual intelligent
part of my brain looks at my watch and sees I’m only
approximately 12k into this 18k race so I know full
well I’m not even nearly done yet.
The Rope climb is a good challenging height and the
cheers from spectators just drives you on to do your
best. With that in the bag and then the hang tough
rings done with relative ease, it’s a quick gather your
thoughts, dig a little deeper moment and head back
out away from the village for the final stretch.
Ninja steps across the brow of the hill are a sweet
and welcome new addition. 6ft incline wall, quarry,
The keg carry
was quite
pleasant whilst
downhill where
I thought “this
isn’t so bad”
... it was almost
dragging me
along, not the
other way round
but I wasn’t
complaining
recline walls: – all excellent obstacles and perfectly
spaced to break up any monotonous distances. The
Irish Kiss was interesting for me. I tried the elegant
flip over backwards which I’d seen in the promo
video’s but the reality was a total flop, a struggle and
a clamber over the top all done with the elegance of
a hippopotamus.
Deano rig saw many a failure and in hindsight
I’m sure I would have conquered it but I was on a
mission to finish now after rolling my ankle I just
wanted to get to the end. I took the penalty run
quite gladly and continued. The keg carry was quite
pleasant whilst downhill where I thought “this isn’t so
bad” amazing how quickly that thought turned when
there was the slight incline going back up where I
swear it increased in weight! Fatigue was well and
truly hitting me now. Finally, the end is in sight, just
2 more obstacles to go. The 30m rope traverse. This
one excited me from the minute I saw it in the event
village that morning. Such brilliant use of the digger
to have it anchor one end of it. Starting with a climb
up the wall then the “on top” technique I thought I’d
be over it in no time. By half way I was exhausted so
the encouraging marshals shouted for me to drop
under the rope and traverse it walking the hands
and feet over one another, with Adam Luck there
counting down how many arm reaches I had left until
I touched the wall, I literally had no strength left but
felt absolutely delighted to have reached the end.
Just the ninja rings to go but with another roll of the
same ankle in literally the last 5 steps my sensible
head kicked in and with the UK Championship
looming I made the decision to not put myself at
risk of falling or landing awkwardly so again, I took
the penalty lap but did so gladly and crossed that
finish line with joy and relief. Totally exhausted,
probably slightly delirious and in need of new legs I
was glad to have finished. The hills are an absolute
beast, the 2016 home to the UK Championship is
one of absolute perfection with the terrain being a
challenge in itself. I can’t wait to see what the JD
team have in store for us then.
Seems like
my number
13 wasn’t so
unlucky after
all.
Photo:
My Bib Number
Photo:
My Bib Number
Photos:
My Bib Number
