As I sit here once again aching and nursing my various ailments, I am reflecting on my latest and last major physical challenge this year. A number of people suggested completing a Mud Runner event for the
40 list and said it was the most fun 10km run they had ever done, so it made the
list. On the whole I would have to say I agree!
As usual very little preparation or training was completed
before this challenge, although I did have the following items packed for the
challenge;
- Black Bag for dirty clothes and trainers
- Clean clothes
- Wet wipes
- Anti bacterial handwash
- Towel
- Drink and snacks
- Glasses in case I lost my lens
- Large bottle of water for rinsing off mud.
When my pack arrived from the mud runner arrived and I
started to read the handy guide, realisation started to hit that this might be
quite a bit more physical than I expected. The course details read; ‘This is a
tough 10 km course made up of rutted tracks, stony uneven ground, marsh and bog
areas, brambles, gravel and fields which are occasionally used by stock. There
will also be approx 10 obstacles interspaced around the course!'
The info guide explained that they will start the runners in
waves in 5 minute intervals, the first wave would be for people who could
confidently run a 10km in under 50 minutes and the next wave was a slightly
slower time etc. I figured out our wave would be Wave 7 – ‘Just Happy to Get
Round!’
That is exactly where we did start and on the whole, I was surprised
by how many steep hills and I mean steep hills there were. The first one right
at the beginning nearly finished me off, which wasn’t an ideal start! I was also surprised by how much mud – as stupid
as that sounds, I expected it to be about 60% mud and 40% dry but it was more like
90% mud! In the first 10 minutes I fell
over on my bum, there were plenty more comedy slips and falls by us and by all
the other runners with lots of people sustaining injuries. I was starting to
realise that it was going to be a miracle to come out of this without any bumps
and bruises and possibly more serious injuries!
Gritting my teeth and lack of core muscle, I tried my best to
stay upright and my shoes on my feet! Lara (I am not a runner) was like a
bloody gazelle flying over the mud and I was like a baby hippo trundling along
behind her like bambi on ice. It was so difficult to walk in parts let alone run, with some deep puddles or sludge along the way.
On the whole, it was hilarious with great camaraderie
with everyone helping each other, laughing away. There were some hilarious
comedy falls including Lara falling off a log and people losing their shoes or
getting stuck fast in the mud. One lady got completely stuck in the mud under
one obstacle, while a very cocksure young man went shooting past her crawling on
his hands and knees saying it was much easier his way. So the lady tried that
but quickly got stuck fast again shouting ‘no it bloody isn’t any easier’ much
to all our hilarity.
The few dry sections in the heat was surprisingly easy
compared to drudging through mud. We finally reached 9km and were loving it and
laughing at how hilarious it all was.
The hardest obstacle was the rope climb up a steep bank with
loads of people falling and getting stuck including one woman who got
unceremoniously dragged up by the ropes by her team as she got stuck. Lara and
I attempted it together side by side and despite having very little upper body
strength, I managed it ok. Very near the top Lara came a cropper and got stuck
in a really slippy bit. In my stupidity I tried to step over to her line to
help her but actually only made things worse as added my muddy arse in her face
and we both got stuck. Somehow or other through sheer scrambling and
determination we both got to the top and were euphoric!
We went running up to the water slide, where the marshall
told us to run and dive face first onto the slide. Fantastic we thought, we
looked at each other and dove on it head first laughing hysterically. The water
was flying in our face rendering us blind and we shot down the slide and then
disaster struck. A lady had not cleared from the bottom of the slide, blind and
out of control, I careered right into her, with me smashing my abdomen right
into her foot. I was severely winded and in pain but came off loads better than
her, as she was screaming in pain and her ankle was at a very odd angle. She
had most definately broken her ankle or more to the point, the force of my body
hitting her ankle had broken her ankle. The medical support was quick to help
her and once I had recovered physically, we realised there was nothing we could
do but carry on to the end. It was such a shame as we didn’t feel excited or
euphoric to finish what had been a very long and hard 2 and half hours. I was
devastated that I had somehow hurt someone else and felt so guilty that the
last swim across the lake and obstacle to cross the finish line was very bitter
sweet. Once getting checked out by the medical team myself and hearing that the lady had indeed got an ankle compound fracture, we limped off back
to our car feeling pretty dejected.
In my logical mind I realise it was just an accident and
actually could have ended up even more serious for both of us if we had hit in
a slightly different way or god forbid clashed heads, but it didn’t make me
feel much better and I couldn’t stop thinking about how much pain she must be
in.
Putting the accident aside though, I was really proud of
both of Lara and I and thought we did exceptionally well to get round as well
as we did and for the most part had fantastic fun doing it. Our official time
was 2 hours 41 minutes but we stopped for about 10 minutes when the accident
happened, so it was actually more like 2 hours 31. Lara (the gazelle) definitely
could have done it much quicker without me (the hippo) but we got through it
together and I’m so glad she was with me. Seeing as there was so much mud and
obstacles etc and little chance to actually run, we were really proud of our
time.
A bitter sweet end and to the lady who I don’t know but will
never forget, I wish you a very speedy recovery and am truly very sorry for
causing you so much pain.
