Earlier this year I signed up for The Pain Barrier race. I've done a number of "mudstacle" races before with the first being Total Warrior up in the Lake District in 2011 and then The Spartan Sprint which I first did last year, but also this year. Usually I have a few friends with me to run these races as you often need help to climb over walls or up slippy slopes, but strangely I couldn't convince any of my friends to join me this morning.
I was extremely anxious about this race, I've had a fair amount of time out from running this year - after last year I decided to have the year off and concentrate on getting the house sorted. I've still thrown in a few 10Ks and even a half marathon, but my fitness is nothing like it used to be. Being in Bali for 2 weeks was hard work too as I had hoped I could go for runs, but with the humidity I just didn't even try. Also I'm not good with the cold, my fingers get really cold and so do my toes. I like nothing more to be tucked up in bed in my dressing gown in winter as well as under a blanket when watching TV.
I was half expecting to not manage to even persuade myself to get to the starting line, let alone complete this race as it was billed as follows:
The Pain Barrier at Parkwood is a 10km mud race set amongst 100 acres of off road wood and parkland. The course twists and turns across a variety of terrain so you’ll find yourself running along muddy tracks and open fields, through woodland, across ponds and water obstacles and tackling steep hills and ravines.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SWIM TO TAKE PART BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THE COURSE WILL GO THROUGH PONDS AND STREAMS WHICH WILL BE COLD, WET AND VERY MUDDY.
Please be prepared for elements. This is December in the North – we are not expecting sunny weather, so please prepare by bringing suitable warm racing clothing and a complete set of dry and warm clothes to change into afterwards.
I decided to prepare for a very very cold morning and so first step was to completely cover myself in Vaseline (you see people swimming the channel covered in goose fat, so I figured this was similar and might help), I then put 3 layers on my top (2 long sleeve and one t-shirt) and two layers on my legs. For my feet I put one layer of thin socks and then put plastic bags over them, and then put thick socks on top. Coddy had bought me a hot water bottle for afterwards as well as some thick and slightly waterproof gloves from one of my favourite shops - Go Outdoors.
We drove to Tong and it was around 1 - 2 degrees Centigrade. I picked up my registration pack and hid in the car until I absolutely had to go to the starting line. The sun was out and actually it wasn't too bad. Once I started to run down the first slope - it was muddy and squidgy grass, I started to warm up a bit.
It wasn't long before we hit ankle deep muddy swamps that nearly sucked my feet in and I had to accept a friendly helping hand from a fellow competitor to help me get out of the mud. There was a lot of running through very pretty woodland, but after getting covered in mud and cold, you stop admiring the scenery quite so much.
At this point I'm still fairly warm, and just a little bit startled by this photographer. In the next photos I look fairly exhausted having made it up a very steep and slippery hill.
After quite a few puddles, muddy paths where my feet just seemed to want to go sideways rather than forward and at least two occurrences of falling over (no injuries though I am extremely good at falling!) I arrived at the "Dips of Despair" nearly vertical slopes covered in mud that I had to hoist myself up, if it wasn't for a few kind hands dragging me up at certain points, I'm not sure that I would have made it up. It was fun going down the slopes though - like a slide only covered in mud.
About two thirds of the way around the course I reached the "Pool of Punishment" which was freezing - literally! It was a 5 minute walk through a frozen pond with sheets of ice across it. I had to shift the ice out of the way to walk across it. The guy in front of me wasn't having a good time of it, at one point I was convinced he might pass out and I'd have to help him out - the expression on the photographer's face in front of me suggested that he thought the same - I've checked the results though and he finished the race about 15 minutes after me. He really didn't look like he was having a good time of it though.
So in case you have never had the experience of walking through an ice covered pond, this is what it feels like. At first it's a bit exhilarating and then it feels as though there are lots of very sharp needles poking you and then your legs feel like they've turned into lead and it's much harder to keep lifting them up to keep moving forward. You may question why I do these races, but you do feel like it's a big achievement when you have finished them and it's fun in a weird sort of way. I love the camaraderie that you get with the other competitors - people helping you up slippery slopes, encouraging you along and helping you up if you fall down, It's very different to what you might expect from a normal race or indeed normal life. I look far too happy to have just climbed out of a frozen pond in this next photo.
When I got out of the pond, I jogged to warm up as fast as my frozen legs would allow and then hit another load of waist deep water. This was fortunately the last one and the rest of the course was running up and down hills and along slopes back to the finishing line. It took me an hour and 38 minutes and 1 second to get around the course. A normal 10K takes me around 52 - 55 minutes (51 is my personal best) so this is a lot longer, but the amount of climbing really slowed me down! It was a really good all over workout - back and arms to pull me up the slopes, core to keep me balanced and stop me topping over in the mud and legs from all the running and hill climbing.
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At the end I got a medal and a pretty decent goody bag and most importantly Coddy waiting with my coat! We walked back to the car, I swapped out of my muddy wet clothes and Coddy filled up the hot water bottle and drove me home. I'm pleased to report, it took a while to get the mud out from under my nails, but that I have no scratches or bruises at all.
EDIT - just found this video on YouTube which gives a good indication of the level of challenge!
I had a shower, and a chill out and then we went to see Ben Folds Five - more about that later.
