Positives: great fun run, brilliant support from marshals and other runners
Negatives: the weather, no medal, cost
This was our first ever obstacle race, and @TheWelshWookie and I had planned our outfits far more than we had planned the run itself!
My sister-in-law, Janice, transformed us into zombies, and she did a great job:
We arrived at Helensburgh Rugby Club with plenty of time to spare, before registration opened, and so we were able to use the WCs before most people arrived, and watched the end of the rugby:
As soon as we were able to, we signed our disclaimer forms and collected our bibs:
And then soaked up the atmosphere. We had our photos taken with quite a few of the other runners: these are a couple from the ZNR FaceBook Page:
I wore my base layer compression top, and long running tights with my Nike LunarFly GTX trainers. I don’t have a pre-race gear check pic 😦
The facilities at the start/finish were good, with runners having full access to the changing and shower facilities. if I knew then how much these were needed…… more of that later! There was music playing, and the runners, both zombies and survivors, were milling about, chatting and taking photos. There was a mix of runners who were, and weren’t wearing fancy dress.
The race was due to start at 5.30pm, but we were told that there would be a short delay. At around 5.45, we were asked to enter an enclosed area for the pre-race briefing and warm up. As the ground was a little marshy, people (us included) were trying to find dry-ish areas. Turns out that was just daft!
The ‘survivors’ were then asked to head to the start line, and they headed off, with a five minute head start. Each survivor had a belt with two ‘life tags’, and the zombies were supposed to chase down the survivors, and take a life tag. After what seemed like forever, we were allowed to go; and we entered the forest in a cloud of dry ice- very atmospheric!
After only a couple of minutes, we were towards the back of the pack, but those in front of us took a wrong turn, and before we knew it we were leading the zombies! Of course, this only lasted for a few minutes, before we were swiftly overtaken!
The rain had just started as we began running, and the grass was wet and slippery. The light was beginning to fade, and I realised that this was going to be great fun! We reached our first obstacle, and had to crawl under a bridge, into a river, under a cargo net and up the muddy riverbank. Only then did I remember that I had my iPhone in my waistpack, and I was soaked through! Fortunately, my phone was OK!
So, even in the first kilometre my feet were squelching and I was dripping wet. We ran up a farm track, in the mud, where we were joined by a cow on the path! At the top of the muddy track was a large bog which we had to cross, and I managed to get my left leg well and truly stuck- fortunately I was able to drag myself out, and the next part of the race was through the dark forest, which was really, very muddy.
Some parts of the course were in complete darkness. Other parts of the race were lit with glow sticks, or had strobe lighting. It was slow going, but so much fun. On more than one occasion, I found myself hugging trees for dear life!
The marshals were excellent, they were very supportive and really encouraged us to keep going and kept us in character!
There were two water stops on course, with jelly babies at both, which was ideal, as much of the ‘race’ was walking, or wading through mud!
Towards the end of the run, I was able to pick up some speed, and run along a forest track road. Despite the squelching and the mud, I managed an OK pace! At around this time, the rain started to fall, really heavily, which didn’t help with visibility or the conditions; but added to the atmosphere.
At the last kilometre, we had to wade through a burn, which was icy cold. I couldn’t stop smiling! And there was one final surprise in store- a series of hay bales to climb over and cargo nets to clamber under. Fortunately, @TheWelshWookie was able to give me a shove over the hay bales: I’ll really need to work on my upper body strength! Finally, we crossed the finish line.
I’m happy to report that we finished ahead of several survivors, even though we didn’t get any life tags.
We then had to give our numbers, to make sure that all runners made it across the finish line!; and we were given our goody bags. We then grabbed our dry clothing and headed to the clubhouse to change.
Here’s the map of the race:
The goody bag was OK: a biscuit, a snack bar, a Buff sticker and tattoo and a bottle of water:
There as an after-run party which I’m sure was fantastic. We had planned on going, but I had a baby shower to go to and so we couldn’t stay for the party. Maybe next year!
I have two bruised and scraped knees, but I survived!
Here’s a short video clip:
My Stats:
Time: 1:35:42, but I came up a little short on distance.
The Medal: There was no medal, though I was sure that the website did originally say there was going to be one. Maybe I dreamed that.
Goody Bag: a paper bag which was sodden in seconds, with a biscuit, a snack bar, a bottle of water and a Buff tattoo and sticker.
T-shirt: a black technical T shirt. The design is good, but it was only available in men’s large, which was a little disappointing.
This run was a little on the expensive side, given that there was no medal or choice of t shirt size, but brilliant fun.
As you’ll have seen from yesterday’s post, we had some heavy rain yesterday. I know because I ran in it 😉
And so, as a result of all this rain, we have had a landslip. Actually, we’ve had three landslips today: two on the A83 at Glen Kinglas and Glen Croe at the Rest and Be Thankful, and a third at Tighnabruaich. The A83 is the main road into (and out of) Argyll, and this is the eighth landslip closure in six years, since we moved to Argyll.
Here’s the clear-up job today:
And just to give you some perspective, here’s a wee map.The dark blue line is the affected part of the road:
The road has just been re-opened for now, but as the forecast is for more rain, I’m obviously a bit concerned about getting to Glasgow tomorrow night for the Great Scottish Run weekend. 😦
The alternative route is a sixty mile detour, also marked on the map, and it adds about an hour and a half onto the two hour journey.
It’s just one of the joys of living in a rural area, on the west coast of Scotland!
I have just one thing that I puzzle over. This is the warning sign at The Rest:
When the lights flash, we’re advised to proceed with caution. Does that mean I should drive slowly, and keep an eye on the hillside; or drive fast to minimise the chances of being swept away? 😮
Wish me luck in getting through to Glasgow tomorrow!
When I was in Dunoon today, I watched the storm clouds brewing:
And my first thought was, urgh!
You’d think I’d be used to it. I live on the West Coast of Scotland. Rain is something you’d expect me to be used to running in. But I’m not!
In the past, I’ve always been a ‘fair weather’ runner; I’ve skipped any runs that would involve running in the rain.
Yes, I know, I know.
But over the past 18 months, I’ve run in all weathers, and I really do love it, but I still find that I need to drag myself out there when it rains. When I’m actually running, I enjoy it- running in the rain is great! It’s refreshing, it keeps you cool, the roads are generally quieter, I get to splash in puddles…… but why do I still find it hard to get myself out the door?
Tonight, the rain was torrential, and the wind was quite strong. I didn’t really want to run. But I did. And I LOVED it! We were pretty speedy (well, for us, that is). We only did a two miler, since we’re, ahem, lazy ‘tapering’ for Sunday’s 10K, but I’m really pleased with the run 🙂
And, I found another heart!
Here’s a heart I found a couple of weeks ago, that I forgot to share….
Run: 2 miles
Time: 18:44
Trainers: LunarFly GTX
Weather: very wet, rainy and windy
I listened to a Jillian Michael’s podcast again today, instead of music 🙂
Today’s Life Lesson: am I the only person who leaves their reusable bags in the car EVERY time I go to the supermarket?
Today has been one of those days….. and so I arrived home thinking…..
So I did! But it was grey, and wet and windy out, so @TheWelshWookie and I got thoroughly soaked. It felt great!
There’s only really one word that can be used to describe today’s weather: dreich.
I took a couple of pictures, just so you could see the village in the rain:
I probably had too much fun, stomping through these on my way around the harbour:
Today’s Stats:
Run: 4 miles
Time: 43:26 slow
Weather: Dreich!
Trainers: Nike LunarFly GTX
@TheWelshWookie’s first Running Track: he listens to the same playlist every day, so it is always
Today’s Life Lesson: sometimes, no matter how hard you try to convince someone that they need to listen to what you are actually saying, they just cannot hear it- they subconsciously choose not to.
A taste + rate / debate of gluten free dining in Glasgow Scotland. By newlyweds team The Murphy’s. Want the latest on her fashion updates too ? Join writer/ blogger @cityslickerinthestix.com
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