By Stu Blofeld
Well this was like no other 10km race I have ever entered! This was a race with a difference with an array of barmy army obstacles along the entire stretch of the route with a final finale which was simply mental. I don't want to give away too much so get comfortable whilst I walk/run you through the course and the race itself.
This was a team event and I was part of a 5 strong LBAC squad called 'This is NOT Champneys'. The team time would be the accumulation of the 5 individual times combined. We had a mix of runners men and women. With Snowdonia marathon just a week away I told myself that I wouldn't race this one hard, but who am I kidding. I just don't know the meaning of hanging back and I wanted to contribute to the team effort and post a competitive time.
And so with the blast of a cannon to signal the start of this 'nautical themed' XC race we were off!! The first obstacle was right ahead of us... hay bales that took us over a wall and off the other side. And then across a field ahead of us where I found myself leading. There was no hanging back 🙂 The next set up was a large field on an incline that they had roped off to create a maze of shuttle runs down and back up, down and back up 5 times. This was already spreading the field and by the end of the 5th shuttle run I had opened a nice gap to 2nd place. Next up was a few more hay bales and some mud before entering a straight stretch with 2 or 3 pits filled with water. These were taken at speed with about 2-3 steps into the water before leaping out the other side. This signalled the start of what was to come with a constant dunking in various 'water features' on route.
