25th January: A Brutal Spud

Over the last year I have had a very willing training buddy in the form of my 4 legged friend ‘Spud’. Since he was old enough to start running, he has been out several times a week with both LSS & myself and he has coped admirably with all distances from a 5k parkrun to 20 miles… Now he is well used to running, I felt he was ready for his first proper race: the Brutal 10k ‘Men Only’.

I have been taking part in Brutal 10 races ever since I started trail running a good few years back and in fact it was running one of these, experiencing how hard it was and realising how woefully unfit I had become, that spurred me on to further feats of two-legged lunacy.

This was the first Brutal I had done since my outing dressed as an ostrich the previous Christmas, so I was looking forward to getting back to the challenge of one of their 10k routes, although with a twist as today would be 2 laps of a 5k course strapped to a lunatic spaniel.

I drove with Spud & LSS (along for the ride to watch and laugh at us) to the event base on the army tank proving ground around the back of Farnborough airfield, the same location for the ‘Grim’ race. This race is always going to be a wet and muddy one as the soil there is mostly sand which becomes waterlogged in the open and creates large pools of thick sandy mud, so the trips through the hilly wood and scrub land are often very welcome as you can progress quite well as opposed to the cold sticky wade as soon as you hit the water.

Registering as one of the Cani-cross runners I was handed our number (drawn on in marker) and we readied ourselves in the chill to start. Our start was to be 15 minutes in front of the main racers to allow the dogs to be spread-out along the course rather than as a pack chasing-down slower runners from the beginning and finding ourselves all bunched-up with the field from the start, which is a very sensible way of organising things.

Awaiting the start amongst the puddles.

Both the 5k & 10k races start at the same time so we waited in the middle of the combined pack, with the cacophony of barking hounds all wound-up and eager to run assailing everyone’s ears. There were all shapes and sizes of dogs that you could imagine, some that you would never picture at an event like this, which I suppose could also apply to the owners as well!

Soon the air-horn blew and we were off, all the hounds eager to be away and doing what they enjoy, with the pace being very brisk from the start. We found ourselves with the leaders from the start and able to hold-on to them… Although I did realise that it was not possible to discern who was running the 5k or the 10k to tell if it was those running the shorter distance who were really haring-off in front!

Haring off all a blur.

The course was a mix of puddles, woodland trails, and heathland with the occasional short and steep hill thrown in for good measure (going both up and down them). The sections through the woods were well guided with the use of tape so you never found yourself losing the route, even though we were the first to be on the course, although Spud was very keen to take his own path at times rather than keeping to the track which caused a few stoppages to drag him back from around the wrong side of trees and on to the course once more.

One of our fellow runners was finding that his boxer, who was also racing for the first time, was not taking well to the mix of the other dogs around him and the water - refusing to go in the puddles from the start and managing to slip his leash on a couple of occasions as he fought to do his own thing rather than his owner’s intentions!

Through another wallow.

By the time we were halfway round we were soaked, covered in mud and a bit colder for our exertions, although by keeping a brisk pace it meant we never got a chance to cool-down too much. The ever changing terrain, ensuring Spud was taking a correct line, and easing-off downhill so as to not pull me over meant I needed total concentration at all times, so there was no danger of mentally 'zoning-out' at any point, or any real chance to take any pictures either. The whole way round the first lap we were in sight of people and was able to have the occasional chat whilst wading, and the braver spectators out in the middle of the course at the various wading points seemed to be entertained by the sight of the dogs pulling their owners through the mire.

Starting the second lap.

On the second lap, I knew exactly what was in store for us… and so did Spud! unfortunately with spending the 5k of the first loop going in and out of freezing water and mud that was up to his armpits, he was beginning to have a sense of humour failure and tried to avoid mud and water altogether, which was not possible (and designed to be thus), so he was trying to take the shortest route through it at all times, which for the most part was not following the course, so I had to spend time and effort fighting him pulling me off to the side and off balance to keep us going in the right direction.

For most of the second lap we seemed to be all by ourselves, and by my reckoning we would be in with a shot at a podium place if we could pick-off a couple of runners, so I went as hard as I could and managed to get to within about a minute or so of the man and his dog in front before Spud decided to exact revenge on me...

Through one particularly deep sticky muddy wade he decided he was going to get out by climbing the sides and he kept pulling hard to the side, forcing me to stumble blindly in the thigh-deep mud and water and pulled me bodily over on a couple of occasions, just managing to keep my head out of the yellow ’water’. I could tell that he was not enjoying himself, so I decided to ease-off on the chase and try to take as dry a route as possible to the finish, although this was not entirely possible.

As we raced onwards we overtook some of the slower runners from the 5k/10k race who must have been coming to the end of their first (or only) lap, including a woman running this men only race wearing a set of ‘Groucho Marx’ glasses complete with ‘tache to attempt to ‘fit in’ in a way that was reminiscent of the ‘Life of Brian’ stoning scene, which made me chuckle, and the fact that the leading racer from the main 10k race only overtook us with less than a mile to go did not hurt so much!

To be honest I was now sympathising with Spud as I was now no longer feeling my feet as they were getting so wet so often that any heat was being sucked out of them, so when we could see the finish line a mile away and hear the cheering of the spectators we managed to speed-up a little to get to the end as quickly as possible… One final splash and swim across the pool for the second time, lined all the way by the cheering crowd, with Spud getting lots of love and swimming as close to them as possible, we emerged from the other side and crossed the finish line in 5th place… Ok so it may be 5th out of 14, but I’ll take that any day!

The final wade to the finish.

As ever the atmosphere of the whole event was great, with the emphasis still being on the ‘fun’ rather than the serious head-down-and-charge mentality that 10k races can so often have, and being the ‘men only’ race it did not seem to make it ultra competitive as an entirely testosterone fuelled field might have been. They even gave us an event specific medal, something new for Brutal as they have always till now been a ‘no-frills’ operation. The course was well marked and cheerfully marshalled even in the cold wet conditions.

I really enjoy the Brutals as ‘speed-work’ for my trail marathons - my time today would have seen me placed in the top 1/3 of the main field, on what was a tough course to get much speed-up for large sections with the thick cloying wades to be undertaken - oh and by the time I had finished, the marker pen drawn number I had been given was now non-existent!

As you can tell I was #565 in the race!

I will definitely be back for more, calendar permitting, although I have realised that Spud is not one for continual drenching in the cold, so he will not be back for this particular course in the future, but will certainly race in other ones as he did enjoy the running part - he certainly got some treats later in the day as rewards for his efforts!

A bemedalled Spud :)

Big thanks to LSS for coming along to spectate in the cold & wet to take some shots of Spud & me in action :)

Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.

27th December: Brutalising an Ostrich

This Saturday, the one betwixt Christmas and New Year was day 1 of my trail running double header... The Brutal 16k. Normally the Brutal runs are 10k in length, but as a special Christmas gift to us all they give us a bonus distance of 16k: 2 laps of this year's course down at Longmoor Camp, although the less (fool)hardy out there were able to opt for the single lap and a mere 8k of mud, sweat, hills and ditch-water.

I thought I would have a bit of fun with this and tomorrow's Gut Buster and run it in fancy dress. Having appeared as one of the Blues Brothers last year I decided to ramp-up the difficulty for myself and complete this Christmas’s tomfoolery dressed as an ostrich... Yes, an ostrich.

With me doing this, LSS had to come down to watch me run, just for novelty value of seeing me dressed as an ostrich more than anything else, so the 2 of us made the short drive down to the event base on the edge of the Longmoor army camp just bordering the A3 south of Bordon.

The obligatory pristine 'before' pic.

Purposely missing-out the warm-up I took my place towards the back of the starting pack, my costume already intriguing dogs and amusing some of the smaller children gathered to wave-off their mums and dads... And as soon as I was in the pack we were off onto the trail.

We ran so fast from the start that it was all a blur :)

I managed to pick my way through the pack, with mixed views from my fellow competitors: some loving the fact that an ostrich was steaming past them, others muttering about the crassness of it and how it ‘demeaned’ the whole event - an event that involves running around a military training ground, scrambling up muddy hills and through bogs, ditches and deep puddles getting soaking wet and covered in mud… Yes, a very refined spectacle we all are as we finish, whatever our time. Personally I think some people get upset by the fact this run is a very big deal for them and have been working towards this for a while, foregoing Christmas drinks and eschewing mince-pies to be at their best and run a single lap, only to have some fat fool in fancy dress drift past them and proving perhaps that maybe all the privation of the last week was not necessarily worth it and they could have enjoyed the run without enduring cutting back on the festive cheer!

Emerging from the woodland after the start stretch we found ourselves in the first clearing and I began experiencing my first problem of being an ostrich: A saggy crotch… As I was running, the body of the ostrich was falling downwards to the point the crotch of it was now between my knees, so it was almost impossible to run as it was severely restricting the length of my stride, and no amount of holding it up was achieving anything as doing this was making me just as slow, so thinking on the hoof, or on the wing in this case I figured a quick fix and stopped to enact it… I whipped my top off and crossed the braces over to opposite shoulders before replacing my top, which alleviated the problem and I was able get back to running once more with some sense of purpose and concentrate on getting my footing right rather than adjusting and holding my costume.

Up hill...

...And down dale.

The course crossed short and sharp wet sandy hills and into the next forestry section, complete with some ‘proper’ hills of the punishing variety (that you would expect on a Brutal) and some long deep wading puddles discoloured coloured yellow from the sandy mud beneath.

Descending to the first water trap marshalled by the 'Purple One'.

An ostrich's eye view of the wade ahead.

I waded through the waist deep water with no problem, with it appearing to onlookers that the ostrich was gracefully swimming across. Once out the other side it was back along the woody trail, up and down a few more fiendishly sharp hills till I came back close to the start and the smiling LSS with her camera before I was confronted by the first of what can only be described as the total immersions.

Having gone through plenty of these in the past, there’s no point in pussy-footing around trying to get in as daintily as possible, as this only costs you time and doesn’t keep you any drier in the end! So I ploughed on into it and tried to maintain my balance as my feet tried to find the bottom, and to my relief it was only really up to the top of my legs, so scrambling out was no problem… Continuing along the parapet of the ditch for about 20 metres, cheered along the way by the few gathered spectators amused that someone in fancy dress was gamely running the course, I turned to re-cross the ditch, so following my tactics I did the same and did a full-blooded leap in to the water below, only to initially find my feet were not touching the bottom and I fully submerged, almost having to swim a couple of strokes to make the other side of the ditch… And then the fun started.

I had made a SEVERE miscalculation about the costume in how well it absorbed water. Tying to get out of the water and back on to dry land, I discovered as my legs now had to bear all the weight of the water the costume had soaked up, it was at least another 25 kilos heavier than before, and this weight was pulling me -off balance back in to the water… It took all my might to haul myself up out the water and to the top of the parapet where a lot of the freezing water now poured-out. I decided that attempting to run with all this extra weight was a fool’s errand, so I took some time to wring as much water out of the ostrich’s arse as I possibly could - those spectators there killing themselves with laughter at the sight of me bending over to squeeze some very brown looking water out of a large bird’s bottom that made it look like the bird was having an attack of diarrhoea!

Having wrung-out as much of the water as I could, I continued my merry way around the last couple of miles of this first lap, but I still had the ‘handicap’ of around an extra 10kilos or more of water around me in the costume, so the effort required to drag my sorry arse around the course was considerably more than before and I was struggling to make any pace at all, with plenty of people now passing me. Up and down some more steep woodland hills and some decent slippery mud, the finish line was in sight and through one final knee-deep 10 metre long muddy wade I was in the finishing straight and veered left past it for the second lap as most people veered right to finish their single effort… And believe me I was sorely tempted to veer right and join them, but I managed to dissuade the ‘chimp’ from stopping me and carried-on for the second circuit: buaidh no bas!

Bedraggled at the halfway point... Not sure if the water is from the costume or just puddles.

Starting on this second, and mercifully final, lap it made me realise that the number of people taking this option seemed to be far less than those running just a single lap, so all on my todd I continued on my course, waving to LSS as I went past. Stopping to drink at the aid station, I caught a fellow 2 lapper and ran a bit with him. As we chatted and jogged along we came back on to the sandy hills and a father was there with his toddler who had seen the costume and was chuckling and pointing at it, so I purposely ran over to the lad and moved the head of the ostrich was level with his so he could stroke it, before he got a ‘kiss’ from the ostrich’s beak before running on leaving a very happy chappy behind.

The second lap as you would expect was the same as the first, so I knew exactly what was coming, but I was really fatigued with the carrying of the extra weight, and getting through the double ditch immersion was even harder with tired legs, but continue I did to the finish line, eventually crossing it at a near stagger in a very slow time.

Finally finishing!

Grabbing some complimentary chocolates and a cup of water I met with LSS, the two of us walking back to the van where I promptly changed-out of the cold, wet ostrich and in to something warm whilst taking the chance to reflect upon the experience of running in this get-up in anticipation of tomorrow.

I had second-guessed where chaffage might occur, so had mercifully escaped that, except from a minor amount on my neck where the braces crossed over, which was an adaptation on the fly to how the costume was initially worn. Making this change meant the costume was easy enough to run in and I also found that I did not overheat through wearing it.. Its just in the future I really need to be avoiding water that goes over the top of my legs and in to the ostrich’s body. The legs of the ostrich if anything took the edge off of the wind out there and the elastic trainer stirrups remained in place and undamaged - so all in all I was pretty happy with the performance of the costume on what was quite a work-out for something that is merely made for standing around in at office parties!

The neck of the bird has a wire running through it to help keep its shape, and with the reigns of it around my neck, the head naturally held itself to one side in an almost camelid fashion, which made it pretty easy to not worry about and run with both hands free as you would want to… And another great thing about the costume is it fitted in the washing machine to clean-off and being made of all synthetic fibres, it was pretty much dry by the time it came out of the machine after 2 spins… I put it in the airing cupboard to dry off as best as possible ready for the second leg of my double-header, the Gut Buster.

I have to say a big thanks to LSS for accompanying me to the race and standing around on a cold Saturday morning when there are far, far better things to be doing and most of them involving staying warm, and also for her taking the pics of me - although I do suspect this was partially done for schadenfreude and the amusement value of seeing what on earth I looked like in the costume and how much of a bedraggled muddy mess I would be in at the end ;)

Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.

18th October: Brutal Woolmer

Mud, mud, glorious mud sang the duo of Flanders & Swan… And when it come to singing a song about running they must have had the Brutals in mind, and the Woolmer 10k was no disappointment with that regard.

Still feeling in good form from the Glencoe Marathon and not too sore from the riding of last weekend I decided to drive down to the race rather than cycle it as in previous times with the event base being moved a mile or so further away and deeper off-road in the midst of the army training ranges down at Longmoor Camp.

Some Canicrossers striking a pose.

All registered I watched the Canicrossers start off on their run before readying myself for the main event and the fun and games of 10k’s of pure unadulterated filth, all good tempo work for the Rivington Trail Marathon I’ve booked in for next weekend.

I had looked at the course and compared it to last year’s and in the way that the organisers love to get the best out of the features of the terrain - leading us up some evil hills and through some ‘wades’ it was to pretty much the same as before, although with a twist: With the increasing popularity of the Brutal’s the event base had moved a couple of miles further towards Longmoor and a far larger area for parking of the massed ranks and the logistics of the event. With the start shifting locale, the course loop was to be joined at its southerly tip rather than the westerly extreme.

Warming up.

After the massed warm-up we all gathered for the off before trotting along on the metalled track from the base back to where we had driven on to the site and over the bridge crossing the A3 (I had wondered what the cones blocking some of the road in were for!) and now we hit the course for real!

A fairly solid start.

The initial uphills.

Looking back down the slope.

Underfoot it was fairly easy going, with grass covering the sandy soil with a bit of ankle deep mud and puddle to contend with - letting us in gently, very gently, because soon we turned a corner and started to do some of the climbing, in particular the sharp concrete hill of the vehicle testing track and its constant gradient from bottom to top… Once traversed we had the brief recovery of a downhill before heading back up again and a forestry section of undulations and ‘moguls’ before emerging out the other side on to the heathland; all warmed up quite nicely ready for our first dunking of the day to cool off.

The wait for the dunk.

Feeling brave and jumping in I found my feet disappear from beneath me and my chest hit the water as I struggled to get upright again, nearly swimming to get to the other side… A precursor of things to come as today was not going to be my lucky day crossing the water: It seemed every time I entered water today I found a submerged log or something to trip over on entry leading to me getting proper dunkings.

Second splash.

Scrambling out the other side it was onwards in anticipation of the next dunking… The good thing about the fording of ditches, the wades through them and trying to cross the ponds is that they tend to give you a bit of respite as the entries are bottle-necks, so you can catch your breath for a few seconds before it leaves you again with the shock of the cold water on your body! Aside from the ditch crossings with their scrambles up the slippery muddy banks we had one long wade along a ditch and two crossings of lakes to contend with, all three of them being waist deep.

The trench wade.

A coupla happy chappies behind me.

The first pond crossing.

The second double-pond crossing.

Those still wading.

After a few more hills and the final wades at the end, we found ourselves back by the first turn and the return over the bridge back to the start line.

The last wallow before heading for the finish.

After drying off, changing and calming down I waited around for a couple of the canicrossers I know to finish before heading off myself, having completed the run in a good time I was happy with, some good preparation for Irvington, the next one on the schedule.

Stumbling across the finish line.

2nd February: Dogging ;)

Now I wonder how many hits I’ll get on this blog for that title?

Today saw my first ever attempt at ‘dogging’ with my willing accomplice Heidi. The ‘dogging’ in question is CaniX - Cani-Cross, or to put it in simpler terms: cross country running with a dog.

Ever since I’ve been running the Brutal10 races I’ve been aware of CaniX and the growing popularity of people running with their canine companions. Each time I’m at a Brutal event there seem to be more of them lined up and I love the sight of hounds all raring to go at the start, all barking in anticipation of a good run… The enthusiasm of the dogs is contagious and acts as a great spur to the other runners present as you wait to go run in the normal 10k race.

The CaniX explosion doesn’t seem to be confined to the Brutal races as I’ve been soundly beaten in various marathons by people running with their dogs and Endurancelife have now ensured that all their races are dog-friendly with water bowls for the hounds at all the aid-stations.

At the marathons, the dogs I have seen have been for the most part collies and their crosses, german shepherds, huskies or larger spaniels - in other words larger dogs that have the energy and stamina to keep on going over such a long distance. With the distance at the Brutal’s being considerably shorter, the cast of canines is more diverse - I’ve seen all sorts from lumbering overweight rottweillers to sprightly jack russells, so having a dog at home that is suitable for the Brutal distance of 10k is far easier… Which is where Heidi comes-in.

My two dogs are both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels - a dog that was bred for sitting on your lap and keeping you warm, that and that alone! They’re low maintenance, with a fantastic temperament very affectionate and love to give you cuddles. Exercise wise, they’re happy just to hang-around the house sleeping, but once you get them out they enjoy being able to have a gallop - especially when off the leash.

Ruby, the older of the two was definitely not an option for running with - she is too small and certainly not inclined to anything remotely athletic. Heidi on the other hand…

Heidi is a throwback. The Cavaliers were bred from crossing Springer Spaniels with Pugs - hence a lot of the Cavaliers having pretty squashed faces. Not Heidi. Heidi looks like a miniature Springer - and has the mentality of one, loving to be outside and running. She is taller than most of her breed and a lot sleeker by build and when out on walks she doesn’t seem to stop running, probably covering twice the linear distance on a walk.

Over the Christmas period I ordered a CaniX running harness that has been sitting at home waiting to be used and today the opportunity finally arose.

The 'Trixie' CaniX harness.

I’ve been nursing my calf muscle back to health over the last 2 weeks which means an enforced rest period from running and cycling but with the Coastal Trail Series South Devon Marathon next Saturday I needed to be sure that there is enough of a positive change in it to be worthwhile going down to compete so here was a chance to kill two birds with one stone as I could test my calf with no time-pressure or training goal.

After a good 6 mile walk with LSS and the dogs this morning - taking advantage of the first clear rain-free Sunday of the year, I saddled up Heidi in the afternoon for her first running experience. I chose to take an easy 2.5 mile route that was fairly flat, but for a good mile of it, it was pure puddles and mud - something Heidi will need to cope with if she is ever going to be able to complete a Brutal run with me.

The 'before' shot having just got out the front door.

Leaving the house, all excited to be going out again Heidi was very eager to keep-up with my pace, running alongside me, ears flapping in the slipstream. The problem with Heidi is she’s a little ‘special’ - I swear if she had a brain cell it would have died of loneliness by now - so you could describer her as being to the dog world what Paddington Bear is to the ursine world: A dog of limited intelligence... So after trying to veer of to ‘shout’ at other dogs or sniff smells she was soon wrapped-around me.

And we're off!

Not wanting to stop or to try yanking her round to the opposite site which would mean trying to get her to go across me as we ran, I realised the simplest method to untangling was for me to do a 360 and carry-on! To be fair to her it was her first time doing this, so rather than doing something to discourage her it is easier for me to bend to her needs.

mud hound

Soon we were heading across the mud and puddles of the common. Heidi was very game; blithely scampering over and through everything before us, stopping only because she had to for me to recover my trainer from the mud twice! After completing our lap - and Heidi running past the ponies grazing without trying to say ‘hello’ for a change, we were on our way back to the house, with Heidi starting to pull-out in front the closer we got back to the house - I think it was the thought of a good lie down, a snooze and some dinner that drove her onwards.

On returning she looked like this:

Soggy doggy!

So off she went in to the bath for a good hose-down.

Reflecting on the run, I think Heidi coped very well with this first attempt, especially considering she had already walked for a good 10k a couple of hours before hand. I now know that she’s capable of getting out and running with me without being dragged along, so a few more practices - especially over a 10k distance and I reckon she’ll be fine with going out and doing a Brutal with the other CaniX hounds.

Here’s a tired Heidi on the sofa snuggling looking all sorry for herself  surrounded by a furry blanket and cushions as she dries off:

28th December: Brutal Blues

After a couple of days of eating, drinking and being merry I was back in action this morning for the first part of today and tomorrow’s 10 mile cross-country double header. I had chosen to run this race (and tomorrow's Gut Buster) dressed as a Blues Brother just to be different as no-one seems to do these in fancy dress, and with the time of year I thought it would bring a bit of festive cheer.

After the Christmas Day collapse of my bike’s bottom-bracket, today saw me driving off to the Brutal 10 - or in this race's case: the Brutal 16. Normally the Brutal's are 10k races, hence the name, with the Brutal being a reference to the terrain: lots of short sharp hills, mud, swamp, puddle, pond and more mud (as detailed in previous blogs), but this race for a change had 2 options: an 8k or 16k distance, with the 16k being a different route to the 8k rather than 2 loops of it as you may suspect. Naturally I had opted for the 16k version of the run: looking forward to pitting myself against the usual terrain only over the longer distance to see how I held-up.

Driving the 20 miles to the event's location of the Longmoor Camp army base, we passed through security at the gate-house and on to the camp itself, following the marshal's directions to the race base of the camp's gymnasium. The weather was looking perfect for the run: Glorious clear skies, a pale winter sun shining upon us and a chill in the air that meant we would not be overheating on the run. With all the rain of the previous week the Brutal gods were really smiling down on us today having been busy prepping the course perfectly then giving us the conditions to enjoy it at its best.

The gymnasium base.

Parking on the field next to the start/finish it was a quick registration and I hung round to watch the CaniX racers get their run underway before heading back to the van to get changed in to my fancy dress.

Dogs taking their owners for a run!

Taking my place amongst all the other starters it was not long until we were off in pursuit of those hounds.

Under starters orders...

...and then it was all a blur.

 The first stretch of about a quarter mile lulled us in to a false sense of security: a nice easy downward stretch out of the centre of the camp and on to the training grounds… And then the mud, sand and hills began.

The easy bit!

Yours truly on the ascent.

Looking back from the sandy summit.

After weaving our way across the sandy plain and climbing the short steep hill at the end it was the first stretch of many through the pine woods that make the bulk of the camp’s terrain. With the torrential rain we have had of late I was half expecting to be running through a continual quagmire, but with hills a plenty under the trees it was soft pine needles under foot - until we hit the first bit of fun - the course’s inaugural stream.

Taking a breather... The guy on the right prepares for his dip.

Queuing to cross there was a chance for a snatch of breath and recovery, before taking the first of many icy plunges of the day. Scrambling out the other side freezing cold, you were eager to get moving again to get some warmth back in to your legs, to stamp the frigid water out of your shoes to try and get some life back in to what felt like two solid blocks of ice dangling off the end of your legs… And then straight up a very steep slippery hill.

Looking back down the steep slippery slope.

Just as some life had been brought back in to the frozen feet then it was back in more water for a knee-deep jog, then waist deep wade through more icy water, where for the first time in the run the water was deep enough to give that freezing cold stroke of the scrote that makes all men gasp, and instantly sends your knackers retreating back in to your body for some shelter, only to reappear when having a warm shower long after the event has ended.

Lovely weather for a paddle.

The course continued as an enjoyable, as much as it was challenging, blend of hills, streams and mud, with your feet never getting a chance to warm above a certain temperature from hereon through continual immersions. Approaching the half distance, the field had spread-out and there was little in the way of overtaking going on around me, so I decided I would do my utmost to keep in touch with the people in front and if possible reel them in one at a time. The trouble with running these courses by yourself is when you hit the swamps and the mud you have no reference point of where the good path through is in order to steer clear of the submerged obstacles, as there’s no watching others making mistakes and falling over! It certainly slows you down having to tentatively find your own path. 

The view from the most easterly part of the course.

At the halfway there was a drinks station, where I stopped for a cup of water before carrying on my way. The second half started with a run through more pine woods with the 8k runners who were with us on this section of the course splitting off in a different direction. This stretch was more wading through blackened swamp so pace was reduced somewhat once more!

The long final wade.

Catching up on a CaniX runner.

By the time we emerged from this section, a breather could be had as I joined the queue for the last long watery wade of the day. I could see on the opposite side of the water a couple of the CaniX runners were there, so I must have been doing alright for time if I was able to reel-in back-markers…

Climbing through the heathery heath.

Out the other side and a climb up some heather & gorse covered heathland and I caught and passed the second of the two CaniX runners, the dog not looking too impressed with its owner as it trotted along clarted in mud and its coat all soaked.

Hello & goodbye!

One soggy doggy.

A rumble of traffic meant we were near the A3 and the knowledge that we were approaching the closing stages. As we ran along one of the woody tracks we passed another of the CaniX runners by the side of the trail. Unfortunately the race had been too much for the poor dog - what looked like an Irish Setter, as it was wrapped in a foil space-blanket to warm it up, and being held tight by its owner as they awaited a rescue to the finish… It turned out the dog was fine, it was just exhausted from the running in the cold and the soakings, which for the dogs amounted to several total immersions, had gotten the better of it. Perhaps the 16k in the cold of December on a course like this is a little too much to ask of the dog's no matter how eager they are to get out and run.

One last hill and a few muddy twists and turns and the finish was in sight, crossing the line to the customary round of applause from those already finished, the welcome post-race snack of a banana, a few Quality Street and a cup or two of water.
 
Running dressed as a Blues Brother seemed to amuse quite a few people, with (understandable) questions of whether I was on a 'mission from God', or 'getting the band back together' and engendered some respect for taking on the course attired this way. At the finish, I could see one of the marshals looking at my feet so I couldn't help but look down myself to see if there was something the matter. He noticed I as following his gaze and said "I was just checking to see if you had run it in proper shoes". I told him that even I'm not that mental to attempt the course in them!.. The costume itself was surprisingly unrestrictive on my movement whilst running through an environment as demanding as this, although at one point I did overstretch a little and tear the stitching on the crotch. It was also cool enough to not make me overheat, so as far as costumes go its a pretty easy one to get along with whilst running.

I thoroughly enjoy these Brutal runs as they are not too serious and the entry field is wide in its age-range and is edging closer to a 50/50 split on male/female entrants. They are well organised with very friendly marshals cheering you onwards around the course. The races are getting ever more poplar as even more people discover them and word of mouth spreads. It seems as though there's a majority of runners in the field that wear their Brutal jerseys at the races, so there's certainly a 'Brutal cult' developing out there - of which I am one!

I think the idea of having the 2 lengths of race was a good idea and something worth them pursuing for other dates - perhaps keeping them to the Christmas and last ones of their season so as to keep the idea as a novelty and something special for an event and to not move away from the core idea of the runs: a brutal 10k course.

In case you're curious, position-wise I finished in the middle of the pack: 125/245 so a decent end-result for me as I aim to get my speeds up to the 50% finishing mark in my races for 2014.

Pulling a Blues moose :)