The Leadup

So I was having a pretty stressful few weeks in the leadup to this and had given the actual day no thought at all.  All I knew about the event was that it was pretty muddy and quite a few miles.  I wasn’t too worried about the running – for the last 3 weeks I had stepped up my outdoor running which I rarely do and was clocking up 20+ miles a week.  I hadn’t considered kit, read the race pack, literally zero prep.  All I knew was that I had to meet my friends in Bournemouth at 06.20 ready for the drive to Henley Upon Thames.  I was in a team of 17 and there were 5 cars on convoy.  It was pretty even guys / girls and this group of friends are my insanity fitfam from bournemouth.  I bloody love them.

There was a facebook group set up which was very active with some very organised people!  They basically said make sure you join your team, check your start time, and whatever you do, don’t forget ID.

Arriving at the event

We got there about 1:15 before our 10.30 allocated start time. The organisers had been very strict about people getting there on time.  We parked in premium, our friends hadn’t booked that in advance even though all the website says you must.  As it happened they were able to get premium parking like us for a tenner less!  We headed off to regisration, I had forgotton my waiver (naturally) but they had loads.  Don’t read it.  No point.  You are basically agreeing that no matter what happens it’s your fault! You then collect your wrist bands and bibs / safety pins.  If you are an experienced mudder they give you a wrist band indicating how many you have done plus one for your waive time and one for your race number.  They are big on recognising previous mudders.  We then headed back to the car to get ready, drop of mobiles etc – we didn’t bother with bag drop.

The Kit

There was a lot of discussion on kit and I had spent no time thinking about this at all.  I planned to wear leggings and a vest top as the website side +15 degrees was short sleeved, colder go long sleeved.  It was meant to be 16.  When we got there, a few guys said you need another top.  So one of the lads leant me a short sleeve underarmour top.  And I put my top over it.  Glad I did (see arctic enema later!).  Most people had multi layers on, 16 had legs covered, 1 guy had shorts.  Only 2 of us had short sleeves.  I literally broke the golden rule of races / events – never leave kit to chance.  EVER.  It’s added stress and wearing stuff you haven’t worn before is not advisable.  I defo regret that and hate most of the pics!

The event

This was probably the most fun challenge I have ever done.  I am a runner so as crazy as it sounds the 11 miles running between obstacles didn’t really phase me that much and actually on the day I felt really good and was full of energy even at the end.  I am terrified of heights so some of the upper body obstacles were very hard for me and I couldn’t do anything monkey bar related.  I feel straight in the water.  The artic enema was horrific!  Absolutely wear 2 layers on the day, take one off and hand to someone and then when you get out you can put a dry layer back on.  I completed every single obstacle and was so proud at the end earning my first headband 🙂

6 months later we signed up for a double, tougher mudder which is the first waive and then straight into a second time round! 23 miles, 40 obstacles!