Events

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		20%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		60%
Beginner-friendliness		60%

In short: Let your inner child escape, get covered in mud, splash in some swamp water and have a jolly good laugh!
In full: This was the second muddy cross country race that I have done, personally I favor road races and am training for a half marathon but a friend of mine persuaded me to do it.

We have very different paces but I ran with her and we took it steady (which turned out to be a very good idea). As previous reviewers have said, the first couple of miles really lull you into a false sense of security. Nice scenic trails around farmers fields and woodland paths. There were a few places where the paths were narrow which caused some congestion, this would be my only real criticism (perhaps they could consider a staggered start).

We didn't have to wait too long before the first hilly climb and then the first watery pit! Again there was some congestion which made it hard to get through. The very sticky sand meant that if you stopped you sunk so everyone had to hang back to allow themselves a run up.

The atmosphere was great with people helping one another out of the sticky bits and marshals cheering us along the way.

The TurboX zone was something else. Loved it. Some of the hills were so steep that you had to put your hands down to scramble up, or slide down on your bum. Some of the bogs were so deep that I was virtually up to my armpits in squishy stinky mud (I am only 5 foot tall mind you).

We were really lucky with the weather it was cold but good for running and not frozen or raining. I would love to do this event again and would like to see if I could beat my time by running on my own.

I would certainly suggest that this is one for fitter runners as it really is a total body workout coupling 10 miles of running with hauling yourself out of mud.

The event info said no water stations but there were 2 and one at the end. The finishers t-shirt was a nice touch too, but a bit sad there wasn't a medal (can't have everything). Would like to know why the freebies in the goody bag were all labelled in French though.

All in all a great event which has inspired me to do more crazy, muddy, off road events!
Date of review: December 11, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

Overall score		80%
Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		100%
Organisation		100%
Value		100%
Beginner-friendliness		100%

In short: Maddiest, muddiest, boggiest , sandiest, wettest Race of the Year !
In full: and we loved it...A true challenge and a real sense of achievement to complete this beast.
An energy bar/sweet would have been nice in the goodie bag, but apart from that top event...
Date of review: December 9, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator

Would you do it again?		Yes
Details:
Scenery		60%
PB potential		40%
Atmosphere		80%
Organisation		80%
Value		40%
Beginner-friendliness		80%

In short: Great fun as usual
In full: Please move this event back to November! Clashes with other important events and I know of a number of people who couldn't do it this year because of the date and that showed up in the number of entrants, I was actually running on my own with no one in sight for a the middle part of the race, so lost some of the usual atmosphere. Otherwise, loved it.
Date of review: December 9, 2012

Report this rating to the moderator