This review is long overdue and I do very much apologise.
Other areas in my life have been crazy busy!
At the beginning of the month, I took part in a rather
unusual event for me. One that involved mud, hay bales, swamps, icy cold rivers
and cargo nets. Yep, I ventered into the world of Insane Terrain.
Before I start, might I add this was no option. After being
presented my place as a gift for my birthday by my best friend, I HAD to take
part. ;)
Insane Terrain takes place during the Summer over various UK
locations and I headed up to the Peterborough location. Exactly one week after
Mizuno Endure24, I was still feeling the repercussions of my knee injury and I
also had that really irritating foot pain I mentioned in my last Training Update. Insane Terrain does give the option to run a 5K or 10K route and I had
originally opted for the 10K but last minute thought it was best to switch to
the shorter route.
When we arrived on Sunday morning, the open fields that were
spread out in front of us didn’t really reveal much. We could only see one
pond, a couple of balance beams and a small wooden wall we had to climb.
Inside, I was a little disappointed but after seeing the first wave of runners
set off before me and head out through a bit of hidden woodland made me think
there was more to this course than meets the eye.
I was right. The start of the race you set off downhill to
an icy cold stream and I mean ICE COLD. Brrrr! It certainly woke me up! Then you
have to run back up the hill to turn around and come back down again. Odd.
Next you take a right off into those mysterious woods where
you are greeted by a big puddle. This didn’t really phase me but when my friend
went in first and the water came up to her waist, I realised this wasn’t a
puddle. It was a bog – bleugh!
In fact what followed after was similar to this. Some hay
bales, mud tunnels and more hills before we hit a massive swamp…that we had to swim across.
From the first touch of my toe in the water, the stench of the murky water made
my nose wrinkle and the feel of the reeds catching on your ankles as you
dragged yourself across was, I must say, rather gross.
By the halfway mark, I was up to my neck in mud but the
group I was running with were all in fits of giggles and we didn’t care that we
smelt worse than a dustbin.
What came next was another swamp, this time with a huge
floating mat we had to run across. All our friends and family got to watch us
from the side lines for this one and I was relieved to make it over in one piece
without falling over. By this point we were back in the main fields and heading
towards all the obstacles we saw at the start. The team was in full spirits and
we whizzed under the cargo net, over the balance beams and wall to the finish
where we were greeted with a huge Fairy Liquid slide. I made sure I took a
running start to skid down this as fast as possible into the pool of clean
water at the end.
Crossing the finish line hand in hand, we all had such a
wonderful time! Who’d have thought mud, tunnels, hay bales and swamps could be
so much fun? At the end, I received a rather generous goody bag containing a
nice running top, medal and Chunky KitKat, which I chowed down on immediately.
I guess the question for myself is – would I ever try
something similar again? My answer – I honestly don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s
addictive like road running but it sure was a bloody good laugh!
RACE OVERVIEW (this is
based on an obstacle experience)
Course: 4/5
Scenery: 2/5
Facilities: 3/5
Water Stations: N/A
Medal & goody bag: 4/5
Lipstick Runner’s overall rating: 3.5/5
For more information on Insane Terrain, visit the website HERE.
Lipstick Runner.
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