The Mighty Deerstalker

Warm up??

On Saturday 17th March, the first of my fundraising events took place.

Titled 'The Mighty Deerstalker', this was supposed to be a bit of a jaunt through some forest tracks, dressed in tweed.

I've got a few things wrong in my time, but expecting this to be easy was one of the biggest!

Craig and I lined up at the back of the field - our strategy: Start slow and bring it home fast but enjoy every step!

By the time we'd covered the first 200m (up hill) we came to our first obstacle.......a wall of hay bales that we needed to climb over.

Take a 180 degree turn to our left, back down the hill, out of the estate and we are into a nice steady pace, the sun is shining, the crowd is thinning and we are smiling.

That is until we hit the 'mud pit' - a pit about 2' deep of the foulest smelling, thick mud!  From that point forward, I was covered head to toe and my legs had gained about an extra 10kgs in weight with the mud!

Follow the lemmings......

Then came the hills! For about 4km we moved upwards through woodland, on forest tracks and scrambling up shale gullies.

At the peak of the climb we were greeted with some balance bars to traverse and a scramble net to crawl under...........

All downhill now!  And the descent was steeper than the climb, our legs cycling so much faster than we could actually maintain control.

At one point through a particularly slippery section of forest, we passed through the 'rave' section - glow sticks hanging from the trees, dark areas because of the canopy and dance music blaring out from strategically placed speakers - quite surreal!

'Brrrrrr this water is cold!'

What followed for the next 3km or so was a series of river crossings, tunnel runs under the road and heavy trail running on muddy river banks.

I'd decided against carrying any fluids or gels as this was advertised as 5km and I thought even with the obstacles I'd be back no later than 1hr 15m.  The actual distance turned out to be 9.6km!  I was now officially 'hanging' and in need of some energy.

Reaching the water station, we stop to 'pose' for a quick foto and muster up some smiles!

Then it's off again, approx 1.5km to go.........gentle run in and I remember saying to Craig '10mins mate, only a mile to go!'.

There might have been a mile to go, but it involved another water crossing, a 300m road run on an incline, crawl through a tunnel, scramble under yet more netting and then get over not one, but two 6' walls placed so close to the finish line that it was pure torture.

Water Station 'Foto Opportunity'

We'd finished - 1hr 44mins but we'd finished.  Waiting at the finish line were our long suffering wives and children - ready with lucozade, chocolate chip cookies and a pint of the specially brewed ale 'Deerstalker'.  Well, it would be rude not to........

Up n Over!

A lot harder than we expected, but actually a whole lot more fun than we expected and a great atmosphere!  We're already planning to do it again next year!

Teamwork!

......and we're done.....in!

Nearly there.....

Cheers!