Rat Race Dirty Weekend, 2013

I absolutely love running which involves mud and obstacles so the Rat Race Dirty Weekend was always going to be something to look forward to and enjoy. 20 miles and 200 obstacles later I had certainly had a lot of fun but there were also times on the route where I was definitely NOT enjoying it!

I travelled up to the race at Burleigh Park with David Hellard and his girlfriend Kate who are part of the Hash House Harriers club. There motto- ‘drinking club with a running problem’ sums them up pretty well. I will look forward to joining them properly once I have stopped competing to win. David is also the guy that was winning the 2013 London Marathon at the 400 metre mark!

I was race fit for the 20 miles with plenty of half marathon races in my legs, pacing at London Marathon, a weeks training camp with my tri team- TriTrainingHarder- and an Olympic distance triathlon six days earlier. Over-raced and possible fatigue did not lead to a good pre-race sleep as I slept for around two hours in a freezing tent on the most uncomfortable piece of ground. I have decided that in my old age I now hate camping- unless I am very drunk!

By my 8.00am start I had just about warmed up as wave 1 competitors gathered at the start. Wave 1 competitors were going for the prizes! Over the course of the day we would be followed by many more waves people, totalling several thousand racers. Whilst the majority were there to have fun and to get themselves around either the 13 of 20 mile loops, it was clear that wave 1 was serious.

So- 20 miles to go and after 400 metres I was leading, having stuck to my plan of starting at a nice and steady pace!? By mile one it was myself and Jonathan Albon out in front. Jonathan has also won quite a few obstacle races including the NUTS challenge and Survival of the Fittest (including when he beat me at London in 2012).

After the first obstacle of a large inflatable and several rugby players smashing into you Jonathan was a hundred metres ahead. This grew as he negotiated the inflatables in the lake crossing quickly whilst I spent an age trying to get over all of the obstacles where as I later learnt I could have gone under some of them!

Several fields of nettles, rope swings and lake crossings later and we were at around the eight mile mark where we came to the most difficult of the days obstacles- over 15 minutes in a freezing lake involving obstacles to negotiate which included large inflatables and zip-lines. All people racing for prize money HAD to complete all obstacles and it was the giant inflatables in the lake that really got me. Pulling yourself up out onto a vertical inflatable wall from several feet of water with cold legs and arms was near impossible. I had a few minutes lead over the group behind but this lead came down as I struggled with the obstacle.

Finally out of the lake and I cramped everywhere. I mean quads, calves, biceps!? I was struggling to run but from the sounds of it, so did everyone else for the following few miles after the lake experience. In the following Sherwood Forest challenge my hamstrings seized and I was on the floor for a few minutes stretching them out.

After this, I was on it! Greg, from the Rat Race team, gave me updates on my position and I was up to five minutes down on Jonathan! I felt really good between miles ten and twelve and all of a sudden I was running alongside Jonathan, who was really struggling with the cold. There were a fair few drop-outs over the day struggling with near hyperthermia symptoms.

Jonathan and I chatted for the next few miles as we negotiated the infamous survival wall and attempted the 110 metres of monkey bars. Neither of us got very far with our slippery and cold hands (maybe five bars!) although two or three people did manage the entire length. The guys at Dream Team tv later told me that the record is held by a Chinese guy at over 300 metres! Mad!

Instead of the bars we had to vault around 200 crowd barriers and after this I was a small way ahead of Jonathan- but he was going no where and he was back up alongside me before too long. By mile fifteen he was back around 30 seconds ahead of me as he worked the long flat sections with lots of running and very few obstacles better than I was.

By the finish Jonathan was two minutes ahead of me but a very cold and exhausted Ross crossed the line very happy indeed! Dannii from Rat Race was kind enough to let me stay in a nice warm hut to get rid of my blue lips (preferential treatment!) before I jumped in the ‘posh showers’. Several beers, a post-race tv interview and a nice cheque later and I was all recovered, having had a great day! This will be on channel 4 at some point over the summer!

I am already signed up for next year to try and better my performance with a win. Before that I have the small matter of Ironman Zurich to complete in July and then maybe, just maybe, I will have a few weeks off!?