Described as a 10km race using only natural obstacles such as hills, steep hills and flat hills. I can confirm, it definitely wasn't wasn't misrepresenting itself and with the temperature a couple of degrees above freezing, this was certainly a pretty savage race. Wanting to have a good crack at it, I positioned myself towards the front of the pack, the foghorn went and the runners bolted. A blistering pace to start out – 3.10 minute kms. Ouch!
Needless to say, I lasted around 2km until my heart-rate shot up to 189bpm and I had to slow down… The water still had a fresh layer of ice at the sides and the race organiser's ‘Pièce de Résistance’ was a 150 meter stretch in water up to your thighs. It felt like my legs had fallen off when I made it to the other side. Aside from the cold, it was a great run and I crossed the line in just over an hour, giving me a position of 28th out of 400 competitors. Very pleasing!
The rest of the 'Richard Bull' crew came through 35 minutes later, having opted for a slightly more leisurely pace, consisting of swimming through the lakes and making ‘mud angels’.
Needless to say, I lasted around 2km until my heart-rate shot up to 189bpm and I had to slow down… The water still had a fresh layer of ice at the sides and the race organiser's ‘Pièce de Résistance’ was a 150 meter stretch in water up to your thighs. It felt like my legs had fallen off when I made it to the other side. Aside from the cold, it was a great run and I crossed the line in just over an hour, giving me a position of 28th out of 400 competitors. Very pleasing!
The rest of the 'Richard Bull' crew came through 35 minutes later, having opted for a slightly more leisurely pace, consisting of swimming through the lakes and making ‘mud angels’.