Monday 6 January 2014

The HellRunner Experience

So Saturday was the first race of the year. If you can even call it a race. It was Hellrunner…10-12 miles of mud, hills, bogs and more mud!

I thought this looked fun and signed up ages ago. I also decided to sign my boyfriend up as a Christmas present so we could do it together (he admitted it wasn't one of his best presents!). I've never done anything like this before – not Tough Mudder, Spartan or even a cross country or trail race so it was a complete culture shock to me.


The Hellrunner website describes it as "trail running at its toughest and most enjoyable. 10 -12 miles of challenging off-road running… tough, twisting trails… including the famed Hills of Hell and the Bog of Doom! The Finish will bring redemption… but only to successful HellRunners.”


The day before the race I checked the weather forecast it was constant rain which did make me think twice. Even the morning of the race I said to my boyfriend are you sure you want to go  - secretly looking for a way out – and he did think about it for a while before deciding we should go along.



I was slightly under-prepared in that I wore trainers rather than spikes. I noticed a lot of people had spikes on so scrambling down a muddy embankment was a piece of cake for them. I did think about it before the race but decided spending £40-60 on a pair of trainers for once race wasn't worth it for me. My boyfriend felt the same way so we both agreed that this would be about having fun, getting round and, as we knew we were at a disadvantage with the footwear, we were going to take it slow to avoid injury.

The race had no map or mile marks and is just described as 10-12 miles so I can’t even tell you exactly how far it was. I’m not going to lie it was tough both mentally and physically. There were a lot of hills and really steep hills too. We have also had A LOT of rain recently so it was very muddy. Due to trainers some of the hills were harder for us than others but I only resorted to going down on my bum once but I did slip up twice though!




You start of on a track but it quickly lead us off into the heath-land. And before we had even completed the first mile (it felt like under a mile anyway) we went lead through a river with freezing water up to our knees.

Every 10-15 mins if not less we were in water up to at least ankle height if not higher to keeping dry was not an option.



The mental challenge would be running along a path and having to scramble down an embankment and then scramble back up and continue along the path more or less from where you went down the embankment. At the beginning this was fun but after a couple of miles of the same thing it became mentally tough as you felt like you weren't getting very far.

A lot of the off road hills were only suitable for one or two people to go down at a time so it would often bottleneck and you would be waiting around for a bit. I personally didn't mind as wasn't after a specific time and got to chat to the other runners but some people were trying to get round as quickly as possible and were getting frustrated.

The main thing I can remember is just going up hill, down hill, through rivers, water and mud. As well as zig zagging off the path to scramble up and down embankments only to end up where you started.

I knew there was something called the ‘Bog of Doom’ near the end and was looking forward to this. When we got there there was a structure over the entrance with a ‘Bog of Doom’ sign and fireworks which was a pretty impressive entrance.  This was also the main viewing area for spectators so after about 9-10 miles of no one cheering you on it was great to see so many people shouting words of encouragement. This is the one and only point we saw my mum along the route too.  




When you enter the water is up to your knees and then suddenly drops to your neck – not gradually you literally take a step and go from your knees up to your neck. I cannot describe the feeling – the water was FREEZING and my entire body contracted! They also have a smoke machine aimed at you at soon as the water depth dropped so it feels like someone is setting off a fire extinguisher near you. I quickly realised swimming was going to be my best bet here to keep warm. I could just about see the end but everyone in front of me was walking and I couldn't get past so it took ages. I think the water must have gotten deeper because after a while everyone was swimming.

I was so happy to see the end and be able to scramble out. Although I was equally as cold when I got out the water and I was now soaking, and my clothes were really heavy. And first thing we had to go was run up was a hill! Lots of people took this opportunity to speak to their loved ones – other than a “Hi Mum” we plodded up the hill immediately.  I literally couldn't feel my body though and weighed about 2 stone more in water weight so I think I jogged up the hill but I didn't feel like I was moving very fast at all!

Next up more hills and embankments. We could hear music up ahead and about 10 mins later reached a clearing and there were cheerleaders, an inflatable arch and people handing stuff out to runners. I can’t tell you how happy I was to reach the finish! Only to discover it wasn’t the finish it was just a water and jelly baby station. And I had to keep going!

Next stop straight up an embankment, only to go straight back down again and into another river crossing. This one was much longer than some of the previous one and the water was up to chest/shoulder height. We got all the way to the other other, scrambled up the embankment only to come back down again and back in the water. Although this time only up to our knees.




The last and final part was the sand dunes, up, over, round and down mountains of compressed sand for about 1 km before coming back out onto the road and back towards the start that was now the finish. I was so happy to be on the final stretch – I checked with a few runners around me who had done it the previous year to make sure I wasn't getting my hopes up again. But no we were finally on the home stretch.

My lovely boyfriend held my hand for the first part and then we sprinted to the finish – well my competitive side kicked in and I started sprinting so he followed suit! But I was very happy to finish. We got a great goody bag, a nice technical t shirt and a medal which I had been looking forward to the whole way round!




After a quick change in the car and a flask of tea we made our way home. My lips stopped being blue once we got home which was about an hour later! A hot bubble bath, nap and Domino's Pizza quickly followed!!

My lovely boyfriend could have completed it a lot faster than me but stuck with me the entire way round which I am really grateful for. Our official finish time was 2 hours 37 mins. Which although is a long time (for me) to run that kind of distance the hills, mud, and queuing definitely contribute to that.

At times I really didn't enjoy it but I would definitely do it again next year. More than anything else it’s a great hill workout and was good fun and not like anything I have ever done before. When marathon training I can take myself off and run a half marathon or further and not think too much about it. But I wouldn't take myself off through mud, this many hills or cross county. And compared to some other similar style events the £30 entry fee is very reasonable. I would look to invest in better trainers next year though.


Have you ever done a race like this before? What are you thoughts? Good or bad?


No comments:

Post a Comment