Triumph over Oblivion!

Wow - what a day!  Mud Runner 2012 at Eastnor Castle and we're all ready to go - I sensibly packed my bag and the car yesterday, made the picnic and set the alarm...  I have to admit to being a bit nervous - 10k with creaky knees and all that, but today was The Day!

As it was a bit cold I decided to add another layer and proudly wore my Mud Master hoodie - not sure what the other competitors made of having a professional in their midst but, to be fair, I didn't actually see many others - I was that single-minded!

So, off we went and the first hill was as long and hard as I remembered it from last year - it had been my aim (before the creaky knees) to run the entire hill but, as you can see, I didn't entirely keep going.  Gave it a good go though!

After the hill it was into the obstacles - brilliant as ever!  I can't remember all the names, but I think this one was Cat's Cradle - it involved climbing through big hanging things.  Great fun!

Then of course there were all the 'climby over' obstacles...  Remembering Quick Ceri and the gate in the forest, I used my best vaulting technique and found I was over surprisingly quickly.

By this time I was getting pretty thirsty, and the halfway point watering station was a very welcome sight.  Being keen to post a good time I kept going, having finally mastered the 'grab drink whilst on the run' technique seen at the Olympics.

After the watering station it was back into the woods - greener than last year, must be down to all that rain recently!  Surprisingly difficult to find one's way through, but luckily the route was well marked with arrows on the ground - novel, and I'm surprised they showed up through all the mud!

Oh, the MUD!  Not surprising really with the torrential rain recently, but I've never seen mud like it!  Just LOOK at those feet!  I'm not sure they're ever really going to be clean again.  Scrubbing brush, as favoured by Wee Gill, I think!

And so to the lakes - I waded successfully through the first one but it actually wasn't quite as deep as I thought it might be - perhaps they'd let the plug out or something?  Certainly not deep enough to swim in!

And then Elsie's final wall - The Oblivion Wall.  Good grief - they certainly didn't stint on the height - it took me a while to figure out how to get over it.  I had hoped the photographers would have caught me vaulting nimbly over the top, but sadly they've got me at the 'OMG' stage - you'll have to take my word for it that I got over the top!

And so to the sprint finish - well, not much of a sprint really as you know I'm totally one-paced.  Still, the knees had stood up to the challenge, and I was really pleased to get round.  This is me celebrating wildly at the Finnish cheered on by the massed crowds - great spectators, as always!

Weirdly, I seemed to miss out on the goody bags, so I didn't collect my T shirt or medal.  Still, I'm sure they'll get posted to me.  I missed the other Happy Cows too - probably in the massed hordes of runners.  And I didn't wear the wig as I thought it might come off in the high winds.

Still, all in all a great day - hats off to everyone at Mud Runner for a new Oblivion Challenge...

Roll on the Classic in the autumn!  Mud Master Stage 2 status beckons!!

Postscript:  Apparently Oblivion was postponed because of the vile weather...  could explain why I didn't see anybody else in running gear!