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| Lee-Stuart Evans doing 4 laps of Winter Nuts – pic courtesy of Tony Jarvis |
I’m utterly out of breath , wading through a stream in March , covered in mud and wearing neoprene and constantly checking my running watch because unbelievably I am taking nearly 2 hours to travel 7km and bizarrely I am really pleased with my overall speed.
I was at The Nuts Challenge doing the feared 4 laps and things were going rather well despite setting a new personal worst record for speed on my first lap, I knew I was going to be in the cold wet for 8 hours and have over 400 obstacles to get through and I was smiling despite it all and all around me were my friends doing just as well and loving it as much as I was ……
…….. but let me take you back a few weeks to explain my jaunt into Obstacle Course Racing which started with one of the worst and most unneccessarily dangerous organised sports events I’d ever been to at Tough Guy …followed by the EXACT OPPOSITE a few weeks later at Winter Nuts in Dorking.
For 2017 I wanted to broaden my running skills and try new things. With a huge rise in Obstacle Races in the last few years I had decided to pitch myself at the two toughest and most respected ones in the UK , Tough Guy and Winter Nuts. Both involve A LOT of cold water , immersion , technical obstacles to get over , but it turned out could not have been more different for organisation , safety , fun and value for money .
It started in January with the ‘last ever’ Tough Guy .
This was one of the Obstacle courses that started the whole craze.
I don’t want to dwell too long on such a negative experience except to say it was a recklessly dangerous , massively oversubscribed amateurish event with little or no sense of anyone being in charge. There were very few safety marshals, The obstacles were in a terrible state of repair and ultimately with a chaotic and late start around midday and too many people I was one of thousands who stood in a queue at each obstacle and felt utterly abandoned by the organiser . We hardly got round the course and were then marched off the course early when the entire race was basically abandoned later that day. I then sat in a car for hours after the race , thirsty and hungry , stuck in a field because I was blocked in by other cars as were hundreds of people around me.
The crowds who came to watch Tough Guy stood in mostly stunned silence not able to quite believe what they were seeing. The checkpoints ran out of water early in the day . A journalist took pity on my friend Jenny and I and gave us a bottle of water he had. Tough doesn’t need to be dangerous. People got hypothermia standing around. It was a disgrace.
I posted my medal back to the Tough Guy organiser a week after the race.
After the disappointment of Tough Guy I then looked forward to the Nuts Challenge a few weeks later to redeem my terrible start ( and no finish) to Obstacle Course Racing .
details are here www.thenutschallenge.co.uk
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| Michael Midgeley teaching at the Nuts course |
I was lucky enough to spend 3 sessions with Michael Midgeley from 6T Six Fitness . www.6tsix.co.uk in the lead up to the race.
Michael is a course expert and personal trainer. He taught me a raft of techniques , from getting over tall walls, how to fly up and down scramble nets with ease, how to swing well on a rope , tackle tyre obstacles. His unique knowledge of the course also meant he even knew where to avoid hidden roots in the streams we trudge through. All this adds up to some big reductions in your course time. He also advised on clothing , and getting the balance right between staying warm and being mobile. Too much neoprene and you cant get over the obstacles…too little and you get so cold you cant get over the obstacles…..
Jody Raynesford and I were on a mission that day . 4 laps of nuts comes with a strict and spiteful 2pm cutoff to start the 4th lap. That’s 6 hours to do the first 3 laps. In training I had managed a 2 hour lap with Michael and after some more training with an empty non muddy course about 20 mins faster as I got more familiar with the route . With the inevitable decay in pace as we got tired and cold and the people in the way on the course and the mud it was going to be a really close thing. REALLY REALLY CLOSE.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans , Jody Raynesford and David Hellard at the Winter Nuts Challenge . pic courtesy of Mudstacle |
The training and kit testing and recce run of the course 2 days before paid dividends on the day , it was obvious early on that compared to inexperienced people Jody and I were flying along . We finished the first lap in 1 hr 47 elated and hardly stopped for anything at the lap ‘transition area’ on purpose so we could buy ourselves as much time as possible in the later laps.
I enjoyed every minute of it and the time flew by . It is a constant mental and physical onslaught as you negotiate 100 obstacles and running per lap. Always glancing at your watch when you could see it , the running watch screen and my eyes were often filled with mud so I spent huge parts of the course not being able to see properly. With a wetsuit on I also had to wee myself…a lot. My legs got warm on a regular basis for all the wrong reasons.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans and Jody Raynesford at The Nuts Challenge – pic courtesy of Pete Rees at Mudstacle |
As the laps continued the time flew by , I would say it was one of the fastest 6 hours of my life . As we went round the third lap Jody and were slowing slightly , but still on target for the 2pm cutoff with a few minutes to spare. As it turned out I misunderstood where the cut off point was and stopped in the transition area thinking I had made the cut off, as I grabbed some thermos hot drink a woman at the start/ finish area screamed at me that I WASNT past the cut off point and I dropped everything and ran for the timing mat to get through. I made it with seconds to spare , and then looked back in horror as Jody arrived into the checkpoint and was told he was 40 seconds too late and couldn’t do the 4 th lap.
I had to do the final lap on my own , I was utterly devastated and faced another lap , with hardly anyone on the course now , but fortunately the stewards and volunteers were superb and Pete Rees from Mudstacle kept me company for much of the course. I crossed the finish line wearing 3 wetsuits and very pleased to be out of the freezing cold water.
Whilst all this was happening my other friends on the course were also having a superb day . Jenny Lord signed up for 2 laps knowing full well how tough it was , while it rained and people dropped out she smashed out 2 laps….often helping Jody and I over obstacles, and then ….having done her 2 laps…went out to do another lap ! ANOTHER LAP . She loved it .
Shona and Allan signed up for 4 laps but their aim was to have fun. They enjoyed two epic laps and then settled back to enjoy the hospitality , a few beers and cheer in the crowd. Both of them said they could have done another lap but chose not to because they had had a great day and why ruin it ? With a party atmosphere it was easy to understand why they were totally right.
There is a superb Mudstacle Video of Jody and I here https://www.mudstacle.com/2017/03/jodys-nuts-challenge-documentary-bad-boy-running-meets-mudstacle-tv.html
The whole day was glorious, EVERYONE enjoyed it despite how tough it was , The organisation and sheer number of volunteers was incredible , help and encouragement at every step, people cheering , a party atmosphere with pumping music and beer and food. It was an all day event for everyone not just the 4 lappers.
It was everything Tough Guy wasn’t .
I saw a community spirit I see at Ultra Races and felt at home despite being a newbie.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans finishing 4 laps of Winter Nuts at the Nuts Challenge – pic courtesy of Pete Rees at Mudstacle |
Oh and my nuts placing qualified me for the World Obstacle Course Championships in Canada.
Which was nice .
