Grim 2011 - Race Report

My final event of the year has now gone and as usual, it was a lot of fun. This is my 3rd proper Grim and I come back every year as I enjoy it so much. Strangely though, it wasn't as grim as normal as 11 degrees and sunny makes it much more pleasant although in a strange way, not as much fun. I only say that because when it's close to zero, the impending fear you get from every single puddle gets your adrenaline flowing but when it's slightly warmer, the puddles don't have that hold over you. In fact, I made a point of aiming for pretty much every single one of them.

This is the thing I don't get. Why would someone pay £25 to enter and then try and go round the edge of the puddles! I just don't get it!! It seems completely alien to me. If I didn't want to get wet and muddy, I wouldn't enter this event. Where's the logic?? Don't get me wrong, I'm don't swan dive into them but running, splashing and squelching through mud and puddles gives me more child like joy than any other event I do!

To the event itself, impeccably organised as ever and no hassle at all. They have amended the course this year though. They've taken out the part known as 'the boring bit'. Previously, this was about 3 miles of gravel road through the forest with absolutely no obstacles at all. DULL! This is now only about 1km long and the rest has been replaced by logs, train tracks, big mogul hills (hill, puddle, hill, puddle, hill, puddle etc) which was my favourite bit and then some steep, muddy and narrow tracks through the forest. So much better. I can honestly say it makes the whole route interesting now if not a little tougher on the legs.

Soaked from the waist down and mud up to and in my beard! Welcome to Grim!

It's restored my faith in Grim events after May's quite frankly, crap, Beast in the East and also makes me look forward to Grim 'Night Terror' which is coming up in Feb which should make the whole concept even better by making it colder and also only having the light of a head torch to guide you round. Hahahahahahaha! This is gonna be so much fun!!

Grim and Bare It! RACE REPORT

I just love Grim. It's such a mad event and I said last year about there seems to be a camaraderie between participants. Apart from a few people at the front, there doesn't seem to be any need to actually race at all. It's just a muddy fun-run. 14.21km of fun-run but a fun-run none the less and I love it.

With eatingtrees being designated driver for the day, off we popped after a night of little sleep (thanks George) and promptly arrived in a car park quite far away from where we wanted to be. A few walks from the car and back quickly made us realise that although the temp said 9 ish degrees, the wind reality was something altogether different. 2 questions at this point popped into my head. WHY DID I NOT HAVE A LONG SLEEVE TOP ON and WHY DID I NOT HAVE A WOOLLY HAT WITH ME!!! Idiot boy.

I had a cotton T-shirt on over the top of my running top and this was intended to be cast aside at the last minute before the start. Nope. Not with that wind. I quickly re-attached my number to the old t-shirt and now intended to run with both. It was a good decision!

We met up with Fitartist (and the support crew of Edward and Hector) and planned to run it together. No need to push all the way with something like this. Grinning/Smiling and shrieking when water reaches the parts other puddles can't reach is the way forward. We all found it pretty tough going but it wouldn't be fun if it was easy.

My chip time came in at 1:45:40 which is about 45 minutes longer than I've run at any point in the last 5 months so the feeling of crossing the line was wonderful. An awesome T-shirt this year I must say...

T-SHIRT WITH ADDED GEORGE DRIBBLE AND YOGURT

Mrs HMC, our resident photographer and supporter wasn't able to be with us this time due to George's first swimming lesson (which he loved may I add) but there are a couple of great photo's over on Fitartist's blog. 

A final shout must go out to eatingtrees who not content on dragging fitartist through the first big puddle he found, then promptly lost his footing and went splashing around within the first 200m. Only another 14km to go with soggy shorts and a bleeding knee then!!

Up, up and away into the puddles

With Grim happening next Saturday, I headed out on another run this morning in order to stretch the legs and try and have some chance of surviving next weekend. I planned to do the same route as myself and eatingtrees did last Sunday and duly headed up the hills.

There were lots of sights to see today. Firstly, a pond full of even more dead fish than I saw last weekend (frost got to 'em), a prick in a BMW overtake someone at a stupid speed in a 30 zone (we can only hope he will end up in the pond before he hurts someone), a miserable runner in black who did not return my 'Good Morning' (first time this has happened since getting out of London), a big hill that hurts a lot...

THE TOP OF THE HILL ON CHALK LANE

...many, many horses some of which were dressed in pink, lot's of puddles, lot's of mud, a few cars, a cheery 'Good Morning' man getting into his car and some cloud.

Today turned out to be better training for Grim than I could have ever imagined due to the last 3 days of rain we've had. At the end of the long downhill and just before the longer uphill, there was what can only be described as a flooded road. There was nothing for it and the water poured in over the top of my trainers. The bridal path was also just a mud fest which made it tough going and then the entrance to Ashtead Park was also ankle deep mud.

I got to the point where I head home around 3 minutes better than last Sunday's and still felt OK so decided to extend it a bit further. That's where my legs really started aching and the very reason I'm sitting in compression socks right now! 11.33km in 1:06:07. Not quick but with those hills, it never will be.

I know it's going to be horrid

but I honestly can't wait for Grim tomorrow morning. eatingtrees is a little more apprehensive it seems but come on, mud, water and running around?!?!?! I bet if I asked eatingtrees' SonNumberOne or SonNumberTwo, they'd love to do it. It's just like being a kid again without your Mum to tell you off, like when you came in from football training covered almost head to foot in mud because it was more fun to slide around on your front in the puddles than attempt to play football (which could have contributed to the fact that I was crap at it. Oh and sorry Mum).

I'm looking forward to meeting up before hand with a few of the guys from The Running Bug forum which should be a laugh and who have done it before so can scare the crap out of me before we start, with stories of ice, broken legs etc.

But as I mentioned in my last post, as long as I can teach LG how to upload to the blog tonight, there will be pictures online from around 10.30ish of the mud, water, grinning blokes and general carnage that I feel will follow.

Only one run since the last post, a 3.5mile easy run with LG on Tuesday night. I was meant to run last night too but was being lazy tapering and fancied a glass of wine instead. For these big races splashing around in the mud events, it's all about the preparation I'm told. Oh bugger!