On Saturday I went with my strength and conditioning coach (and friend), Emma, to take part in the Inflatable 5k Run hosted by UK Running Events.
It was held at Kempton Park Racecourse and was a 5k run with inflatable obstacles – what was not to love?!
As you enter the racecourse there is a stage and every 15 minutes the waves get ready with a warm up from Pure Gym instructors and then you are on your way.
We were quite early so sat in the sun whilst we people watched. There was a great mix of people at the event including many families and people in fancy dress so had a great inclusive feel.
The finish was by the start and so we could see the two final obstacles, which was a huge slide and a jump – these were the biggest of the two obstacles and I was excited to get to those!
I thought this would be an easy run and to all intents and purposes it was but it was hot and I am not great in the heat – hot sweaty mess to be precise – who takes a water drink on a 5k? Well I did on Saturday! And who knew inflatable obstacles could be harder than some rigid ones? It was hard to keep momentum whilst not losing your footing. My friend Emma was like a spider monkey and got through/up/over/under everything very quickly but I on the other hand have some very questionable Go Pro footage where I lose balance and at one point get hit full in the face by an inflatable cylinder.
Most people slid in a ladylike fashion down the slides and I was more like an uncoordinated mess with legs and arms flailing everywhere. I was, however, smiling and thoroughly enjoying myself!
There are about 10 inflatable obstacles throughout the course and my only complaint was that when we got round to the end we were then faced with the two large obstacles I mentioned earlier and you have to pick one! ONE! Like a kid in a sweet shop I wanted to stamp my feet as I wanted to go on both! You can’t show the two biggest and dangle the carrot of opportunity and make an over sized child pick just one! But they did. And I sulked. Quite rightly too. To be fair once the marshall realised I was reviewing this event on the blog they did say I could go on both but that seemed unfair on other people and the queues for these were already quite long and took a while to get on one. (I should note these were the only real queues we faced in the whole event and was for safety measures).
So the first was the huge slide which was the one I went on. It was not quite vertical at the back but almost and although there were steps you were instructed to hold on to the rope with both hands. Once at the top you sit on the edge and cross your feet and legs and down you go. Now here is the thing when I got there my friend Emma was sat there looking as if she was not going to go and I was thinking come on, man up it’s a bouncy castle slide get on with it. She had a gentle nudge from the marshal and arms and legs waving everywhere she went down. I should not have watched as I saw going down meant you don’t actually slide on anything it is like a free fall. And it was high!
My turn next and with Go Pro firmly gripped (meaning I turned off recording by mistake because I am that clumsy) I slowly moved further over the edge and then made myself go. Let me tell you it totally took my breath away and when I finally hit the slide my t shirt caught and I nearly exposed my left breast to everyone at the bottom. It literally moved further up my body as I slid down. Nightmare! Holy mother of gut! Cue laughing about it and running through the finish praying there was no photographer there – there wasn’t so not too bad after all.
The tickets are a reasonable £25 and that is your entry, finishers medal, finishers t shirt and some milkshakes and water. There is an additional £3 for parking, £2 per item for bag drop and £6 per photo you purchase, unless you want it electronically in which case they are available early the following week for £10 per image. Adding everything up it still is not too bad though I always prefer to pay a price and not have these little surprises here and there but that’s just me.
So for those who say bouncy castles and inflatables are for children I say meh! No matter what age get on there and bounce and enjoy it! Though maybe put on a belt to hold down your t shirt or at least wear your fanciest sports bra!
My race entry was complimentary, but all opinions are my own.
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