At the weekend I took part in my first Spartan race at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. I was part of a team filled with lovely people, one of whom was my husband and this was the first OCR I have done with him. They all made it amazing!
I was a little dubious to begin with as you will know I am a huge fan of Nuclear Races and i love the mud and this was more of an urban OCR so I knew there would be a lack of water and mud, however, I had a blast! Of course the company you are with makes the event for a huge part and I was in a team with my husband, training buddy I’ve mentioned a lot in my posts, Helen, and a load of lovelies! My husband has already completed the trifecta before which is all three race distances in the space of a year – something I am signed up to do this year – eeeekkkk!!!
It starts with a little warm up and an introduction by a half naked, chiselled to within an inch of his life, spartan, which is always nice. The marshalls were amazing the whole way round, really supportive, always with words of encouragement and Spartan had made great use of the area. As always there were fellow Mudd Queens running and marshalling and always had a hug, high five or words of encouragement – the best group of women!
The run was 4.5 miles and had over 20 obstacles including barbed wire crawls, cargo nets, walls to climb over, atlas ball carry, monkey bars, sandbag carry and the dreaded spear throw and rope climb that are known as the burpee maker. When you can’t complete an obstacle you have to complete 30 burpees and everyone loves burpees (not)!
My husband was there to help everyone with all the walls – didn’t quite know his own strength though and after getting me up to the top of a 6 foot wall prompted pushed my leg and launched me over it. To be honest I totally appreciated the help as the walls scare me and are not something I am ready to conquer on my own – but one day….
Getting to the end and getting my medal and third of the trifecta medal was amazing and we smiled the whole way round. The best thing about obstacle runs is the attitude of most people taking part – everyone helps and there is no judgement!
I followed up with Sunday having a 40 odd mile bike ride with some of the lovelies at Romford CC with some new members and then just to top the weekend off I ended up back at Nuclear for another taster session with my friend Becky and son, Jack that ended with another go on the Death Slide with new polished surface and kicker the whole way along – awesome! I could go Nuclear every weekend I just love it! Don’t get me wrong I am not brilliant at it but I am better than I was and every taster session I pick up new hints and tips whilst introducing new people to it and they all get why I love it there!
Needless to say my legs are covered in bruises (OCR kisses) but it was completely worth it!
#lovemud
Becky
Great write up hun!! You’re doing so well xx
fatgirlfit2015
You did amazing yesterday like a spider monkey! I might need a pole to work on my upper body strength 😂
fatgirlfit2015
You should def give it a go they do different distances so easy to start with the shortest and go from there. Are you close to Essex? I would recommend Nuclear all day long!
fatgirlfit2015
Have a look on Mudstacle website they list all obstacle events and you can see their reviews also, which can be helpful as some can be expensive!