Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
RSSThe Mighty Deerstalker: Recap
Apr 02
Here's a recap of my evening of hell participating in the Mighty Deerstalker event.I was a little apprehensive at the start of the 10km Mighty Deerstalker as I had watched the leaders of the 5km run come in and they had all looked like it had been a fairly stressful challenge. These were all serious runners so how I was going to fare was not looking good, as I'm very much a recreational runner and was just doing this event for a laugh.The race started out at the back of 7:00pm with a small sprint to an obstacle made out of straw bales, about three bales high. Due to the sheer number of people taking part most of the field had to stop at this point and await their turn to climb over the bales. Once over the bales it was a matter of getting as far ahead of as many people as I could before reaching the next obstacle, so as to minimise waiting about.About 1km in and we were onto our first water encounter of the evening. I had expected the river crossing to be an ankle/calf deep affair to break us in gently but much to my dismay I was submerged up to my waist and was nearly bundled over headfirst into the water by the stampede of competitors behind me. Once out of the other side we were onto our first ascent.The ascent of the first hill followed the route of the Traquair XC cross-country mountain bike trail which was a reasonably steep incline, but I managed to run most of the way up. This stood me in good stead because once I got to the obstacle course near the summit there wasn't too much of a queue of people ahead so waiting time was minimal.The obstacle course itself was pretty tame, however, just before the summit there was an obstacle called the badger set to crawl through which had music blaring and reminded me of the scene at the Do Lung Bridge from Apocalypse Now. Luckily there were no flashbacks to Nam for me and I was able to check in at the summit in a respectable 39 minutes.The descent was reasonably uneventful but I found it much worse than the ascent, as I hadn't done much training involving such steep slopes and so my thigh muscles were taking a battering.After the first hill the route involved wading down a river for a couple of hundred metres before starting the ascent of the second hill. I found the river wading pretty tough as it was starting to get dark and it was very cold and slippery. I think at this point I might have hurt my left ankle but was unable to tell at the time as my feet and lover legs were numb from the cold water.The second hill ascent started off on an incline not unlike the first hill, then traversed across the hillside until we reached a very steep scree. Unfortunately this is what we had to climb up and I can only describe this as one of the worst things I've ever had to do in my life. I think the main problem was that I was stuck in a queue of people some of which were scrambling up the hill on hands and knees so were dislodging quite a bit of loose stones and rocks which were then falling down the hill onto the people below.After the ascent I was finding it quite hard to to stand up as my legs were beginning to turn to jelly. What better way to make yourself feel better then than to walk across a log bridge with approximately 10 foot drops either side? Remarkably, I made it almost the full way across the bridge before falling off and jarring my legs some more for good measure. After the log bridge was the summit and the second check in point.The descent down the second hill was not too arduous but required concentration as some parts were quite rocky and you had to be careful not to turn an ankle over in the darkness that had by now enveloped us.Once the descent was complete it was back into the same stretch of river as before for another couple of hundred metres. By now my legs and ankles were destroyed and so I managed to fall face down in the river on a couple of occasions due to the lack of light and the slipperiness of the riverbed. Unbelievably there were some poor sods still going in the opposite direction on their way to start the second climb. I couldn't help but feel sorry for what they had coming to them within the next few minutes and would have been surprised if they didn't complete the route until close to midnight.By now I was finding it increasingly hard to jog – never mind run – but at least the terain had levelled out and I was on the home stretch. Once more into the water to go through a tunnel, along the river bank then across the river for a final time and I was on the home stretch. I'd briefly considered just walking from here on in but the sound of music coming from the campground spurred my on to one last effort. All that was left was to crawl through some tractor tyres in the closing straight and I was finally home.I finished a provisional 158th with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes and I am very pleased with myself.To summarise I found the 10k very tough – but fun at the same time – and had a feeling that it was in fact a little bit more than what was advertised. I don't think my cause was helped by the fact that my running kit seemed to soak up a fair bit of water so I was effectively carrying around an extra half stone for much of the distance.As I sit here today typing this I'm not sure whether I'd like to put myself through that again, but I'm sure given a few days (or weeks) once the pain has subsided I'll think differently.Anyone care to share your views on how it was for you?
Apr 02, 2007 @ 21:51:25
Well my experience was very similar to yours. Nearly crushed to death at the first hay-bail hurdle, sprinted way too fast for the first couple of hundred metres. Couldn't believe they made us wade up to our waists in a stagnant pond! And MULTIPLE river crossings followed by queues! Brrr. Great atmosphere, great people, some amazing outfits. I followed a group for safety and ..emm.. got lost. Not very lost, but definitely not on the marked track.
Lesson learned: one down-side of waterproof goretex trainers is once the water is IN the trainers, it never comes out again!
And two days later, walking downstairs is still painful!
Would I do it again? Yep. Will I train better next time? Probably not.
Apr 03, 2007 @ 07:26:22
Thanks for the comment Isabel.
Thankfully my legs appear to be a bit better today as, like you, walking downstairs was slightly problematic yesterday.
Apr 03, 2007 @ 08:05:10
Overall, it had the feeling of an SAS recruitment fair and I would be more than happy to do it again.
The organisation could be improved though. People were getting lost, the finish line was near the toilets and there was no hot food left after 9pm. Quite dangerous when you think that the competitors would not have had a full dinner, were border line hypothermic and in need of a good hot meal. Also I didnt get handed a medal and the advertised free tankard never appeared.
Apr 03, 2007 @ 09:10:05
@David
Yeah, you're right. What happened to the tankards? To be honest I think the organisers were pretty poor as what was described on their website and what actually transpired differed in many ways.
The fact there was only one small catering van - plus the hog roast stand - was pretty poor and the fact the van ran out of hot food well before the majority of people finished the 10k was scandalous.
I also think the route could have been signposted better because if you ever lost sight of the person in front of you it became very difficault to find your way and numerous people were getting lost - like Isabel above.
All this aside, now that I've had a couple of days to reflect I think I'd do it again but would probably prepare slightly better next time.
Anyway, roll on May and the Nairnshire Challenge!
Apr 03, 2007 @ 17:38:17
I did it too and was with four other friends dressed as skunks (still not sure why). We had agreed to stick together so started at the back - bad idea - we got stuck there the whole way round which was a bit frustrating - especially when we had to wait over 15mins at the first hill and got really cold. I don't know why they didn't think it would bottleneck - if they had made say four identical smaller routes say with ropes and logs people people could have then joined the shortest queues..
By the time we were down the first hill it was pitch black which meant we and all around us got lost a good few times. At one point we were miles off track and found another group of a dozen or so who also had no idea where to go. We had spotted white tags but they were for the route back - as we discovered when we started seeing people coming down hill.
the nice thing was we got to know quite a few of the people surrounding us as we all teamed together to find the route.
At the end it was quite gutting to be told there was no hot food left (and no tankards). It was near 11 o'clock and we hadn't eaten since lunchtime and we were freezing.
We got changed in a hurry and went to the hog roast stand only to be told we needed a token at the bar to be able to buy a roll. The queue at the bar at that time was obviously packed, so now cold and hungry we had to queue again waiting to get a token (£4.50!!) to be able to go back outside and join another queue to give it to a woman to get a mediocre roll. That summed up the day to be honest - one huge queue. Thing is I did enjoy it and would do it again but I think the organisers need to get their shit together and look after everyone until the very end.
Apr 03, 2007 @ 20:17:35
Exactly how I felt Sandy. They could have really done with the first few km being on a wide track through the forest to allow people to find their natural place in the pack. I feel the whole course was too narrow and even in the closing kilometre I was being passed by people who were much more proficient at this kind of thing and should have really been much further up the field.
I made the same mistake at the Hog Roast stand and just couldn't believe that they didn't have a sign up to buy your token at the bar!
Much to my amazement, when queuing at the bar for a token and a beer the winners of the two events were being announced and prizes handed out - this was only about 10:00pm. The organisers seemed to be having a great time and I couldn't help but feel that they seemed to be ignoring a huge chunk of the competitors who were still out in the cold and stumbling about lost on the second hill.
Apr 04, 2007 @ 15:47:08
Equally have been reflecting on the event and recovering from very sore legs.
Four of us had entered the event as it sounded like serious fun and I noted on the web site that navigation was not needed due to excellent sign posting and the challenge of competing in the 10km race in darkness seemed like a good intro to adventure racing.
Seeing Rebecca, Hazel and Dave set off on the supposed 5km ( more like 8 km) at 5.10pm, I had a vision of them being back in just over an hour. However when the first serious runner arrived at 6.05pm it startled me as to how tough the course must be and I changed my tactics.
Pleased to say all my group finished before the 10km started so I was able to get some brief information of getting wet very early etc - but it was great fun and what a setting as the sun went down.
So Eagerly set off, but in a paced way and eased my way into the top 50 going up the first hill so I was not to delayed at the pinch points.
Agree with all the comments re the second ascent and did think of all the runners behind me as just as I started to descend it went dark. Navigation was a nightmare I did not see any of these vaunted reflectors and the odd bit of plastic tape. At one stage there was a pack of us running round Innerleithen looking for the route with street lights. What it must have been like for the other folk who were still heading up the second hill in the dark I really sympathise if they got lost or disorientated.
Also I think the organisers were incredibly lucky with the weather. Full moon clear skies. If it had been raining and windy I think there was a real risk of some injuries re the scree, exposure etc. The event did not seem to be adequately marshalled.
Finally as you say, no tankard issued or free beer and for the people still coming in at 11.00pm + to have no food or medals - yet there were plenty on the registration stall on the Sunday morning is very poor.
Personally I really enjoyed the challenge and the event and my kids had a great time in the afternoon on all the attractions.
Real potential to be a good one, I just hope the organisers take heed of the feedback and build on it for next year.
Considering a cycle tonight to get the old body moving again!
Apr 04, 2007 @ 16:20:59
@Stephen
Thanks for your account of the event. I'm seriously considering forwarding these excellent comments onto the event organisers so as to bring to their attention the concerns expressed.
Like you say, this has the potential to be a great event but I think that they have been very lucky that the weather wasn't typical for this time of year as some people could have got into serious problems.
Apr 04, 2007 @ 21:43:42
I agree with the comment above that the organisers were really lucky. Even in fine weather there was a real danger of runners suffering real damage. The course markings were really poor and badly thought through - along with many others I found myself picking up tapes and running along the course in the wrong direction. Being lost on a cold night with minimal clothing isn't a good idea and was certainly a real possibility - runners could have easily got a long way from the nearby villages.
The other aspect of the event was that it brought out lots of inexperienced runners having a go at a challenge. The event was advertised as a 10k and so gave the impression that a fairly fit runner might be round in well under 2 hours max - not the 4 hours that some experienced.
I'm a regular hill runner and orienteer. In hill races of this length there would be a requirement (ususally enforced by kit inspection) that runners would have full waterproof body cover, a compass, whistle, emergency rations. There was no insistence on any of these and many runners were out in trainers for an event that was significantly tougher than most hills race (and after dark!).
It was a great fun event and I certainly did enter into the spirit as requested. However, I do think more consideration should have been given to the safety of the runners.
Apr 05, 2007 @ 10:41:27
I'm following these comments as the feedback is very helpful to us. I'm glad that you found the event adventurous and it is regrettable that some of you did not get the best from certain facilties and support. I'll discuss this with the event village director and write back with a fuller reply at some point. We are certainly getting a tremendous amount of praise for the event, in emails, from all quarters, but I wonder whether people's differing experience of the event is based on whether they were near the front, middle or back of the pack. Something we'll obviously need to improve on for next year.
One quick reply however wrt Ian's comments on the 3rd - 8pm. Myself and qualified Event Safety Staff (Wilderness Medics / Mountain Instructors) and some marshals were in attendance until 11.15pm, all connected on comms on ensuring that everyone was safe and clear from the course - we knew where the last runners were. Although I am sure other 'organisers' were having a good time, and I'd certainly want them to be having a good time, I would also like to emphasise that we take the role very seriously. Furthermore, Myself and three other helpers were up (with the Police) until 3.30am on incident management with theoretical missing persons (no apparent dibber return).
I'm happy to see the comments, and I'm certainly not expecting you to appreciate everything that goes on behind the event. The important matter is that the parts that you see and get involved with are good for you, and there is obviously some room for improvement after this inaugural event. We'll do that.
Many thanks, Gary Tompsett, Race Director.
Apr 05, 2007 @ 15:46:41
Hiya,
having read the comments from you guys, I'd agree with all of them - poor marshalling, lack of organisation, badly marked route. Fortunately for me I entered the "5"km run, finished before dark. I'd do the 5k again happily, but more thought needs to go into it. First year, lots of mistakes, lets hope they learn and it goes from strength to strength.
Elts
Apr 05, 2007 @ 18:47:15
@Gary
Thanks for you input, it's good to know the organisers are listening and welcome feedback.
Please understand that the points people are talking about are the small points which concerned them. This is always the case with these things as people are more likely to be vocal with complaints that with praise.
Apart from the few concerns expressed on this page I thought the event went off really well and hope the event goes from strength to strength in the future. Personally, I've almost forgot about how difficult I found it and am almost certainly going to participate again next year.
Apr 06, 2007 @ 09:14:09
Hey, I ran (/ crawled) the 10k with 3 friends, and we were under the impression that novice runners wouldn't have too much trouble with the course and were well prepared to come in last! however, i thought it was poor that for those of us who came in at 11 the prize giving etc had already happened, and were very dissapointed to see the results already available without us even appearing. i can understand that those at the front thought the event was brilliant as they had more daylight and were back nice and early for showers and prizegiving and hot food, but those of us at the back were freezing and hungry when we came in. luckily for us we got hold of some food tokens from someone so went straight for some scran...and after that i thought the night was a huge success. even though it was cold and dangerous (and we got lost twice too - terrible navigation!!!) i did enjoy the experience, although i think it should be better explained just how challenging the run actually is. i think if i hadn't injured my knee on that ridiculous scree slope then we would have got back much earlier in time to have some fun!!