Friday, October 19, 2007

The Kamikaze Adventure Run


The Kamikaze is the toughest, but most fun 8 miles I have ever run!

Go here to read more about it, and let me tell you that it lived up to its billing:
http://www.votwo.co.uk/votwo2007/community/news-item.php?start=&offset=&item=96


Despite a dodgy ankle and still-sore calf muscle, Lin led the women through half of the first lap before being overtaken by the eventual ladies winner. She stayed well ahead of all the other women though, collecting a shirt and an interesting trophy. But the real prize was the hour and a quarter of sheer fun (and a lot of hard work) on the many and varied hills comprising the course.

We started with a mad charge down the first hill to a bog at the bottom, then on up a long grassy slope. This basic pattern was repeated at least 10 times with a selection of hills of differing degrees of steepness, interspersed with all the fun stuff like rope swing, water slide,
bogs, streams, logs, and finally after the second lap, a haystack, scramble net, and the piece de resistance, the dreaded wall.



By the time we reached the wall, we were obviously tired, and so what would have merely difficult when we were fresh was now going to be extremely challenging. My plan was to get up first, and sit on top to help Lin if necessary, but just as I was about to offer her a hand up, she lost her footing and slid to the bottom, resulting in an impressive set of scrape marks on her stomach. She succeeded on the second atempt, and we finished together and then enjoyed an entertaining few minutes watching the next 30 or 40 finishers tackling the wall. Most needed a leg up, or at least a lot of encouragement. Quite a few literally "hit the wall".


It was all a lot of fun, and although it was tough, and we collected more than the usual amount of mud on our shirts, its definitely one we'll do next year.
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1 comment:

Lin said...

As soon as I saw the poster for the Kamikaze I knew that we had to do it. What a shame that it clashed with the Parrett Trail, Sydling Fun Run and the Mendip Muddle.........but even with all those excellent options I think it will remain the must do race for this weekend. OK, it was quite expensive for an 8 mile race and apart from free milkshakes at the end you didn't get anything (unless you won a prize!)but when else do you get the opportunity to plunge head first down a water slide screaming your head off - twice! What fun, and next year I'm getting over that damned wall without taking all the skin off my stomach!
By the way, anyone spotted the new addition to the blog layout yet.............