Jack: Day 269/365...The Mighty Deerstalker!

After weeks of anticipation, the Mighty Deerstalker event arrived! I traveled down to Peebles in the morning with a few of the guys from work and we managed to arrive and register without too many issues. A fear of the cold resulted in us packing ten sleeping bags (between four of us!) which meant that we were able to pad out the floor of the tent and throw an additional sheet over the top of our sleeping bags - little chance of the cold penetrating this fortress! On the drive down the snow started falling and got heavier and heavier. A thick white blanket formed on the surrounding hills and I couldn't help but think about the icy 'running through the river' section which I had heard so much about. After watching the 5k competitors finish it was only a matter of hours before our own race got underway and so we grabbed some lunch and prepared our costumes. The bull runners of Pamplona were making an appearance in Peebles!

Finally, white costumes on, we made our way to the start line. As we cleared the first obstacle ( a hay bale hurdle) I found myself in 2nd place and feeling comfortable. I was still in second as we approached the first river crossing. This was a jump over a river however I didn't feel I could clear the water and so aimed to land in the water. I came down hard and, having misjudged the depth of the water, plunged under the surface. I felt my knee collide with a rock on the riverbed and I fell quickly forward. As I struggled to climb out the other side my Garmin sunk completely under the mud and began to flash at me. The sharp pain in my knee was agony and for a few yards I considered pulling out. I did not want to ruin my run365challenge however I was determined to finish the race. I lost quite a few places in the aftermath of this jump as my pace suffered due to my sore knee. Eventually however the pain died down and I managed to continue. The hills were the hardest that I have ever encountered and the big scree slope was incredible. I felt my lower back starting to ache as I practically crawled up the scree and I slowly made my way to the top.

The snow and water left the hills, and most of the flat, incredibly slippery. I found the race pretty frustrating as I ended up spending a lot of time on my back-side! The downhill sections were impossible in my running shoes and there were parts that I literally slid down the hill as it was faster and safer! Next year I will definitely invest in a pair of trail shoes if I am to do this race again.

I managed to overtake a few people in the final kilometre as it was a straight run on relatively dry ground. I passed a guy under the cargo net at the finish line and managed to sprint up the final ramp in one to cross the finish line in 19th place.

 The race is billed as being '10km...and the rest' and eventually came in at just shy of 15k. My time of 1hr 42 minutes should show just how hard this race really was! Over the course of the race we climbed 608 metres and I managed an average pace of just under 7 minutes per kilometre. The after party was excellent and, with our generous allowance of sleeping bags, I had a nice cosy sleep in the tent afterwards. Excellent weekend!

269 by jackarnold87 at Garmin Connect - Details
http://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=40&RId=5003