Race Review - The Summer Beast - 15th Sept 2013

I love this race, I can rock up, run a 10 mile obstacle course and then quietly disappear afterwards. The simple, raw feel of the race is great, no "HooRa's", "Hell Yeah's" or "Ar Roo's". Its a hilly trail run through a magnificent horse trials course with an added water obstacle. Having the option to complete one or two, 5 mile loops was never a real option for me. Of course I'll be pushing myself for 10 miles. I have done this race 3 or 4 times now and always enjoyed the tough terrain and the fast pace of the race.

I somehow ended up on the front row of the starting line, and from the countdown I took the lead for the first half mile. I then made a pretty dumb decision at the water wade. I took a wider route and chose to swim rather than wade. This cost me lots more time and energy, and by the time I was out of the water the the lead had been taken by a dude in black and he was pulling away with ease.

After the water the course becomes pretty hilly and and just don't have the legs to pound up these bad boys, I was starting to loose the odd place but after the first lap I was pretty confident I was in the top 10. The second lap was hard going every horse jump seemed higher, slippier, and harder to leap. I made a better decision to wade rather than swim on the second lap which made life much easier. My male chauvinism came into play half way round the 2nd lap with the fastest lady on the course gaining on my and hanging on to my heels. I was determined not to be beaten by a lady, and pushed hard to try and loose my skirt wearing shadow (she was wearing shorts not a skirt, but it doesn't alliterate as nicely as skirt) but I just couldn't shake her. In the final mile she pulled away and took a good 10 seconds from me, I was happy with my efforts, and my legs were screaming and lungs gasping, I couldn't have run any harder.

When finishing I caught up with the lady and congratulated her and a few other male runners I had been trading places with all morning. I quickly grabbed my keys from the key drop and headed home. I usualy stop for one of the stunning burgers from the local butchers stall. But today I was rushing back as i was on taxi duties in the afternoon, and have DIY jobs to deal with.

A great race, an incredible challenge and for the first time I ran every step (apart from stopping at a water station) including the uphills.

http://thebeastrun.co.uk/