Kim, with her hard-earned medal
As we drove up the country lane towards the farm a
few expletives were uttered…along the lines of oh dear just look at
those hills, I really can’t wait to run up darn hilly slopes!
On arrival at Mapperton Farm (near Bridport) we
collected our numbers which were printed on a white headband (very
fetching) with the Kamikaze logo on them and also our wrist timing
chips. The kamikaze charge starts at the top of a steep hill and as
instructed everyone had to scream ‘banzai’ because if you didn’t, you
were threatened with instant disqualification (ha the jokers). At the
sound of the gun off we went running down a very steep grassy slope
which thanks to the rain was slippery as well and as it turned out was
one of the easiest parts of the course (which was two laps).
Once down, it was back up again and it didn’t take
long to realise that this was going to be tough. Running down was as
tricky as trying to get up some of the hills and a few times I slipped
over completely, thankfully the whole course is on grass or track so it
was a soft landing.The first obstacle was in the woodland via a stream
(that was cold and had a very muddy bottom, a bit like mine!) with lots
of rope tied in between the trees to negotiate. This was not easy as
some people were going under them and some were trying to stand on the
ropes.
Then it was back up again and along the back of a
field until another downhill run which took us back into some more
woodland where the muddy bog was almost knee deep. Luckily for me my
trainers stayed on but some poor chap had lost both his shoes and had to
continue barefooted. My running partner lost one of his shoes in the mud
and had to go in up to his elbows to retrieve it. Then there was the
muddy embankment to try and get up with a rope that didn’t quite reach
far enough down. Several times I got to within grabbing distance of the
rope only to slide back down again, and again, and again. Eventually I
managed to get up but it was exhausting. Even though some of the hills
were very short everyone walked them as running wouldn’t have been any
quicker.
On another section of the course there were two
tarpaulin slides with water/fairy liquid on them, which hurtled you down
the slope into straw which was great fun, you had absolutely no control
as to where you would end up and in my case face down in the straw.
Eventually the finish was in sight with only two more obstacles to go;
the cargo net to scramble under and the wall, which thankfully a marshal
offered a helping hand to help me over and I had finished in 1hour 39
minutes in 97th place.
Banzai runners contemplate the ‘wall’.
What a race and what an experience, in fact it was so
good we are going to do the Kamikaze Final Sortie in May next year in
East Sussex.
Votwo organised this event and it was faultless.
