andy parry's blog: November 2012

Cardiff - 06/10/2012 - 294th
First race of the series, and it had the very imposing hay bale start. Once over the bales it was a fast paced run along the quay side to the first set of obstacles. Before I even hit the first obstacle stitch had set in and my energy levels took a dive. The first set of obstacles overlooked the water and quickly tackled with ropes to swing scaffold A frames to climb and a Haras fence maze. The race then followed the waters edge back towards the starting point and past the growing crowds of well wishers and cheerers around the smarter part of the city.

The next set of obstacles involved lots of climbing through narrow tunnels and a great series of 1 meter high fences to vault. Unfortunately these obstacles were a huge bottle neck and i got stuck in frustrating queues. once out of the these slow obstacles i ran hard and fast in an attempt to pull some time back. the run was through a nice enough green space, broken up by a assault course with cargo nets and the painful sandbag carry, which always manages to sap my energy.

After another couple of kms running it was time to take a dip through the estuary which was pretty smelly. There was a lot of wusses slowly wading through the water here so i took the opportunity to wade / swim through slightly deeper water and gain more time and places.after a short parkour zone involving tables to cross and monkey bars it was time to climb the steps of the millennium stadium. this was a real lung buster, but was an incredible view once you saw the expanse of turf below. and hard run through the corridors before heading back down flights of steps and out on the the roads.

At the 8km marker i crossed the bridge i had previously swam under and still had beans in the tank, and thought i would push hard for the last 2 km. i was slowed down by the inflatables and the fact it was more like 11.5km! the final water jump and 8 foot walls were a challenge but great fun. finished wet, muddy and shattered.

In summary: a great course with the highlight being the millennium stadium run, lowlight being the bottle necks and queues, and good flat course

Scores (out of 10)
Course: 7
Terrain: 5
Difficulty: 6
Return factor: 2
Overall: 5

Nottingham 12/10/2012 - 186th
I was looking forward to the Nottingham race the most, because i knew the course after doing it last year, and it's my local race too. Made sure i nudged my way to the front line to have a good run at the hay bales which made a huge difference, meant i could maintain my momentum with out having to wait for slower runners and fatties who needed a ladder or a boost to get over a 1 meter hay bale.

The opening run stretched out the runners along the river Trent, with a pakour obstacle course thrown in to break up any rhythm you may have built up. The assault course was heavy sodden and been cut up into a large muddy puddle by the time the 5th wave reached it. the cargo net scramble was submerged in muddy water, which added to the diffidently and fun factor.

A short run through the water sports centre and it was soon time to grab a buoyancy aid. i sprinted hard to get past a large group running slowly as a team to beat them to the buoyancy aids, as i knew from last year this can turn into a bottle neck too. Once zipped into the buoyancy aid it was a fun slide into the water and a swim / wade though a man made lake. the water was bastard freeze and took a while to get the feelings back in my hamstrings and fingers. Once the buoyancy aid had been thrown back on the pile it was a short but great trail run through the trees and up and down banks. i love this kind of running and managed to pass a lot of people due to childish enthusiasm.

obstacles come thick and fast now, with a maze to run through, cones to carry through tractor tires and a skate park to navigate, a quick basketball hoop to shoot and cars to climb through and your back running. only a short run before you hit Nottingham Forest football ground and the grueling short shallow steps to run up and down. Once out of the grounds its a couple of km running along the river to the inflatables, water filled skip and the great fun of carrying a beer keg through the bar. finally the 8 foot wall and the finish.

In summary: a long course (12km) with the highlight being the water dips, lowlight being the extra hidden 2 kms. A good flat course too.

Scores (out of 10)
Course: 8
Terrain: 6
Difficulty: 6
Return factor: 10 (it's just so close)
Overall: 6.5

Edinburgh - 20/10/2012 - 172nd

This was so far away i had to get the train the day before and stay in a B&B overnight, which kind of sucks, but was also good fun. the odd thing here was that the event village, with registration, warm up and the usual facilities was a 10 minute walk away from the start line. This was weird but a necessary awesomeness, as the start line was at the top of the royal mile. i managed to nudge may way onto the front line again, and on the silent countdown (it was a sunday and we were next to a church) i sprinted away, the bales were much shorted and only required a hurdle to leap them. it was then a sharp left down an ancient narrow steep stepped alleyway past old pubs and shops. this was lethal but great fun.

unfortunately a lot of the race was ran on the open streets of Edinburgh which meant some pretty dodgy Frogger style road crossings and having to wait for the little green man. but it was balanced out by a killer climb up the steep steps of Jacob's Ladder, with incredible views of Arthur's seat and Edinburgh city. at the top of the hill was the usual assault course which was great fun, followed by a healthy sprint downhill. more green area running with a great run though disused railway tunnel.
It was then back into a more urban Edinburgh with frustrating road crossings and 'walk zones'. once back on the royal mile, crowds had gathered around a huge arctic lorry used as an obstacle to you through 4 times. The crowds were loud and great fun, and put that extra spring in your step. the final run around to the event village finish point was great fun, but very busy through the public park. The final 8 foot was very wet and busy and i required a little hand to get over. a fast and short course.

In summary: A mixed course of urban and countryside with the highlight being the climb up Jacob's ladder, lowlight being all the un closed roads to navigate.

Scores (out of 10)
Course: 5
Terrain: 5
Difficulty: 6
Return factor: 1
Overall: 4.5

Manchester 03/11/2012 - 82nd

It was a pretty dull and drizzly day, but i knew I'll be getting wet on the run anyway. so no need for long sleeves or joggers, just the usual freebie tech t-shirt and thigh length swimmers. me and Plumsie secured our place on the front line, waited for the shout of "go" and raced off to the hay bales. After almost losing my race number on the parkour zone, was a great obstacle of the spiral ramps up the Eithad stadium, these are a slow winding, demoralizing shallow ramps to the higher level of the stadium. Run up, run down, run up, run down. a great way to kill 2km in small area. it was then a run out to a athletics track and lap of the steeplechase. always liked the look of steeplechase races and this was a great chance to get a quick lap in. The water is way deeper that you imagine!

With the usual obstacles, and inflatables the course was great, and i managed to find a running buddy who was faster than me at running but i was better on the obstacles, so we constantly pushed each other. He also had a great moustache! it was a great treat to run round the edge of the velodrome too, i made sure to touch the side of the building and remembered Chris Boardmans philosophy of "Can i sustain this pace until the end of the race?" with the answer that should always be "maybe" with this in mind i pushed a little harder when the race hit the green parks.

A step rope assisted climb was a great challenge, and gained lots of places by scrambling up and ignoring the queue for ropes. a fun but smelly mud slide down the other side of the hill was the treat for the hard climbing. once out of the park it was back to the more urban surroundings and obstacles. i was feeling strong towards the finish and pushed as hard as possible in the final obstacles and final 8 foot wall. Great race and felt stronger and faster than ever.

In summary: A mixed course of urban and countryside with the highlight being the Eithad stadium spiral climbs, lowlight being the stench of canal and open sewer at the mud slide.

Scores (out of 10)
Course: 7
Terrain: 7
Difficulty: 6
Return factor: 8
Overall: 7.5

London day 17/11/2012 - 514th

After a week of having the shits, 2 races on one day was never going to be easy. Even though i was through the worst of it, i still was weaker than i should be. The 6am train from derby wasn't the best preparation either! Anyway i could list excuses and whinges all day if i wanted too. it was another grey and rainy day but it was made better by having Ness and the boys with me for support and encouragement. Me and Izaak previewed the course and picked lines though obstacles and watched a few waves rumble over the hay bales.

But soon it was my turn, and with elbows and shoulders end up on the front row. with the missus standing watching i could nothing else, other than sprint at full whack to the bales, vault, vault, leap and vault, clearing all the bales in the lead. This lead didn't last long and runners starting trickling past me. the first 5km of the race was mainly running with a great steeplechase lap, and run around Battersea park. even though it was only 5km it was killing me.

once we made it back to Battersea power station, it was 5km of obstacles. and i love obstacles, i was like a kid in a playground running and jumping and climbing over everything you could see, only being slowed down to wear a hard hat. health and safety is brilliant! The inside of the power station is nearly as impressive and imposing as the outside. the dreaded sand bag carry was a killer and my pace dropped to a walk as i struggled to lift my legs over the low barriers. but once i had dropped the extra weight i felt light as a butterfly and rushed off the next obstacles. The course was surprisingly light on queues and people. i was expecting to be hitting bottle necks everywhere due to the popularity of the race, but the RatRace team were on top form and it was easy to flow from obstacle to obstacle. The final 8 foot wall nailed me this time and i couldn't make it with out boost up from a fellow runner! cheers mate!

In summary: A mixed course of a 5km park run and 5km obstacle course. highlight being battersea power station engine room, lowlight being the long dull run.

Scores (out of 10)
Course: 7
Terrain: 6
Difficulty: 7
Return factor: 5
Overall: 7

London night 17/11/2012 - 39th

LOVED IT. 5km sprint with obstacles every couple of minutes. even though i was shattered, dehydrated, hungry i threw everything i could at this race. I enter these races because i like obstacles, i only run, to train, so i can improve my times BETWEEN obstacles. this was the same as the second half of the 10km day race. it was dark so lots of the course was flood lit and some was in very moody darkness which all added to the fun. i was so surprised that less than a 5th of the people doing the 10km signed up for the 5km. Weirdos.

In summary: 5km obstacle course. highlight being battersea power station engine room, lowlight sandbag carry... it always kills me.

Scores (out of 10)
Course: 9
Terrain: 6
Difficulty: 7
Return factor: 7
Overall: 8

So the project is under way and as I'm scraping and brushing the old paint off I notice that the dry board ceiling in part of the cellar is bowing downwards. So I firmly give it a little push to see how stable it is. The answer is not at all, and my hand goes through the dry board.

Great another job on the list is now to replace the ceiling in this part of the cellar. the parts of the ceiling where it is dry board comes off easily, even though some of the nails that were used to keep it up, have rotted and the claw hammer simply ripped the flat heads off the nails, which gave my half an hour of fun with a pair of pliers.

This was the easy part!

The hard part was the ceiling that was made of ply wood. 10mm ply wood nailed on every 15cm across the beams. these were impossible to pull out even when I hung my entire body weight off the ply wood sheet. So how do i get the sheets down?

Well it was the black Friday week and i had purchased a Dremel trio, router / cutter / sander combination power tool. With the cutting tool installed and set to a depth of exactly 10mm I cut around each and every nail that held the ply wood boards in place.

This meant that I could pull the ply wood sheets down leaving only a small circle of wood around each nail. which i can now attack with a claw hammer and pry bar to remove.