The Mighty Deerstalker

A 10k (and a bit) hill race involving obstacles probably isn't the best idea for a clumsy, accident-prone person like me. This dawned on me at about 8pm on Friday, when I managed to go over on my already dodgy ankle by slipping on another innocuous object - a chip (a.k.a french fry). I wasn't even drunk or wearing heels. An hour of frantic icing later I decided I'd be okay and wasn't giving up on Saturday's race: The Mighty Deerstalker.

I think you'd call the Mighty Deerstalker an adventure run. I'd read the race reports and seen last year's photos so was prepared for a scary experience. This didn't stop me from making a mess of it though.

Mistake #1

'Slow and steady' was my mantra for the first 20 minutes. Last year's finishers ranged from 90 minutes to 4 hours so I saw no need to rush off at the start like most of the crowd. My friends sped off whilst I plodded gleefully along, feeling rather pleased with my new found sensible approach. I've burnt myself out early on in races before and this time my mission was to be the tortoise. Wrong move. Before long the trails narrowed and the crowd was forced into single file, getting slower and slower until it stopped to queue for the first obstacle. From that point, the 'race' became a slow-moving conveyer belt, with little scope for overtaking. Grr, if I'd sprinted at the start there would have been plenty of time to catch my breath. Oh well, I'll know for next year.

Mistake #2

Dodgy ankles and downhill running in the dark really don't mix. Last year I tore all my ankle ligaments and fractured my fibula in a freak dog-walking accident. Since then I've been really nervous about slippy slopes, and this race was full of them. I went over on my ankle a few more times, especially during the river crossings, and spent a lot of time shuffling nervously along in a semi-squat position. If I do this race again, I'll definitely strap my ankle up. In fact, I might just mummify myself and bounce down the hill!

Highs and lows

The course itself was great fun - really technical but not too physically challenging, well not at the pace I was going at anyway. The highlights for me were the sight of hundreds of head torches making their way up and down the hills, actually managing to overtake some people at the sheer scree slope and, most of all, the 'disco' section in the woods, complete with fairy lights, disco ball and thumping music.

The lowlights? Getting sent on a 10 minute detour by some friendly local youths.

I finished in a reasonably respectable 2 and a half hours, half an hour behind my friends but far from last. The true distance was apparently closer to 14k, with some serious ascent. I felt a bit bad that I'd left the others waiting in the cold (I had the car key), but not that bad, they could have waited for me!