Runstock!

So, this weekend was the first running of the Runstock event, another fine RatRace event, this time taking place in Kettering and using the opportunity to get families involved by using the whole weekend.

Team Molloy headed up on Friday afternoon and decided to camp. I say camp, I actually forgot the walls of our gazebo so we slept in the van…all 4 of us!

Camping on site was great, really easy to check in, plenty of toilets and showers and lots of other families camping too so plenty of stories to swap and banter to hurl around.

The ‘arena’ was a 5 minute walk along a nice path, and once there, there was plenty for the kids to do. Mine are both under 3 so they didn’t go on most of the stuff, but if you were 6 or upwards it was a veritable cornucopia of exciting outdoor activities, with climbing, caving, zip wires…great fun.

As always, check in was easy, friendly staff, well drilled procedure…can’t fault it!

All the action was due on Saturday morning at 10am so we hit the hay (or the van) early doors and got up early…hey, we’re 2 and 3 years old, 6am is standard wake up time in our house! We were greeted by fairly blue skies, relatively warm weather and dry forecasts, ideal for running, but even better for families hanging about in a field all day waiting for Dad!

The aim of the event was simple, 5km laps, do as many as you want/can in 8 hours, with the added bonus of 7 different obstacle zones on the way round for those who wanted to do them. I kidded myself that I was going to do 2 laps, but as soon as I got to the start line and saw everyone else, I knew I was going for 10 laps, 50km and doing every obstacle on the way! After all, there was a fancy medal for 50km, and everyone loves the bling right?!

Obstacles were mega, the huge slip and slide, with extra bubbles provided by Charlie, the inflatable zone, the river crossing (or swim in my case, a nice cooling dip every 30 minutes was good for the soul) a tent where you were blasted with paint and beans (those guys loved that job a little bit too much!), a full on obstacle course complete with a scramble net that weighed as much as an old fashioned steam train by the 3rd lap, and a wall that grew each lap to a final finishing height of around 14ft (again, another awesome marshal on here reminded me that it remained the same height, it was just my vivid imagination that was causing this phenomena), a huge leap onto an air bag (I bloody hated that thing, thanks to the marshals for forcing me off every time!) and finally a fairground replete with gun shooting, coconut shy and ‘ring the bell’ game.

I did 9 laps in around 33 minutes each, and then took my 3 year old boy Alfie for a final lap in around 90 minutes. It was great to see so many other families out there together, some laughing, some crying (mainly the parents!) but all having a great time together in the fresh air!

We finished (yes Alfie did all the obstacles too…thanks again to the wicked marshals!) and got our medals and shout out by the indefatigable finish line commentary team. It was beautiful to hit the nice warm showers, then it was back to the arena to watch the Beatleg Beatles, who were fantastic, and then went to sleep for 1000 years (did I mention that they get up at 6am regardless of what their idiot Dad was up to the day before?!)

All in all, a mega event, faultless organisation as I have now come to expect, great fun course, lovely marshals and a fantastic venue for an event that I’m sure will grow and grow.

I’m not sure how many people were doing every obstacle? I think I saw 2 others?? But it would be nice to maybe have a separate ‘wave’ for these guys as the majority who did 50km or more were just running (still bonkers!) so it would be nice to know how we were fairing compared to our peers. Other than that, I can think of few ways to improve…chapeau to everyone involved!

I guess now I can call myself an ultra runner? I never thought I could do 35 miles in a day, let alone spending half of it wet, covered in beans and rolling round on the floor!