by Louise Harris, Hornsea Harriers
What is your idea of a perfect Sunday? A lie-in followed by a nice walk and a Sunday lunch next to an open fire?
It’s probably not running a very hilly 10 off-road miles around the Temple Newsam estate in Leeds!
The race motto is Tough, Not Timid.
Tough? It was absolutely brutal this year. I woke up to snow! Thankfully, by the time I arrived at the event the snow had stopped. Unfortunately, it had turned into freezing rain. The rain did eventually stop – only to be replaced by a bitterly cold wind.
The course is a very tough one and known for being very wet and very muddy, but this year it surpassed itself. There is always a “puddle of doom” at around four miles – this year, the deep puddles started at mile two.
Leeds had had so much rain in recent weeks there were significantly more puddles than normal, and they were unavoidable. Being plunged knee-high into freezing-cold dirty water was very unpleasant. There were so many puddles that just as soon as my feet had started to warm up, it was back into dirty water.
I even tried going through some trees to avoid a puddle and got a splinter on my eyelid as a result – so I didn’t try that a second time. Some people looked like they were wearing wellington boots they were so muddy!
As well as the infinite number of puddles, the mud was legendary – in places it was so thick that it was like trying to run through treacle. I lost count of the number of times I nearly lost my trail shoes.
There was one hill that was completely impossible to run as it took every ounce of strength to stay upright. My shoes were so caked in mud by the end that I’m sure I weighed two stone heavier than when I started. I made the rookie error of forgetting clean, dry socks, so I had to drive home with no shoes on. I really couldn’t face putting trainers on my cold, wet feet.
Was it fun? No! It was cold, wet and very dirty.
Did I feel massively proud of myself for finishing it in one piece? Absolutely.
Will I be signing up for it again next year? Of course I will!