After having watched the weather get colder and wetter as the week progressed I woke up early Saturday morning ready to take myself down south to take on HellRunners first event of 2015, ‘Hell Down South’. This would be my second HellRunner having done Hell in the Middle back in 2012 but my first time doing Hell Down South (previous Muddy Race Hell Down South review can be found here
I was originally supposed to run this event back in January 2014, but after having disrupted the acromioclavicular joint in my left shoulder at Christmas 2013 I got my entry deferred to January 2015. The race organisers were really understanding when I contacted them and quite happily deferred my entry for me.
So 7am the doorbell rang and there was my friend Daniel, ready for a roadtrip. So off we went, the journey was just under 2 hours and the venue is really easy to find, entry was well signposted and car parking was well controlled by marshalls and easy to navigate. As we approached the venue we were trying a bit of acclimatisation by putting the blower onto cold and Daniel opening his window to let some cold air in!
So we proceeded towards the event village, again this was clearly signposted. A 10 minute walk but this was made clear in the joining instructions. Once we got in the event village it felt like home, members of the #ocrfamily popping up to say hi, DryRobes everywhere. The event village was basic & simple but had everything you would need. There were adequate toilets (slight queues but nothing like some other events), catering vans and vans selling hot drinks.Bag drop had a bit of a queue but again this was relatively quick to work down and seemed quite smooth at drop off (a different story to the end of the race for some people but I’ll touch on that later).
Now for me this was to be a completely different race, I was not racing this one for me or for time, but I was running for a friend. Lorraine was a DNF last year due to injury so I was there to help her with her journey for Redemption and get her over the finish line.
Race numbers (which this year include the timing chip) were sent out in advance so there are no registration queues, you can literally rock up to the start line and run. First wave went at 10:30am (which Daniel was in) and we were due to go in the second wave at 10:50am. We all gathered up ready to go, quick countdown and we were off!
Started off on a nice bit of hard surface trail before after about a mile we went off track and ahead you could hear a few screams, so I guessed that must be the first bit of cold water. In a race getting your feet wet early is a good thing, why put it off! So through the calf deep water & we pushed on and before long Lou, Lucille & Carl from Team Jaeger joined up with us and they ended up staying with me & Lorraine for the rest of the run. As we progressed Carl & Lou decided a roll in some puddles would be a good idea, Lorraine soon followed suit. The track then started to become a bit more varied with some hills and waterlogged tracks. Not wanting to feel left out myself and Lou decided that press ups in some of the next few puddles was the way to go, as we moved on this soon progressed into burpees in the water, other people looked at us like we were nuts (which to be honest we are).
Cold water acclimatisation we call it! As the miles progressed so did the steepness of the hills. Continuing on there were some stunning views from high level (wished I’d had a camera) and some killer hills. Then about 4 miles in, disaster, Lorraine’s left knee injury flared up. This is where I have to give due credit to her grit & determination, despite the pain she pushed on. So from here on it was pretty much Carl & Lucille would push on ahead and then wait for me, Lou & Lorraine to catch up.
After a few times of muttered words I got to understand that Lorraine hated hills! So we pushed on, more hills, more trails and then we started to hear music in the distance, that could only mean one thing, the ‘Bog Of Doom’. Now last year I was told that swimming was involved at this point but luckily enough water levels had dropped and I was able to walk it all with my shoulders & arms clear. Now Lou & Lorraine swear that there was something else in that bog with us as they felt something touch their legs (it wasn’t me!).
The water was cold cold cold and my feet were like ice blocks when we got out. Straight into a run up the hill and we were all trying to get warm. As we continued through some nice trails there was some more water and we came upon the infamous ‘false finish’. As you run up the hill you can see a tent, hear music and see people, however it is a group of pretty ladies cheering you on, a drink station and most importantly, a jelly baby station! Now this is where Carl kicked in by giving Lorraine piggy backs. What followed were some more water crossings, more hills and then we hit the sandy dunes. We pushed on, knowing we were near the end by now. Coming out onto a hard track we could see in the distance we were approaching the finish.
As a team we pushed on, supporting Lorraine to ensure she finished. Just before the finish line we were directed off track slightly to the final water crossing before we were able to cross the line to lots of cheers & support from spectators & helpers. Due credit to the marshall here, he noted that Lorraine was struggling and offered her the route avoiding the water but she’d got this far and wanted to complete everything. So we went through the water and once out the other side in a line of 5 we finished as a team.
This is a cracking event for the money, at the end of the event we got a decent bit of bling, quality technical t-shirt and one of the best & most random goody bags out there.
The course was well marked, marshalls positive & encouraging. The only negative that was picked up as a comment for improvement was the bag drop pick up. A bit unorganised and not enough bodies to cope with the demand of lots of people finishing within a close period. This is the only negative and I would definitely recommend a HellRunner to anyone.