Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest Elite, the first 21km urban obstacle race, that was running for the first time alongside the standard 10km version that has been running successfully for the past few years and considered one of the best obstacle races in the country. The Elite course was essentially an extra 11km loop added onto the back of the standard 10km course.
The team at Rat Race have done a fantastic job in adding an additional loop onto an already exceptional urban course. I would be surprised if another urban event could rival it, to have 21km on a single lap course across a large city is unique and is certainly a survival of the fittest. Tough but achievable at the same time
The registration process was expectedly well organised and after working out the timing chip and pinning my number on I was ready to race. The warm up was short and sweet and allowed us to get going as soon as possible.
After a couple of kilometres the serious obstacles started appearing with the standard nets, climbs and jumps and plenty of mud. Once the course hit Holme Pierrepont (the Nottingham water sports centre) I could have mistaken the event for an aquathon as we were immersing ourselves in water for what seemed like eight or nine times. Sometimes it was just moving yourself through water, sometimes swimming and other times traversing across inflatables and more often than not falling in. There was some fun involved in the water too, with a man made slide, and although there was some queuing which was frustrating it was an exception across the event.
The numerous water crossings played havoc with the leg muscles not to mention the core body temperature and made the hands cold making gripping on certain obstacles quite difficult. But we weren’t here for a stroll in the park after all, it was meant to be tough. As I started to pray for the last water crossing they actually started to get easier as I adapted to the cold and utilised the tactic of keeping the hands moving. Sandwiched in between the various water crossings was a very tough sand bag carry, not only did you have to run with it but you also had to drag it underneath a dozen tunnels.
When the Elite course re-joined the standard course, the emphasis returned to obstacles on land with hurdling, climbing, crawling all back with a vengeance. There was a great inflatable obstacle that was more difficult than it looked and a loop through a HGV lorry, which was great fun and again another fantastic variation. This is where the course really excelled, it didn’t just have a load of walls, cargo nets and mud, much more went into it than that, the organisers kept it interesting and varied with quality obstacles and a decent quantity of them to match. In obstacle racing terms this was a Rolls Royce course, there aren’t too many events that can rival a historic football ground, water sports centre, HGV lorries and inflatables amongst its armoury.
Many of the obstacles required great flexibility as well as strength and speed, living up to the ‘survival of the fittest’ tag. In particular ‘the box’ and ‘the towers’ both similar in requiring you to get under and over in tight spaces, pulling yourself up and dragging yourself under. Tough work when you’ve been on the go for over two hours. I will be working on my flexibility for next year.
As I neared the end of the course the Men’s Health Wall of Fame started entering my head, my energy was sapped so I knew it was going to be a struggle
As I neared the end of the course the Men’s Health Wall of Fame started entering my head, my energy was sapped so I knew it was going to be a struggle but before that there was more water, a keg carry and overhang wall to contend with. The overhang wall looks tough and it is, particularly with the wrong technique. I managed to pull myself up onto the wall ok but struggled to get over it until I remembered the technique of getting the leg across first and rolling over it.
Then came the last wall, I can confirm it is still one of the toughest walls to get over, particularly at the end of 21km and cemented my view that the course was very tough but achievable.
As I went through the finish line all that was left to do was to collect my goodie bag and medal (that looks like it doubles up as a bottle opener) and get your photo taken (free via Facebook), another great little add on. We even got some Durex lube…
The team at Rat Race have done a fantastic job in adding an additional loop onto an already exceptional urban course. I would be surprised if another urban event could rival it, to have 21km on a single lap course across a large city is unique and is certainly a survival of the fittest.