In late 2014, Muddyrace sent a few brave team members to take on Primal Events’ FEAR, a 24 hour endurance race into the unknown. Our report comes from Richard, with comments from Renee about what to expect if you take on the challenge laced throughout. Let’s find out how they got on;
Richard: This year has been my first full year of OCR and I have taken on several challenging events and I was just about to call time on my year of racing for a well-earned rest when this race was suggested to me. I signed up pretty blindly, not really knowing what was going to be involved, but I found out soon enough that it was not an ordinary OCR. I originally thought that it was an enduro sort of race, where you have to keep a team member on the course, running as many laps as possible in a 24 hour period, but it couldn’t have been further from it.
We were issued with a mandatory kit list from the guys at Primal Events, this was mainly for safety and our own well-being, however we were also issued with another list of items of a more curious variety, some of which were very open to interpretation, so it was clear straight away that this race would involve some mental challenges as well as physical endurance. I will try not to give too much away as to how we completed some challenges so that it does not destroy the mystery behind the event as some tasks might be repeated in future events.
Making a fool of yourself - Running for a kilometre through town with ice cream in your hands will not just to give you a hint of how cold it could get, but will give you a even bigger hint that you haven’t seen your shrink recently.
Originally we signed up as Team Muddy Race with seven members, however upon arrival on race day, there were only two teams, one of six and one of seven, so Team Muddy Race got split into two teams; Amy, Jonathan and myself in one team, Renee, Paul, Louise and Natalie in the other.
Challenge friendships - When nobody on your team knows map reading it’s hard as everyone could be right or wrong – each mistake will cost the team not only you. Google doesn’t like when you are in middle of nowhere as well, so that’s not an option.
The start point of the race was the Crooked Spire in the centre of Chesterfield. There was a safety briefing and a kit check to make sure that we had all brought the required items. Our first challenge was to empty our tub of ice cream into one hand and complete a 1km circular dash through the crowded market place, dropping as little as possible in the process…we then had to eat when was left upon completion. This didn’t really give us any idea as to what the rest of the day was going to involve, but it showed that the RDs had a sense of humour and would enjoy laughing at our expense.
Priorities - Where your priorities lies when there is a running race at 0400 with full back packs and two of your team are injured and you know that the loser of race will need to continue running?
We were given a bag of sugar to take to the market and barter for a more valuable item. We tried to be nice to the RDs by getting them some cake, coffee, flowers…but when the items were assessed, we soon found out that the RDs couldn’t be bought, and the items the other teams had managed to get were far more valuable than ours. We then had to go back to the market and sell the items we had just managed to scrounge, this proved costly as we only amassed about £5 compared to the other teams’ £40-something. At the end of this task, every competitor was given a potato..
Breaking down- Each person has their own breaking points, and most of them are in the mind. I knew that mine was stopping – but that I would break down the way I did was unexpected.
Other tasks included being given a 25lb weight to decorate… and carry with us for the duration of the race, at no point was it allowed to touch the floor; We also had to translate a phrase in Finnish that was our instruction for the next task which involved filling a bucket with water from the lake using our ‘digging tool’, which sent Amy and I into the lake on the first trip. When we got back we found our team-mate Jonathan doing push ups, I think he was being punished for looking over the RDs shoulder, trying to get some inside info.
Sacrifice- How you will fill your bucket with water? Cheat and sacrifice digging tools or follow the rules and save a hour of your time?
On arrival at a check point, the water level was checked and wasn’t quite high enough, so our potatoes at least came in handy to raise the water level! We then had to take our first unlucky dip, which resulted in us having to take new names for the remainder of the race. It wasn’t long before Jonathon responded to his name which earned us a 10 burpee penalty, my backchat then earned us an extra 40 burpees. Punishments were something we soon became used to as we didn’t learn to keep quiet…and of course, we are a team, so every team member had to complete the punishment, regardless of who incurred it.
Trust - To make a puzzle blindfolded with basic directions only - left, right, up, down. Mess it up and all the team goes for a dip in lake. Looking at it and being frustrated as you can’t help or being the blindfolded one, not sure if you doing it right - there isn’t any ideal position to be.
We started off following a stream, however it was proving quite difficult to follow the path in the growing darkness of the woods, so I made the decision to take us though some fields following a footpath along hedgerows, which would then drop us down to the next check-point. This turned out to be the only bad navigational decision I would make, as we turned up last to the meeting point, after I had taken us a much longer route. As we arrived, we found the other two teams playing Jenga with the smallest blocks I have ever seen, right next to a fast-flowing, icy stream.
Learning – Its’ not all tears and smoke, at least I know if there aren’t cable ties and my wrists involved I can still get out..
Whichever team-member knocked the tower over had to take a dip in the stream. Several games were played and each of us went in at least once. When the RD’s felt we’d had enough of this, they took a photo of the tower mid-game and told us we had to rebuild it on a suspended platform, only accessible through the stream…we could also only take three pieces per team member at a time, so there were multiple trips through the stream.
After being given the chance to change into dry, warm clothes, we faced a 4km looped run (good to get the blood flowing again) build a fire, (the weather the few weeks before had been extremely wet and it seemed there was not a dry piece of wood to be found) cook our potatoes and to complete a written test featuring some strange questions.
Have fun where you can – It’s not too bad when you pay only for your mistakes, even if it is taking a dip in cold water. Enjoy the laughter while there is some.
2830 steps later, more backchat earned us lengths of a football field counting our steps as we went. The RDs had some fun with us, making us find them a pretty rock, to kill time until the other teams arrived. We were then confronted with a piece of down-pipe, with holes drilled in it, inserted in a bucket of mud with a ball at the bottom. Using our pipes, we had to fill the tube with water to float the ball to the top, however our pipes were not allowed to leave the floor on the trips to and from the lake (yes, nearly every check point was by a water-source of some sort). After trying several different ideas…Amy came up with a great idea that resulted in us winning the task.
Finally, it was a race back into the centre of town. The finish line was the steps to the town hall – however we were not allowed to simply cross the finish line – the RDs had one more sick little task for our battered bodies. We were sent down the approach path and told to crawl all the way up a 50m slope, without our chests leaving the floor. Once all of our team reached the steps, then and only then could we cross the finish line.
Death - When you see the finish line and you still need to crawl on tarmac for the longest 30 meters in your life. You die inside a bit but it doesn’t matter, you have holes in your knees and you grunt and scream but you are there, and you have done it.
Our race mementos were constructed out of items that we had collected throughout the day on different tasks, which was a nice touch. There was a points system, however we do not understand quite how this worked as our team finished first or second on all but one check point, however we still ended up last. This was very demoralising for us, as we were in the smallest team, and so disadvantaged at times, however we were warned when signing up that any moaning would fall on deaf ears, so we kept quiet about it.
The edge - You know that it is almost finish and turns out you do care, you want to win. As tired as you feel, you keep going and you even find the strength to run. I can bet from outside it looked like a very slow walk but for me it was the fastest I have ever run.
After some post-race photos, the RD’s invited us all to the pub, to buy us a drink and talk over the previous 25.5 hours, which was a nice way to end such a challenging endeavour.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience, designed to push you mentally as well as physically, but not to break you (they save that for On Trial, their 48 hour event). The RDs and their partners were lovely people and kept the participants’ safety as their priority, frequently monitoring people for injuries and signs of hypothermia.
F.E.A.R. it’s the hardest thing I ever done in my life. Maybe it is not life changing but it definitely changed me. It will take you apart and will put you together stronger and better as not many things could do.
If you would like to have a go at one of Primal’s F.E.A.R races in 2015, then they have one in Cardiff and one in Norwich, and I would highly recommend it. This is not an OCR, but if you want to see just how far you can push yourself mentally and physically, then this race is definitely for you.