The Nuts Challenge; 7km of obstacles is a breeze...isn’t it?

Our Consultants, Emma Pearcey, Sandra Wilson and Helen Firth braved the cold and participated in the ‘Nuts Challenge’.

Hear how they overcame water obstacles, mud runs and climbing the muddies of hills. So the day had finally arrived, we had spent 2 months training, Sandra had given up drinking and we had raised nearly £900 for Rainbow Trust. The pressure was really on for us to get round the course. Thankfully the flurry of snow from the previous week had given way to a balmy 5 degrees!! To say we were a little apprehensive on the morning was an understatement, none of us had ever done a mud run before and we had no idea what was in store for us. Especially as the disclaimer sent to us the week leading up had basically indicated anything from cuts, bruises and broken limbs to loss of life!

On arrival we battled through the crowds to register, collected our timing chips and numbers and then the waiting and panicking began! Rainbow Trust had a team of volunteers there who provided us with welcome hot drinks and painted our faces with rainbow war paint! It was time to begin… we set off for the mile run to warm us all up and within minutes had been plunged into a river – warm, dry feet were now a thing of the past. The first 3km were relentless with obstacle after obstacle, a few people were carted off in ambulances with injuries already.

One of the biggest challenges was the amount of water obstacles, the water was icy and competitors were being struck down with hyperthermia left right and centre – they had treated 30 cases by 2pm. I have never seen a person actually turn blue until Saturday. We then had 2km of running through woodland, tackling natural obstacles along the way before we reached the 5km mark with a cheerful marker saying “Welcome to Hell”. The final 2km were extremely challenging with a lot of hill work, climbing and scrambling in the mud – including running up and down hills carrying tyres! We reached the final km with friends and family there to cheer us on – this definitely kept us going particularly when we had to wade across the lake chest high in water so cold it made your whole body sting!

As we ran through the finish after 2 hours on the course we were slightly delirious with cold but the team wrapped us in foil blankets and put our medals round our necks. We were caked from head to toe in mud, soaking wet and freezing but feeling very proud. Our foolish thoughts of how hard can a 7km obstacle course be were definitely squashed! Would I do it again? I don’t know, all I do know is, that it was an amazing day!