The Xmas Mud Run of 2017

Well what can we say that hasn’t already been said?

Well let’s start with a big thank you to Luke Harding and #TeamHarding for marshalling and supporting the event and in turn allowing us to support Luke’s fundraising efforts, he certainly picked a good one to come along to, we hope to see you again and we really appreciated Luke’s efforts in standing out on the finish line till the end, your fight makes a 4 mile battle through the freezing ponds and icy mud a little less dramatic!

But saying that we are not taking anything away anything from those who did it, it was a test of physical and mental will power! Now the event itself saw the first 5 or 6 boys absolutely fly around, all coming in on around the 40 minute mark and Milford  Haven girl Jolene Lewis leading the pack for the females followed closely by Carrie Hermitage both veterans of our mud run series. Then as the middle order started crossing the line it appeared the cold was taking its effect on some more so than others

Now you can speculate, discuss and debate the reasons for this and the way we see it is there are quite a few factors that lead to such dramatic scenes, and yes the cold would be an obvious one but not the coldest day for such an event. So as at the end of every event we’ll have a good and proper look to see what can be done differently and this is not for here and now!

Something else that hasn’t been mentioned much is well done to the near 200 that crossed the line, no matter what happened to you on the other side, It was a massive achievement of physical endurance and something you will definitely remember!!! It’s all about collecting experiences not possessions! But saying that we should probably consider giving out medals for the event as it certainly warrants it. The effort put in by everyone in getting yourself across the line probably had a detrimental effect on some once the adrenaline started to subside and the cold hit home! but it was a monumental effort and how many can say in their training regime for the event they put themselves through the mill of cold water / mud training probably not many, which makes the effort even more remarkable.

The facts and figures that have been bounced about vary but here is a snap shot, 17 persons out of just under 200 needed assistance (by us)following the run and 4 of these were suffering some serious hypothermic symptoms (2% of the field) The difficult and dramatic part of this came as the vast majority of the symptoms came on suddenly whilst people were in the showers or getting changed, which meant there was a frantic 30 mins of rounding everyone up! And making sure everyone was accounted for and these who were at the worst end really were suffering no doubt and we appreciate this was very worrying for family and friends.

but it was dealt with promptly and professionally by first of all, from the Marshals, first aiders and the boys from Celtic Camping all of who are extremely experienced professionals from a number of walks of life who switched in to overdrive and calmly and quickly dealt with what was put in front of them. They say you can tell a lot about a person in how they deal with a spontaneous incident and we couldn’t have asked more. And equally as impressive was the response from other runners (many of who are part of our team or regular competitors) and the family and friends of those who were suffering who stood up and assisted in promoting their recovery, their assistance and support was much appreciated.

One of these misquotes stated space blankets and anything we could get our hands on were handed out! Part of the contingency (which has never been used in anger) and the beauty of being at a 400 bed group accommodation site was we knew there were 400 duvets, beds and plenty of rooms available if needs be!

So without further ado and to sum it up, Thank you to the over 20 or so people who messaged in or posted on social media to thank the marshals and all involved and that they enjoyed it (in a funny way) We really appreciate it and we will get back to you personally asap and well done to all the people doing the run for personal causes and to raise money for charity, it was definitely challenge and every single penny of those donations were earned

We would also like to thank the Phil and his ambulance colleagues who attended the event and assisted and then conveyed one runner to hospital for precautionary check up after suffering Hypothermic symptoms and unfortunately another lady suffered a leg injury on the course and we wish her a speedy recovery.

The Photos are here supplied by Haverforsdwest’s Behind the Lens Media and the perception of the photos, is everyone looked so happy!! Photos

And Finally, Finally the finishing order if you are missing from the list please contact me,