I returned to London from Gloucester and had a few days before departure.
This post was missed in its correct sequence and actually took place on 18th October, the day prior to my trip to Ireland. It involved lots of running and an obstacle course creating active, muddy activities which seemed great fun to the participants and apart from the super fit required assistance and teamwork from other participants or helpers. Many runners were in team colours and some ran as costumed characters. Not all obstacles are shown. Son Number 1 and his girlfriend had participated in one some months before, were not running but were part of the large and vocal support team for her siblings and the father.
Not all photos are mine.
Fresh, clean and ready to start
Waiting
The first group warms up
Some start.
Teletubbies, a lamb and a sunflower were either waiting or in the process of passing the first obstacle
Over the hay bales
A team in red and a Wally from the “Where’s Wally” books heading up a hill
Tiny spots in the distance to the left of the tree line are the runners stretching their legs
Just climbing around
Brothers hanging around together
Sibling support. The youngest had taken the lead, completed the course the maximum number of times, 3, with grace and seemingly minimum effort and had a lot of time to hang around waiting for his family to finish. Elder son retired injured, OK, but unable to run.
What was a leap of hope and faith for many. The end of the run unless you count getting down from the hay bales on the other side or the desire of many to run the course up to twice more.
Full frontal muddy water
Steve had been outrun by his kids so Son Number 1 did a swift change, ducked under the ropes and joined him as a running buddy
Just sitting around
Finished with mud, pendants and a sense of achievement to prove it
He then continued on to accompany Steph in her quest to run the course 3 times. Under the net.
Up the muddy bank
Human sandwich
Another successful finish
The runners had a successful day out and the home based support team got to rest their vocal chords until it was time for pizza dinner and the retelling of the events of the day.
As a kid, Son Number 1, despite engaging in lots of sport did little running. Seems to have made up for it in adulthood with the addition of a manifest sense of team solidarity. Pity he lives so far away. Steve arrived around 4.15am the next morning in fine form to drive us to the airport to allow us to catch planes in opposing directions.