When me and Jo Overal, decided to do this, the night before the Morley 10k, it seemed like a good idea, having trained together earlier. Tracey was due to do it with us, but had to cancel at last minute. It was a shame that the day before this race at Parkrun, had been dry and cold but bright sunshine, next day we had snow forecast and it was doubtful it might be cancelled. Instead, after the overnight snow and freezing conditions it started 30 mins later, (the trail runners are a different breed to me being normally a road runner and parkruns) to allow for everyone to travel safely.

 

We arrived at Temple Newsam early to get parked and pick up our numbers, and allow for bag drop off, then had plenty of time for a coffee and a chat to keep warm in the cafe, before meeting up with the rest of MRC at the gazebo. It seemed like everyone else was experienced in this run, and there was some serious looking people in shorts and t shirts, we kept a few layers on, as we prepared to be out for a while.

 

We didn’t wait for long until we headed to the start line and set off. We had decided to stay together because we knew it would be tough. The first couple of miles were quite straightforward, but the rest of the runners had quickly left us. There were a few groups doing the same thing, looking after each other. We were pleased to see some fellow MRC supporters, Liz and Jo, near the motorway bridge and met a bunch of runners coming back from the direction we were heading to, all giving us huge encouragement and well wishes.

 

After this point we seemed to hit a lot of icy paths and it was best to walk quite a bit of it. We came across puddles which were unavoidable and had no choice but to go through. Usually I avoid these. We soon warmed back up when we got going again, the weather seem to get worse from this point, raining a lot more, which our kit seemed to soak up. Jo had an unfortunate fall about 10k mark and luckily there was another runner nearby to help her up, we were all slipping around trying to get a grip, Jo was shaken up, but decided to continue, after this we had to walk because it wasn’t safe enough for us.

 

We were starting to get a bit cold around the 8 miles point so just had to keep going to keep warm, and the thought of us finishing soon spurred us on. There were quite a few hills on this course, and I am not sure we would have run them anyway, but for the ice. Once we got back into the Temple Newsam estate it seemed easier to run. We only had the grounds to run on to the finish line, and found this bit the hardest due to the mud made by the earlier runners. The weather was atrocious at this point and we were glad to see Josh and Tom to encourage us to the end, with Alison.

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I nearly slipped on the finish line because of the slimy mud, trust me! Once over the line, we were handed a bottle of water and a goody bag with the T-shirt in it (I only did it for that) so was relieved to have finished it. The marshals deserve a medal for standing outside in this awful cold weather today. We might even be tempted to book it again next year now, (we have a pb to beat). If you are thinking of doing something out of your comfort zone like we did, just do it. You wont regret it and there is plenty of support from everyone at whatever level you are at.