race review 16
jogscotlandmagazine Summer 2011
race review
The Mighty Deer Stalker
On Saturday 19 March, a tweed- clad crew headed to the Scottish Borders to take part in the Mighty Deerstalker. Amongst them were several adventurous jogscotties…
Miriam Adcock, JogPeebles:
I had planned to be sensible and try the 5k Deerstalker before attempting the 10k, however my lovely husband bought me entry to the 10k for my birthday and so it was, that I lined up for the Mighty Deerstalker, complete with tweed hat and head torch.
The first obstacle, the hay bales, wasn't too bad and was followed by a gentle start before hitting the first patch of mud and then reaching our first major hill. We ran up the Innerleithen mountain biking tracks, which got steeper and muddier as it got darker.
Eventually we neared the top and crawled under a cargo net, before starting the steep descent. The technique required was to fling yourself at the next tree down as the track was too muddy to get any grip. Most of us soon resorted to sitting and sliding down the worst bits!
On the second major hill we hit the scree slope that was to become my home for about the next hour. The slow and busy climb was frustrating, but did give me plenty of opportunity to rest and the banter was brilliant.
The return downhill was great and I was actually able to run, until the ropes... Suddenly the ground dropped away and there were knotted ropes for us to lower ourselves down on. There were people everywhere slipping about, screaming and laughing - it was general chaos!
aboveMiriam and the Buckie Crew
It took me three hours 20 minutes (mostly due to the bottlenecks), but I've never laughed so much I would definitely do it again. I would recommend adding hill climbing to your training plan, but the most important things were fancy dress and a sense of humour.
Plus, not many races have beer, cider and wine tents, along with numerous food stands and live music at the finish. All in all, what better way to spend a Saturday night!
Kirsty Shaw, jogscotland Buckie:
After the fun of the Ythan Challenge last year (an off road, adventure event in Ellon), a few brave (or mad!) jogscotland Buckie members jumped at the chance of another wet and muddy adventure.
And so it was that I found myself in a car with fellow jogscotties Malcolm and Morag Mair, Gilian Hay and Wendy Edwards en route to take part in my first ever adventure race.
As we watched the 5k Deerstalker in the afternoon hysteria hit our group. Everyone who crossed the finish line looked exhausted, wet and muddy – and we were going to be running twice the distance… in the dark.
It was a tough course with a lot of very steep slopes but the atmosphere was great and we’ve never laughed so much during a race before. None of us expected to enjoy it as much as we did and at no point did anyone regret taking part, even when waist deep in water!
The whole experience gave us such a buzz and we spent the whole journey back up north planning our outfits for next year. Now that we’ve survived the Mighty Deerstalker, we will think nothing of a wet jogscotland session in Buckie.
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