Last year was the absolute brutality of
the Mighty Deerstalker. Officially 10km plus a little, it clocked in at
somewhere around the 16km mark, a vast chunk of it either going up or down two
of the splendid looking hills around Innerleithen. It hurt me, both physically
and mentally, and I really fancied another crack at it.
But not this year. This year I thought
I’d try and conquer its younger brother, the Deerstalker. A mere 5km (plus a bit) this is still not an easy
event. Yes you avoid the massive second hill and you don’t have to do it with
only the light of your head torch to guide you – but it is still plenty hard
enough thank you very much.
I decided to do a separate review for
this despite doing one for Mighty Deerstalker last year as there is enough
difference in the event to warrant it. As
always, the grading system is covered elsewhere on the blog archive but
essentially, the higher the number the better. I’ve reworded some of the
categories to more accurately reflect what is looked at in each section but
other than that it is business as usual.
So I, once again, present Team MUBU’s “Seriously how good was that?” review.
DEERSTALKER
5km(ish) Trail Run
March 14th 2015
Innerleithen
Lots of ascending and descending (often
down very narrow tracks) coupled with river crossings and muddy fields, this is not your typical OCR.
Essentially devoid of man-made obstacles this is trail running with a bit of
mud thrown in for fun.
Pre-Race
Day Organisation (formerly “Event Organisation)
Rat Race
events are pretty standard and pretty slick by this point. Easy to sign up for,
plenty of information through the months and a good Essential Event Information
leaflet via email a few weeks before hand. Nothing overly flashy but solid and
consistent.
8 – Very Good
Event Facilities
A couple
of food and drink stalls plus a large bar and a rat race shop (though I was
a bit disappointed they didn’t have all
the old t-shirts cheap like last year). The campsite was big enough and there
were plenty of toilets available. Throw in a manned valuables drop off (and
unmanned bag drop) and you’ve got almost everything you need.
8 – Very Good
Registration and Race Day Organisation (formerly
“Registration”)
Once
again Rat Race is pretty slick and standard. There is a tent for signing your
disclaimer (with free Red Bull for Rick!) and the actual registration process
is pretty simple as long as you have your ID. No ID no race though. You get
everything you need with your race pack (no numbers) and you even get your nice
technical race T-shirt beforehand so you can get it filthy if you wish.
8 – Very Good
Location and Watchability (formerly “Location”)
It is a
bit of a drive from Manchester but the setting is beautiful – in and around a
stately home and through plenty of lovely scenery. There are enough spots for
people to watch the action at various stages in the race and the view of all
the headtorches making their way around the hillside once the sun has gone down
is difficult to beat.
8 – Very Good
On course facilities
Lots of
marshals and paramedics dotted around, though some sections are strangely
devoid of people and in the dark there is the potential for accident and worse.
It wasn’t a problem for us but the later racers might have struggled. No
distance markers but there is one water station which you pass about 2km from
the end.
6 – Above Average
Warm-up and briefings (formerly “Warm-Up)
Well
there was a bit of a warm up and a bit of a safety briefing so I guess that is
something. The warm-up was unfortunately done once everyone was in the start
pen so there was no space to do anything and it was also done 3-4 minutes
before the off, so you were cold before the race started.
6 – Above Average
Variety of obstacles
Despite
the claims, this isn’t really an OCR. This is a trail run with a few dips into
the river and a couple of other natural obstacles to navigate. You won’t need
much (if any) upper body strength for this one but your legs will take a
hammering from the hills
4 – Below Average
Obstacle-to-run Mix
Plenty
of running, very few obstacles. There is enough variety in the running to keep
you interested (elevation changes, different terrains etc..) but there is still
an awful lot of running with very few obstacles to break the flow
5 – Average
Usage of Terrain and Nature (formerly “Terrain”)
Oh there
is a lot of “terrain” on this one. Plenty of hill climbs (even more on the
night race) and there are not many flat bits to negotiate. The river winds its
way through the course and you dip in it a few times to cool off and get some
respite from climbing. They couldn’t really do much more with what they have to
work with.
8 – Very Good
Post-Race Pack
As
always with the Rat Race events you get a decent post-race pack (thankfully
quite devoid of the usual assortment of flyers and leaflets that some events
throw at you). A nice chunky medal, better than the bottle opener affair they
had last year, as well as a technical T-shirt (which you get pre-race), a curly
wurly and a half pint of ale great you at the end. Plus you could pose for a
free post-race photo this year which was a nice touch (most event photos are
becoming too expensive these days). AND a nice rag appeared in the post today
too :-D
8 – Very Good
Course Difficulty: 7
Obstacle Difficulty: 4
The
course is tough, especially for those of you (like me) who aren’t natural trail
or hill runners – or in fact natural runners. But it is quite short so you
should be able to drag yourself round without too much hassle, and there are
numerous spot where you can’t really run due to the terrain so a forced walk is
required. Obstacle wise, there is nothing here – no upper body strength
required and the odd river dip doesn’t really challenge anyone.
Overall Thoughts
Armed
with the knowledge of what this race actually entailed this time I was able to
enjoy myself a lot more than last time. The event itself (with the camping and
after party etc..) is really good in terms of feeling like a proper trip away,
rather than drive there, run, drive back. Everytime I leave the next morning it
is with a sense of, “shall I do that again?”. I definitely feel that the Mighty
Deerstalker is calling me back again soon, maybe not next year but we shall
see.
Overall Score
7.0 – Definitely a different
sort of challenge, but one that is always potentially on the “to do list” each
year.
A reminder of the new system
10.0 Nothing
will ever get 10.0, you should always strive for better
9.5 Sell
organs AND children. And everything you own. About as good as it gets
9.0 Sell
organs and/or children to do this event every single time
8.5 Highly
recommended indeed, this gets booked as soon as it is released
8.0 A
very good event, only money or illness would stop this being a yearly
thing
7.5 Definitely
one to recommend. Not much would keep me away
7.0 On
the list for another go, though not necessarily an automatic selection
6.5 Would
do this one again if the stars aligned, but wouldn’t break the bank for it
6.0 Was
fun but only a very cheap deal and a free weekend would tempt me again
below 6.0 Not for me for one reason or another.
EVENT REVIEWS SO FAR
8.0 Tough Guy
7.5 Reaper
Day Race
7.5 Yorkshire
Warrior
7.0 Tough
Mudder North West
7.0 Survival
of the Fittest Manchester
7.0 Spartan
Sprint Yorkshire
7.0 Total
Warrior Lake District
7.0 Avalanche - Chase the Yeti
7.0 Deerstalker
6.5 Mighty
Deerstalker
6.5 Pandemonium
Iced
6.5 Stockton
River Rat Race
6.0 Ram
Run
Next up is Yorkshire Warrior on 18th
April. Rick and I LOVED this last time and we can’t wait to take John and
Natalie with us this time around. Hopefully I’ll have regained some semblance
of fitness in order to give this one the respect it deserves. It is 16km, in
the depths of the Yorkshire hills and a whole lot of fun!
Till next time,
DT
No comments:
Post a Comment