Ill Concieved Plans Poorly executed

The Grim Challenge

Anything called the Grim Challenge is going to be unpleasant but I didn't let that put me off entering. I've done it before so I should have known better, you know how it is though two years is a long time to remember all the little details. So by the time I filled in the entry form on a warm day in October it didn't seem that bad.

The event is an eight-mile cross-country run around an army vehicle test wasteland in Aldershot. I think you can guess the rest, leafy glades surrounded by muddy lanes and deep puddles. This was truly grim land.

I lined up with the two thousand others who seemed to think that getting up early on a Sunday, causing a traffic jam in Aldershot and running in mud was a good idea. For me the race was for one purpose and one purpose only. A last good bye to a faithful pair of trainers that had lived beyond their sell by date. There was no way that they were returning from this event alive.

Once we got moving the puddles came thick and fast. At first they were small ones, easy enough to run round or splash through depending on your frame of mind. Slowly the puddles got deeper. Every time the tapes guided us away from the wide track the message was clear, you were going to get wet and cold. Most reverted to a high-kneed walk though the pools but some foolishly tried to run. This was a mistake as they ended up in a headlong dive much to the amusement of everyone else. Leaving the puddles was worse. The cold water would drain from the trainers leaving no sensation what so ever. The next hundred yards or so I would feel like I was walking on stumps. By the time I could feel my feet it was time for the next dunking. I'm not really sure that I enjoyed this.

After an eternity in the muddy rinse cycle the end loomed and along with it the sting in the tail, a waist deep pool to negotiate. Nice. Luckily the finish was next to the tea van. Shame I left my money in the car