This month, Gemma Rice, business development administrator at MSX, laced up her trainers and got slightly muddier than she had bargained for when she took part in the Summer Wolf Run.
The event - which is the first wild run in the UK - took place on June 13 and saw participants tackle a hard-core 10k run across raw natural terrain, incorporating 25 man-made and natural obstacles.
It was Gemma's first ever competitive event and, for her whole wolf-pack, their first ever obstacle event. The team of five, which had various fitness levels, strengths, weaknesses and phobias, completed the run together in 2.5 hours. They spurred each other on throughout the race and, on more than one occasion, pulled each other out of deep mud and woodland ditches.
The Wolf Run is designed to test competitors both mentally and physically, taking them back to a primal, instinctive way or running in raw and challenging terrain. Competing in unseasonable heavy rain, the event saw Gemma and her team do just that as they faced their fears and climbed rope walls, crawled through dark, muddy tunnels, clung onto cargo nets and escaped from deep ditches.
Gemma said: "We hope that when we signed up for a summer event, we would enjoy some sunshine. Unfortunately we had nothing but rain. It definitely made the course slightly more challenging and much more muddier, although after a few minutes we didn't even notice the rain and it was probably far worse for our families watching! It was such a fun event and one I definitely plan to take on again next year."
