Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Wayne had to drop out of today's Brutal race event, which was scheduled as a training session for Woking Good Gym members. Fortunately, James stepped up as the run leader, allowing Kirsty to participate in her first 5K Brutal event while wearing her Good Gym t-shirt. He also agreed to transport Kirsty and Eva to and from Spider Hill in Aldershot and thoughtfully brought bananas and gels for both of them to consume before and after the race.

Kirsty and Eva were feeling extremely nervous as the event start time approached. Neither of them was sure what to expect, so they naturally assumed the worst possible course lay ahead. James reassured them that they could complete the 5K race distance and advised them to pick up their feet and run with high knees to avoid tripping or falling. This reminded Eva of the nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York," and they all agreed to sing it whenever a section of the route felt particularly tough. While the girls waited in the warm car, James went to the registration tent to collect everyone's run chips and sign them in.

At 9:45 AM, everyone left the comfort of the warm car and completed some warm-up exercises ahead of the 10 AM event start time. Grateful that the temperature had risen to 9 degrees and pretending not to notice the wind and rain, Kirsty and Eva began the 5K route while James took on the 10K route. Brutal events are known for offering tough off-road running, featuring water, mud, and hills. Spider Hill is a challenging course with many elevations, the highest of which reaches 197 meters! The group sang "The Grand Old Duke of York" during the climbs and descents, because, of course, you can't run down hills without first running up them. There was some debate about whether it was harder to run uphill or downhill. The terrain was tough without trail shoes, which Eva didn’t have, but she managed to stick close to Kirsty during the sharp descents.

In addition to the hills and the mud (there was so much mud), there was a section called Alligator Swamp. This stinky lake had no alligators but featured water that reached waist height. James had gleefully informed the girls that Alligator Swamp had been frozen the day before. They all took a deep breath and waded through it, thinking that ice baths are supposed to be good for you, right?

Forty-three minutes after starting, Kirsty and Eva finished the 5K distance to thunderous applause—or maybe that was just the sound of their teeth chattering! Together, they celebrated their first (and perhaps only?) Brutal event and cheered James to the finish line, which he crossed just 32 minutes later, with a 10K finish time of 1 hour and 14 minutes. All three of them, now very cold and soaking wet, had just enough time for a couple of quick photos before piling back into James' car to compare notes.

Junior Park Run

On this cold chilly morning 3 GG members got out of their warm beds to carry out various volunteering roles at Junior Park Run 🏃🏻‍♂️

Wayne, Alys, & James were at the park to help, cheer and support the runners around the 2k course.

Wayne & Alys were marshals around the course while James was supporting the runners through the final tunnel 😀

In total this morning 92 young runners braved the cold with the fastest time being a fantastic 07:41 👏 There were also 23 PB's great running by everyone.