Two weeks after the unseasonably balmy ASICS IceMan, the second race in the ASICS Off Road Race Series the MudMan, certainly lived up to its moniker. With a good amount of the brown stuff in transition and deep puddles around every corner, competitors knew they were in for a wet, wild and muddy race.
The mud-fest kicked off with a challenging 12km trail run and, with the promise of the infamous Heartbreak Ridge, there was an air off nervous expectation as both two and four legged runners waited for the gun. The field was brought home by Richard Lazell in the blistering quick time of 47:49. As well as winning, he had the added bonus of not having paid for his entry either:
“After winning my place in a competition through Lucozade I'm delighted to have won. The continuous hills were something else!”
First woman was Pauline Dalton of Sevenoaks AC in a time of 58:39, she relished the challenging course:
“It is a beautiful place to run here and a really great course - tough but great!”
The six-legged speed machine combination of Richard Dunbar and his dog weren’t able to repeat their Iceman win but still finished an impressive 5th in 53:19. Although there was a “Wimp Out” option on the tank dip, Richard’s dogs gave him no choice:
“As long as the dog’s happy, I'm happy and he has had a great time dragging me straight through all those puddles!”
With the runners well on their way, the duathletes took to the start line and were delighted to hear that, as well as the eight repeats up and down Heartbreak Ridge, an additional two hills had been packed into the 8km run route. Most of the usual suspects were in attendance, including winner and third placed athlete from the Iceman, Richard Stannard and Chris Panayiotou, both wanting to pick up more valuable points in the Asics Off Road Series. Women’s leader Kate Robson was keen to consolidate her position at the top of the series leader board.
Serpentine RC’s Hugh Torry led out the race with an impressive 29:32 first run and opened out a 37 second lead over Richard Stannard. Stannard showed his multi-sport skills though, taking back 19 seconds in T1 and he overtook Torry early on the bike. Stannard than rode a crushingly fast 44:30 bike split that laid the foundations of a comprehensive victory in a finishing time of 1:49:41. Despite losing places on the bike, Torry rallied with the fastest second run time of the day of 31:52 and retook second place on the podium in a time of 1:52:17. Matt Chapman of SLH Tri Club put in an extremely consistent performance to take third spot in 1:52:55.
Richard Stannard was pleased to take the win:
“Recovering after the last event, IceMan was harder than I thought. I worked hard on the uphills today but was just being a bit cautious of the downhill uneven trails. It's been an emotional race today after a hard week - Thanks!”
In the woman’s race, BRAT Kate Robson, took the lead on the first run and never relinquished it. Despite eventual runner-up Aileen Anderson of Bath Amphibians putting in a faster bike split, Robson’s running ensured her of her second victory in the series in a time of 2:10:37 and an extremely impressive 17th overall. Third place went to Fay Cripps of Southdowns Bikes.
Kate Robson acknowledged how tough the race had been:
“A real step up from the last event IceMan, what a savage race!”
Away from the sharp end, the battle was against the hills, mud and water rather than fellow competitors and there was plenty of gallows humour shared on the seemingly endless slogs up Heartbreak Ridge. Finishing the first run was a relief but, at the back of everybody’s mind throughout the bike, was the fact that you had to do them all over again. A true test of mind and body.
Full ASICS MudMan Results and Gallery can be found HERE.
With two races down, the Asics Off Road Series rolls on to Godalming Surrey for the WildMan on 21st January. More hills are guaranteed and hopefully a bit of a chilly bite to the air and water. A great incentive to keep training and go easy on the mince pies.
