It’s three weeks since me and two friends took part in Mudderella and I think it’s fair to say I’m hooked on obstacle course racing – there will be a full review of the race itself in the coming days but I wanted to spend a little bit of time first on my reasons for signing up and how the experience as a whole made me feel; yes this one is all about feelings.
Mudderella is an American concept with this having been it’s first UK event – there is no clock, no chip timing, no medals; it’s all about competing with, not against everyone. The rules are simple: be safe, have fun and you must help your fellow Mudderellas; but let’s not beat round the bush, it’s still nearly seven miles of physical endurance and twelve obstacle challenges.
I’ve completed quite a few 10Ks so I had a good understanding of the distance, but why did I have to add obstacles and mud to the mix surely I knew I could run 10K why did I have to make it harder?
If I’m honest I wanted to do something that was completely new – can you remember that feeling you got when you tried something new when you were a kid, ever since I had Boo I’ve been determined to not give up trying new things, I want Boo to see how constantly exploring and having fun is so important to be happy inside. Who am I kidding, setting a good example for Boo wasn’t the only reason I decided to complete Mudderella – I wanted something for me, an achievement all for myself that wasn’t something to do with work, or family life or anything else – is it completely wrong that I chose not to raise money for charity? . So on the 30th August (which is my birthday – taking my madness to a whole new level) for the time it took us to get round the race, I wasn’t a mother, blogger, daughter, fundraiser, friend – I was Rosie – one of the thousands of women who along the course owned their strong. I discovered I have a newfound phobia of heights but I overcame it and finished the course complete, happy and proud as punch.
Owning my strong, I discovered, is so much fun – it’s a feeling I’m chasing already.
