Survival of the Fittest Series Underway in Cardiff
Rob Howard / 06.10.2009
The Men's Health Survival of the Fittest 2009 series got underway in Cardiff on Sunday and will move on to Nottingham and Edinburgh in the next two weeks to complete the 'tri-nations' series.The venue for the inaugural Cardiff race was right outside the striking National Assembly building in Roald Dahl Plass, which is on the waterfront of the redeveloped Cardiff Bay. The start was over a straw bale wall outside the Assembly Building, with runners finishing back in the same place, but coming in from the opposite direction by racing in along the sea front to meet the final challenge of the Men's Health Wall of Fame. Between the two the 1200 competitors ran a 'long' 10km with obstacles regularly spaced around the course.
These began on the Cardiff Bay Barrage with an industrial maze, balance beams and a scramble made all the more difficult by the local fire brigade's hoses. Running back around the bay their was a slippery wall to cross (not so easy in a solo race), an obstacle course, then a wade through the Taff under the Clarence Road Bridge. The route was now heading north via a Parkour course to the Millennium Stadium where the lower terraces offered a painful step session with half a dozen climbs and descents before racers headed for the Under Armour Challenge All Weather Challenge which was 'elemental' - i.e. the runners got hot, cold and of course wet once again. (They would have been wetter with a couple of dips in the Bay, but for a water quality issue that forced a few late changes on the course.)
The route back to the finish reversed the route along the river, crossed it again, and took racers into the finish via another challenge which involved wriggling through tyres and racing over a taxi, then last of all came the imposing Men's Health Wall of Fame. This was set under a bridge which was soon lined with large crowds watching the action at the finish.
The winner, in the amazing time of 0.55.34 was Andrew Friend, almost 4 minutes ahead of second placed runner Rhys Peters. If he is racing the other two events in the series Friend may be a hard man to beat on that form. The top female racer was Jen Salter, finishing in 1.11.39, which was 73rd overall and 77 places ahead of the second female runner.
The next event is in Nottingham on this coming Saturday and is sold out with 3000 racers taking part. This is a return to the venue of the original MHS event last year and follows a course alongside the River Trent. The final event is in Edinburgh on Sunday Oct.18th from a venue Rat Racers will know well, Princes Street Gardens. The times on the final event may be that bit longer as Edinburgh has something the other two venues do not ... steep hills!
Full details of the series are at www.mhsurvival.co.uk
