Hell Up North – Mud Running at it’s Toughest

Rob Howard / 04.11.2013

All the T-shirts were out at Brooks Hell Up North.  There were Tough Mudderers, Rat Racers of various varieties, Wolf Runners, Spartans and many others sporting their logos from previous outings and all those wearing them said something similar at the finish ... ‘That was the hardest race I’ve ever done!’

Whisper it softly, but you don’t have to build obstacles to create a fantastic mud run course – nature provides the best and the most satisfying challenges, and the toughest!

The event is part of the 3 race Brooks Hellrunner series which began with Hell Down South, one of the original mud runs, before all the OCR excitement kicked off.  That race was so successful the organisers, Trailplus, set up ‘Hell Up’ North at Delamere Forest in Cheshire, and later ‘Hell in the Middle’, which moves to Belvoir Castle next year.

Hell Up North is firmly established in Delamere however, and it’s a fantastic location, with the race based at the Forestry Commission visitor centre. It is a relatively small area of forest, and not widely known, and it offers all the right natural obstacles. Hills, mud, bog, felled forest, slippery paths, autumn leaf litter ... and more bog.

This year just over 2000 runners made it to the two start waves on a blustery and showery November day, the first setting off at 10.00 and the second 30 minutes later. (This was after the Little Devils Fun Run for families.) The competitors were seen off by the towering figure of The Hellrunner Devil, a stilt walking Beelzebub, and some pyrotechnics, and immediately set off up the first hill.

Somewhere between 10 and 12 miles of boggy forest wasn’t enough for the devilish planners who could not resist a steep nearby hill and put in loop up and down to the Old Pale Stones Viewpoint in the first kilometre before setting the races loose in the depths of the forest.

Once in the trees the trails soon became very muddy and slippery and the terrain was always undulating. Recent wet weather had added to the mud and those in wave 2 had the churned path of the wave 1 runners to follow.

Running out past the Bog of Doom, which awaited them at the end of the race, the competitors took a twisting route past the lake of Blakemere Moss to the first road crossing and into the Northern section of the forest where they encountered a bog that covered them in mud, and wasn’t easy to get themselves out of.  Next up was the ‘Hills of Hell’ – some fiendish hill reps to the accompaniment of the bellows of the race’s most vociferous marshal, and then came Lucifer’s Lido, one of the ‘highlights’ of the race.

This is a case of nature giving the planners and the racers some surprises and providing all the challenge an event could want. When the race was first planned the route followed an attractive overgrown bridleway through scrub forest, then last year it flooded. Though it was deeper this time it was kept on the course, with the addition of more water safety marshals from Cheshire Search and Rescue.

The water was 250m across and though it was up to waist deep in places there were hidden dips that plunged the racers fully into the cold water – a full body shock to the system! A few chose to swim in places, many fell, and all were cold and keen to get running again at the far side. Those hit by severe cramp were picked up by the safety kayak and helped across.

Two thirds of the way around the course came ‘Heaven and Hell’, a support area with drinks, music, dancing girls and plenty of encouragement to get the racers on their way to the finish. Before they got there however they had to traverse the final obstacle – the infamous ‘Bog of Doom’.  This was a narrower channel, but muddier and much, much smellier! Being near the finish it was lined either side with cheering spectators and supporters offering encouragement.

Those who were watching at the finish line itself saw a race to the very end as Mark Miles lead the field home in 1.31.46. just 3 seconds ahead of Lewis Ecclestone and 14 seconds ahead of Alex Foster. The first female finisher was Rachel Pilling in a time of 1.49.17, and 21^st place overall.

For a course most thought was just under 12 miles the times tell a story of how hard the run was. Regular Hell Runners are sure Hell Up North is the hardest of the three events and those new to the race found it much harder than expected. The happy and exhausted finishers were crossing the line for a long time, and the final 3 across the line took more than 6 hours. Now that is getting your money’s worth!

If you took part send us your race report and we’ll share it with other SleepMonsters readers. Just email editor@sleepmonsters.com

You can find out more about the Brooks Hellrunner races and see the full results at http://www.hellrunner.co.uk/.

Photos from the race are at RandR Photos – www.randrphotos.co.uk

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