the Sodbury Slog . . muddiness and mayhem at Chipping Sodbury . .

10 November 

The Sodbury Slog is one of the highlights of the year for many runners across the UK, and the 1,000 or so places available always sell out in a matter of days. I ran it once in the previous century, when it was called the Beagle Bash, and on several occasions have taken photos beside one of the muddier parts of the course. I had a feeling that one year I'd have to get out there and taste mud again. And so it was that when several of my friends (you know who you are!) decided we should all take part this year, at the time (several months ago) I agreed. Since then I have had my moments of doubt, as have others, but having completed the race, and had a little snooze, I can confirm that it was in fact a Very Good Idea Indeed!

 

The thing is, the race is advertised as being 9 "country" miles. With hindsight I reckon it was exactly 9 normal ones. But it's not the distance that's the issue, it's the terrain. Having crossed Sodbury Common, which is just very wet, we're taken through all sorts of muddiness, streams, water spouts and whirlpools. All are packed with organic material that really belongs in the local farmyards, certainly not in my shoes (nor elsewhere!) and indeed some of it should be taken to Porton Down for examination!

 

Naturally the spritely young things at the pointy end of the race just glide over this stuff as if it weren't there. They have no idea what fun they miss out on! But by the time 500 pairs of feet have stirred it all up, those of us towards the rear find the going difficult, and "interesting", to say the least! And we're all grouped together in clusters, because we've not had time or opportunity to get spread out, and because we're trying to stay with our friends.

 

We are the runners for whom the phrase "survival of the fittest" has no meaning. It's All for One and One for All, isn't that so D'Artagan? So you find lots of groups of runners waiting for their straggling friends, and taking photos of one another whilst they wait (and where do they hide their cameras when the muddiness is at it's worst I wondered?).

 

Mostly we're up to our knees/thighs/waists/chests/chins/oh dear! in stuff that stinks to high heaven, and we're falling over one another, and hanging on to one another and the daft thing is that most of us are laughing! Laughing with delight! Just throwing our heads back and roaring with laughter. Actually enjoying this ordeal by ordure! Unbelievable!

 

Let's go back to the beginning. Bitton Road Runners have the organisation of the race down to a t nowadays, and once again most things worked like clockwork today. Number collection and baggage drop off were simple enough. Maybe not enough loos but so long as you planned ahead you were ok! Personally I could have done without Mr Motivator making a fool of himself but I'm usually out of step on that one so it's probably just me!

 

The race is always on Remembrance Sunday, and at 11am a bugler sounds The Last Post and there's a 2 minute silence, during which time you could have heard a safety pin drop. Much to our amusement, the end of the silence was marked by two rockets being fired into the sky . . the noise of which frightened the life (she said) out of Emma who at the time was hidden in a portaloo. The look on her face when she came out again was priceless!

 

And then we're out into the road, lined up and the runners ahead started running, so of course we gave chase. The first mile was great, through Chipping Sodbury High Street towards the Common. And then it all changed, and we entered a parallel universe of M U D !!!

 

 

There is, as we know, nothing quite like it, for cooling the blood. Fortunately today was a beautiful bright sunny day, and there was warmth in the sun, and my ploy of wearing some of my oldest and most threadbare running kit so I could just bin it afterwards (so hang on, why is it right now swirling round in the washing machine?) worked, as apart from my feet (which were blocks of ice from the water) I wasn't at all cold throughout the race.

 

Highlights? Too many for me to relate and I hope my friends and companions will forgive me as I'm sure to forget some. The views over the Cotswolds were, as always, magnificent. Hearing that Marie had to stop to retrieve one of her shoes from the morass, because it was the one with the timing chip on, made me laugh. There was the Belgian lady who asked me after 3 miles how much further there remained in miles as she was having difficulty working it out. The she said it was her first ever race. Clearly absolutely bonkers, I avoided her for the rest of the run!

 

There was one length of water we had to negotiate early on in the race, and many runners helped themselves by hanging on to the runner in front. I've no idea who was hanging on to me but hope they enjoyed it as much as I did! At one point Debbie grabbed the bloke in front, moved forward a few steps, looked away, looked in front again, and realised that her guide had disappeared! This seemed odd, we were told later, but nevertheless Debbie carried on forwards, and ran right over him, as it transpired he was submerged at the time! He did survive this, and we later learned that his name is Graeme. I don't think Graeme quite saw the funny side . . .

 

 

There was a great moment towards the end of all the mud when we found Alison and Anne waiting for us. Paul had gone on ahead on a recce at the time so wasn't with us but Debbie, Vanessa and I took a moment to pose for the camera. Can't wait to see the photo! I also enjoyed Dave's discomfort at having used Alison's race number and winning the ladies V50 category. I offered to find a scalpel and make it so but he declined! There's just no pleasing some people!

 

 

On the subject of which, the lady who removed the chip from my shoe was someone I hadn't seen for about 12 years. She said I looked great and hadn't changed a bit! After running the Slog? Jeez, I must have looked a bit grim in 2001! But it was nice to see her, and one or two others, from my previous life. I even got a spot prize because I happened to know the lady who'd been handing them out! (A jolly useful bottle of beer, since you asked!)

 

 

This morning I almost managed to keep up with my friends, and bless them, Paul, Debbie and Vanessa waited for me so that we all crossed the finish line holding hands together (that'll give the race photographer a problem!) and as we did we saw the race clock showing 2 hours and 3 minutes. I'd no idea how long we'd been running for and for once was happy to be over 2 hours, another landmark for me and the first time I've been on my feet for that long since 2009. Thanks for a great morning out, you three, and especially for waiting for me.

 

On a more sober note I should mention Kevin, a clubmate I don't know personally, who broke his leg about half way through the race. I'm sure that by now he's safe and warm in hospital, and I'd like to wish him a speedy recovery. When I saw him he was laid on the grass with a blanket over him, waiting for medical help. Emma was one of (I think) three runners who gave up their races to remain with him, and inevitably she must now be known as Florence.

 

Thinking of injured clubmates, thanks to Alison, Anne and Noel for coming out and supporting us all today, hope to be running the Slog with you all next year.

 

 

So another lovely day out, filled with laughter, and getting wet, muddy and sweaty. Thanks to all my friends and clubmates for making it so memorable (and thanks to Maggie for driving some of us there, sorry my navigation tends to be a tad last minute!). We all did very well, I think . .

 

 

Results of people I know are:
6 1.00.29 Jim  

19 1.03.40 Paul  

37 1.06.38 Colin  

84 1.10.34 Dave  

106 1.12.30 Gary  

181 1.18.08 Marie  

266 1.22.41 Maggie 2nd in her category  

385 1.29.14 Sammy  

515 1.36.50 Judy  

577 1.39.47 Sheila

579 1.39.48 Alan

667 1.44.46 Karen  

668 1.44.47 Matt  

907 2.01.35 Denica  

910 2.01.37 Nikki

??? about the same time Rikki  

919 2.03.16 Vanessa  

920 2.03.16 Debbie  

921 2.03.16 Paul  

922 2.03.16 me  

999 2.17.19 Florence
1033 runners completed the Slog today

 

thanks to Alan, Anne, Marie and RandR photos for the images above . .