Part of the Human Race Off-Road Races, the IceMan is the third event in the winter series, renowned for being a challenge!
Taking place on an army training ground in Frimley, Surrey, the course is all about mud, dirt and hills, and as the name denotes: ice! The race day arrived a week after the snowfalls around London and the surrounding countryside, so there were sections of the course still covered in some snow and not-quite-thawed icy tracks, not to mention the pools of icy water and thick mud puddles.
The options for this event included an 11km or 16km trail run, or the killer off-road duathlon. It also offered a ‘run with your dog’ option, and it turned out to be quite fun running alongside huskies revelling in the run, covered in mud! Happy dogs no doubt. Being my first off-road race I decided to go the 11km route, sans canine companion.
Having completed a triathlon and a few half marathons now, this turned out to be, by far, the most challenging race I have done… but also my favourite! I run regularly and around once a week take to the off-road to do a run that is away from cars and surrounded by trees and fresh air, but this race was on a whole other level! Not quite knowing what to expect, I had some trepidation regarding the title of the race and the conditions, but I was nonetheless excited at being outdoors in the crisp winter air.
Arriving at the event with two friends, the ‘car park’ area was covered in quite a bit of ice, so we made our way to registration and the line-up carefully and slightly bemused as to how we would be able to run. Yet, once we started the race and went into the forest area, the ground was rough and less iced, though cautious running was definitely done by all, especially around the icy puddles.
The 11km route included a loop of the bike course of the duathlon followed by a loop of the run course. The first, and longest, section included wider tracks and hills that were interspersed at healthy gaps, so that I was able to get a good pace between the hills and get my breath back. Feeling gun-ho, I ran all the hills in the first course, albeit slowly (they were steep), and I made sure I was cautious on my descents, attempting to run around most ice and mud puddles (my biggest fear was running through a mud puddle and exiting with one shoe missing!). However, that wasn’t quite possible and within the first 5 minutes my socks were soaked (wearing two pairs of socks is advisable!).
As the first part of the route progressed, people were more dispersed and all I could hear was the sound of my own breathing, and smell the fresh pine trees, though there was not much time for a mellow ‘Sunday run’ – as I needed to constantly be aware of the ground underfoot and concentrating on the track in front of me.
Reaching the second part of the route (phew, for a moment I thought I had taken the wrong route and was unwittingly doing the 16km!), the track narrowed quite considerably and parts were single-file only. Now, this is where the challenge really started. Luckily, having read the event details before the race, I had prepared myself for a more gruelling second half! Most of this section involved hills – in fact, as I ran past one marshall he kindly informed me that there was only 3km left (obviously looking like I needed the encouragement), but there were about 10 hills to get through!
So I inwardly steeled myself and charged forth, determined not to have any of these hills better me! Well, reaching the first incline I saw what he meant… an extraordinarily steep hill with a narrow track leading up through the trees. Right, so no time to waste, I set to it… and made it up panting and thighs burning. Then it was down the other side, which was pretty tricky, the momentum wanting to carry you down, yet the rough track, rocks and branches making for slow footing. Some lunatics did whizz by me, feet thudding on impact, surprisingly not twisting any ankles or falling ungraciously into the bushes!
Then it was round a bend, and straight up another steep incline! I started to figure out the best method of getting up these hills (without crawling) – long, wide strides, and small careful ones down the other side. This continued, it felt endlessly – up one, round a bend, then down again, most of it single file.
These hills were rather equalising though…All I could hear in the quiet of the trees was heavy panting and some serious and imaginative use of the f-word, as people slowly made their way up –even coming from some of the seasoned trail runners! In fact, some of the hills were so steep, that most of us had our hands on our knees hiking ourselves up these hills, not running.
This was an individual race, yet there was good comradeship and support from the other racers. Many of the experienced ones said ‘Welldone girl’ as they made their way past me – really sweet and unexpected. Perhaps they could tell I was not a regular trail blazer?
And finally the sign for the finish line 1km ahead! This was a flat finish, but icy and the track covered by deep, thick mud puddles, so there was no way but through them – a lot of messy fun!
Overall a great race, which was well organised, by friendly and supportive people, and the atmosphere was very encouraging, especially for a newbie to the trail running circuit! However, if you haven’t done much trail running (even if you’re pretty fit!), I would advise starting with the shortest distance first and being prepared for a good challenge (which is the point of entering these events really isn’t it?), and a pair of trail running shoes will probably be quite useful.
There is something very exhilarating about running through a forest, up dirt tracks, through mud puddles, in the fresh crisp air! There were moments when it felt very much like the Hunger Games – without the fire bombs and murderous teenagers though! I have definitely caught the trail running bug and intend on entering another Human Race Off-Road event.
Good points:
- Being in the great outdoors
- A physically and technically challenging race
- Good atmosphere and support
Bad points:
- The porterloos (but there is really no way around that)
- Being in the great outdoors (don’t enter a trail run then!)
- A physically and technically challenging race (that is the point isn’t it?)
Would I do it again? Hell yeah!
There are two more remaining in the winter series: the TuffMan on 23rd February and the TrailMan on 6th April. Go to www.humanrace.co.uk for more information!
Bianca Fermi, trail runner newbie/Katniss Everdeen pretender…
The Women’s Sports Magazine
