THE TOUGH GUY RACE 1992

 

The "Tough Guy" race is a multi-terrain race of about 8miles. It was held in late winter at a Donkey Sanctuary near Wolverhampton.


In 1992 a group of Wesham Road Runners, decided that they should take part in the event. A coach was hired to take us there, and to fill it we invited North Fylde AC to join us.


The idea of the event is to raise money for the upkeep of the sanctuary. Tough Guy is certainly a very apt name; diving in and out of water, crossing lakes on floating bridges, scrambling over huge bales of straw, crossing swamps and running over burning heaps of donkey manure, are just a few of the obstacles' you have to negotiate. Even the finish line was a barred wire fence that you had to cross.


 We left the Fylde early morning; the temperature was hovering around minus a lot. On arriving at the race HQ the driver was directed to park on a frozen field. People on the coach couldn't believe when the driver actually drove the coach onto it, yes you guessed it; it wasn't long before the coach was up to the axles, as the ground gave way. That was the start of a very memorable day.


The changing facilities were in an old barn; the showers were a trough used by the donkeys. The race started and how we all survived is beyond anyone who took part. The organisers had kindly broken the 2" thick ice on all the water hazards, but as you entered the water, (which in places was up to your chest), you would push the frozen blocks away from you, only to be bashed in the back by the person behind you, doing the same thing.


To try and describe what you had to go through to complete the race is beyond belief; in any case it would probably take up the whole of this magazine. Suffice it to say over the years, it has been probably the most talked about race within our club.


Changing after the race was another hazard; no-one could loosen their shoe laces because their hands were so cold and, to make things worse, a thaw had set in and it started raining. It's time to return home to the Fylde. Oh Yes! Our coach, it was still in that now ‘less than frozen’ field and by now even the axles had disappeared.


The driver had arranged for another coach to pick us up, but it would be several hours before it would arrive. About half of the passengers decided to stay at the sanctuary, fortunately our current Club Secretary, being ever resourceful, arranged for the race organiser to take the other half to a local hostelry, where we all celebrated finishing the race in the time honoured manner. In fact when the replacement coach arrived not many of us could remember the event. 


I'm not sure if the race is still on the calendar. If it is don't be put off - give it a go - there is no other like it.

 

Written by: John Whiteman

Submitted: 5th December 2008

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor