Tuesday, 25 November 2014

The Fit Green (Woking Bootcamp) take on Survival of the Fittest

The Fit Green (Woking Fitness Camp) take on Survival of the Fittest
The excitement and trepidation arriving at Woking Station was evident. A few seasoned pros, and a handful of newbies, with a coffee in hand we boarded the train.

We were on our way to Wembley to take on the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest. An obstacle race which The Fit Green (Woking Fitness Camp) has taken on several times before. But this year it was different.

Having moved from Battersea to Wembley we knew we were in for a new challenge.

Led by matriarch - and part time secret agent - Fiona Sheridan we made the lengthy journey to a part of town known for it’s footballing exploits. 

Expertly led by Fiona...
Entertained by the need for photographic ID, some of us had a longer journey than others. 

By this I especially mean Brandon. He was new to racing, but a peak at his driving license picture - taken in January -when he was 6 stone heavier - gave us an indication of how far he’d come. 

Brandon has lost six stone since January
By his own admission back then he’d have struggled to walk the course - let alone run the complete distance - being on the start line was an achievement in itself.

The long journey was made all the more interesting by our other token ginger - Laura - who shared her luscious red locks with fellow handsome bald man Ben for pictures. 

Ban with hair...
Having made it to the venue we met with Mel (designated driver) and some others for team pictures / banter and several nervous wees...

Team Wee (except Roger)
Being a new race - and being in this part of town - it was difficult to know what to expect - and nobody was disappointed. 

The traversing of stadium concourse was tip of the iceberg. We were soon out of the grounds of the stadium where the organisers had clearly put some thought into the route. 

We made our way out along the river Brent (I think) and had a nice mix of urban areas and mud. 

We slid, climbed, waded and crawled eventually finding our way back into the familiar sight of Wembley Arch to the big wall to finish.

Having opened up a bit I enjoyed setting a good pace (for me) passing many of The Fit Green team en route. So when I hopped the wall at the end to see Jane (36) and Jan (age unknown) who I’d passed at the start I was a little bemused. Especially when they insisted they hadn’t taken a shortcut.

I was shortly followed by Marie (French) who had been suffering with a bad hip, Ben and Brandon. Being a little cold the guys quickly got themselves the other side of the barrier and into the warmth of the beer tent whilst I waited by the wall to help the rest of the team to finish.

Not long after Fiona, Roger and Carol - who for once didn’t take a shortcut - came through the finish line to rapturous applaud from the encouraging crowd - including our team photographers Anna (Amy, Kate or whatever she calls herself) and Sophily. 

Camera Shy... 
Having helped several strangers over the wall I then saw the beaming smile of Tabs clambering off the A-frame. By her own admission she wanted to kiss me. Being young, handsome and bald I thought this was due to my charm, but it turns out it was more to do with the fact I could help over the wall and she knew she had finished.

Tabs, Hannah, Mel & Marie
Escaping my attention Hannah - who is single and looking for love - was ably assisted by a handful of helpful men. A familiar theme for everyone in this type of race - men or women. 

This was quickly followed by the giggling gang of Tash and Josh (lookalikes) and Laura. And finally, Sophie and Anja.

Collecting our stuff, getting changed we headed into the beer tent where we toasted our success with a couple of quiet beers and several very loud ones. 

Beer...
With most of the team electing to hang around we sat in the warm comfortable atmosphere  reminiscing about our race highlights toasting our success. 

We had a brilliant day - everyone absolutely loved the race - and it was great fun to be there as part of a team. Bring on the next race...


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