The Winter Nuts Challenge is a relentless military themed obstacle course challenge. Voted the toughest o.c.r. and muddiest race within the UK o.c.r. calendar. It is also one of just 5 o.c.r. events in the UK found hard enough in which participants can attempt to qualify for the o.c.r. European Championships and o.c.r. World Championships.
The Nuts course is a 7km loop through muddy terrain with obstacles, it has streams, puddles, lakes, tree trunks, netting, swings, slide into water, hills, tyre carry, monkey bars, ring swings, wall climbs and so on. Nothing super hard but the water during windy, cold and wet wintry weather conditions, make this event extra Nuts. Going by my previous Winter Nuts stats, I knew that one loop/lap would take me roughly 90 minutes to complete.
So where shall I begin..... What is it about Nuts? Is it Nuts? Here's a small nutty story..... Well, I was introduced to the Nuts Challenge event 4 years ago, during March '17 by Imran Ahmed - a client who wanted me to assist him during that event so he would have a greater chance beating his work colleagues doing 2 laps (ha ha). We had done a Tough Mudder and a Toughest event together previously, and Imran just wanted to do even better at an event and impress his collegues at the same time, so that was the start of plenty of Nuts events for me. That '17 event in a Nuts shell... Imran and I ran like anything from the start, I set the pace and helped him where I could on obstacles and creating paths so he could save some energy and be the best he could be as well as have the best chance to finish ahead of his Barclays Team. We had appropriate (winter) clothing where some team members hadn't despite warning them that it's going to be a cold event and we had experience running o.c.r. events where most team members didn't. After about 3km we were a way ahead and Imran said he was confident to continue by himself, so I said I would wait for him in transition after 1 lap. We re-fueled and Imran stated he was confident to complete the 2nd and last lap by himself as he couldn't see any of his team members. I carried on without Imran and when I finished some official stated I came first in my age group and that I had qualified for European Championships. I was surprised as at that time I wasn't aware of any Championships existing, we just wanted to have a laugh and do well in a tough event. Imran managed to cross the finish line where he immediately cramped up due to fatigue and I remember him being very cold, close to having hypothermia. I helped him and I think he cramped up at least 3 more times in my car, not funny at the time but we are still laughing about that time now. Imran's team members didn't managed to finish 2 laps due to the fact they were very cold - but safe and OK. If Imran hadn't introduced me to Nuts I probably wouldn't have ever known there were age category European and World Championships. Anyway, let us fast forward to the Winter Nuts Challenge 2020.
Experience doing, finishing and completing all obstacles during Winter Nuts in '17, '18 and '19 certainly helps, especially in 2018 when it was very cold - it had still some snow and sheets of ice in the water - but 2020 was going to be very cold too. The heaviest rainfall ever recorded during February meant that puddles and lakes are wider and deeper, even more mud, so more slippery, more wet, and harder to grip obstacles. The temperature was about 5 degrees during the event and during the night it was about 1 degree average over the prior 4 weeks which meant that the water would be very fresh indeed. Top that up with winds up to 20 km/ph it was going to be a cocktail not to be messed with.
I wanted to qualify like I did the previous years but this year I was going to be in a different age group. Qualifying races were reduced from 9 to 5 events in the UK, my niggles to shoulder, knees and increasing symptoms of Raynaud's were also in the back of my mind. My body should hold up and as long as I could keep my chest warm it should be enough to keep my hands warm enough to be able them to grip obstacles adequately. In my mind I have to prepare everything well enough so there's nothing substantial to be found after the event that I could have done better. Nothing to blame, no bad afterthoughts, no regrets. This means extra focus on:
A: Nutrition, 8 weeks prior (no alcohol, less carbohydrates) in order to drop 3-4 kg and 2-3% body fat.
B: Specific training, training in cold and wet weather, reduce niggles, condition the body cardio wise to the time and distance expected to be battered during the event. Mimic the elements you are likely to struggle with.
C: Recovery, longer sleeps, earlier bedtimes, earlier rises.
D: Mental and race prep strategy including what to wear.
E: Adaptability on the day of the event, during the event, plan transition, plan for plan B if plan A proved inadequate.
The Nuts organisation made a different start line up this year to which you needed to walk to by going through fields and some mud for about 20 minutes. I had company from my daughter Sabrina who helped me carrying my transition box and she wanted to take photo's and video's of the event, how nice. An event village was created and it had a big transition area which is fabulous as participants could spread out. I checked in, confirmed I wish to qualify and got my qualifying bib which you need to wear whilst doing the event. Failing a compulsory obstacle could be re-tried but if you can't complete it properly the bib will be removed and you would fail to qualify. The top 50% within each age group can qualify with a maximum of 5 participants within each age group who do the 2 laps in order to keep quality standards high. So if 6 people within my age group wish to qualify only the top 3 finishers would qualify. I knew there were 5 people within my age category wishing to qualify. Problem is that you don't know who they are when you are doing the event. It is always important to remember that the main and real competition is in front of the mirror when you are looking in it, always!
Calm before the storm, did my final pre-race checks and remained warm until the start. Two laps, roughly 3 hours and 10 minutes of graft and splutter, here we come, 260 people doing 2 laps. All of the above was soon confirmed, yep, the water was cooler than ever, even cooler than during Winter Nuts '18 and it was hard to remain warm despite wearing 2 layers of pretty much everything topped up with neoprene socks, gloves and hat. The 7km loop took a different route compared to other years as the technical obstacle area was going to be there at about 5km in and not earlier than during other years. This proved to be too tough for some as participants were so cold by then that both their energy and grip wasn't adequate enough to complete some compulsory obstacles successfully. My finger gloves with hotties had stopped doing its work and all my fingers were white from Raynaud's so I ended up doing the metal monkey bars bare handed - but made it!
Straight away my thoughts were, this is tough to do again in about 1,5 hours time whilst being more fatigued, I have to improve blood flow to my hands and get warmer otherwise I would be stone cold in my hands and have not enough grip to complete the compulsory obstacle such as the monkey bars. Bodies shaking everywhere, people dropping out, this is the time when a strong mind is needed. This is when my body and mind has an advantage as I have been through times like this a lot before, it sometimes feels that I feed my body with energy when others are at breaking point. My body is cold everywhere and I was longing to complete the first lap so I could re-fuel in the open air transition area. In transition I was so cold, shaking profusely so I decided to put on an extra windproof jacket, a thicker neck warmer, changed to another neoprene had and changed to extreme neoprene Blegg mitts instead of gloves. All part of plan B, all gear pre-heated with hotties in them plus an extra hot pack within my windproof jacket pocket with performance foods for one lap such as gels. Downed some isotonic drink, warm tea and some foods and went out to start my 2nd lap. I was getting warmer but I was slower as I was a little heavier due to being so soaked and wearing extra gear. I was thinking, is it just me feeling the cold so much more this year compared to other years, am I getting too old for this stuff and is my blood circulation just poor compare to others? I was regaining more flow and focus, determined to at least complete the lap, let alone think about completing the technical area successfully.
I went through the course, taking each obstacle fine and I seemed alright with the cold. As I entered the technical area I felt OK, not severely fatigued and I had warmer hands than I did one lap before so I was confident to complete the technical area. I still had to do it though which I did and I knew that by doing so some others would fail as they might not have a decent plan A, plan B or simply wouldn't have the strength any more to do it. Kept the focus, kept momentum although I felt I was somewhat slow and completed the 2 laps fine. Yes, I was cold, couldn't feel my feet for 10 minutes after and had incurred some bruising to leg, arm and upper back and ingested some muddy water for sure but those things are normal after a Winter Nuts event. I handed back my qualifying bib and told the guy it was cooler than other Winter Nuts and that I was about 20 minutes slower than previous Winter Nuts events and felt it was probably just enough to scrape qualification. He told me I wasn't doing that badly as not that many had finished with a bib on. I didn't make any mistakes and took all obstacles quite efficiently during the event but as I was slower than normal I still wasn't sure. I then checked the preliminary results and found out I finished 1st within my age category. Result!! Hard work and prep paid off.
Final results for the 2 laps event showed there was a 80% drop out and I was the only one within my age category who completed the course successfully.
The question remains, is it worth the prep work, some sacrifice of social interaction, some decreased family time, skipping naughty foods and drinks and increasing the potential risk to get injured? Well, for now I know I can still do it but my hunger to keep doing it has become less due to the above and it takes more out of me to stay and be at the top. It costs money to travel to these Championships too. The niggles are there and I do need to think about longevity, I would like my body to function well until 80 years of age and I feel each year I am slowly becoming weaker and more fragile which in practice it means there's only about 20% chance of completing all obstacles at an European or World Championships.
It is a cracking adrenaline rush for sure and it is very satisfying to still qualify and to be able to compete at the highest level in Europe and in the world for this sport at 50 years of age. Potential problem is that the o.c.r. European Championships might not go ahead due to the Coronavirus as it is scheduled to be held in Italy (100 km north of Venice) during early June this year. The World Championships is going to be held in United States (Vermont) which trip would cost me all in, including lost of earnings, around 3K which to me is too much to warrant the trip. I love the o.c.r. sport, the passion and determination remains to be there to do it all but I have to be realistic and sensible at some point and stop competing within this sport. When that point is reached remains the question but it entered my thoughts.....
Food for thought, possibly and very likely this was my last competitive Winter Nuts. I will keep on going in general though and might take up cycling in a couple of years time instead, safer for my niggles.....
