There’s something about events that involve the military that run like clockwork. Not surprising really. Riot Runner down in Bordon was no different. The alarm bells rang when we looked at our emails telling us to be there from 9-10am for an 11am start – to pick race packs up – but there weren’t queues and it was fine. There were plenty of loos, refreshments and the race started on time.

It was our third off-road race of the season and it was less than a mile in when Jo said, “I think I’d like to do an road race next!”. Admittedly, it was -2C and concequently the rutted ground was hard as concrete, which was very hard going on the ankles and knees. Due to the cold, most runners – us included – dodged the icy water features and the 400 odd competitors soon strung out over the 7 mile course.

After about 4.5 miles we came across a water feature that couldn’t be dodged and, with giant ice cubes knocking into your shins, it was sooo cold that it took 5 minutes to get the sensation back into my legs. With so few people running and only a smattering of (hard working) marshalls, it wasn’t always clear which way to go. Fortunately, there was only one more water ice feature left and after 1:13:00 we finished.

Race packs consisted of a t-shirt, couple of bags of sweets, KitKat lollypop, water and banana. A better reward than Grim Challenge, but not up to HellRunner, which from listening to other runners’ post-race views is the favourite off road race in the calendar. That all said, we got a Sunday run in (we managed one yesterday too), burned off some calories (some 890) and stayed dry (from the thigh up). That’s a good enough excuse to eat cheese and crackers and chipsticks, our post-race gromph.