Beach Ballistic
By Stewart Ireland
After I finished my last obstacle course race, MacTuff in January, I felt proud to have finished but a little despondent as well. I was able to complete that race but because of an injury that I was still recovering from at the time I wasn’t able to finish it in a time I know I am capable of, when healthy. As a result I almost immediately began looking for my next one and found Beach Ballistic. An obstacle course race which gives the options of 6k, 16k or 32k run. Over, as the name suggests, a beach. I signed up to the 16k elite event, at stake was a possible place to the European or even World championships for a top 5 finisher. I was not hoping for that much really I just wanted to get rid of the feeling that I had let myself down.
Arriving on race day I already felt better about this run compared to MacTuff. I was confident my running fitness wouldn’t let me down this time as I had finally overcome my foot injury and had begun training for the Glen Scotia half marathon (Mairi and I are splitting it) 6 weeks earlier.
The event village was small but with free camping for anyone that way inclined and food vans, of which I took special note. I was already looking forward to a highly (un)healthy burger. The race briefing was held by a former member of the armed forces, the organiser I guessed, as the military theme was prevalent the whole day. If you picture the mannerisms of a typical movie drill sergeant you pretty much have this man. He delivered the briefing with little sympathy and with plenty of F bombs for emphasis. He stressed that the sand dunes, water obstacles and the final obstacle, which he called the tec rig, were all compulsory. Adding that if you couldn’t do them “what the F*** are you doing here!”. With that he left and the countdown started.
We were off with little fanfare and began to run out of the event village and over the first few obstacles. A tyre carry through water, carrying bricks from A to B before a mile run over to the beach. I settled myself in during the run, gaining confidence as I passed a few competitors who had stormed ahead at the start line. After that run we climbed a sand dune and got our first sight of the beach, where a bulk of the race was to be on. Balmedie beach stretches from Aberdeen 14 miles north with many pretty sand dunes and a golf course with a famous name attached to it on one side. On the other you have the North sea where you immediately spot huge off shore wind turbines and several ships, all a reminder of how lucky we are here to have an unspoilt Westport on our doorstep. However these sights couldn’t distract from the fact you are now running on dry loose sand which saps away any strength from your legs as your feet sink an inch into the sand at every footfall.
After miles of sand, water, rope climbs, carries and many sand dune climbs later I arrived at the furtherest point of the course from the start. Here we were given a black wristband we were to keep until the tec rig. At this point I was feeling pretty good. I hadn’t gone off like a hero and I felt I had enough in me to keep a steady pace on the horrible quick sand. I was passing racers who had gone off in the 32km wave, 15 minutes before I had started. Although I knew they were running a different race from me there is still the wee moral boost you get from each over take. Unfortunately this is also when I started to experience problems that were out with my control.
My first problem came in the form of a marshal. Normally unnoticed by racers, marshals are the unsung heroes of any event, without them it would not be possible to hold one. I understand this and normally try to at least acknowledge them on my way round. However when they misunderstand their assignment or when they make up the rules up for different competitors my appreciation for them quickly fades away.
My poor experience came when a marshal gave unclear instructions on how to complete an obstacle. She told me to fill a bucket up with sea water, bring it back to her and put it into another bucket before the water had drained through holes that had been puncture into the first bucket. I did so but she then told me that it wasn’t enough and I would have to do it again. I, politely, pointed out she hadn’t mentioned anything about filling it to the top but with the risk of being disqualified I didn’t press the point. However while I was getting my second bucket load she let several others complete the task, all of which hadn’t filled their buckets to the top either. What stung was that these were people I had already overtaken and now I would have to do so again, if I could.
I managed to catch up with a few and after another mile of sand dunes, sand and sandbag carries I came to the final obstacle. The tec rig. This obstacle had been described as compulsory. Which to me meant that you had to attempt it. Therefore I waited in the queue for several minutes for my attempt to dangle my way under the wickedest monkey bars you have ever seen. I managed three quarters of the way across before my grip failed and I fell into a bed of hay and straw. Unfortunately this meant I had to hand over my black wristband and receive a 15 minute time penalty. Fortunately, I thought, everyone else who I had seen attempt it also had fallen and received the same penalty. “Great” I said to myself and ran on. However it was not great. Mairi had noticed that while I waited in the queue several other racers had ran around the rig, handed in their bands and gone on. Meaning they got the time penalty but did not have to wait in a queue or attempt the obstacle. Probably saving them at least 5 minutes. And giving them places they maybe shouldn’t have got as they did not attempt the “compulsory” obstacle. Maybe I misunderstood but this illustrates the biggest problem with OCR events. Until all obstacles in all events are observed to the same standard by marshals and the minimum rules for these events are agreed upon by European/World qualifier organisers. It will be possible, for those racers who are prepared too, to exploit this grey area for their benefit. However I hope that cheaters never prosper and if they were to gain a qualifying place they would be shown up at the Championships where these things are observed very closely.
These thoughts have all occurred to me since finishing the race but at the time I crossed the finish line I felt elated. I had finished probably the toughest OCR I have yet competed in. My hamstrings were quivering and my quads were on fire but I wasn’t really caring about them then. I was happy with how I had done. Happy with how I had run the race and happy that I had attempted every obstacle and ran for 16km over some of the most challenging terrain I have ever run on. Happy my foot didn’t bother me at all. I had found my love for OCR events again. The result came out yesterday and although I missed out on a qualifying spot (top 5) I was chuffed that I had achieved 8th place in the elite wave. I would love to represent Scotland at the World or even European level and am not far away from getting to that level. Just need to keep grinding with that goal in mind. Roll on Mactuff in January.