
The course was estimated 10.6kms in length with 30 obstacles on varying terrain from soft marsh lands to rocky interfaces.
The obstacles were:
1. The Vaults
2. Commando Crawl
3. A Frame Cargo Net
4. Cliff Assault
5. Tyre Tread
6. Casualty Drag
7. Incline Walls
8. Sandstone Climb
9. The Tunnels
10. Balance Beams
11. Cargo Wall 12. Jungle Vines 13. Low Wire Entanglement 14. The Gap 15. Individual Carry - Ammo 16. Cargo Crawl 17. Swimmer Scout 18. Ring The Bell 19. The Boulder 20. Rope Ladders | 21. Goat Track 22. The Crevasse 23. Muddy Mile 24. Individual Carry - Sandbags 25. Rope Burn 26. Pontoon Bridge 27. Monkey Bars 28. Great Walls 29. Traverse Ropes 30. The Ramp |
Obstacle 1 - The Vaults
Obstacle 2 - Commando Crawl
Obstacle 3 - A Frame Cargo Net
After the Commando Crawl, came the A Frame Cargo net, if you had the right technique getting up, you could do this obstacle quite quickly. The hardest and often most painful path was getting over the bar at the top and more than once, I cracked between my legs as I tried to swing my legs over the top, trying to get my footing on the other side. If you had the confidence you could do a commando roll over the top (again probably not the best place to start practicing these things). |
Obstacle 4 - Cliff Assault
Obstacle 5 - Tyre Tread
Obstacle 6 - Casulty Drag
Obstacle 7 - Incline WallI seemed to have got lucky at this one, as every time I got to it, someone was around to give me an extra boost. Dave had already mastered jumping and flipping over the top, but as with most of the obstacles I am still building up the confidence to do this. Plus if there was an opportunity to have some extra help, you would be silly to turn it down, especially as you get tired. You also seemed to slide down the other side. |
Obstacle 9 - The Tunnels
Obstacle 10 - Balance Beams
Obstacle 12 - Jungle Vines
Obstacle 13- Low Wire Entanglement
Obstacle 14 - The Gap
Obstacle 15 - Individual Carry - Ammo
Obstacle 16 - Cargo Crawl
Heading off to obstacle 17, is where I went off track as I was following the foot path and bobbing lights instead of cutting across towards the swimmer scout. I eventually worked out that I was heading in the wrong direction and got back on track.
Obstacle 17 - Swimmer Scout
Obstacle 18 - Ring the Bell
After Ring the Bell is where the terrain starts getting interesting with the rocks and boulders, and it was at this point when my torch ran out of battery on lap 3.
Obstacle 19 - The Boulder
Obstacle 20 - The Rope Ladder
Obstacle 21 - Goat Track
Obstacle 22 - The Crevasse
This is probably where I freaked myself out the most as it was most dangerous with the gaps in the ground, the risk of rolling, falling, tripping where high especially having no torch. So when Marty helped, there was a massive sense of relief that I could actually see where I was going. Being that extra bit conscious of where I was going, I was using my hand and knees to have a better feel for the ground, or using my backside to jump down or crawl. Once it was safe again I was left alone again.
After making your way across the rocky surfaces, jumping over the gaps and squeezing into the tights of spaces. The terrain turned from the rocks and crevasses to find yourself at the next and one of the most grueling obstacles. Actually the next two obstacles were my least favourite, there was no way outs, no easy options and after that first lap you knew exactly what was coming and how hard it was going to be. As soon as you started to hurt the obstacles got worse.
Obstacle 23 - Muddy Mile
Trawling through obstacle 23 - muddy mile. I don't even know how to describe this one, there was no easy route to get it done apart from just putting one foot in front of the other. It seemed to just go on and on and on (a mile at least). During lap 3, as I had no torch and had the magic of the moonlight, wading through the mud and weeds, your imagination really takes its toll. Here the weeds start moving and becoming something other than weeds, with the frogs croaking in the background. Your trying to keep your hands above water, to try and keep dry and warm, as soon as they got wet, they got cold. The depth varied along the way from ankle deep to waist deep, mostly though being a strength sapping thigh deep. |
As you approach the end of the muddy mile, and after trying to stay dry, slipping and falling down the invisible embankments that you had no way of knowing they were there, trying not to think about what else is in the murky water with you was the dreaded barbed wire dip under. If you timed things well you could just get under without getting your head wet but often you would slip or trip and get a dunking! This obstacle was the longest on the whole course, I swear it just kept going and the more it went on the more painful parts of your body became. It also didn't heap as you slowly approached obstacle 24. |
Obstacle 24 - Individual Carry - Sandbags

The worst thing you could do was to drop it as it took so much energy to get it back up (and yes I did this on lap 2, never again). I was not going to make that mistake twice, you knew the top will be here at some point and it won't last forever. Unfortunately going day was also hard especially on your back and knees This is where I felt it most, trying to deal with the pain that came, you could really feel the additional weight all over your body.
This is one of those obstacles that I did think that there should be a different weight for males and females. As it got heavier, the wetter the sand got, the harder it became.
Obstacle 25 - Rope Burn
The end of the course is near with technically only another 5 obstacles to go. The last obstacles was a collaboration of the first and last, as technically obstacle 30 is the first obstacle you get to when you went over the timing chip.
After the rope it was trying to find your way around the boggy marshes, that sort of reminded me of Dartmoor, apart from you were on your own a lot more, until you reached obstacle 26.
Obstacle 26 - Pontoon Bridge
Obstacle 27 - Monkey Bars
As it was so close to the pit area, this is where the women saved me on lap 3 and lending me her torch. I still hope that she got it back and I wish I could have thanked her in person. I will never forget this random act of kindness especially in my state of hysteria.
Then it was up and around the course track which felt like miles (probably only about 1km but quite a long climb up a ridge) and it was only during the daylight hours that you realised if I went off course how easy it would have been for it all to fall apart. On my last lap, going down the slopes towards the final obstacles is where it showed everyone's ITB issues as they tried to make their way down the hill. There was a passing moment when you knew what the other person is going through as they struggled. Down the slope and across the grounds to Obstacle 28 - The Great Wall.
Obstacle 28 - The Great Walls
When I got there on the second lap, someone was doing burpees and I asked for some help only to get ignored, then I realised it was the same guy I was trying to talk to earlier and they had their headphones in. On the third lap, I asked another guy (this after my issues with the head torch), he said as long as I was quick and then proceeded to go on his hands and knees for me to jump on his back. For the life of me, this was not going to happen, so I told him so, tried it on my own, face planted like usual and opted for the 10 burpee penalty. You really can tell who regularly helps fellow racers out on course as there is just as much technique involved helping others over obstacles as there is in doing it yourself! Dave can testify to this having spent 6 hours getting people over the 3.5m wall at Operation Blackhawk recently!
Obstacle 29 - The Rope Traverse
Straight after the great wall was the rope traverse (somewhere I usually accumulate the most bruises). Everything that I had been taught at The Compound went out the window as I tried to get across the rope as quickly as possible. This worked for the first 3 laps, not so much on the last lap as I tried to quickly move through it and fell at the last point. Having to do my 10 burpee penalty and then it was across the finish line. Technically the last obstacle on the map is the Enduro's first obstacle as you cross the starting chip |