Mud Runner:  Eastnor Castle 11 October 2009

Cross country runners with a competitive spirit who don’t mind getting muddy are being offered the chance to run in a new race at Eastnor Castle on Sunday 11th October.

For the very first time Land Rover Experience have generously opened the tracks that are used to develop and test the worlds best all terrain vehicles for Mud Runner.  This is a unique chance for intrepid athletes looking for the ultimate challenge, the course is 6ish arduous cross country miles around the Eastnor Estate over a variety of terrain and conditions from rolling grassland to mud, wet mud and sticky mud.  The course includes hills, water filled pits, muddy banks and more mud, runners will ultimately get very wet!

David Littlewood, Assistant General Manager for Eastnor Castle said; “We are really excited about Mud Runner which is a new event at Eastnor, that will offer a unique opportunity for cross country runners to run on tracks designed for vehicles, but at the same time the chance to explore hidden areas within the Eastnor Estate albeit muddy ones!  We are getting lots of interest and it is also a great opportunity for competitors to run for their chosen charity”.

One of the competitors signed up is local man Kester Wilkinson from Pixley, Nr Nr Ledbury who is no stranger to adventure races and has taken part in some of the world’s toughest challenges.  From a 65mile run to France - to the Marathon Des Sables, a 150 mile staged race through the Sahara desert he is looking forward to taking part in Mud Runner and is hoping that the mud will slow up some of the faster runners and for once he won’t be at the back.  He says “I am keen to take part in this muddy race although stupid, it should be a lot of fun and a good thrash through a long muddy puddle”. Kester will be joined by his wife Zinnia for the run and will be raising money for the Hereford Haven charity.

More information can be obtained from the website www.mudrunner.co.uk.

We have just had a bug hunt for visitors in the castle grounds. The hunts were organised at hourly intervals and led by a team from Herefordshire Nature Trust. They provided nets and special plastic boxes with magnifying glasses incorporated in the lids, so successful hunters could more closely examine their catches. The hunts took place in a grove of redwoods and at the outflow of the lake by the weir.

Looking for bugs in the long grass involved sweeping the nets through the top of the grass. Inevitably, a lot of grass seeds were collected. But amongst this unintended haul were several bugs and the odd butterfly, which the hunt leaders were able mostly to identify from sheets illustrating various species that we were likely to come across. We also scoured the ground around the base of the trees, where there were plenty of woodlice: one father triumphantly captured a stag beetle, which we all admired. No-one was stung or bitten.

The water hunt proved slightly less rewarding. There were a few water boatmen and leaches, but no newts or frogs. But most of the fun was in the chase, and the participants got a good idea of what they could do next time they were I long grass or near a stream. Even if we did not catch much, it was amazing how much life there was in apparently uninhabited places.      JH-B     13 July 2009

Last weekend we hosted the great 24-hour mountain bike race, Mountain Mayhem.  Hundreds of competitors camped on site and took part in an endurance race on a ten mile course around the woods and hills within the Park and beyond. The weather was mostly dry, and not too hot, a relief for the mountain bikers if not the cold drink salesmen. 

The race runs through the night, and you could see the lights traversing the slopes after dark. As the Park is not open to mountain bikes normally, this event was a good chance for riders to compete on the slopes that are reserved otherwise for walkers, deer and Land Rovers.

The organisers and sponsors did a great job, leaving the site undamaged and giving everyone a good time. It was amazing to see the range of equipment for sale and diversity of the competitors. One year, but I did not see them this time, one or two monocycles competed. When we were children, my brother and I used to ride our normal bikes in the park, with the Sturmey Archer three-speed gears. I now see why we did not get very far…           JH-B   1st July 2009