I would like to start by saying the described series of poor decisions and unfortunate events to follow are in no way representative of the race organisers, the race marshalls, the hosting facilities, or anyone other than myself and my own foolishness, with the inevitable consequences of such.
My sister and I have been working through a Garmin Couch to 5k plan with Jeff Galloway since December last year. The end delayed somewhat by various infections and viruses. We booked the Washington Trail 5k as our culminating event, as I’ve done the 10k several times and enjoyed it. Fen and I have gone somewhat off Jeff as his belief in you to complete the event seems to decrease with time even if you weren’t due and therefore haven’t missed a workout in between. This is not exactly good for morale, but I will cover the plan separately to this. It is mentioned here only as a stage-setter (and a grumble).
I have also, after a history of bursitis in the knees and more recently athlete’s foot (despite not being an athlete – you don’t come here for clean and shiny do you?!), been working on improving my very flat arches and general foot strength by going around barefoot in the house and also recently purchasing some minimal trainers. I’ve only worn these once or twice on short drill sessions and know I haven’t quite got my gait right yet for faster than walking around: hello heel impact!
Decision 1 – Race Day Footwear:
With my prolonged time off work (more here if you’re interested), I seem to be ahead of the barefoot curve and have found wearing my normal trainers – for walking or running – has been giving me knee and calf pain. Ditto for my trail shoes with a blister on the heel from too-short socks. Going in for 5k in my new shoes seemed like a recipe for posture problems, but I have done 5k before (Chopwell parkrun) in my hiking sandals previously without any issues. My memory of the Washington 10k (last run in 2018), was of gravel tracks, fields and woodland stretches – but not all that different to Chopwell. So. Sandals it is.
Decision 2 – Further Race Day Footwear, or Not:
We arrived at St. Robert’s in Washington (as a hosting venue, this was excellent!) for race number collection, and outside was a demo station for Scott trail shoes. Fen had only brought one pair of trainers with her – she has road-runners – so borrowing a pair would allow her to a) try out some fancypants trail shoes and b) have dry trainers for the drive home. The first niggle: should I also get some trail shoes? It’s wet out and my feet might freeze…but I haven’t bought any socks with me, so I’ll probably get blisters again, and no-one will want to wear them again after I’ve had bare feet in them. No, we’ll stick with the sandals.
Mile 1:
We headed off to the starting area for the launching of the 5k runners, starting at the back because we knew we were going to be walking stretches of it and some areas can be narrow. Initially, all went to plan: we headed off down the road to the aid station and the bridge across the river without hiccup. We made it up the first incline along the road and took the stile into the first of the woodland stages. All well so far, a little muddy but passable, we’re keeping tucked into the left as the faster 10k runners come past us. Everyone obviously having a wonderful day out in the mizzle.
Mile 2 – Event 1:
We leave the first woodland patch and cross a field to join what I guess was an old railway line. In crossing the field I decide my sandals are a smidge loose for the mud we’ve had so far, and I pause before the stile onto the track to tighten my sandals while resting my feet on the fence. The left strap snaps, right on the hinge where they fold back for the velcro to stick. There’s a strap on the back (intact), a non-adjustable strap near the toes (intact) and a cross-over strap over the arch of the foot (broken and in my pocket). Bugger. Still, they’re staying on so we’ll manage.
Photo credit: Phil Lingwood
Mile 3 – Event 2:
We do manage, making good progress along the track and still able to run even with my now even-more-questionable footwear choices. We reach the bridge, up the steps and across it, and head down past the horses’ field towards the viaduct and up the steps into the second, longer woodland section.
Do you know what happens to woodland trails in the rain? They get muddy. This is all to be expected. However, when you then have walkers, horses and then a few hundred runners on these narrow trails they go from ‘a bit muddy’ to ‘mud-rink’ very quickly. Do you know what you don’t want to be wearing when you step into ankle deep thick mud? Badly strapped sandals. I very quickly decided I was going to make better progress barefoot than pulling a lost sandal out the mud every other pace and holding everyone else up.
Generally, I was actually making good progress all things considered, and I like running barefoot but rarely get the opportunity because there’s blinking stones or sticks or gravel everywhere, so I actually quite enjoyed sliding around the woodland getting a mud pedicure. There was so much mud I didn’t come into contact with many pointy things, and unlike the shoe-wearing, I could go for the flatter areas which were less slippy, because being ankle-deep in mud was less treacherous for me than the slick slopes as I wasn’t exactly likely to loose a shoe!
I think this is an appropriate place to share that the Scott RC 2 trail shoes Fen had borrowed at the start of the race were holding up excellently – hardly a slip unless she stepped on a loose stick and she looked fairly comfortable even on the extra slidey bits. They were also surprisingly staying neon yellow – possibly because she could tackle the less muddy but more slippery edges. Good call Fen! If only your sister were so sensible…
Event 2/Decision 3
Barefoot is great for balance, but it’s not good for grip. On the slope down towards the river path there was a section where there was nowhere I was able to get any grip – broken sandals or barefoot. The tailrunners were excellent and kind – when I paused to consider strategy they checked I was ok (as they had when first losing and then taking my sandals on and off previously) and one even offered me her socks to try and help with my muddy predicament on this slope! Trail Outlaws volunteers really do have hearts of gold. A wet mud race and this good woman offers me her socks!
There was only one solution – and it wasn’t leaving other people deprived of their foot snugs. I was going to have to slide. I crouched down on my feet intending to do my best penguin impression, and rapidly dropped down onto my butt and slid a good few metres down the wet bank. So much mud got in my underpants and I now had a very obvious skid mark across my backside. But! I made the bottom with bottom unharmed and in very good humour – as did the tailrunners who’d had a front row seat for my escapades. I looked a state, but was having a marvellous time and had reached The River.
Mile 3:
We were now heading back to civilisation, despite me not looking fit for it, along the river path back to the bridge. This is a gravel path but there’d been enough mud that if I actually avoided the running water sections it wasn’t too gnarly and I was able to continue making quite good progress, with Fen and I continuing with our Jeff-ing along this flatter section. The combination of very muddy bottom, mud-covered hands and no shoes seemed to worry quite a few of the 10k runners who had caught us up again along here and many checked I was ok – fortunately I was, just a victim of my own poor choices! We reassured the St John’s Ambulance chap in his car that I was fit in body if not in mind, and then the marshalls as we came back through the aid station and onto blessed grass.
Mile 4:
Still accompanied by my faithful tail walkers and patient sister – we reached the bottom of the hill that this race in both its 5k and 10k variations makes you climb to reach the finish line. I struggled a bit with the gravel coming up to this hill and then UP this hill and had to walk or feel like I was trying to jog on Lego. We reached the tarmac at the top and were able to jog intervals until we reached the bridge and the finish line!
AND: No knee or calf problems for me! Hurrah! Sufficient method to the madness to use as justification for more madness!
The Aftermath – Decision 4:
Two medals obtained, we had a 10 minute walk back to St. Robert’s to reach the car. In theory, this would be the easy bit: flat, walking pace, smooth tarmac. In actuality I went from having finished the race in relatively good podiatry health apart from large amounts of mud, to my lovely water and mud-softened feet being scraped apart by the rough path – and there wasn’t much opportunity to step off it without risk doggy doodoos or nettles. Mud? Fine. Doggy doodoo in the toes? No. Just no.
I ran probably 2 miles in the woods and along the river without apparent incident, and in less than half a mile of walking flayed the skin entirely from the underside of my right big toe, gained two massive blood blisters and three clear blisters, and was hard pushed not to whimper as we got back to the car. My sandals were slimy with mud, which I didn’t want to put into potentially open wounds and I wasn’t convinced I could keep upright in them, and by the time I knew I had a problem we were nearly there. Bottle of water sloshed over, dressing gauze and shoes applied and we made it into the bathrooms to change into some less muddy clothes. I’d brought a full change fortunately (except for SOCKS – which would probably have meant I’d have tried the Scott shoes!). Unfortunately I had to clean the toilet seat after using it because I’d left a big muddy butt print across it – it was only mud I promise, but no-one wants to see that!
I didn’t get to fully appreciate the damage until I got home and sat on the side of the bath with the shower head and the first aid drawer to appraise, but I knew it was bad from the increasing stinging pain as my feet thawed on the way home. I’m grateful I wasn’t driving. I genuinely do not believe any of this occurred on the race itself – there’s no way the massive blisters would have survived intact being run on, and there wasn’t a huge amount of dirt in the open wound. Killed my vibe somewhat I can tell you!
In Summary:
Did we have a wonderful time? YES – both Fen and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip out into the woods, and I always find the best races are the ones where you end up going ‘why the heck did I think this was a good idea?!’ and have to laugh at how ridiculous a state you’ve got yourself in because really, there’s nothing else you can do.
Will we be back? Yes – for one of the distances! As with all Trail Outlaws races you get extra distance for your entry fee – for the longer races it’s normally about 10%, but for this one it was 20% with the race coming in at just over 6km.
Will I be wearing appropriate footwear next time? We can but hope!
In the meantime, Rest in Pieces sandals.
Blue Runnings 
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