Well I signed up for it with 13 days to go as enigma put they’d had 2 places come up on Facebook.

I’d been getting the mileage in on the last few weeks leading up to the race. As soon as I entered I was looking forward to getting my hands on some enigma bling.

I got picked up at 4:45 am by James and then picked Dan up and got on our way. We stopped at a service station down south somewhere for a break then got back on our way to Milton Keynes at after 8 am.

After getting there I started getting taped up with rock tape and the Race director Foxy saw me and said “are your legs falling apart already” I laughed and then put my cream on my legs and got my things and camelback organised and saw a few East Hull Harriers then I went to collect my number in the pub. After I got my number on I just chatted with the other East Hull Harriers members. I saw a few people who I’d met about a month before at Endure 24.

At about 8:45 am I started to follow other runners towards a marquee then the race director walked everyone over to the start. It was a little walk to the start. Once at the starting position everyone got briefed then the race started at just after 9 am the race started off with a quarter of a lap to the finish line of a lap where the aid station was inside a marquee. From there it was 7 laps of the full course.

The views on the course where very nice and the 1^st lap went by easy and it continued on the 2^nd lap the sites just kept me going on my second lap I got over taken my Dan, James and Guy in quick succession I took being lapped selfies which I’d joked with them about doing before the race. I got to my 3^rd lap of the race with ease. The terrain of the course was mostly on paths with a little bit of grass and stony part but some parts of the paths were uneven which for me was not good for my feet on my 3^rd lap. The lake and its views where good to focus on at some points on the course you could see other runners on other parts of the course. The support from people was good the East Hull Harrier support was top class the best I’ve witnessed. I was on for a PB until about half way around lap 3 when my feet were hurting. Dan came up behind me and did a couple of hundred meters with me on my 3^rd lap and I ran with one of my friends from Scunthorpe for a little while on the lap as well.

I got to my 4th lap thinking I don’t want to do this anymore. I met some of my friends from down south on the route which helped me get around most of the lap and helped me focus on the race. But I was falling apart more and more and I was about 0.30 miles from starting my 5^th lap and Dan was running up behind me he slowed down and got me to the end of my 4^th lap which was his last lap and then I took off my camel back and stretched off for a few minutes then went off on my 5^th lap, Dan ran with me for about 0.20 miles which really helped to spur me on.

On my 5^th lap I was fresh running most of it enjoying it again I felt like a Duracell bunny until I got to the end of the lap. I was passing the finish line/ startlap line and the race director said to me “ look happy you paid for it” It brought a smile to me. I had to take an unexpected toilet stop costing me 15 minutes and when I started my 6^th lap I was stiff and aching more. About half way around the lap I saw the start of the half marathon start. I was really struggling I managed to get to the last lap the race director rang the bell for my last.

I stretched off again at the aid station and I got some water and food then set off on my 7^th final lap I put my camel back back on I saved taking pictures of the surroundings until the last lap. There are two horse shoe parts on the lake which give u a mental bettering as the look really short to go around but are bigger then expecting and you come out to the end of it and your about 100 meters from the other side where you started to go around them. I managed to slog it out to the end of the lap and finish well it’s another one ticked off #2 marathon also a nice medal & good company at Enigma.

The course is mostly on paths with bits uneven & a few bits of uphill and a little bit on grass and stones and there are lots of nice scenery, the lake is very nice, there’s a lot of wildlife. The aid station was good with water, crisps, nuts, Jaffa cakes etc. The geese on a corner of the lake as you past the pub congregated a lot and just walked straight in front of you making it hard at times to manoeuver around them.

There were lots of local runners there from EHH, KUH, Scunthorpe & Cleethorpes which made it a good atmosphere at Enigma. The lake is not as bad as people suggest. I had good support all round from the runners especially from the runners from Humberside which attributed to the atmosphere of the event.

The medals that enigma do are top notch you also get a little pin attached to the ribbon on the medal with a fox on. The need for Speed marathon medal is so nice the ribbon complements it correctly.

The events at enigma are really well organised and I cannot recommend them enough. It was also good to see so many local runners at the race enjoying it. The support off of runners was good. I can’t wait until I do my next event with Enigma defiantly in the top 3 events I’ve done.