Blog Archives - Scream at my face

South Coast Roll 2015

31/5/2015

The Event.
The South Coast Roll is a turn up and skate event run by Everglides. It's up to you how much or little you roll.

Dispite the weather conditions there was a good show of die hard skaters.

We enjoyed the day and from our group there's already talk of making a weekend holiday of it next time in Chichester. South Coast Roll we'll see you in 2016.

Photo curtesy of South Coast Roll.

My skate experience.
Today was rainy and windy. Not the ideal weather for inline skating but it was chance to test out my Stormsurge wet weather wheels. They certainly gave me that extra grip even though it was just the toe and heel wheels, with the four middle wheels being Matter F3 wheels. Still a little slippery on the corners though!

I was lucky to be skating with my friend Edmar who is one of the top UK skaters. He took the lead for the most part, I returned the favour on a few stretches. Edmar would politely take over when I started to drop speed. He'd also slow down when I was falling back too much. Top man.

Together we completed our marathon in 1hr 44 minutes. In all honestly he could have done faster yet on his own!

We did an extra lap just in case our GPS device was deceiving us!

Tough Mudder - Midlands 2015

30/5/2015

I like Tough Mudder as an event experience but one of my biggest gripes is the fact they add all these extra fees where they can. On the plus this year is that photos are now free. I think they realise that photos circulate on social media for free advertising of their event.

Tough Mudder open ticket extra hidden charge

Hello Tough Mudder I bought a ticket last year and I'd like to use it.. oh you want £2.05 because you're in a position to ask for it...

Tough Mudder car park £15 fee

Hey again Tough Mudder, we want to park our car.... Okay let me throw more money at you...

Tough Mudder bag drop charge

Sorry to bother you again Mr Tough Mudder but can I drop my bag off safely while I roll around in mud. Oh I can?! Brilliant,.,. Oh sorry, of course you want some more money. £3 should do it.

Tough Mudder supporters £20 fee

Mr Toughonmypocket, my friends forgot to purchase a ticket to support us... oh okay. I think they'll wait outside and spend the £20 on themselves instead.

More photos and videos coming soon......

I'm in double figures..

24/5/2015

I've covered around this distance before but on obstacle races. Today was the first time I've done double figures not at an event.

With Tough Mudder around the corner I made my route hilly, included trails and I was jumping over metal fencings, hanging across metal arches and also a bit of bouldering in the mix.

I'm working on a low heart rate strategy but these OCR antics really throws the Polar M400 on a paddy so I have to almost instantly drop my pace again. Todays distance was covered in just under two hours.

Nuclear Races - Nuclear Rush 2015 - 6k (10:00)

17/5/2015

Nuclear Races is the unsung event that the un-mudified person has not heard of. The event was top notch and offered such an array of obstacles. Voted by Mudstacle in 2014 for Best Event for Obstacles, Best Event for Mud and Best All Round Event. We can see why. #lovemud

I setup a group of three mud newbies for this race. As it was their first obstacle race they only agreed to do the shorter 6km course. We were on course for two and a half hours which is pretty intense for their first outing!

Taxis. We had a bit of a hard time finding a taxi firm that would take us. Avoid the grumpy ones by Epping.
Use Trebble Twenty: 01277 20 20 20.

NoPro. Looks like I won't be making a video for this event. Unfortunately my GoPro went missing as I went after a rubber duck to win a prize. I've left my details with Nuclear but that area was a super muddy pond and up to my chest. Below however I've tried to make light of the situation with a comic parody of the scenario.

Spartan Race - Sprint - Allianz Park London - (12:30)

16/5/2015

Today we did the Spartan Race - Sprint at Allianz Park, London. It did feel a little strange returning there after the Zombie Evacuation Race was held at the same location. I was half expecting some undead to pounce around the corner. The Sprint is the shortest distance that Spartan Race has to offer. I'm definitely up for experiencing their longer distances in the future.

Run or Dye - Trent Park, London 2015

9/5/2015

Now in it's second year in the UK. Run or Dye is attracting a lot of fun runners who don't mind getting a little colourful.

Southwark Park

8/5/2015

Today I was meeting a friend in Canada Water but would have been early so I decided to take an hour walk to get there.

My stroll saved me the transport fare and I also discovered Southwark Park. It's a very pretty public space and I think I shall wander through here again when it comes to marathon training..

Tower of London Run 2015 - 10k

6/5/2015

Tower of London Run 10k photographs from 2015

For a run event that doesn't take itself too seriously then check out the Tower of London Run. It attracts runners of all abilities and the 1k looped track will give you the decision of exactly how far you want to run, jog or walk.

The course itself was freshly laid grass. It was really spongey in places and was quite pleasant to run on. One section of the course had really strong headwind so I tucked behind others for that bit.

10k result:
51:59.

Five minutes off last years Sports Relief event.

Urban Ninja - Tooting Bec

4/5/2015

balance beam

Balance Beam.(i) Nothing structurely amazing in terms of build but a good classic obstacle all the same.

At the Urban Ninja event there were two courses. Tame and Insane. We all raced in the time trial on the Tame course but were allowed in our 60 minutes practice session to try out some of the Insane obstacles too. (No one attempted an Insane time trial while we were there).

Here are a selection of obstacles from the event. We didn't attempt all of them as some of the drops looked far too risky to attempt for novices, better left for parkour pros. (An (i) has been put next to the so called 'insane,' obstacles).

Tough Monkey and Ceiling Climb. (i) I wasn't comfortable with the drop height of the inclining and declining monkey bars as you can see towards the left of the picture, especially if I were to get tired part way through the climb so I skipped that.

The ceiling climb was quite fun though, which then leads to the next obstacle....

Reverse Dyno. (i) You are required to climb up from the inverted position up the wall, then jump from one wall to the other. The gap was just far too much for me. As I stood at the top I ran through all the possible scenarios that could occur in my attempt and could only see broken limbs. If there'd been water below I would have considered it.

I drew quite a crowd (including one of the event's cameraman), being the only person at the time to manage to get up there. They were all rooting for me to make it, but I felt the braver thing was to climb down amidst the peer pressure.

Step Control. They seem to space these slightly closer than the ones on Ninja Warrior, yet these were just about the right spacing to complete.

Monkey Bars. It's a standard obstacle but a good one. The drop was quite high down so made it a bit more intimidating than normal.

Rope Cling. I remember they had something similar at Rough Runner but with buoys at the bottom which people struggled with. The platforms on these made it slightly easier.

Salmon Ladder. (i) Do a pull up but then launch the bar up to the next slot. None of our group managed to do this. A seriously tough challenge, one I'd love to be able to complete in the future.

Monkey Cling. (i) Spring up from the trampette below and then spread out your arms and legs to cling on to the walls, shifting your way across the 10 metres of parallel walls, just like Jackie Chan.

I think this obstacle would be an advantage for taller people.
Failed on this one myself. Andy rocks it here.

Trapeze. The first time attempting to swing off this trapeze is quite intimidating. Just scared you're gonna fall, smack your chin on the bar or worse. However after the first time it's quite fun.

Core Crunch. (i) This was one of the obstacles which the shorter people found easier and the taller people found difficult or impossible. Floju shows us how it's done in this pic.

Crushing Crimps. (i) Three blocks of wood that are only 4cm in depth so you're using just your finger tips to hold on. What makes this extra tricky are the gaps.

Very happy to have done this, especially as my time trial competitor (who beat me by over a minute!) couldn't do this one.

Insane Pipe Scramble. (Warped Wall). (i) This is 50cm taller than the one on Ninja Warrior. I really wanted to complete this one the most but with no luck. My friend Pavel however owns the wall here.

If you are successful in completing the time trial by finishing all obstacles on the Tame course then you get one of these awesome shuriken medals. For those that finish the Insane will get an extra big shuriken.

With our Urban Ninja medals

Below I discover that the medal is also a handy bottle opener.

Urban Ninja bottle opener
Thanks for today. It was good fun and we understand why the Insane course is so called. We've also discovered a secondary use for the awesome medal.
Posted by Scream At My Face on Monday, 4 May 2015

Credits for the soundtrack of the main Urban Ninja movie goes to:

Ninja (Indikings) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Electric Run 2015 - London

2/5/2015

Electric Run 2015 UV paint