Rough Runner 2015 - Clapham Common (Spectator Review)

With my Berlin Double Marathon just a week away I made the choice to skip Rough Runner this year to reduce the chances of any possible injuries. I decided to go along to the event all the same, armed with my SLR camera as well as to support my friends. The others laughed that I still came in my run kit. I learnt from last time I took pics at Pretty Muddy I ended up getting a tad sweaty! Also I intended to run and take pics of my friends at all of the obstacles. 

I partook in the inaugural Rough Runner event last year so I was keen to see how the event has evolved. The location was brilliant. It was a London based event that actually was in 'London. (One of my pet hates is listing locations as 'London,' where it's not even close to the M25. People aren't stupid).

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I won't go over everything, but here are some of the most memorable parts of the event:


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The obstacles looked spruced up, branding was prominent and less rustic than last year. I do think there should have been a solid platforms to get in and out of all obstacles. Some obstacles required you to land on the inflatable pool edge which gave us some inevitable comedy moments. 

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Swing & Miss looked a lot of fun. A zipline and a couple of plastic barrels in your way to shimmy past.
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Swept off your feet was one of the most unique obstacles to Rough Runner. The erratic rotation of the padded poles looked intimidating however the success rate was fairly high.

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Punchbag Revenge wasn't the most exciting to watch. There was an accident when our group got there so one of the pools was closed temporarily. It was good that the whole obstacle didn't have to close but a definite bottleneck occurred as a result.

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Punch Wall is a bouldering wall with a difference. A couple of punching gloves on loose rods that go right through the wall to interact with participants on the other side of the wall. There was however a punching glove missing on one of the rods as you can see above.

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Newtons Cradle returned from last year with the pool of water beneath. Possibly counted as cheating but a friend discovered it was easier to use the parallel bars above to climb across.

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Up & Under didn't seem to be as structurally sound as the other obstacles. It wasn't the participants that were at risk but the fact that people almost knocked the whole thing over!

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Big Balls was a giant cage filled with yoga balls to fight through. Lots of smiles from this one.

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The Travelator is the highlight for anybody who grew up in the UK in the 90's watching the hit TV show The Gladiators. Just like the television program The Travelator is the final obstacle. A nice addition is the choice of speeds for you to try. It was good to see they've included a ramp to make it easier to mount your feet onto the obstacle than previously.

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Summary. I must say I was extremely envious seeing my friends tackle this course. My hands were getting twitchy watching them clamber on the walls! Clapham Common is a great location for everyone, both participants and spectators alike. There was an extremely long queue for bag drop which tested people's patience later, but that can be rectified and we've seen similar problems at more experienced organisers.

I'm loving what Rough Runner are doing and next year I hope they run this event again at Clapham Common as I'll definitely be on the other side of the camera!
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Full photo album on Facebook
​which includes other obstacles missed here.


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