As 3 Viceroys Kate, Jon and Rory scraped the ice off their cars, it was no doubt going to be a very brutal Brutal 10k that morning. Rory none the less dressed confidently in his Viceroys vest and shorts, aiming as ever for a podium position; Kate and Jon dressed in thermals, gloves and bearing as little skin as possible to protect them from the brambles and bracken had just one thing on their mind – finishing in tact.

The first km eased runners in to the race as the track through wooded area gradually increased in gradient, but by the km mark, trees and roots blocked the track and mud was ankle deep. KM 2 again lulled the runners into a false sense that their movement was going to be pleasant and unheeded – and then the water obstacles started… and rarely stopped. Runners waded and dragged their way though marshes, bogs, lakes, puddles; when not fighting through water there were snaking single track paths, slightly raised either side of gulleys and ditches – fatal if you put a foot wrong; bracken fields; steep descents which were either sheer sliding mud or loose stone which avalanched with you as you moved… and the up hills? Let’s just say most people other than Rory walked them!

A truly brutal, but fun 10k – well done Viceroys.