The Wyre Forest MT 8.5 took place at the Wyre Forest Visitors Centre, which is quite close to Bewdley, on Febuary 21st. The first problem was getting into the car park – it was in a snow covered field behind a pub! I met up with Chris and Simon Gompertz near the start. Simon said he would probably die of Hypothermia as it was so cold! Chris was wearing his 'Homer Number 9' top – he said he hoped to get a proper top soon! The cousre was covered in snow although it didn't feel too cold.

The race started at 11am. The route is unique, most of the downhill is in the first two miles and a large portion of the uphill is at the end!  Most people were cautious as the first few hundred metres were downhill on snow covered track. There was then a short climb followed by about  1 ½ miles descent. The next mile was along a path which is normally very muddy – this year it wasn't too bad as it was frozen. This was followed by a short sharp climb then good forest tracks for the next 3 or 4 miles – undulating but not too bad.

Just after 7 miles comes the sting in the tail, in other words what goes down must come up! The last mile is the same hill which was descended at the start but in the other direction! At the end we were given a goody bag with medal, certificate and a Mars Bar.  I swapped my medal with Chris for his Mars Bar whilst Simon gave Chris his medal. It was the back to the car and the off road driving experience! For the record - Simon G survived the cold!

The Chugger's time Simon G 69 minutes, Chris 75 minutes and myself 83 minutes.