Review - Bear Grylls Survival Race

Trent Park, Enfield is the home of this festival including a well organised adult and children's race. Meeting Bear is a highlight, but the run is a real contender in the OCR world. This is very much a military-style event. Good long distances run with a variety of things to carry/haul round various parts of the course. The result is a course which is varied, uses different terrain successfully to wear you out and challenging (if a little contemporary) obstacles.

You can chose 5km, 10km, 30km. There is a good (if a little short for those over 8yrs) childrens race, set off at times according to age... which is a wonderful idea. The village is huge, with a massive range of exciting things to try (ants?), do (box jumping, slack-line walking) and experience (demonstrations and bands). We spent the entire day there.

OBSTACLE RATING: 8/10 difficult enough to entertain, mostly because of the load and distance, not very inventive. E.g. loaded ruck-sack runs of just shy of a mile through woodland, water canister carries, jumping over burning logs (great for a photo shot, not particularly difficult or skilled!).

DIFFICULTY LEVEL: 9/10 the 30km is for the really hard-core. The 10km was tiring enough to thrill. The time of year (October) was warm enough to render this easier than later in the season.

MUD RATING: 2/10. This is not about MUD, it's about challenging yourself.

ORGANISATION RATING: 11/10. Exceptional organisation, wonderful village. Fabulous day.

Would I do this again? I would certainly do the 30km and recommend it to those who favor a challenge.