Don't go into the water... It's Lake Fear!
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat…”
OK, so it wasn’t quite Jaws, but nevertheless, the ‘Lake Fear’ events at Lymington Seawater Baths are rapidly developing a reputation as something which deliver quite a bite!
They’re ran by a small team of enthusiastic athletes based in the South Coast who have a passion for physical challenges, particularly obstacle races, and they’re trying to bring this growing phenomenon to the South Coast… but by adding a watery twist!
Following an invitation by the race director Mel Rayner, ‘Always With A Smile’ founder Joel Hicks was asked to take part in the Springtime ‘Avenge’ event and provide a little AWAS-magic!
He was accompanied on the day by two new-comers to the foundation, Marc and Jenny Stewart, who have been inspired by the work of AWAS after becoming aware of the foundation following Tough Guy earlier this month.
Now you know that an event is going to be something a little out of the ordinary when the start-line is a 30ft climbing wall… and after being fastened (quite snuggly) into their harness’, the trio were given the all clear to scurry up and the wall and then abseil down it.
From there, Team-AWAS was led out of the seawater baths to complete a 3k circuit across mixed terrain… However, the run served no real objective other than to get people warm for what was to follow, as the last few hundred yards brought racers back into the baths to the lido pool which, in addition to the freezing sea water, contained numerous challenging obstacles to, in part, wear you down, but mostly test your cold courage and watery resolve.
To prevent any runners from tip-toeing into the icy water, monkey bars acted as a conduit from land to water, and so after traversing the bars and ringing a bell, those who had dared to take on the ‘Lake Fear’ challenge had to drop straight into the water below with a splash!
From there on, shivering souls had to completely submerge on several occasions as they took on a whole host of inflatable and floating obstacles…
The jittering teeth and blue faces of those who had failed to wear a wet suit was a major source of amusement to the watching crowd… and all but one man (a rather curly haired chap who seemed to revel in the watery fun like a 5 year old at the swimming baths… can you guess who?!) had a somewhat hypothermic look about them!
On running the gauntlet over a line of floatation devices and finally carrying a water-filled barrel around a stretch of the course, our seawater soldiers eventually climbed out of the lido before making a short dash to ring the ‘finishing bell’…
Upon reading this, you may be wondering why anyone on Earth would want to tackle ‘Lake Fear’?… But this really was an event like no other… with a great start, a warming run, and then freezing fun and hilarity in the lido…
Even Jenny, who after the race still couldn’t get warm despite a hot shower, multiple layers and several mugs of hot coffee, thought it was a brilliant event. She said: “Most people who know me will tell you that I never shut up… I’m constantly talking… but I can confidently say that I couldn't find the strength to speak after completing Lake Fear today… It was so cold I even needed assistance getting dressed! It was brilliant fun though, and a total honour to run alongside the machine of a man that is Joel Hicks in support of ‘Always With A Smile’ - I’ve no idea how he kept smiling all the way around!”
Whilst the February edition to the ‘Lake Fear’ series might only be for those with a screw-loose or a love of shrinking body parts, the franchise has a number of events lined up for the summer, when the temperatures will (hopefully) be a little warmer… and you can bet that ‘Always With A Smile’ will be back their once again!
To see more images from Lake Fear click here.