Krupok Bolet: 10/10/10 - Official "Hug a Marine" Day

Well who wouldn't want to hug this?!

Yesterday was the big "CC" day. It was PINK. It was MESSY. It was HARD WORK. It was BRILLIANT. It was SURPRISING. It TESTED EVERYONE. It included some of the HILLIEST and most UNBELIEVABLY LOOOOOOOOONG 3km run sections EVER. It was SUPERCHICK-TASTIC.

It was all this and MORE.

But best of all - I, and my fellow SUPERchickers, were VERY EXCITED to learn that Marines are not even slightly scary - they are AMAZING and require lots of HUGS - which is brilliant as we met and hugged lots of Marines in between gasping for breath, plucking up courage, collasping with relief or just simply cos they were there and they were looking pretty darn hot. Mr SMARTIE TUBE MARINE - you made crawling through a tunnel in tears a totally worthwhile experience for SuperJade ;-))!!

So, as is now customary practise - all that is left to do while I rest my aching limbs and try to decide if my revolting trainers can survive another cycle in the washing machine, is to provide some insight into the goriest, most personally mortifying and hilarious moments of the day - again all thanks to SUPERphotographer Sam.

Before I do so I want to make a special mention of the following SUPERteamsters:

1. Honorary SuperMegan who overcame her fear of getting through a submerged tunnel - it wasn't easy and it took A LOT of personal courage for her to do this. BUT she did it even despite me scaring the pants of her looking like some freaky clown extra from a horror movie. (See above) Eek, sorry about that CC buddy.

Is it "hug a Marine" time again?

SUPERfreaky clown not helping the situation AT ALL.

The "pain is temporary" smile. WELL DONE Megan

2. SuperLouise who has been listening to Paul McKenna ALLLLLLL week long to overcome claustrophobia, completed a 6km run with me on Wednesday even despite me being the most unwilling runner EVER and even navigated a very tall spiked fence on Friday Night in Hyde Park whilst out doing some last minute running training (as she kindly agreed to fill in for Lucinda at the last minute- see Our Very Own SUPERtrooper for details) - Louise was simply AMAZING yesterday although she would also want to credit Trish for being such an AWESOME CC buddy and getting her through all the tunnels. SUPERteamwork T and L.

This wasn't Louise thanking SuperTrish as far as I know!!

3. Jade who was pure entertainment throughout but also overcame her previously unrealised fear for very long, pitch black tunnels and moreover whilst doing so also got the boys to admit they were scared. LOVE IT. You literally are SUPERwoman!!

Best "you want us to do WHAT"contemplation face EVER

Proof SUPERjade survived 10.10.10

4. SUPERjames (SUPERsarah's other half) who was generally the best possible token SUPERmale for the team - took to a pink suit like every honourary SUPERchick should (he LOVED it!!!) and completed the race despite an old back injury (caused by "his seductive bum wiggle whilst running" his words, Superwife Sarah, not mine!!) flaring up and causing him a lot of pain. AMAZING work SOLDIER and we were ALL appreciating the bum wiggle - why else did so many of us decide to run slowly ;-))

Mr and Mrs SUPER - still enjoying the honeymoon phase!?

5. PT who was a real SUPERteam player by all reports (I was too far behind the main pack to appreciate this first hand, but really what's NEW!?!) but P.T. was great at pacing everyone so that the slower teamsters -{WE TOTALLY ROCKED BTW- even if I do say so myself!!} - didn't get totally left behind. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Pui-Tien.

P.T = Phenomenally Talented

6. The ever brilliant SUPERtrainers and all round brilliant people who once again proved that they practise what they preach and are just as happy to muck in and feel the pain with us. Best of all, that they can just about keep up with us ;-))!!! SUPERsarah (as above) SUPERmel and SUPERcat (see below). THANK YOU. Everyone really enjoyed having you there and the impromptu "Learn to Run UPHILL" training session was great fun. Cat really is SUPERchick TRAINER all the time!!

This memory is going to keep me giggling through lots of Mel's SUPERhard winter training sessions.

Really this says it all - SUPER(newly-engaged)CAT feeling on top of the WORLD.

But really, if I could, I would mention ALL of the team individually and ALL of their achievements, by name repeatedly, all week long. They were all so much fun to be with and customarily brilliant from start to finish. See for yourselves:

What? CC's been cancelled due to insufficient mud.

Only kidding. But here's proof that every SUPERchick has a natural SUPERpinkperm.

The running commences. Bottom of the hill

Made it to the top - JUST. Only to Freefall...

Bum slide anyone?

We pick up the pace COS...

We have some deadly Ninjas on our tail

It did the trick, as a little while later...

Finish Line Delight - Part 1

Finish Line Delight - Part 2

Finish Line Delight - Part 3

Big cheer for SUPERsisters - Vicky and Laura. Woop, woop.

SUPERteam: "You all now have the "hug a Marine" memories and crucially the medals and bruises to prove that you're a SUPERmarine and can now "merk" anything. But I also just want to add my own personal MASSIVE THANK YOU for making this "Girl on a Mission's" second challenge even possible and the most unbelievable fun EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR."

In terms of our team times for the race - picture the scene: 16 SUPERchicks, running up and down very big hills, stopping to fulfil our Marine "hug duties" and indulging in a spot of mud wrestling, laughing, debating which tunnel to go through etc - WELL as you can imagine, this 10km race was a PERSONAL BEST TIME for us all!!!

2 hours 15 mins just proves what a good time we were having that we didn't want it to end!! xx