That hour and a half whizzed by and Ross's alarm went off at 11.30pm. I leapt out of my sleeping bag with uncharacteristic alacrity. (Getting moving after sleeping is not my strong point.) I scrabbled around for my head torch and having located it, rammed it on my head, shoved my feet into my still laced running shoes and crawled out of the tent. I don't think I was fully awake but I was ready for the off.
Just then Patrick, the owner of Blackwater Castle, in whose orchard we were camped, started to play his trumpet...LOUDLY....to wake everyone up and he interchanged this with bellows of, "It's time to get up, it's time to get up." It seems that Ross's alarm wasn't necessary.
Slightly bleary eyed and still in a state of disbelief I swung my bag onto my back and staggered behind my team-mates, up to the road to catch the bus to the start. I kept saying to Will, "We are really doing this. We are really, really doing this." I think he found it quite irritating. I don't think I could quite believe that the time had come to put all the months of training and preparation to the test. (I have barely mentioned most of the training on the blog because let 's face it there is nothing duller than reading ran 10km, cycled 40 km, kayaked 13 km....and repeat.... but in between all the mishaps and disasters I have written about I have actually been slogging away with peddle, paddle and on foot)
Back to the bus. We climbed on board the bus and sat down. It was FRIGID! I sat shivering and dozing for three quarters of the way before my befuddled brain worked out how to turn off the air con vent above my seat. Ross sat next to me, folded up like a very fancy bit of origami. It is quite hard to fit his 6ft2" frame into a seat made for normal height people! He seemed to want to chat but I was having a post-nap grump and mild panic attack.
The post-nap grump is self-explanatory; the reason for the panic attack is that just before we got on the bus I was given a disclaimer to sign. This disclaimer had been mentioned in the race briefing but I hadn't registered it. Ross, Andy and Will signed it promptly and seemingly, without reading it. There was a pause as I started to read it and Ross said incredulously, "Are you reading it? Just sign it. Come on, the bus is leaving soon."
"Have you read this thing?" I asked.
"No." he responded.
"You always told me to read the small print and don't sign anything without reading it. I'm serious, have you read this thing? It says, 'I understand that I am undertaking activities that are dangerous and I might get hurt or die'!" I shriek.
Andy laughed. Ross shrugged and Will said, "Come ON Mum, just sign it."
This seemed like the final straw, after I spent the previous week assuring my Mum that what I was about to do wasn't really dangerous, I wasn't insane and I did know what I was doing. And then with 3 days to go I was suddenly overcome with worry and told the children and my sister where our wills are kept and who I wanted to take care of the children if something should happen to me (at the time I was more concerned with the ferry trip!) and now I was signing a bit of paper that said I understood I might get injured or die....
"It will be all right, it is just a standard form. Nothing is going to happen," Ross said impatiently. I don't think he could believe I was making so much fuss. "Just sign it."
I was not reassured.
I signed it.
We finally arrived at our destination just after 2 in the morning of Saturday 1 August. It was in a recreation area adjacent to the shores Lough Derg. I descended the steps of the bus and Will leant over in my ear and said, "We really are doing this. Oooooo! I am suddenly excited!" (Hmmm, interestingly I didn't feel annoyed with him for using the expression I had used to him 2 hours before and which he had found so irritating.) I simply nodded in agreement. Truth be told I was still feeling pretty sleepy and in a state of disbelief. Just how had I got myself into this situation? Also, I couldn't respond to Will because was trying to stuff a packet of breakfast biscuits down my throat to stave off any hunger pangs that might creep up on me. On top of this I was wondering why my bag felt quite so heavy.
They called the team numbers up one by one to collect the maps. We were number 4, Ross went up and got our map. This map was for the foot orienteering section which would start the race.
Ivan then announced that as it was 'chucking out time at the pubs' they would see us all across the road . He herded all 28 teams across the road and we halted in a muddy patch near the entrance to a wooded area where we would start the race.
"We will start the race at 2:20," Ivan said.
A whole lot of people started to fiddle with their watches, setting timers, chronos and checking the time. They started the count down....
5
4
3
2
1
(part 3 to follow...)
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