There might not be any mud walls, ice baths or obstacles involved in this one, but that doesn’t mean it gets an easy pass.
The Winter Canal Canter takes place along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Kirkstall, following a flat out-and-back route along the towpath.
And, importantly, it takes place in January.
So while the course profile might be considerably flatter than most of the events on the Tough Smudge calendar, winter weather, long straight stretches of towpath and plenty of time spent simply putting one foot in front of the other should provide a different sort of test.
Building the Engine
This one is very much part of the bigger picture.
World’s Toughest Mudder isn’t going to be conquered by being good at climbing over obstacles. I need the endurance to keep moving for hour after hour, particularly when the novelty has disappeared and the legs would quite happily call it a day.
Long, steady running is going to have to become increasingly normal.
A flat course also removes one of my favourite excuses. There are no hills to blame for slowing down. Just pacing, fuelling, consistency and the small matter of convincing the legs to keep going.
The Event
Organised by It’s Grim Up North Running, the Winter Canal Canter offers a range of distances from 10K through to an ultra marathon.
The route follows the Leeds & Liverpool Canal from Kirkstall on good trail surfaces, with a marshalled and signed course and regular feed and drink stations.
It sounds almost civilised.
Of course, this is Yorkshire in the middle of January, so I’m reserving judgement on that until I see the weather forecast.
Why It Matters
Not every event on the road to World’s Toughest Mudder needs fire, electricity, chest-deep mud or something enormous to climb over.
Some of them just need miles.
This is one of those events. A chance to build the endurance base, practise pacing and fuelling, and spend more time getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Another start line. Another few miles in the legs.
Endure. Overcome. Make it count.