Motherhood: Who Needs an Endurance Race?!

A few months back, when one of Baby Lighty’s Godparents asked her if she’d like to take part in a local endurance and obstacle race, there was only one resounding answer:

Nope, nope, no, no, no and more no.

There wasn’t even any pretence of “oh well, you know, someone has to look after Baby Lighty…”, my answer was always going to be a resounding no. There was absolutely no way that Mrs Lighty was ever going to be taking part in anything that involved exercise, obstacles and more mud than Glastonbury.

This didn’t deter Mr Lighty and co. from taking part in The Nuclear Races, however, nor did it deter The Nuclear Races from placing a little wager with Mrs Lighty on Twitter that once she’d spectated, she’d want to join in next year (FYI, I have won that bet, I absolutely, positively, DO NOT want to take part next year; The Nuclear Races, I’ll be along to collect that fiver shortly!! ;D).

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The Nuclear Race’s finish line.

Anyway, I digress. So Mr Lighty and co. have this past weekend ran 6kms, swung from ropes, taken on the death slide, crawled through tunnels, scaled walls, and, as Mr Lighty put it “waded through quicksand”. But as I prepared to take Baby Lighty along to watch his Daddy cover himself in mud, a thought did flit through my mind: who needs an endurance race when you’ve got motherhood?!

Mr Lighty covered in mud!

Just the logistics of spectating took some planning: should I take the sling or the buggy?! I need to pack a sun hat in case it’s sunny, a warmer hat in case it’s cold, bottles of milk, a cup for water, a packed lunch…the Bundlebean, a picnic blanket, toys…

Then when I got there, I had to take on my very own obstacle course: navigating the buggy across long grass (before Mr Lighty had even started the race he had to lift one end of the buggy across the grass with Mrs Lighty carrying the other end and Baby Lighty thinking it was all a great adventure), then jumping up and down to pick up toys being thrown out of the buggy, manoeuvring the buggy this way and that to keep it out of the sun and the wind (this is a British Summer, after all), making up a bottle one handedly whilst trying not to drop the teat on the muddy field floor…

Then there’s one of the main events: the “try to stop Baby Lighty from grumbling by transferring him from the buggy into the sling” event. This involves balancing your bag, coat and blankets on the buggy (a very challenging weight-distribution-to-buggy-tipping-over ratio involved) whilst putting the sling on, placing baby in it, then wearing the baby for the next hour.

And let’s not forget that us parents have our fair share of obstacles to overcome every day. Most days we’ll take part in events ranging from ‘sleep deprived working mother’ and ‘stop the toddler from climbing on the TV unit’ through to ‘the mummy Olympics competitive parenting’ and ‘catching food that has been thrown from the highchair’. Oh and we’re not covered in mud while we’re doing this, we’re often covered in sh.. poop.

Yes Mr Lighty et al did fantastically well to finish the course, covered in mud and determination, having a great time to boot, but as Mrs Lighty walked back to the car supporting the head of a sleeping Baby Lighty in the sling with one hand, pushing the buggy that now contained just blankets, a lunchbox and the change bag across gravel and up a steep hill with the other hand, one of the race marshals commented: “Now THAT takes skill!!”

Who needs an endurance race when you’re a mum?!

“Now THAT takes skill!!”

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Proud to be linking up with:

Rhyming with Wine
3 Little Buttons
Mummuddlingthrough
The Pramshed

0 thoughts on “Motherhood: Who Needs an Endurance Race?!”

  1. Well done Mr Lighty, that’s amazing!! Haha the picture covered in mud is funny but a proud one! 🙂
    Oh and it DOES take skill! It isn’t easy holding (or supporting) a baby, pushing the pram UP a hill! xx

    1. I glanced quickly at your comment then & thought it was going to say “why don’t they design buggies that can do the obstacle course?!”. Noooooo I don’t need an excuse to do the race thank you!! ? #fartglitter

  2. Absolutely! Anyone that has ever managed to manoeuvre a buggy around a bust supermarket whilst carrying a basket of shopping and entertaining a toddler deserves a medal in my opinion! Brilliant xx

  3. Yes yes and yes! The buggy style olympics made me laugh it can be such a challenge to do anything. My personal favourite is when I try to open a door and get a buggy through the door all by myself whilst also making sure buggy doesn’t shut on baby. Loved this post!

    1. Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that event! I particularly like that one when you’re going into a restaurant, the wait staff can see you struggling but would rather spectate that take part and help?! Thanks for your kind words and for reading my post 🙂

  4. Ha ha BRILLIANT! I signed up for one of these when Tigs was about one, and had to pull out due to an unexpected pregnancy! My friend who soldiered on without me broke her ankle in four places, had to have pins in her foot and 3 months off work …Now THAT is enough to make me think twice to signing up again!
    Great post hun – thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub

    1. Oh blimey, your poor friend!! I’ve since heard horror stories about injuries on this race so I’m very glad I didn’t do it!! Thanks for hosting #coolmumclub 🙂

  5. It sounds like you both had to use a whole manner of skills for the day. I wouldnt take part in that race either, I hate mud and I hate running/races even more. #fortheloveofblog

  6. YES! I completely agree *nods frantically shouting see see to Mr Button. We do this everyday, yes we do. And unlike an endurance race, it doesn’t getting easier the more practiced you become, because the goal posts are always moving. Fab post! Thank you so much for linking up to the #DreamTeam

    1. Oh those blimmin’ moving goal posts! Whoever thought up that as an obstacle was having a good laugh at mothers everywhere!! Thanks for hosting #dreamteam 🙂

  7. I completely agree with you! I often find myself comparing what I’m doing to my husband, almost like it’s a competition whereby I feel like I’ve had the more challenging day having to juggle a million things just to get from A to B! Well done you for taking the buggy across the long grass, and baby switching between carrier and buggy – that can’t have been easy if you were watching at different points on the course. I’m intrigued by what a Bundlebean is, I’m off to Google that. Also well done to the husband for completing the Nuclear Races! Thanks so much for linking up again this week at #fortheloveofBLOG. Claire x

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