Unwonted owner does Deadly Dozen!

After seeing a few awesome customers battle through the Deadly Dozen race, Unwonted Apparel owner Kit, decided to give it a crack! 

 

Let's just say it was a killer!  Though insanely fun and very much recommend to anyone looking to try some 'hybrid' style races/workouts.

 

So what is the 'Deadly Dozen'? 

 

It basically consists of 12 x 400m runs (these are called Journeys) and in between each run there are 12 exercises (These are called Labours) so as you can imagine, if you are good at running, this is a massive advantage but also you do require some skill and muscle endurance work as the Labours are all high repetitions!

This does allow it to be accessible to almost all gym goers as there aren't any 1 rep max or crazy heavy exercises.  But don't let that fool you!!! I was literally dying on some of these labours!  What a love about Deadly Dozen, after the race on the website, there is a nifty print out of your time between each station and you'll see the journeys and labours split times, also what percentile you are on each, so this is really helpful stats to allow you to train better and improve!  Well done Deadly Dozen for this touch! 👌

 

 

So once I rocked up in the car park, I dropped my bag off at the bag drop off and got my ticket and my ankle timer.  I arrived 45-50 mins earlier as recommended, giving plenty of time for any last minute checks, nervous wee's, quick down of a caffeinated drink and tons of time for warm ups and quick chats for other people in my wave.

 

That was one thing what I loved about Deadly Dozen, everyone was super friendly, very chilled atmosphere, very well organised.  I didn't feel at any point it was too stressful or too much, this is great for any first timers to the Deadly Dozen race or even any race at all!

 

Waves were in groups of about 6-8 people every 6 minutes, so its a quick chat about the rules and then off you go! 

 

 

How hard/easy was it?

I train Crossfit so I'm generally pretty well rounded, I would say 🙈 but the runs were a killer!  I felt each Journey getting slower and slower, my legs were getting heavier and heavier, it really was painful, internally! 😂

 

You get judges during the Labours, this is to make sure "standards" are met.  Such as are you squatting deep enough? Are you crossing the line during the farmers carries? etc etc.  The standards were very good, at some points I had 3 judges watching me like a hawk!  This is really good in my opinion, as I'm a sucker for making sure movements & exercises are done properly (My ten years+ of being a PT is still shining though!) 

 

If a rep is done incorrectly, you can get penalised either by a time penalty or a rep penalty (So you will have to repeat the rep again correctly) 

 

Overall it is a hard event, it definitely fairs better for those who are strong runners or at least good those who are good at pacing, even when tired.  As this whole event isn't a sprint, the high reps during the labours will get your arms and legs screaming in lactate acid!  So there's strategy as well. 

 

 

How long did it take you to finish?

 

I had the pleasure of having the world record holder Dave Parkin on my wave, I saw him for the first 400m run and a bit of the farmers carry....after that he blasted ahead and I'd never see a glimpse of him again 😅 Just for perspective, he completes this in about 36-38 mins and I completed in 68 mins, my mind is truly blown! 

 

 

Is it a solo race or can I run it with a friend?

If you feel like doing this solo is a bit too much, you can even do this in pairs!  Same sex or mixed.  I believe you both have to run the Journey together side by side and you will share the Labour reps, I don't think you need to do the reps equally, so if someone preferred an exercise or your partner needed more of a rest, you could do more of the exercise.  But I'm not 100% sure on this, so be sure to check the website for the exact rules.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier there's loads of stats on the website for you to dive into about your race, I love this particular graph.  The taller the bar the more time you spent doing it, so my burpee broad jumps and my bear crawls were the ones which were painful for me 😅 but my front carry is green, meaning it's in the top scoring for that particular Labour! 💪 I'll take it! 

Would I try this again?

 

Aboslutely!  I'm determined to try complete it sub 60 mins next time, with the nifty website stats, I know exactly what I need to work on to get that time down.   They also do other events such as the Deadly Mile, that is another race I'd love to try out!  Be sure to check their website below for more info and also check out what the Deadly Mile consists of!  I ran past 2-3 ladies who were doing it at the time and it looked HORRIBLE!!!!!  So I made sure to give them as much encouragement as possible, whilst trying to also breathe myself!

 

💀 https://www.deadlydozen.com/💀

 

If you've done a Deadly Dozen, drop us a comment below and let us know how you got on? What was your favourite and worse Labour?