Sunday 20th October, 20 brave souls challenged the cold pouring rain to complete the Warrior Rookie race. The word “rookie” by no means indicates how easy it was, but rather indicates the unknown that could not be prepared for. Dr Travis, the only experienced Warrior Rookie, lead his Aspire Happyness team through 7.5km off-road running; 15 military-type obstacles and worst of all, the treacherous weather –cold, soaked, slippery and choked full of mud!

Our team comprising of some old goats, a cackle of rampant teenagers, a handful of wannabes and has-beens, two sensational 10-year olds and 1 tenacious light-weight whose small shirt looked like a dress! Dr Travis and his team, comprised largely of his patients, maintained motivation over their race time of 2hrs 45minutes through chanting, war-cries, sports-pats, crucial chats, wise words and even dragged each other over the next obstacle.

It is true that Dr Travis convinced certain individuals to join in when their concerns were more than justified...however the barrage of emails and comments after the race gave testimony to the fact that such a day brought out the ‘warrior within’ that many had forgotten they had. This was not simply a dirty race run,this was rather a great personal victory -a life-changing event that brought complete strangers together and made sure that no warrior was left behind!