WODland Endurorun. We Didn't Train. Willow cruised around.

When you sign up for an event with the word “Enduro” in the name and then do absolutely no training, you are setting yourself up for a very specific kind of day out. That was the vibe for the three of us — me, Fran, and Pete — at the WODland Endurorun at Holme Styes Wood, Holmfirth.

The Event

The Endurorun is a looped trail event based out of Holme Styes Wood — a cracking bit of woodland just outside Holmfirth, about as local as it gets for us. The course is a 5k loop of forest trails, gravel tracks, and the kind of mud that makes you question your footwear choices.

We entered the team format: up to three runners, taking it in turns to rack up as many laps as possible across six hours. We’d set ourselves a modest target of three laps each — 15k apiece, 45k between us. For three people who hadn’t done a single training run, this felt like an appropriately humbling ambition.

Three Laps Each

The 5k loop is genuinely good. Varied terrain, enough climbing to make you feel it, and the woods are beautiful in the morning sun. I went off hard on lap one — probably too hard — and each subsequent lap was a fairly honest reflection of that decision. Lap three was a character-building experience that I won’t dramatise further.

Lap one energy. Willow energy. Very different things.

Pete handled himself well throughout. Fran was annoyingly consistent. I was significantly carried by Willow.

Willow’s Performance

Statistically, Willow ran more than any of us. She joined me for two laps and Fran for two more — four laps total, each one looking as effortless as the last. She navigated the mud sections better than any of us, showed zero signs of fatigue, and received more compliments from other runners than the rest of the team put together.

Through the trees on one of the forest sections — Willow pulling, me pretending that’s not happening.

The Verdict

WODland put on a brilliant event. Well organised, good atmosphere, the woodland setting is hard to beat, and the format works really well for a group of people with wildly varying fitness levels and commitment to preparation. If you’re looking for something in the Yorkshire area that isn’t a road race and doesn’t take itself too seriously, this is well worth a look.

We finished. We got our medals. Willow got several well-deserved treats.

We’ll definitely do it again next year. We might even train.

Probably not though.