Race Report: Rasselbock Butterfly Effect Feb 2026

🦋 The Butterfly Effect – Birdwing Race Report

Four of us myself, Emma, Sarah and Zoe, ventured out for The Butterfly Effect – Birdwing by Rasselbock, setting off on what started as a wet and drizzly morning… and very quickly escalated into full-blown torrential downpours.

The rain caused flooding around sections of the course and turned the woodland trails into what can only be described as a full-on muddy slip and slide. Despite best efforts to stay upright, gravity eventually won for one of us and no, it wasn’t me! Poor Sarah decided to inspect the mud a little more closely than planned. Thankfully there were no injuries; she bounced straight back up and carried on like the absolute superwoman she is.

Between the four of us, we turned up looking like we were heading off-grid for a long weekend. Enough food, medication, spare clothes, and kit to survive several days in the wild we even brought a tent and a flag! These stayed firmly packed away though, mainly because the field was completely waterlogged and the bag drop room was absolutely brilliant.

A huge shout out goes to David, our fantastic support crew for the day, although he did briefly disappear for a cheeky Weatherspoons breakfast (can you blame him?).

We didn’t necessarily run together throughout the day, but some of us crossed paths. Each of us had our own personal goals and targets in mind. Some of us hit them; some of us may have slightly overdone them (no names mentioned… Emma), and some of us weren’t quite where we wanted to be fitness-wise, but overall, it was excellent training for what’s ahead.

• Emma is building towards the Manchester Marathon in April
• Myself, Sarah and Zoe are all training for the Glasgow to Edinburgh Ultra in October

Despite the weather doing its absolute worst, we genuinely had a really lovely day. Great trails, great organisation, great company and the kind of conditions that make for unforgettable memories (and very muddy kit).​

So far, myself, Emma and Zoe have already booked onto the August edition of the event. Sadly, it clashes with Sarah’s son’s birthday, so she may not be able to join us, but if anyone else fancies coming along, we can’t recommend it enough. It’s a fantastic event by Rasselbock, a genuinely great day out and hopefully next time it’ll be a lot warmer with significantly less mud!
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Coach Sam