As the heavens opened for another downpour, I made my dash for the main gates of Pinjarra Park race club.
My flimsy and utterly inadequate umbrella made little difference to the amount of rain that managed to blow under it.
I was joining my colleague, Samantha Ferguson, to shoot the Mandurah Mail's 100 best dressed race-goers for our fashions-on-the-field competition.
I found Sam huddling under one of the COVID check-in marquees; a mixture of dejection and hope on her face as she spotted my arrival.
I could only imagine she'd been thinking she might be taking the photos alone.
Not so. We were in this together.
I felt we were up to the task and were as prepared as we'd ever be.
But as we turned towards the entrance to get cracking Sam pointed towards her shoes.
"I didn't think this through," she said, as she showed me her Birkenstock-clad feet.
Not ideal we decided.
Not much protection against the rain which had hit thanks to dueling cyclones.
But the show must go on.
Inside the main gates we saw organisers had erected numerous marquees across the lawns to protect patrons, but initially we headed to the main undercover area to try and dry off and make a game plan.
The first lady we spotted was magnificent in mauve.
She was happy to have her photo taken and our spirits rose.
"We've got this," we said.
Only 99 to go in conditions that were better for ducks than looking glamorous on the field (quite a few thought they weren't looking their best - unsurprisingly).
Water and fashion aren't great bedmates.
Neither are water and cameras, either, we found.
More rain-drenched than myself, Sam had to ask to borrow a dry patch of my cardigan to wipe the camera lens.
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We scanned the crowd through foggy, rain speckled spectacles for likely candidates, which were getting thin on the ground outside.
At one point we spotted a fascinator in the distance and started to make a dash for the wearer.
We had halved the distance between ourselves and our target when there came a sickening, squelching sound.
We looked down to see, what had appeared on the surface to be solid, grass-covered ground, was actually a cunningly concealed mire into which we were sinking.
With a look of horror we turned to each other.
Sam's Birkenstock-clad feet were almost ankle-deep and sinking fast. But there was no turning back.
The mire wasn't going to win, we weren't signing off that way.
Sodden, but unbowed, we squelched our way out of the wet to the relative safety of the bar pavilion.
Alas, Sam's sandals seemed to have been a casualty of our war with the weather.
They looked worse for wear.
It really did turn out to be a day of sartorial extremes.
There were those who were still wearing their silk, sequins, heels and towering fascinators - come rain, hail or shine these fashionistas would not be deterred from turning on the glamour.
Then there were those who decided to roll with the punches and pulled on glittery gumboots.
One lovely couple's attire made them look like English landed gentry, all Houndstooth, sweater vests and gumboots.
And of course, who could forget the group of likely lads who looked like they'd stepped off the set of Peaky Blinders?
Tweed, peaked caps and canes were the order of the day.
Our lucky 100th turned out to be my husband's bosses' wife, pretty in pastel pink galoshes.
By the end we were bedraggled and mud-streaked, but triumphant with 100 photos of gorgeous folk who had braved horrendous weather to support the 2021 Pinjarra Cup.
A high-five was in order, as was a hot shower and fluffy socks to warm us up once we got home.
One tip for next year, though.
If the sun's not shining it's Wellies, not Birkenstocks.
- Make sure you check out our online gallery and vote for your favourite Fashion on the Field participant at mandurahmail.com.au.