RACE DAY

The race starts at 12 so we got to E24 on the Saturday at about 11 and the camp was a buzz, the sky was also a buzz, literally, storms were brewing and when inside the tent running through final plans with tom the sky opened, the thunder bellowed, this is not a problem I said to myself, I have all the kit I need.

So we leave the tent at 11.55am and I head to the back of the field, no point getting in the hustle and bustle of the team runners. The rain stops and…

I stand with my fellow solos at the back, I look around, my mind does that thing it does, my mind tells me all these guys are fitter than me, more experienced than me, I’m crazy to think I can do this, but then a calm came over me, It then said to me, but this is why you’re here, you want to feel this anxiety, this uncomfortable feeling, you knew this would happen, of course you can do it, you just have to run, and keep running. I’m not nervous now, I give tom a smile as I start to enjoy the feeling, its all about laps, I’m now calm, this is it, it’s now, all the prep is done, what will be will be, so enjoy it.

The race starts and the team runners shoot off into the distance, we run through the crowd to fantastic support that didn’t change for the whole race. 

I spent the 1st lap checking out the course, carefully looking at the tracks, imagining what they will be like later in the day and night, trying to make note of the danger zones for future reference. I did struggle to go so slow, probably 10 -11 min mile pace because of the congestion. I darted past a few then said to myself, come on, this isn’t park run, easy, easy.

After only a few minutes in, the heavens opened, I mean really opened, I am looking at the course thinking 2000 runners are going to change this, so lets just see what happens.

At about 4.5 miles of the 1st lap I got lapped for the 1st time by the leaders, wow they are motoring. 

As I approach the start finish line I run to tom my crew man for the 1st time at the end of my 1st lap, the routine is he preps some high 5, I give him that bottle to fill, he gives me a lucozade I fill the other bottle, I grab the food and go,  my 1st lap was in 1.01. 

By the 2nd lap the course is already changing, gone is any sight of grass, its all just mud now, by the 3rd lap I can’t describe it as mud, it’s mush now almost everywhere, some of the course literally under water. I try wherever possible to avoid submerging my feet in puddles, I know I must take care of my feet at all costs,  

At one point the track runs beside a lake, the track is under water so I try to hop round the side of the lake, next thing I know a group come charging down the hill and straight through the water, trying to avoid their splash and keep dry I step back &  start to lose my balance and almost fall into the latke!  I didn’t and jogged on chuckling to myself that it was silly to take the risk !

The rain had stopped by the 3rd lap, and I come in for my 1st 3 lap break, I had told tom at the end of lap 2 I would like a pasta pot and he has this already prepared for me, I sit down, shoes off, socks off, my feet are white and wrinkly as if I have been in a bath for 3 hours, my exact words to Tom were, they would look good in the walking dead tv show !  I towel dry them, my trainers are wet through, we stuff newspaper in my trainers and pat them down in a futile effort to dry them out.  I take 20 mins or so, I want to see my feet return to normal because I can see patches that look like they will rub off if I don’t. Clean dry socks on and back out for another 3.  1st 3 laps including my pasta break time was 3hrs 33 mins. 

The course by now has taken a complete mashing by all the runners, like chocolate mouse in some places, wet sticky clay in others. I have given up trying to keep my feet dry and accept that it’s the way it is, just avoid what I can, but in reality my clean socks stay dry for about half a lap. 

Sticking to my re-fueling plan at the end of each lap, another 3 laps pass by. During my 6th lap I acknowledge I have just done a marathon and have a little nod to myself.

I came in at 7pm at the end of lap 6, I had said to Kristy I would call and say night night to the girls, fortunately they are just brushing their teeth, we chat I get a “love you” out of everyone, even Lucy who’s 1, this makes me happy. 

I stopped for about 45 minutes in total, sorting my feet, while eating pasta I chatted with Tom about my plan, we decided I would aim to do 12 laps by 2.30am, that’s 7 hours away, and then I will stop and sleep until sunrise, about 4.30am and then start running again. (in retrospect clearly my brain wasn’t working properly because running 6 laps in 7 hours, in the dark was never going to happen, even in decent conditions), 

At this point I started to feel a bit tired, so I decided it was time to try a secret weapon, chocolate covered coffee beans. I had read about these in ultra’s and they are meant to be rocket fuel. I recall one blog saying do not eat more than 3, it’s dangerous ! 

I had one, umm, nice, another please Tom, umm, one more please Tom, yummy ! that will do, I put on my 2nd pair of trainers, my new trail saucony shoes which I have had for about a month and so off I set for lap 7 

As I passed the start finish line a marshall shouted to me, head torch, I said what ? she said, head torch, do you promise you will have it on by half 8, yes I promise I shouted as I ran past, (I didn’t have it, its still in the tent,)  I’m sure it will be fine I thought to myself. The sun was out, it was near dusk, but still light, I thought no problem, it will be light until gone 9, 

WRONG !, the minute I get into the woods, it dark, it is hard to see easily where to step, crap, 

I then looked at my watch and realized the time is 7.50, that’s a 40 minute lap, to get back my half 8, double crap, so I semi-motored this lap, partly fuelled by chocolate covered coffee beans, partly worried about the increasing darkness and injury but more because for some reason I became increasing convinced I would get DQ’d for not having my head torch on by 8.30.  

Half way around this lap it starts to rain again, so I put on my jacket again, but I can see blue sky, it’s just a passing shower I think. I ran lap 7 in under 57 minutes, my fastest lap of the race.  As I approached the tent, there was no sign of tom, Tom I shouted, he emerges from the tent, WTF are you doing back to soon he said, head torch head torch I shouted (politely I think) we do our normal lap routine, I put on the head torch and am off again, note to self, dig a big hole and bury the coffee beans, they are work of the devil, no good can come out of having those in the house !!

Starting lap 8 at about 8.50pm, my feet start to hurt for the 1st time. The rain is getting heavier; what I thought was a passing shower is actually becoming a pretty biblical down poor, and it’s relentless. The blue sky has long gone, it’s all dark grey. As I get into the woods, the trail that was drying out and forming has gone, it’s a complete wash of mush again. Crap, I literally say to myself , the course is now worse than it was earlier today, the mush that was here and had dried is back, and there’s more mush now, god knows how but there is. Plus it’s dark and I really need to be careful where I step, 

I turn on my head torch and I am immediately down beaten and seriously gutted when I see the light beam was projecting such a small area of light on the trail in front of me, I can see the ground but I can’t see ahead. In all our hedgie night runs I hadn’t realized how small the light circle was, I really had to slow down, literally bend over to be able to see the ground. I said to myself it’s because its not actually fully dark yet, it will be okay. It wasn’t ok at all. 

Half way round I took the head torch off my head and held it like a normal torch, shining it at the ground and slightly ahead so I could see what was coming, I was getting slower and slower, grumpier and grumpier, I am thinking I can’t carry on with this all night, I remembered I had a hand torch in the tent and will grab that when I pass next, I trudge round in the mud and rain getting even more grumpy as the lap slowly passes by. I grumble to myself bout my crappy head torch, and about the crappy course conditions. I called this my grumpy lap and even said that to the marshals as I passed.

I see tom at the tent as I approach the finish of lap 8. He has bottles ready but no food, tom food please, he grabs me a brioche and I am off again, I get into the woods again, crap !!! I forgot to ask for the hand torch !!! It is now fully dark, my head torch is still as useless as it was,  people catch and overtake me, I can sense them coming because of their glorious torches, their light is such a lifesaver, I try to keep up with them but they are all team runners and too fast for me. About 2 miles in I catch up a chap, turns out he was a pair, he had come from wales, and was aiming for 100m as the pair, he had a good torch, I explained my predicament and we ran together for a mile or so until he needed to stop at a marshal station to sort his shoes out, I ran on in the dark with my lack of light. 

It was gone 11pm now and it’s still raining, it has chucked it down for 2 hours, the course is at it’s worst, and at it’s darkest. I can’t see anything, my feet hurt now, each lap is taking longer and longer, my feet are going to stay wet for longer if I stay out, I give it some thought while finishing the lap and decide I am going to call it a night. I just can’t carry on safely, I may trip and get injured, I may really have a foot problem being wet for so long. It’s just one race, I am going on holiday next week, I don’t want to be in a cast, so I decide to pull in at 11.30 after completing 9 laps. I explain to tom my decision and he tries to convince me to carry on.

I can see him recalling our conversation the previous week when I said to tom, if I want to quit or sleep or take a break, don’t let me, I don’t want to, I will only be saying that because I am tired, I had to let him finish talking then I explained why I was making this decision, it’s a completely different ball game out there,  I’m not tired, I want to carry on, but I can’t, it’s not safe to do so, so let me get showered, changed have a cup of tea, a few hours sleep and I will get a massage and be back out at sunrise. Tom eventually gives in when he understands the game has changed. 

We then crunched some numbers based on my lap times and fatigue and agreed realistically I am looking at 13 or 14, although I didn’t want to do 13 because its an unlucky number.  

Tom was shattered and asked if I minded if he slept, of course not mate go for it, I set my alarm on my phone for half 3, 10 minutes later I changed it to go off at 3am. 

I was wired, & couldn’t sleep, I laid there and decided if I am running by 5, I will set some targets, my D target is 12 laps, my C target is 14, B target is 15 and my A target is 16 plus.

Still couldn’t sleep, I could hear the runners going past still and the team runners calling out each others names for their hand overs, I wanted to be out, this is a 24hr race and I am in the tent trying to sleep, I felt like a fraud, I haven’t run a 24hr race now have I was the thought in my head, I then reminded myself I couldn’t be out there, it was pointless even trying, so now it’s time for a new plan… 

I got about an hour and a half sleep.

I had a massage and was back out on the course just before 5 with my 2nd pair of trainers which are still wet, it was dry, a little cold but dry, as I progressed round the course it looked better than when I stopped last night, it’s not dry but it’s certainly not as wet as it was. 

My 1st goal for the day was my 1st 3 lap block, that would take me to 12 laps, my D target. There seemed fewer runners on course, I felt the night had taken its toll, there were definitely less solo runners out there and those that were still going were like zombies, they were walking along, tentatively, hunched over, I felt fresh after my massage and was still jogging at about 12 min mile pace and walking all the hills, I felt good and had a few compliments as people realized I was a solo and still running, “looking good solo” “Strong running solo” was another, I knew I was only still running still because of my 5 hours off the course, but it’s still a race until 12pm, so I’m still in it I said to myself.

I reached Tom as I approached the finish line of my 12th lap, I said I’m not stopping, I’ll just get changed and run on but my feet really hurt, I have felt rubbing on my little toes, on the ends of my other toes, on the inside of my foot and my heel too. I come to the conclusion my new sauconys haven’t been worn in enough and have taken their toll on my feet. Tom can I have the duct tape please and my sketchers. I sat down, duct taped over the hot spots, wrapped both little toes and heel, slid on the most comfy trainers I have ever worn and I was off, boy was I comfy !! for a while. 

I thought if I motor on, I can do another 2 and finish at 14 laps at about 11-11.30, I said to tom please call Kristy and tell her so she is here when I finish, and I’ll have a pasta pot on the next lap.

As I went round lap 13 I was thinking about my targets, and the time I had left, in reality, I did have time to do 15 laps, as I would finish lap 14 at around half 11, but did I have the energy to run that extra lap, I went to and fro on the decision and came to the conclusion what am I going to do if I do finish before 12? I’m just going to sit around, so why not just keep going, I’ve got nothing else to do,  how cool will it be to hit 15 laps, which is 75 miles, seventy five, that’s bloody crazy !  It’s on. 

I chatted to a chap who was still jogging but slower than me, I said I was a hedgie and he said there are loads of you lot aren’t there, I was glad to hear we were making ourselves known !

I finish lap 13 and said to tom I’m doing it, I’m going for 15, he gave me a massive smile, and said fantastic, I knew you would do it T.  I took the pasta pot and jogged on.

As I passed the start finish line I heard a familiar voice, it was Cliff, he had his medal round his neck and was beaming with delight, he said mind if I run with you a bit, I said sure no problem as I munched the pasta pot,  I showed Cliff my watch, it said 65 miles, I said look, how crazy is that  laughing. Cliff asked is this my last one, and I replied no not yet, two more feeling confident now. 

We walked the 1st hill as I ate pasta and chatted then Cliff said the strangest thing, and I had to pause to think about my reply, he said, are you coming training Tuesday then? ….. my brain repeats his question several times, did he just say that ? seriously ? I eventually replied, “sure, but only if it’s intervals round the track” with a grin on my face, Cliff then replied no I am serious, we want to get as many endure people there as possible, oh ok then I said, as long as I can walk. 

Cliff eventually turned back not fancying a lap that had no purpose and I jogged on to finish lap 14, I had to walk more of this lap as I was beginning to feel it in my legs, this was the 1st time I actually started to struggle, I was pretty chuffed with that, even if I walk the last lap I’m going to do 15 laps. 

As I neared the end of the lap I started looking forward to seeing Kristy and the girls. As I began my last lap, I welled up a bit but then said come on, don’t be silly, it’s just a run.  As I approached my tent I saw tom, but no Kristy, not Amy or Lucy, I wasn’t disappointed surprisingly, I think this was someone somewhere just making sure I did that 15th lap. I reached tom, said can I have my hedge end race vest please as I wanted to finish the race with everyone knowing I was a hedgie. 

I jogged on very gingerly over the start finish line for the penultimate time, I then stopped jogging and started to walk, my ankles are hurting they feel like they are locking up, so I walk the camp site bit of the course. 

 I am walking up the 1st hill and I hear a familiar voice, Tiernan the voice shouts from behind, its Kev (Martin) he caught me up and said mind if I run with you, sure I replied, but maybe not much running going on. Kev said no problem, this is our last lap, I am happy to run with you if you don’t mind, thought you might like the company, definitely I said. I tried to jog but couldn’t, my ankles hurt too much, I told kev and he said no problem with me mate. 

We walked the whole lap, chatted about the event, he told me all about how the team relay thing had gone for each team, how the night running had been tough, it was great to hear all the other hedgies had had such a fantastic time, I was amazed by some of the lap times they put in considering the terrain. 

I told kev how I wanted to carry Lucy over the finish line and hold Amy’s hand and as we reached the last mile, kev said I’m going to run on, make sure your family are there for you mate.  Off he went, as I trudged on. I tried to jog but couldn’t, I thought it doesn’t matter, I’ve done it, I’ve done 75 miles, bloody heck !!

I walked the course through the camp site, saying thanks to everyone who was clapping, the same people who have been clapping me and all the solo runners for the last 24 hours. I then come into sight of camp hedgie and spot Alex. He’s in the middle of the course holding out the hedgie flag, I reached him and he said you are amazing mate, well done and draped the club flag over me. I rounded the final corner to a wall of hedgies clapping cheering, I struggle to look at them all as I feel myself going. I’m welling up. I then spot Kristy and the girls, I walk over, shake toms hand, grab Lucy and Amy and we very gingerly hobble to the finish line. I then spotted a hedgie tunnel formed for me to run through, what a great touch you guys, but if only you are all a little taller I think, as I have to duck down being 6ft 2 while carrying one daughter and holding the other one’s hand, and clinging onto the club flag, (who said men can’t multi task !!) I crossed the line, all pain has gone, I’m done.

Endure 24 Race Report 28 & 29th June 2014

I am tired, I have slept only 1 and a half hours in the last 28hrs. My feet are swollen, I don’t want my little toes any more, they hurt so much, my ankles are stiff and my shoulders are weak, but I can pick up Lucy my 1 year old daughter, I can take Amy my 3 year old wearing proudly her hedgie hoodie by the hand and we hobble the final 100 metres together through a hedgie tunnel to finish 75 miles with tears in my eyes. But we will get to that…

Journey to the Start line

My story of endure 24 goes back some way. 18th December 2011. My 1st crack at a marathon. The Portsmouth Coastal Marathon.

I trained well for 3 months following a target sub 4hr plan only at mile 18 cramp set in and I was run / walking thereafter. I finished,  took a medal, Yay my 1st marathon was what I should have been saying but I wasn’t happy, I wanted to run a marathon and to have to walk from 18 miles, well,  to me, it just didn’t count.

Fast forward 2 years, 22nd December 2013 and I am back at the same race for my 2nd crack at a marathon, this time I have no time target, no pace target, all I want to do is run the whole 26.2 miles.   I have joined a running club and started training with a great bunch of people, I have run 5 half marathons plus the Great South Run setting pb after pb in the 12 weeks prior to this race.

I ran the race steady and when I passed mile 18, I had a huge smile of my face, knowing it’s a good day to run and I finish the race feeling fantastic, I did it, I ran a marathon, I mean I really ran a marathon !

3 days later, its Christmas Day, I’m still on a high feeling proud and for the past 3 days I have browsed a certain event website many times, Endure24. A 24 hour race round a 5 mile loop. How far can I go in 24 hours I constantly ask myself? 50 miles? 100 miles ?  humm good question. Well I know I can do 26.2 miles that’s for sure, and seeing as it’s a 24 hour race and not a specific distance race, as long as I do 1 lap I am a finisher.  What the heck, I know I will do more than a marathon that’s for sure, and its Christmas day after all, so I sign up and break the news to my wife Kristy as we are toasting champagne over Christmas dinner. I whisper its just a run, my exact words, its not an ironman I say, it will be fine, cheers ! 

January came round and fortunately a fair few Hedgie guys & gals were training for marathons so this is perfect for me to join in with their Sunday long runs. Unfortunately my 1st ever Sunday run didn’t go to plan as I found out the hard way those hedgies stick to a strict timetable, 8am long run from the station, I arrived at 8.03 and they’ve already gone, lesson learnt, and I’ve not been late since !!

So my 1st actual long run session was a Hampshire XC Race day and the plan was to run 10 miles starting and finishing at Manor Farm country park and then running the 5 mile XC race. In the drizzling rain I ran for the 1st time with Matt Gardner, Martin Gale, Jo Labra, Michele Jacobs, Karen Rice, Kevin Rowe, Richard Townsend (sorry if I have missed anyone else), we finished the 10 then raced the XC race finishing all very cold wet but happy ! (oh what a familiar theme).

These guys became my Sunday buddies and over the months the group grew to include many other hedgies, to name a just few, Ben & Anna, Kate Maslin, Robson & Keith Sheppard.

Sundays, rain or shine we would run on Sundays, the distances grew gradually and we were eventually hitting 20 miles plus. Perfect E24 training.

In January I ran a total of 58 miles,

I wanted to add in a few races as training runs and added the Heartbreaker Marathon on 23/2/14, I wanted to break 26.2 so I ran 4 miles before the start to make it a 30 mile day, my longest run ever. Main goal, no cramp and walk all the hills. Mission completed. 5hrs 11mins.

In February I ran a total of 108 miles. Then my biggest run month ever.

In march I started doing long back to back runs, running long Saturdays with Martin and again long on Sundays with other hedgies from the station. I ran 159 miles in total in march and I was feeling great.  

On the final weekend of march I ran 47 miles over the fri/sat/sun and feeling invincible I went along to the normal hedgie Tuesday intervals session, I was taking it easy, maybe 70% effort and I felt my calf tighten up so I stopped. No problem, it didn’t go, it just got tight.

Over the next few days I took it easy, I didn’t run for a week,

I had already signed up for the Compton Downland 40mile ultra. a seriously hilly race with over 4000ft of ups to take place on 19/4/14.

Compton was fast approaching so I started testing the calf out, it wasn’t better, it still felt stiff, tight and with twinges of pain.  But I could run, if I took it easy, with shorter strides than normal I can still run.

Compton came round and tick, I ran it all, no cramp (some twinges of cramp) no major calf issues, I walked all the hills, finish time 7hrs 50mins. I was super happy, I just ran 40 miles, I just ran for 8 hours, yahoooo I am super happy !!

The weekend after Compton and Martin and I set off for a 20 miler, only I was empty, my calf hurt, I had nothing, everything hurt, even my elbows !!??!! I had to quit and abandoned him at 18.5miles very disappointed. I really hadn’t factored in how much running was taking out of me.

I took 2 weeks off running, completely, it helped that I had two other small events to take care off before E24, 1 was a 26 mile charity row, from the needles to hayling island, and the other was Blenheim Triathlon weekend warrior (you know that story!)

In all of April I ran 97miles. Not bad considering the injuries,

As May arrived, while taking time off running, I hit the rower, I hit the lake, I hit the bike. I tried intermittently to run but it all still hurt, calf, Achilles and knee, then my ITB started to hurt too.  So I carried on swimming and cycling and entered the painful world of the foam roller. That thing bloomin hurts!

In all of May I ran 71 miles. My mileage was going down, I was running less frequently and starting to get concerned that I was losing my Compton 40 mile legs which I really needed for E24.

June arrived, I had Blenheim Triathlon Weekend Warrior to get through, which was going to be a real test of my injuries as I had to run 7 x 3.5mile runs over 2 days and by this point my ITB hurt to just walk, let alone run 25 miles.

Blenheim hurt, but for reasons related to my lack of bike fitness, but on a positive note, my ITB held up, & my knee didn’t hurt, I had calf twinges and cramp but not bad enough to make me stop.  At the end of the weekend I looked back and thought to myself, that was brilliant E24 training, doing those7 x  3.5 mile runs I survived, I’m not any more injured, I’m not going to get any fitter for E24 now but at least I know I am fit to start. 

The Saturday after Blenheim, Martin and I went out to do 13miles in the new forest.  This was meant to be a confidence run, I hadn’t run more than 7 miles since 22nd may, almost a month ago, so the plan was slow and steady, just tick it off as I’m good to go. It was a terrible run, I had knee pain constantly for the whole run, we had to stop and walk every couple of miles, I was pretty downbeat. 2 weeks before a 24hr race and I can’t run 13 miles.

I took a whole 5 straight days off again, really doing as little on my feet as possible, I ventured to the Thursday club night, I was a few mins late and the announcements of the plan for the evening were over, I asked what the groups were, it was a Bernie easy run at 8 min pace, or a Cliff slow run at 10min pace, now Bernie I’m not sure if your garmin is broken but your 8min pace on my watch is much more like a 7min pace, (we love you for it thou!!)  knowing this I went with Cliff, but Cliff almost threw me out of his group, ‘don’t come with us, go with them’ he said. … I pleaded I need to run slow, e24 in 2 weeks, slow is good, Cliff shrugged his shoulders and gave me a look, that said ok, you won’t like it ! but I did, it was a great run, and fab to run with different people, to chat to club members who I know on facebook but not to actually talk to,  its easy to get into your group at the club and run with the same people, but I really loved this run, got to chat to several others, everyone as friendly and nice as the ones I already knew. At the end of the run back at wyvern Cliff said, did you stay with us ? I said yes of course, he gave me a well done along with a gleaming cliff smile, top bloke !! (I do strongly urge you to switch groups occasionally guys to chat to those you don’t normally talk to) Thanks to the slow run, I had no knee pain, my confidence was back !

In june I ran 80 miles before E24 and this included some rather fun night runs with Keith Diaper.

The funniest thing that happened was when we ran through manor farm at 11pm one friday night. As we were approaching the gate at the entry/exit near j8 of the m27 we were running side by side with headlamps on, a car is driving towards us, why is a car heading down there at that time of night you must wonder,  I raise my hand to block the light from the car so I can see only I then realize I am blocking my head lamp and to then I realized the people in the car were probably thinking we are a car flashing our lights at them, oh dear! I said to Keith this could be suspicious, hanging around in country parks late at night, flashing our lights at cars, we going to get into an “awkward situation” here. We ran on past the car as it stopped laughing our heads off!!

So I made it to E24. I had a good 6 months of training, I had some injuries and I am still carrying them but I am feeling confident I will do more than my 40 miles at Compton.

Why the obsession with a target ?

Ever since I signed up, people asked me what was my target, I really didn’t have a target because this is the unknown, to me it’s a race to see how far I can go in 24 hours, that’s my target, to see.  I felt if I set a target and didn’t make it, I would be a failure, but my mentality was that this race has no fail provided you turn up.  I thought long and hard about a target though as I thought its easier to just answer rather than duck the question, 100 miles in 24hrs is quite a major achievement, really that’s not on the cards, the winner last year did 115 miles in 24hrs, I’m a 14 stone rugby player not an ultra runner. 50 miles?  Surely that’s not enough over 24hrs if I can run a marathon in 4hrs 10. So I used the old mathematical method of the median, 100/50 = 75, ok, 75 if I must have one, 75 it is. However with all my injuries and how I had suffered on my recent long runs, my target now was really to just go as far as I could before my injuries say no more, and I will be happy with that (provided its more than 8 laps)

Support Crew Tom

I have read many race reports of ultra runners and ultra triathlons and one of the keys to success is support crew, to have someone there to look after you, physically and mentally, to help you be rational, to motivate, to talk things through. This is where Tom came in, he has been in the army for over 4 years, been to Afghanistan and seen some things I never want to see,  here is a guy who will do anything for you at the drop of a hat, and expect nothing in return, a top bloke. I asked Tom and in an instant he said yes. Tom and I met for lunch the week before the race and I explained to him my race plan.

Race Plan

My race plan was this, break the race down into 3 lap segments, ignore distance, it’s all about laps. Run 3 laps, then stop, eat something “proper” such as a pasta pot, or pot noodle or porridge, at the same time change clothes.  Then go again.  I didn’t want to stop for more than 20 mins, and if I said I wanted to quit or stop or sleep, I explained to tom that I don’t want to, so don’t let me, yes I may say that on the day of the race but that’s not what I want, so whatever happens he must keep me on course, the only reason acceptable is a health reason.  I am aiming for 1 hr laps initially, slowing to 1hr 40 when I get to the point of needing to walk all the lap. I calculated the dream best possible result would be 17 laps, the realistic best possible result is 15 laps.

I had 8 pairs of injinji toe socks which I would change every 3 laps, I had 3 pairs of trail trainers and 1 pair of road trainers. I had recently bought a pair of sketchers go ultra trail shoes, these are extra cushioned shoes, like hokas, these are my emergency go to shoe when my feet are ruined to help me keep going (I will try anything to help keep me going). The plan is to change clothes including socks every 3 laps and to work my way through my 3 pairs or trainers over the course of the race.

In between the 3 lap breaks I would grab something to eat at the end of each lap to eat on the go, be it a brioche, slice of pizza, sausage roll or tuna sarnie, also we will fill up my water bottles as I wanted to drink 750ml each lap. I was wearing my Soloman race vest, which carries 2 x 500ml soft flasks. 1 was full with high5zero electrolyte drink and the other lucozade.

I calculated I needed to be consuming approx. 300 calories per lap, 100 from the food Tom would give me, 100 from lucozade and 100 from a gel or cereal or bar, snacks etc.

I was also going to take an s-cap (salt tablet) each lap.

I normally run with ibuprofen for pain relief when doing longer stuff. But I have recently read a lot about the dangers of taking NSAIDs (Non Steroid Anti Inflammatory Drugs) or Ibuprofen to us non medical people. Basically the anti-inflammatory element can cause your kidney to stop working, and, well, you can die, and the conclusion from the reading I had done was to replace nurofen with paracetomol, in effect I want pain relief not anti inflammatory when out on long runs.

I had also read a lot about rhabdomyolysis. Another form of kidney failure becoming more common with ultra endurance athletes, so I was very conscious that I wanted to make sure I would pee every lap or 2, and if I didn’t I would stop the s-cap because I wouldn’t want to overload with salt and instead drink a ton of water to flush myself through.  (https://www.ultrarunning.com/features/running-rhabdomyolosis-and-renal-failure-whos-at-risk/)

The Day before the day

Tom and I drove to E24 on the Friday, set up our tent on the side of the course, about 100m before the start finish line so I could literally run past the tent and grab what I need on my way to crossing the line without wasting any effort, we then caught up with Kelly & Kev who were setting up Hedgie Base Camp, helped put up a few tents (I was surprised they were still up the next day!) and we then headed home for a good nights sleep (not together, not yet)

That night I went to bed about 10pm after my usual pre-race meal of chicken pasta broccoli, yum. But I couldn’t sleep, fear, anxiety, many what if’s, all running through my head, my biggest concern was my injuries, I know they will stop me at some point, it’s just a question of how far I can go before that point. I would then ponder my target of 75 and decided to scrap the target and not be disappointed if my injuries stopped me before I reach it. I slept about 4 hours, got up at half 4, had porridge, watched some TV, funnily enough I watched a program on an ultra race across la palma,  these guys are incredible, can I really do that ? I then went back to bed at 6.30am fell asleep and woke again at 8.30. 6 hours, that will have to do !


Continued here - Part 2

Littledown Marathon Sunday 15th June 2014.
When I finished the North Dorset Marathon on the 4th May I felt so elated that I quickly looked around for another marathon.
I wanted a run that was not too far away from home.
Looking around I stumbled across the Littledown Marathon, 26 laps of scenic Littledown Park the website said so I entered.
I tried to persuade Ben Smith to come with me and he tried but unfortunately was too late entering.
So the morning came and I arrived at Littledown as the sole Hedge End Runner. I parked and escorted by my wife quickly picked up my racepack.
Number on and we were soon at the start. before I knew it we were off. 26 and a bit laps in front of me
It wasn’t long before we came through the start/finish line for the first time, plenty of encouragement from the small but vocal crowd.
The one mile course was almost entirely flat and apart from a small section after the start/finish area run on grass.
First lap done and all going ok, suddenly behind me came the shout “lead runner”, Steve Way (Commonwealth Games Entrant for England) rushed past me and was on his 3rd lap already.
Before long he was lapping me again and again. Coming through the start/finish line at one point I got a massive boost “halfway there” said one of the organisers, Ok I thought going well, soon my bubble was burst as I realised that Steve Way was lapping me again and they were talking to him, “sorry you are going out on number 8” I was told.

By the time I got to halfway my feet were beginning to ache, my wife asked how it was going as I think she could see I was struggling a little. “Keep going, you can do it” she said.
 
Every lap seemed to be getting slower, the organisers were great “come on Kevin” they implored at every lap.
The start/finish area was full of free drinks and gels and also included a tub of cold water sponges, I made the mistake of trying to cool my feet down with one of these sponges.
I did not help as I now was running with wet and sore feet.
One of things that kept me going was in the vain hope that I crossed the start/finish area and arrived at the sponge station with a runner called Robert, I wanted to say to him “Sponge Bob ?”- it never happened.
At 20 I nearly stopped, a few people had already stopped and I really though about it. “No Keep going” Wendy shouted, “Nearly there now”.
At about lap 22 my feet were so sore, I walked a little. I was trying to think of novel ways to run now, I tried running toe- heel – I cant do that in training and I certainly couldn’t do it after 22 laps.
Onwards, this was now in the realms of Physical and mental torture. Somehow though I got through it and was soon out on the last lap,this was slow.
The park attendant threw me some keys “ what are these for I asked”, “ Lock up when you finish will you I’m going home” (this is just a joke at my expense).
At long last the finish is in sight, a slight (very slight) increase in pace and I’m done, no cramp but very sore feet. Medal collected and I’m finished at last.
 
All in all a well organised little event and certainly very good if you cannot face going from point to point in a marathon.
However this is not one for me again, another marathon definitely yes but sadly not this one.
Ben Smith you are one lucky guy.

Some Netley Abbey Parkrun stats as we are half way through the year.  Looking at PB's over the last few months and how they have improved and viewing them as a % of finish time.  Well done to Michael Head on making the biggest improvement over the last 6 months.

Another great turn out and set of performances from the club at this years Mile of Miles Relay event.

Tiernan Siemens is the June member of the month.  This was for completing 7 Triathlons in a weekend, then taking part in a charity row around the Solent and the small matter of running for 24 hours at Endure 24 (Race Report).  A true inspiration to club members of what is possible.