The Glastonbury of running! Live music, pumping tunes, camping, friends...and a 5 mile loop to continuously run around! Team Support were busy so I recruited two fellow physicists; Eric and Richard. We hired a gangster car and bundled way too much food and a selection of trainers in and we were off! The camping was ideal, right on the course, so the guys could be tucked up in their tents and still throw me a Milky Way! Eric is the tidiest guy on the planet, so my nutrition and clothing were soon layed out in the most organised arrangement you may ever see. The set-up struck fear in the hearts of the other competitors (probably). Keen photographer Richard would use his skills to capture my increasing suffering each lap! The 2km of the course we could see from our tents appeared to be rough grass and we witnessed the first ankle sprain before the race even started! I opted out of reccing the route, 20-odd laps during the race would be enough!...and Eric had packed a rather nice picnic blanket for some cheeky sunbathing :-)
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| Richard and Eric providing awesome support :-) |
On the first few laps, I adjusted to the loop, finding the racing line and plotting the next request for Eric and Richard. The 8km lap consisted of 6km of nice undulating trail running through the woods and past the country house and the 2km of death - the rough grass, with a lot of spectators watching your decline! Most spectators were there for the relay teams of 5 or 8 and perhaps weren't so familiar with ultra-running. During the race, their looks would go from super impressed to super concerned about the ultra-runners! It's hard to smile and look healthy for a whole 2km every 8, so the ultra-face was on after the first few laps and by the end of the race, children would pull on their mother's sleeves and say 'Is that one going to be okay?...'
I set off quite fast in first place solo female. It was too hot for running though so after about 6 laps, I started to feel rather ill. The guys gave me a pasta pot to eat on my 7th lap which I managed to eat entirely before throwing it up into the same pot - nice! The non-ultrarunners looked concerned, but the ultrarunners knew there was plenty of time to recover! Just as I thought I'd got away from the medical tent area, only discreetly retching my way up the hill, an enthusiastic medic on a bike pedalled up along side me to ensure I was okay and try to make me stop running! I took it steady for a few laps and got back on it, still in the top four and working my way back up! During the night, I felt strong and enjoyed the company of Konstantinos, the Greek god of running. It was so good, it felt like I could become addicted to running laps forever! The night was lovely and cool, and seemed a lot quieter. Some of the fun runners in teams of 8 were cracking out the beers and there was a great group at the far end of the field, all wrapped up and performing Mexican waves all through the night! The pair-team next to us at camp allowed me the luxury of a cheeky sit down on their camping chair - thanks! I was now back to second place and hoping to catch up on first.
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| Enjoying the trails with Eric :-) |
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| Thanks to Peter Cook and team for the great photos and support! |
As the sun rose up, I got colder! I needed more energy so took another pasta pot and had a steady lap. But then stuck with the steady laps! I always get sleepy at dawn and eventually, I curled up in a ball at a little tent checkpoint in the woods and told them to kick me out in 3 minutes! Lying on the cold ground was a mistake, my thigh became really sore and I shuffled 1km to the next checkpoint where I tried another micro-nap. I was worried that all the other solo females had sped past whilst I closed my eyes and my thigh hurt so much that I limped along - surely I couldn't do any more laps?? On lap 17, I got some ibuprofen and shuffled on. I was now enjoying it so much, tears were streaming down my face and I thought this would be the last lap. But when Eric saw me, he gave me a hug and joined me for another lap. After two laps of him jogging behind me saying 'Come on, Jenn', 'Go on, Jenn!', I pointed out I was actually going...just in case he hadn't noticed our slow forward progression!! He did an amazing job of keeping me moving forward! I remembered I'd bought some generic 'pain relief spray' so got Eric to run behind me generally spritzing my legs haha :-) By the end of lap 19, I was sure that was enough, but the thought of hanging around the crowded finish with so many worried looks being cast in my direction wasn't so tempting (I did look a complete mess by now!), it would be nicer to retreat back into the woods! 20 laps would be 100miles too, so without a pause, poor Eric was taken for a another lap!! This would be his first 15miler! :-)
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| Still shuffling along in the morning! |
After 23hrs and 50 mins, I finished my 20th lap and would now definitely be 2nd or 3rd. The commentator announced as I crossed the finish line, that I was probably in the top 5...'what??!' 3rd place would have to be really strong to overtake me now. If she got back before the 24hr deadline, we would have to battle it out on the 21st lap. I sent Eric to watch out for her coming into the field, so I could get a headstart on our next lap if required. I was now a bit paranoid that she'd just spring effortlessly into the field and straight on to the next lap! But thankfully, it was past 24hrs when she arrived and I had already curled up into a ball on the grass! I was super happy to have held on to 2nd place! :-)
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| Crying on lap 17! But still moving :-) |
First placed Katie won a place in the Thames 184, an unsupported non-stop race on a tow path which made us laugh! :-) What an awesome weekend! A million thanks to Eric and Richard, who managed to provide excellent support for the entire 24hrs, an endurance feat in itself! :-)
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