Nottinghamshire: The Longhorn 60k ultra race recap

I'd chosen this race towards the end of last year.  I was casting around for a trail marathon that met the criteria and this one did the job.  It was 4 loops of a 10k trail with a bit extra added on and I'd not done a looped race before, and there was a concurrent 10k for Ian to run so he didn't have to wait around for me all day.  What's not to love? 

The night before I was diligently reading the race briefing (always a good idea in case there's some weird bit of mandatory kit/critical instruction that had previously gone unnoticed) when I discovered that there was also a concurrent 60k ultra marathon (6 loops of the circuit) and you could upgrade on the day.  Few races allow this and I've been doing A LOT of running lately.  I also have a couple of low(er) mileage weekends coming up.  Hmm.  Hmm.  I text my coach.  He replies, "I think yes, go for it.  Obvs slower pace through and walk the hills.  DRINK lots as it's gonna be warm and make sure you eat every 30mins".  I'm excited.  We drive to Nottingham the night before and eat the obligatory pasta for dinner then get an early night.

 

We arrive bright and early at 8am, get myself a nice new ultra race number, had a delicious expresso and a quick loo trip and then it's time to set off at 8.30am:

The race was predicted to be warm and it was warm.  Within minutes of starting, I needed the loo again (that expresso was starting to look ill-advised).  By Mile 1 I knew I was going to have to stop so rather than holding on I decided to make use of the bushes.  Sadly when I rejoined the race I was literally dead last...  There were only about 50 ultra runners and I could see down the hill behind me, there was nobody there.  The tail end of the string of runners was a good 250m in the distance.  Competitive instinct kicked in, I cracked on and didn't walk any of the hills.  I overtook a few people and started to settle into my stride once I'd got round the first circuit. 

 

The second circuit was the hardest as it felt like there was still a long way to go.  My shorts were chafing as this was the first time I'd worn them this year (!) so I decided I'd have to change into leggings, which luckily I'd brought with me along with a change of shoes just in case.  Ian rang me when I was about 15k in and kindly fetched my spare kit from the car and met me when I finished my second loop.  I proceeded to remove my shorts in front of a few hundred spectators as I didn't want to lose too much time by going to the toilet (oh dear).  Hopefully I didn't traumatise too many small children.  I also switched from trail shoes to road shoes as the trail was quite hard and rocky which turned out to be a great decision.  My road shoes felt like slippers!

The change of outfit gave me a boost for a couple of km, but the third circuit was also fairly tough. Other runners would run with me for a bit and chat which helped pass the time.  The scenery was also very pretty and varied so I wasn't at all bored of it yet. 

By the time I began the 4th circuit I felt in control.  I was coming up to the marathon distance and still had plenty in the tank.  The weather had cooled down and there was even a bit of rain!  The feed stations were really good, there were three each lap with lots of choice (mars bars, chocolate fingers, gels, oranges, walnuts, dates, sweets, crisps, cake, fanta, coke, water) and they were really well stocked right to the very end.   I picked up the pace for the 5th lap as I was feeling really strong, and then when I finished it I took off my vest and left it with Ian for the final lap.  I was well-hydrated so I thought losing the extra weight would make the final lap slightly easier.  I didn't see anyone for the first 6km or so, but eventually caught up with and overtook a few people in the last few kilometres of the race.   I realised with about 30 minutes to go that if I cracked on I would come in under 7 hours so I really bust a gut the last couple of kilometres, as shown:

I actually managed three of my very fastest kilometres of the whole race in the last 5k, and the last 10k was the fastest of all six laps which is quite pleasing.  One final push and I was across the finish line!

After the race there were FREE 10 minute massages, which were bloody brilliant, and an ice cream van, which was also brilliant, and a lovely medal.  Later there were FREE photographs (many many thanks to Curley Photography for these), you'll notice this report has about a billion more pictures than usual for this reason!
Here I am at the finish, representing my lovely new running club Penny Lane Striders:

 

 And here's some nice juicy stats:

Place: 25th out of 49.  2nd in my age group (missed first BY FOUR SECONDS).  Ahhhhhhhh!!
Actual time: 6:56 (Garmin was a bit shorter as I hadn't switched off auto-pause).

Definitely a race I'd recommend, with 5k, 10k, half, mara and ultra mara distances, on the day entry and really beautifully organised and marshalled. 

Northumbria: Kielder Dark Skies 26.5 race recap

Kielder was my first marathon since I had surgery 6 months ago.  I'd signed up for it in August last year, a month before the surgery, with no idea whether I'd be fit enough to complete it or not.  I decided that to be on the safe side, I would treat myself to a monthly coaching package to make sure I trained safely and sensibly (prior to this my training plans were a mixture of stuff I found on the internet, advice from people at various running clubs and making it up myself).  I met Matt Buck at Love Trails festival last year and signed up in December, and have been under his brutal regime tender care ever since.  With his help, I've worked my way back up to fitness and am now where I was pre-surgery, if not slightly better.  I wasn't too worried about this marathon - particularly as I'd done a snowy 21 mile run in the Peaks the weekend before - and I was especially pleased that the weather was finally being a bit kinder!

We set off under blue skies and the drive was exceptionally pretty.  These were the views that greeted us as we entered Northumbria:

We found the pub where we were staying, had a delicious lunch of as many carbs as I could manage, a quick nap and then chucked on all my gear and headed for the race start.  I was pretty early as I had underestimated what a tiny event it was (there were a maximum of 400 places, but it'd sold out months ago) - I reckon there were only about 300 there on the day.  As a result, kit check took about 30 seconds and within the first 10 minutes I had my race number and was ready to roll... about an hour too early.   I had a cup of tea, I went to the toilet a few times as per usual, and took a few photos whilst waiting for things to kick off.  The race started at 5.30pm, definitely not a good time for me - I much prefer a morning start.  I felt a bit sluggish, even sleepy, but in the back of my mind I knew I'd be OK once I got going.

The race began on time, and weirdly started with a short loop that took you back over the starting line before heading out towards the lake properly.  My goal was not to set off too fast, since I'd done that in two recent races (London Big Half and Milton Keynes 20 miler), both times completing the second half dramatically slower than the first.

As it turned out, there was no risk of setting off too fast as I'd started at the back and the trail was quite crowded.  As we turned a corner about a kilometre in, I realised that I was actually quite near the back of the field - there were probably only 50 people behind me.  I found this slightly alarming but tried to stick to my pace, figuring it would pay off later.

The views were spectacularly lovely.  I saw other stopping to take photos and at first resisted joining them, before deciding it was probably more important to chill out and enjoy it than worry too much about my time.  The race goes all the way around the perimeter of the lake in Kielder and the sun was already starting to set a few kilometres in:

The route varied from being out in the open to weaving through thick woodland, in this section there was moss growing in humpy clumps over the forest floor:

As the sun set further, every corner treated us to more pretty views:

Around this time, it started to feel a lot colder.  The race director had mentioned that the conditions were perfect for hypothermia - a warm, sunny start with clear skies would lead to a sudden drop in temperature as night fell.  I had a couple of layers on but realised I'd soon be very cold if I stopped moving.

I walked all the hills (which was easy because everyone else was doing that too).  To my surprise, I overtook a lot of people when walking uphill, I'm obviously a speedy walker.  It occurred to me that it's probably because I'm constantly late for work and have to march up the hill to Lime Street so as not to miss my train!!

The other time I consistently overtook people when I was running the downhills. I'm fearless at running fast downhill because I've never had knee issues, I think a lot of runners are more cautious.  I was wearing trail shoes with really good grip so I wasn't afraid of skidding, even when I couldn't see where I was going.

By the halfway point, it was properly dark and I had to put my head torch on.  Luckily I had the brightest head torch in the known universe, a LED Lenser MH10.  I kept it on low beam when behind a group of runners, then turned it onto full as I overtook and it was like a new dawn!  Several other runners commented on it - definitely the most useful bit of kit I had today.  The stars were incredible, though it was difficult to properly appreciate them whilst running and even more difficult to photograph them with my phone...

After the 30k point, there were some sections where I was running through thick forest and couldn't see either the runners ahead of me or behind me.  I was completely alone, in the cold and pitch black, in the middle of a forest.  I won't lie, I was a bit scared, and that definitely spurred me on to pick up the pace a bit!  I felt really strong around the 37km mark and overtook loads of people towards the end, including some on the last uphill towards the finish line.

According to Garmin I did the first 21 km in 2:22 and the second 21 km in 2:29 - still not quite negative splits but a hell of a lot closer.  Only a 7 minute difference - really not bad especially considering the terrain - there was 2200 feet of ascent.

Compare that with Milton Keynes, where I did the first 16km in 1:33 and the second 16km in 1:42, an 11 minute difference over a considerably shorter, flatter distance).

The race ended really weirdly - there were several tight turns right at the end, spectators cheering, then you turned a corner and all the spectators were gone.  You were left with nowhere to go but either a dead end or through into the bright lights of a village hall-type structure.  I faltered in the sudden brightness, unsure if I'd taken a wrong turn, before people started cheering, someone rushed forward to take my number and give me a medal and I realised it had ended.  Quite the strangest end to a race I can imagine!

 

Thankfully, I'd decided to book food in advance so straight after these pictures at around 11pm I tucked into veggie chilli and rice before the freezing walk back to the car and the pub where we were staying.  There was no time to stand around appreciating the beautiful stars as it was bitterly cold.  When I checked the results the next day, I'd finished 146th out of 285 finishers, so about halfway through the field, despite my slow start.  Not bad! And not a bad medal either :)

City of London: London Marathon recap

The London marathon wasn't just a normal marathon, because I ran it as the second half of a double marathon.  I got up at 1.30am on the morning of the marathon, made my way to The Mall and ran the entire course in reverse to Greenwich with a group of fabulous friends and strangers.  I then had a quick shower/breakfast/change before proceeding to run it forwards; this race recap is therefore a cut-down version.  (If you're interested in reading the whole double marathon madness recap, you can do so here).

I was late arriving to the London marathon.  However, this didn't turn out to be a problem because by the time I finally arrived at 10.11am, the pen was absolutely stationary like this:

 ...and I didn't cross the start line until 10.33! I started at a gentle pace and during the early miles I chatted with other runners and eased into it slowly, trying to enjoy the crowds.

The time passed quickly but I was really happy to see Surrey Quays coming up as I was excited about seeing a familiar face.  Lo and behold, there was Lee-Anne, who was more excited than I was!  From this point onwards, I realised that I was going to survive this marathon by getting myself from one set of supporters to the next.  Lee-Anne took this photo as I left her:

The next stop was my parents at Mile 11.  They'd kept the banner they'd made for me at my first marathon in Paris last year and brought it with them so I spotted them long before I got to them!

My dad took the other photo as I approached.  It was lovely to see them and even more lovely to be able to stop and have a hug, a jelly baby and a quick chat - in Paris I had a time in mind and barely managed more than a few words before racing off again.  I also had a couple of paracetamol at this point - I was feeling sore already and quite scared about how I was going to manage this whole distance again plus a bit more.   At mile 12 I saw the Guide Dogs stand and there was Dave, who gave me a quick hug and some much-needed encouragement.

The next stop was Matt and Iz at mile 13.  I'd instructed them to buy a huge, ridiculous helium balloon so I could spot them as they were on one of the busiest parts of the course and they did not disappoint - meet Shaznay the Shark...

As I ran past mile 13, I scanned the horizon.  I muttered, "That's not Shaznay.  That's not Shaznay" until another runner looked at me in bemusement and I realised I was talking out loud!  Then I turned a corner and I could see this giant, blue, weirdly shaped balloon and I thought, "That's GOT to be Shaznay," and it was.   More hugs followed and Iz proffered the bottle of electrolytes I'd instructed her to bring.  I'd picked up a bottle of Lucozade Sport at the previous drinks station as I'd run out, after one sip I'd decide it was basically poison, but I'd filled my bottle up with it anyway.  I proceeded to tip it out onto the pavement and refill the bottle with nice electrolytes to Iz's great amusement.

At mile 15 I was seeing Ian for the first time.  Unbelievably he'd got up at 1am,  cycled the entire backwards marathon, jogged back to the hotel, packed all my stuff and driven it across London to another hotel near the finish line, then got on the tube to come and support me.  What a legend.  It was great to see him and he assured me he'd meet me again in a few miles.

I carried on.  This bit of the race was really hard.  I saw my parents again at 16.5 miles, I wanted more paracetamol but knew it was too soon and promised myself I'd hang on until I saw Ian again.  At somewhere around mile 18, a woman in the crowd shouted, "Keep going Alice!" and I don't know why but I stopped and told her it was my second marathon.  I kept saying, "it's so hard, I'm so tired, I didn't know it was going to be this hard," and I can't remember really what she said, just that she gave me jelly babies and urged me on, so I took them and kept running.  The kindness of total strangers helped so much in this race, but that was a stand-out moment for me.

Ian phoned me to try to tell me where he was but I was too tired to answer the phone (it requires effort to pull it out of my armband, but not much effort, so I must've been absolutely battered at this stage).  He texted me instead and I saw it on my Garmin.  By the time I got to him I was in bits.  He tells me I said, "I don't know how I'm going to finish this, I'm so tired, I'm just so tired," and that I thought I was going to be sick.  By that time I'd already had about 5 gels and (I've normally finished a marathon after 4), plus plenty of jelly babies and the revolting Lucozade Sport.  He gave me paracetamol and a hug and some encouragement and I gathered up my remaining strength, put my headphones on and powered onwards.  Not long after I left him, I overtook my 3rd rhino which gave me a much-needed boost.

And then I arrived at Mile 21.  Mile 21 was literally the best mile of any marathon ever.  First of all I saw the Project Awesome crew.  They all hugged me and I remember feeling quite overwhelmed that they'd waited for me even though all the other PA runners must've already passed some time earlier.  Then they pointed across the road and I saw the Frontrunners crew, who I'd only told I was running the day before, and they'd ALSO waited for me! I was delighted and ran across the road, weaving around the runners to hug them too.  I crossed back to Project Awesome, who presented me with a chocolate digestive, then pointed across the road again and there were Midnight Runners!! WHAT?!  I weaved across the road again, for even more hugs from the crew.   I carried on, with a massive spring in my step from all the love, which basically carried me through the rest of the marathon. I literally couldn't believe that all these people had hung around for an extra hour or so just to wave at me for 30 seconds, I was almost tearful, what an absolutely phenomenal group of human beings.  Don't ever underestimate what a difference you can make by supporting someone when they're pushing themselves to the limit.  Thank you all so, so much.

Photo credit: Máté Fülöp

I saw Matt, Iz and Shaznay again at Mile 22, by which time I was feeling much perkier.  Matt made a joke about how Shaznay was species-fluid and identified as a cuttlefish which make me laugh.  I kept going and not long after that passed Tower Bridge again.  By this time I only had about 3 miles to go, all of which was along a very familiar route which helped enormously.  I was excited about the tunnel under Blackfriars bridge because obviously I've never run under there before (it's usually full of cars!) and when I got there I was amazed that literally EVERYONE started walking because there's no spectators.  I even took a photo as I couldn't believe it!  I was on a high by then and ran past them all feeling quite proud of myself.

As I passed the 24 mile mark, the crowds were fantastic and at Mile 25 I overtook my 4th rhino.  The last mile is just a blur, I can barely remember it to be honest.  I turned the corner, and ran down the Mall:

...And then it was over.  I finished in 5 hours, 28 minutes and I ran the entire way - no walking through water stops, no walking in tunnels.   I asked an official to take a photo, which was terrible, and I took an equally terrible selfie.  

As I walked through the finishers area, I looked at my Garmin, which was just about to die, and it said I'd run 1538 steps.  What?  Oh, wait a minute.  I'd run 101,538 steps.  It had to roll over because it doesn't go up that far.  I have broken Garmin.  Unbelievable. 

I met up with Matt and Iz, Lee-Anne, my parents and Ian in Duke's bar and drank champagne cocktails and showed off my medal.  

East Sussex : Brighton Marathon recap

I signed up for Brighton marathon because I hadn't got into London and I wanted to be sure of a spring marathon.  However, as it turned out, I ended up with a place in London as well, so by the time Brighton rolled around it felt like a training run.  I'd hoped to run it in 4 hours 30 minutes, though I'd really struggled to do that just a couple of weeks earlier.   Then I found out that my friend Tom was running it as well, so we agreed to meet up at the start and run it together. 

The marathon was due to start at 9.15am, we rocked up at 8.45am and the park was awash with people.  It was predicted to be a pretty hot day for April and was already warm when we got there.

It took ages to cross the start line but that was lucky as Tom's train had been cancelled and we only met up a few minutes before our wave set off for the start line.  The marathon went down to the seafront then along towards Rottingdean and inland a bit before looping back.  There were quite a few places where the race was going in both directions.

Lots of pretty sea views!  Running with Tom was really great as he's run loads of marathons so we had lots to chat about, and because he usually finishes somewhere over 5 hours, he was pacing me to not run too quickly.  As a result I had a really enjoyable run because I often go too fast and then struggle at the end.  As it was warm, the pace was absolutely ideal and it was really lovely to have company, a rare treat for me.  We chatted about how Tom's best time was around 5 hours and I thought we were on track to beat that today, he was a little more circumspect about that possibility.  As the marathon progressed, we clearly had a good shot at it and despite being utterly knackered, Tom put in an amazing performance in the last mile and we crossed the finish line together in 4 hours, 57 minutes and 11 seconds.  He even pulled off a sprint finish which left me struggling to keep up!

Feeling suitably delighted with this, we got our medals and took some photos. 

And here's the official race photo:

There is a slightly sad addendum to this story, which is that we didn't really finish in 4:57.  Due to tiredness and stupidity on my part, I had forgotten to turn off the 'Auto Pause' setting on my Garmin (something I always do before marathons).  As a result it was showing our moving time, not elapsed time.  I didn't discover this until the following afternoon, after much ranting about how the chip time was totally wrong.  Sigh....