Gloucestershire: Race to the Tower day 2 race recap

Originally I planned to do this race in 2020, but it was cancelled due to Covid, so this is the very last of the Covid reschedules.  A few weeks before the event, I got a phone call from Moorfields booking my long-awaited eye operation.  The op means I can wear contact lenses again, which is damn handy for running.  I had this op previously on the other eye and I wasn't allowed to run for two weeks but I was allowed to walk.  I checked out Race to the Tower's website and the cutoff was 13 hours - well I could definitely walk it in that. It was too late for a refund in any case and having already paid for accommodation I decided I might as well just try it anyway, as including petrol and food this race was costing somewhere around £350 - ouch.  I could always DNF if it all went horribly wrong...

On the day of the op I asked the registrar if I could walk 'quite long distances', she shrugged and said 'yes, sure'.  So when the consultant came round, I tried my luck and asked if I could run post-op.  She said, 'I don't see why not... do you mean jogging or sprinting?!"  I said, "Jogging, slow jogging" and she said that in a couple of days, that would be fine.  I was delighted!

I was in and out in half a day and the dressing came off after 24 hours.  Here is an artist's impression of my right eye:

I won't scar you for life with any actual pictures, don't worry!  I wore sunglasses nearly the whole day to try to limit light-sensitivity and only took them off in the darkest of woods.

The day before I had a pretty rough car journey involving nausea, headaches and an unbelievable amount of moaning.  I refused to play mini golf, I insisted on an afternoon nap (admittedly I hadn't been sleeping well due to the eye shield I had to wear at night) and I complained bitterly about having to walk into Cheltenham because I was cold.  Poor Ben!

It didn't help that the race started at 6am, which meant a 4:30am alarm call.  But as soon as I woke up, I felt better.  Ben said he could tell I was going to be OK before we even left for the race, which was only 15 minutes away from where we were staying.  It was a bit chilly so I started in my waterproof jacket.

When we got there, Ben was surprised at the mega-organisation.  Rows of neat tents, proper catering facilities and showers.  He said, "It's like a mini festival!"  He's more used to me starting races in car parks with some bloke in a hi-vis jacket.

Just before 6am, a small group of runners assembled at the start and there was a short race briefing, which mainly said there were nearly 100 gates between here and the finish, arrggh.  Without much ado, we were off.  My plan was to walk the first few kilometres and see how I felt, but I only managed a few hundred yards before I was cold and bored.  I decided I would shuffle-run for a bit (a classic ultra-style gait where you lift your feet the minimum amount possible and sort of shuffle along at a pace faster than walking, but not quite fast enough to be called running.  Watch the mid-pack from mile 45+ of any ultra and you'll soon see exactly what I mean). 

 

The paths were pretty flat and easy to shuffle along and I felt sure road shoes were the right choice.  Looking back at my race report, I wore road shoes to Race to the Stones as well, which were almost certainly the wrong choice, but I don't think I owned any trail shoes back then!  

The below picture was taken at 6:15am, pretty soon after the start.  Shortly afterwards I got chatting to the woman on the left of the pic, who was (I think) called Kate, and later I ran most of the race with the woman in pink (Kim).

Kate was quite local and her husband had run the full 52 miles yesterday.  She'd been supporting him all day and also picked him up at the end.  As a result she'd only had about 1 hour's sleep herself (!)  She told me that this race is 'on hold' next year, and that places were still available last week, which made me suspect this might be the last time it goes ahead - all the better that I'm doing it now!  She also told me there were 3 big hills plus the one at the end, at which point the first hill presented itself and we climbed up it.  Views from the top were great and you could even see the Malvern Hills in the distance! 

She kindly offered to take a photo of me with the lovely view: 

As we reached the top of the first hill, we came upon a couple of other runners - Helen and Kim.  They were both from Oxfordshire but didn't know each other before the race and we all ran together until we reached the first aid station.  Helen had run yesterday's marathon and stayed overnight at the camp.  Kim explained that this was her first marathon - I was delighted as it's always a privilege to be even a tiny part of someone's first marathon.  I waxed lyrical about how you never forget it and no matter what, the first one will always be special and that I was envious of her of getting to have that wonderful experience today.  We also chatted a bit about how a hilly trail marathon isn't the easiest first marathon she could have chosen!

On arrival at the first aid station, we all scattered around to go to the loo and pick up snacks and fluids.  I was expecting great things because Race to the Stones (run by the same people) had the best aid stations of any race I've ever done and this was no different.  Because we'd started so early, it felt like we were amongst the first few people through.  I had some fruit and picked up a flapjack to take with me and took off my jacket as it was getting warmer now.  I soon caught up with Kim and Helen and we carried on, chatting away.

 

Unfortunately, we chatted so enthusiastically that we missed a right hand turn  and didn't realise until we reached a junction.  Suddenly I thought, I haven't seen an arrow for a really long time.  We looked left and saw participants coming down the hill.  At first I thought we'd just taken an alternative route, but when I got my OS map out and checked the route, I could see we'd missed out 3 sides of the square.  

We had a quick discussion.  We were all in agreement that we'd have to go back and do the bit we'd missed or otherwise our race was going to be quite considerably short, and Kim wouldn't have done her first marathon.  So we ran back to where we missed the turn and then did the extra three sides, leaving us with a funny looking circle on Strava, and adding 2 bonus miles.

 

After what seemed like forever, we got back to the junction where we realised we'd gone wrong and took this celebratory picture, which I love!

 

There was quite a gusty tailwind which I was grateful for, as a headwind would have made my eye stream.  As it was, I had no issues.  The paths were mainly pretty flat and manageable. 

 

After much further than it should have been, we made it to the second aid station.  Again it was ridiculously well stocked.  This was only about 1/4 of it!  You can see they had special coloured recycling bins for food waste, gel wrappers, plastic and other rubbish at the far end.  We all gathered our snacks and carried on.

 

Shortly after we left the aid station we were walking up another big hill when I felt something brush against me.  At first, I thought it was a dog and I turned, only to find Ben there!  We'd roughly agreed he would meet me at some point, but he'd managed to park somewhere and then run along the trail until he caught up with us, which was a lovely surprise.   He was not remotely surprised to find me looking well and cheerful and he walked with us for the rest of the hill as I filled him in on race adventures and introduced him to my companions.  As we approached the top of the hill he took a lovely photo of the three of us.  When we started running again, he walked back down the hill and drove off to investigate the farm shops of Gloucestershire - we're still eating the rhubarb, chocolate and other goodies he bought whilst I was running!

 

A bit further on we came across these horses lying down which was quite funny.  They got up when we climbed over the stile though!

Here's Helen and Kim passing a pretty Cotswold stone cottage:

Spotted this plaque on a wall - this bit must be part of the route of the Cotswold Way Century, an ultra which is still kicking around on my "Must Do" list.  The whole Way is 102 miles long - maybe I could do it as a multi-day as a kind of warm up?  Probably need to start LOVING HILLS first though.  

 

We kept on going, through wheat fields, past hay bales, past lambs.  It was very pretty but we were all starting to get tired now.  Kim was having a psychological struggle with the fact that her watch said there was only 6 miles to go but she knew it was more because we'd done the bonus miles.  I showed her my watch, which on the map screen tells you how far it is to the end rather than how far you've done.  I find this helpful as if you've gone wrong, it'll still show the correct distance to the end.  (Although it can be quite intimidating when it says 160km to go at the start of a 100 miler - I didn't mention that!)

To be fair to Kim, she did amazingly well especially as it was her first marathon and we inadvertently turned it into an ultra.  Helen also did amazingly given she had already run a full marathon the day before. We were all starting to get tired so the plan was to get to the aid station and have some Coke and some sugar and then get the last bit done. 

Around this time we kept overtaking the same tall-ish bloke with calf sleeves and a red vest and a cap, but I think there were actually about 3 or 4 of them who were all dopplegangers.  I joked with the others, "look, it's identikit bloke number 47"!

 

When we reached the last aid station (which was only 8km from the end, rather than the 10km I thought), the aid station volunteers had written inspirational messages on the bananas with a Sharpie.  This is such a great idea, I will definitely be stealing it if I ever organise a race.  It really made me smile!

 

After the aid station we went through a field of wheat that reminded me of Race to the Stones, although not quite as dramatic as their famous money shot!

The last town you go through before the final hill is called Broadway, and Ben was here but missed me because he was using Find My iPhone as a tracker and it's not particularly precise.  He told me afterwards he was in a shop as we ran past. Apparently Broadway is very fancy.  I'm sorry I didn't have time to enjoy it properly!

It started getting hilly on the way out of the town and continued being hilly until the end of the race.

On the final kilometre I traded Facebook details with Kim and Helen so we could keep in touch and we all agreed it had been SO LOVELY to have each other's company throughout the race.  I often run with one other person but rarely two - but this race really leant itself to it with wide paths and pavements throughout.  It was an absolute pleasure and an inspiration to see these two achieving their goals - and I was just grateful to get round it with no eye-related problems considering I only had surgery 4 days ago.  

When we crossed the finish line, both Kim and Helen had their families there and Ben was waiting for me, so we had a quick finish line picture and went our separate ways.  In the end we did 28 miles in 6 hours 30 minutes.

My poles felt like they really helped again although my arms didn't ache at all and my legs absolutely killed me for days afterwards which suggests I wasn't really using them correctly - hmm. 

After this I went into the competitor's food tent and ate a really quite pleasant meal of vegan onion bhajis and salad and chips, which was included in the price.

 

Then Ben insisted I have some pictures taken with the tower, I didn't want to go all the way round there because it was cold, so we compromised and I posed ridiculously with the tower in the background. Fascinating fact: apparently you can see 16 counties from the top of the Broadway Tower... although quite a few of them are Welsh ones.

After this I went and got changed, then I dropped off some old sportswear for recycling (this was a good initiative which other races should also do) and then we went home.  Because the race started at the crack of dawn, we were back in London by 4pm which must be a record!

Bedfordshire: Greensand Country Ultra race recap

Last summer I was casting around for a race in Bedfordshire and I came across a really fun sounding race called Bingo Race.  What happens is: Your running number is a 3 number bingo card. Each runner has their own bag containing bingo balls. You run a loop of 2 miles, then pick a number out of the bag. If it's on your card, you cross it off and do another loop. When you've crossed off all your numbers, you're done. Obviously this might take a while.

Unfortunately at the time I was training for A100, my first ever hundred mile race.  I sent a begging message to my coach:

Alice: I really want to enter Bingo Race on 12/9. I’ll take it easy I promise! It’s 5 weeks before A100 and it may/probably does involve 10 hours of running on a flattish course. Please let me <praying emoji>

Coach: Hey Alice, I have a few questions for you - Do you think this race is going to add to your A100 training? How many hours on your feet is that going to be?  what sort of impact is that going to have on your energy levels going into the A100?

Reluctantly, I agreed that this was probably not ideal, even though it sounded FUN.

One of the other runners being coached by my coach had recently run the Greensand Country Ultra and recommended it.  It was nearly a year away but fit in with my plans so I entered.  That year has rolled on by and here we are...

A week or two before the race, the race director sent an incredibly detailed email with all the instructions including the GPX in multiple formats (other races could learn from this!) and the race day briefing video.  I watched the video and everything seemed familiar.  The Race Director.  The signs they use.  The every-last-detail organisation.  I was sure I'd done one of their races before.  Eventually I realised it was Chiltern Ridge Ultra - my first post-Covid marathon!  I remember the torrential rain well!

I also remembered it was impeccably well signposted, which bodes well for this race.  The weather forecast was good and the race was a mix of trail and tarmac, but the RD said in the pre-race video that although you could get away with road shoes, he'd still recommend wearing trail shoes.  I packed my trusty Saucony Peregrines and set off bright and early for Bedfordshire.   On arrival, predictably it was super-organised.  They had even proper printed maps of the route they were giving out to everyone!

 

The race was right next to an airfield, which just so happened to be where Ben keeps his plane.  He has a private pilot's licence and a share in a lovely old Cessna so we'd planned for him to (hopefully) fly over me during the race.  When I arrived it was pretty windy - fingers crossed it would be OK for flying later.  The wind was also making it feel pretty cold - despite the sunshine I wished I'd brought gloves.

I collected my number - it was a 50k so being number 50 was kind of cool - and had time for a really nice cup of coffee before the race started.

 

The race began with a short loop around Shuttleworth before heading out into the Bedfordshire countryside.  The first section was all on grass and I remember being glad I was wearing trail shoes.

As with Chiltern Ridge, there was a race photographer taking (free!) photos - got to love that.  Here's one of me near the beginning in the woods:

The wooded section didn't last long and we were soon out into farmland.  I was settling into a comfortable pace by now and got chatting to the guy in front, who turned out to be called James.  This was only his second ultra and he was wearing white cotton socks.  I'm wary of offering unsolicited advice to runners, but cotton socks are a disaster area so I went out on a limb and gently suggested he invest in some proper running socks.  A decent pair are almost as effective as a new pair of trainers in terms of comfort and will help prevent blisters and moisture damage.  Well worth a tenner in my opinion.

 

Luckily, James took it well (!) and we ran together for a few miles after that.  He was local and lived not far from where we were running.  He pointed out Cardington Hangars, which he told me was where they used to build airships which he used to see all the time when he was a kid in Bedford.  I grew up in Milton Keynes and also remember airships being quite common - nowadays I only see them in Fortnite!

 

We chatted about races, and running generally - he has 3 young kids so unsurprisingly finds it more difficult to get all the training in.  I told him about Bingo race and it turned out he actually knows the RD of that race (James Adams) - I follow him on Strava so knew he was from Bedfordshire too and have read his book - small world!  Anyway it turns out that it is on again this year, in October.  James told me he was already signed up.  I was delighted at this news and promised I would sign up when I got home - James, if you're reading this, I'm in!  It seems to have been shortened to a 6 hour race this year but that's probably a good thing :) 

We continued through really lovely countryside:

  

After a few miles I lost James, but stopped to take this picture of Cardington (the big green warehouse in the middle of the picture).  There were a lot of beautiful cornfields in this race.

 

At 11k, I finally felt warm enough to take my jacket off.  The first aid station was at 15k - delightfully it had a huge selection of really nice snacks including Tribe bars, oranges and bananas and also proper indoor toilets.  I took advantage of these and when I came out I saw James's wife and children had come to cheer him on at the checkpoint - awww!

This was taken just after the checkpoint.  The field to the left was scattered with poppies and the path was quite narrow and overgrown.  Around this point, I turned on my Glympse so that Ben could see where I was in the hope he might spot me from the plane.

More fields followed.  The paths were very, very hard as it hadn't rained for weeks and I was starting to get a bit of pain in my calves - unusual for me so early in a race.  My trail shoes don't have much padding and the trails were so hard they were almost like road.  Hmm.

 

I came to a field which looked like crops, but they definitely weren't potatoes.  I ran through, peering at them, annoyed that I couldn't identify them.  I sent the first picture to my mum whilst running, asking if she knew.

 

The font of all knowledge very quickly replied, resolving my annoyance!

 

I passed the official photographer hiding in a bush.  He must've taken this picture after I passed - sometimes it feels a bit like the paparazzi!  Nevertheless I love this shot.  Somehow he's managed to make me look quite elegant and dramatic, neither of which I was feeling at the time!

I turned a corner and could see a purple field in the distance.  I wasn't sure what it was, but could see other runners in the distance so knew I would be getting closer shortly.

Definitely purple:

When I got close enough, I could see they were just small purple flowers.  Weirdly they didn't look big or purple enough to have such a big effect from a distance.

The next section was on a tarmac path and by now my legs were really starting to hurt.  I was quite grumpy about it and not really looking forward to another 25k of this.  You can see three men on the left of this picture - I leapfrogged them for much of the rest of the race.

I think somewhere after this was the 30k aid station (the aid stations were at 15, 30 and 40km, which happen to match the scoring in tennis and made it very easy for me to remember where they were!)  I remember moaning to the people there about being advised to wear trail shoes.  

Shortly afterwards I was running on some extremely unpleasant gravel and chatting to a chap named Guy.  He had some Kendal Mint Cake flavoured gels - I'd never even heard of them but how exciting that they exist!  I took a (not very good) photo so I could find them on the internet later:

An example of the signage, which was utterly fantastic again.  An arrow sign points the right way, backed up with the orange tape, with a 'Wrong Way' sign in the distance for the avoidance of doubt.

Shortly after this I saw Ben's plane fly overhead!  Unfortunately I only saw it when it had already passed, so it was too late for me to do anything except wave my arms wildly and take a photo.  I looked up on Glympse about 30 seconds later and he was already far away - planes are a lot faster than runners, haha.

 

There were some runners just behind me who saw me leaping about and they caught up with me as I stood trying to get my breath back.  I explained, "That's my boyfriend up there in that plane!" and one of them said, "Well he could have made an effort!" 

The race continued.  There were a few short sections on road, which I was bitter about.  I took more paracetamol, playing hard and fast with the maximum dose limit.  I texted Ben to let him know, just in case something bad happened (spoiler: it didn't).

Here's the three lads again.  As you can see this is 'trail' but it may as well have been concrete for all the softness and bounce I was getting off it.

Shortly after this I started running with a girl whose name I didn't catch.  It was her first ultra - she was supposed to be running Race to the Castle but it had been cancelled so she was doing this instead.  She seemed to be doing fine to me but nevertheless seemed worried about finishing.  We had a nice chat and she asked me casually what the furthest distance I'd ever run was.  When I said '100 miles' she was awestruck.  Shortly afterwards we arrived at the aid station and she told the people there - including the RD! -  how inspirational I was!  I was quite embarrassed but it was also a huge compliment.  I still find it surprising that people would be inspired by me - I genuinely think anyone could do what I do.  (With the caveat that they have to actually WANT to). 

After the aid station it was only 10k til the end, which seemed manageable.

At one point I saw a pedestrian taking a photo of one of the ribbons.  I stopped and asked if everything was alright and reassured him that the race organisers would be taking down all the ribbons once the race was over.  It piqued my interest though so a bit further on I stopped to take a picture myself:

I heard my watch beep and looked down to find a text from Ben: "Flying over you within 5 mins".  I replied, "DON'T TEXT AND FLY!!!" and untied my coat so I could leap up and down and wave it around.  This time I saw him coming and was ready, flinging my coat in the air and waving frantically.

A girl caught me up and asked, "Are you OK? I wasn't sure if you knew someone, I thought you might be signalling for help!?"  I explained.  She thought it was pretty cool.  I got my phone out and looked at the track:

Ben would be landing shortly and I still had a little way to go.  I turned down the road we normally cycle down when we're going to the airfield and then ran through some fields and around the bottom of the runway.  Back through the forest and into Shuttleworth proper.  Not far now.

On the home straight. I could see the big house on the left and I knew the finish was just through the trees:

I crossed the line and collected my medal and took a photo.  Then I drank some water and sat down on the grass and took my shoes and socks off.  I couldn't see any blisters but they really hurt.

A few minutes later Ben appeared.  He asked if I wanted anything - sadly the unbelievably fabulous pizza van they had at Chiltern Ridge Ultra had been replaced with a Pancakes and Waffles van.  Now I love pancakes and waffles as much as the next person but after nearly 6 hours of eating sugar it was the last thing I wanted.  I couldn't face coffee or hot chocolate either, so in the end we just walked back to the car and went home.

 

Thanks Bedfordshire.  See you in October for BINGO!