After an evening of filling up on Rays famous chilli (sorry to Rays other guests if you were left hungry…) we awoke early on Saturday for our trip to the south coast. Our start was delayed slightly and as soon as we had stemmed the bleeding from Andys finger (in his haste to get caffeine in him he stabbed himself opening the coffee packet) we hit the road. There was a lot of traffic about for that time on a Saturday morning and although we missed our official registration time, there were no problems and we had time to get ourselves sorted and ready for the day ahead, and it looked set to be a sunny one.
We dibbed out one by one and headed off along the soft grassy track and I was enjoying being out. For a change I was the one looking forward to this more and Andy mentioned more than once that he didn’t really feel as up for it as usual. This soon changed though as no one could not be up for a run in surroundings and conditions that we found ourselves in. The course, true to form, soon started heading North (and I don’t mean towards Scotland, I mean towards the sun). We were running along the cliff tops, up and down and up and down and up again for a couple of miles which meant on the ups you could take your time and enjoy the scenery. Olivia was with us for this part and shortly passed us as we were walking up a longer climb. I secretly didn’t want her to beat me and expressed this concern to Andy who assured me that we were still only 4 miles or so in and that we’d see her, and a lot of other people who passed us on these hills, again later. So we carried on walking, eating, chatting and sure enough caught up with her again, around the point we had to negotiate our way around a cement lorry which involved clambering up a bank, rather than running through the wet concrete they’d just laid. Didn’t really fancy concrete boots on this terrain! She was running well and I remember thinking that as someone who used to dislike running she was performing incredibly well. I still wasn’t convinced that Andy was right and set off in hot pursuit after her only to be reigned back in by Andy. We came to a downhill section which we seemed to be stronger than Olivia on so hit the first checkpoint pretty much together. She was faster through it than us (well, me, Andy was ready and waiting) and was off again into the distance. We kept it steady along a mile or so of flat field and were passed by 2 other girls. We remarked that they were running at a fairly fast pace for so early in a marathon and Andy even bet me £100 that I’d beat all three of them. Sure enough by the time we reached the gate at the end of the field I had passed one and the other shortly after. We’ll call this second girl “The Rower” as she’ll feature again in this report and was wearing what looked like rowing shorts. We hit another incline and this is where we caught up with Olivia. We passed her on the narrow track and kept on truding upwards and when I asked her a question and got no response I was surprised to turn around and see her further back than I’d thought.
I’m lucky with my running partner as Andy is like my alarm clock reminding me to eat and drink, my pacer, holding me back when I start to speed up and pushing me on to run hills I would probably have walked and my wind break. Everyone should get one.
The miles all blur into one from this point but we spotted another lady just before the 2nd checkpoint and she wasn’t getting any nearer. By the time we left the CP she was running more like a speed-walker with her feet barely leaving the ground and I felt sorry for her that she looked in such a bad way only half way through. But there’s no time for sympathy in this game. We hit another steep hill and I took this opportunity to eat something. I had bought 2 buttered hot cross buns as part of my nutrition but after only managing to choke down half, I was relieved of the weight of the rest by my kind partner. On this hill is where we saw The Rower again. Steaming up it like she was being chased by a pack of rabid hounds and breathing like she was having an asthma attack. Only to slow to practically a walk (hardly surprising) almost immediately in front of us. We were baffled as to why she would expend so much energy running a hill like that, my HR up it was 170 just walking. She had done this a couple of time already, so we trailed her for a while and when we hit a slight downhill section (where although I’m not great, I can usually pass a few people) we hatched a plan to psyche her out to the point of detonation. Sounds harsh I know but like I said, show no sympathy. So I execute the plan to perfection, catching her up and then just sitting on her shoulder to push her on. Lo and behold, as soon as she knew I was there she upped the pace. You could actually feel it getting faster and faster. So with an internal “mwahhhh haaaaa haaaaaa haaaa!”, Andy and I opened our stride and left her. We didn’t see her again.
By this point we were almost back to where we started, ready to do a loop the in the other direction. As we were coming in we clashed with the 10k-ers who were on their way out. So may runners everywhere! The loop the other way out consisted of what I believe are the Seven Sisters, namely 7 hills along the cliff tops. A lot of it was walkable but apparently more of it was runnable according to Andy as we ploughed on up and down passing the half marathon-ers as we went. One of whom was our Bridget who was having trouble with blisters and calves (her calves, not baby cows) but was still in fine spirits. Apparently she said she could hear us bantering away miles into the distance. Good job we weren’t saying anything bad…..! Shortly after we saw Oli Sinclair on his way back to do his extra loop that makes up the ultra. He looked good and was running well. I hoped I looked that good when I got to where he was. (I didn’t.)
This section seemed to last forever and I was tired of running up hills when the old phrase “be careful what you wish for” became more true than its ever 25/30% descent which everyone seemed to be walking down. Andy, like the mountain goat he is, shot off and I took this opportunity to slow down, only to discover that I wasn’t slowing down, my legs were screaming and the only thing I could do was come to a complete stop. Unfortunately this is where Andy decided to turn around and I had to start running again. It hurt a lot, but I must have passed about 15 people on that section alone. This last loop was cruel as it takes you almost to the finish, you can see it in the distance about half a mile away, then it turns you left and up yet another hill to do a loop around before coming back over the Seven Sisters cliff that we’d come out over. Things were getting a bit bleak now and even the happy pills (don’t worry, they’re just caffeine) didn’t seem to make me very happy. I didn’t know which was worse, the down hills or the up.
On the way back over the Seven Sisters I started to get cramp. I have never had cramp in a race in my life so this was a new experience for me. I can now see how it can stop someone in their tracks. The back of my knees, my calves and my feet were spasm-ing like made. My foot was turned out at practically right angles due to cramp but I couldn’t stop to fix it, I knew we only had a mile and a half to go. According to the website and the briefing that morning, the distance was 27.something and my Garmin showed 25.5. I was waiting for the last mile to pick the pace up and was just taking it easy until then. Suddenly a blur shot by us which turned out to be Oli, stating “I think that’s called being lapped” as he disappeared from sight. Andy wanted to chase him but I was reluctant to let him go as the distraction of his chatter was what was keeping me from lying down in the cool grass and going to sleep. Then suddenly, around the next corner, the finish chute was there. At 26.1 miles it was at least a mile sooner than I had expected, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just unexpected. I didn’t get to wind up for a fast last mile, and Andy certainly could have gone after Oli as we were, at that point, about 150m from the end. But, glad to have got it done in 4.32. Oli got 2nd in the Ultra, Tomas 2nd in the half marathon so we hung out on the grass with Bridget (who ran the last 4 miles in barefeet!) and Olivia (great performance from her, and first Vet!) and Ana to watch them collect their prizes. Only when I heard my name being called did I realise I had managed to get 3rd place in the marathon and was collecting a prize myself! Happy days! A pleasant yet unexpected surprise.
A stunning course, made even better by the weather which has to have been the best day we’ve had this year. I do think I owe my 3rd place to Andy and feel I had a slight advantage (though not as much as the man with his dog on a harness pulling him along (who we beat BTW)) as without his orders of when to run and when to hold back, and when to eat and drink, I probably would have met the same fate as The Rower and blown myself up.
A nice day out, plenty of sunshine and a slap up meal in Harvester with Bridget, Olivia and Tomas rounded things off nicely.
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