Druid Challenge - Day 3

When Sunday morning arrived I was aware that I had managed a few hours sleep. None the less, I was still feeling very sleep deprived. My legs also throbbed in pain, despite having a sports massage the previous evening. I slowly got out of my sleeping bag, gingerly got to my feet and took a few steps like a toddler who had just learnt how to walk. I'm sure I looked pretty pathetic. Others looked like they were struggling to move as much as I was, but there were other runners in the hall who seemed to be moving pain free, I wish I knew their secret.

The weather forecast for the day ahead was good. This at least gave me one thing to be optimistic about. We were also told by Neil, the organiser, that nobody ever gets lost on the last day because the route is very obvious. I was hoping I wouldn't prove him wrong.

There had been some changes to people's start times overnight. Some people had been promoted from the 8am start to the 9am group because they had run well the previous day, but this also meant that some people had been demoted to the earlier start time. There was no change to my start time. 

Because we had to be transported by minibus to the start we had to be ready for 8.30am. This made it seem like we had less time to hang around and fret before getting underway. At the start Neil gave us the final briefing for the day ahead. As it was Remembrance Sunday, we also observed a 1 minute silence in recognition for those who had lost their lives fighting in both world wars, and in other conflicts since. A few of the competitors were in the armed forces, so observing the minute silence whilst being in their company seemed extra poignant.

At the start of Day 3. Neil (left) giving us the final instructions. I'm in the background in my red cap.

Once we were on our way the lead four men again set off at a blistering pace. There was only a small margin between the first and second placed runner overnight, so it seemed that there was going to be a good battle going on ahead for the overall placings. At the one mile mark I was in 6th place, just behind Charlie, the lead female, and I was aware of a couple of runners just behind me. At one point Charlie stopped to adjust her shoes, or some piece of kit, and I went past her. I expected her to catch me very shortly after that, but I never saw her again for a very long time. The two runners who had also been just behind me also seemed to drop away. By this stage the four lead men where nowhere to be seen. This meant I was effectively leading the pack. I felt very nervous about leading the way given my track record for getting lost. I was really hoping Charlie would overtake me so I could just follow her.

I reached the first checkpoint at 7.5 miles and filled up my water bottle. I didn't really feel the need to eat anything, but I grabbed a couple of small pieces of malt loaf anyway. As I was leaving the checkpoint Charlie was just arriving. Over the next section of the course I started to pass people from the walkers group who had left two hours earlier. It is always reassuring when you start to pass the walkers, and I always make sure I give them a cheer, or a clap or at least a wave when I pass them. I have a lot of respect for those who walk these events, after all, they will be out on the trail for a lot longer than the likes of me, and often arrive at the finish after everyone else has eaten.

The second checkpoint was at 14.5 miles. The course had been steadily undulating up to that point. So far I had run it all and reached the checkpoint in a time of 2 hours 15 minutes. I was still just ahead of Charlie, but not for much longer. After the checkpoint we had a 2km uphill section alongside a busy main road. We had to stick to the narrow grass verge. I was reduced to a run/walk routine over this section, and whilst I was on a short walk break Charlie ran past me. When we turned off the road back on to trail we had an even steeper uphill section, perhaps the steepest incline of the day. I was glad to see that even Charlie was reduced to a walk on this bit. By the time I reached the top of that hill Charlie was way out in front of me, never to be seen again. This was a very pretty part of the route, with some fantastic views all around. At this stage I was starting to pass many of the runners from the 8am group. Some of the runners I was passing I had only just caught at the end of the previous day, so I knew that I was running better than the day before. I was actually feeling surprisingly good, but there was still some 10 miles to go.

The final checkpoint was at 22.6 miles, just after a long downhill stretch. I part filled my water bottled and grabbed two chunks of flapjack and continued on my way. I walked whilst eating the flapjack, past a row of the prettiest thatched cottages I've ever seen. Once I'd finished eating I tried to jog, but my legs simply refused. I was then heading uphill again, so I resigned myself to walk for a bit. 

I was now only about 5 miles from the finish. The next 3 miles were almost all uphill. Eventually, I got my legs to run again, but I pretty much ran/walked the uphill section. I thought that this was another really pretty part of the route, up to Barbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort. From Barbury Castle we turned off the Ridgeway to run the last 2 miles on road to the Alexandra House Hotel in Wroughton. The first section on tarmac was incredibly steep downhill. My quads screamed in agony on the descent. We then had a final mile and a half uphill to the hotel. With the end in sight I was actually able to pick up my pace. There was quite a large crowd of spectators at the finish, which made a change. No doubt friends and family who had come to collect their loved ones.

I managed to hold on to sixth place out of my group of starters, and finished in a time of 4 hours 20 minutes. Charlie was just over 2 minutes ahead of me. One runner, Jez, had managed to sneak into the 8am start, and he also beat me by 2 minutes, so overall on the day I finished in 7th place, a lot better than my 25th and 26th on the previous two days. My overall ranking had also increased from 26th to 15th overall. If I hadn't gone wrong on the first two days I might well have finished in the top ten. Still, I was happy with my overall performance. The whole weekend had been a lot of fun. It was another very well organised event by the Extreme Energy team, and the chance to catch up with some familiar runners that I've come to know over the last few years and to make more new friends. If you are a marathon runner I would strongly recommend giving a multi-day event a try. They are much more fun and more rewarding than your run of the mill road marathon. The camaraderie can not be beat and you will definitely make new friends on the way.

Finishers medal and T-shirt

The Druid Challenge might well be my last event of 2013. I have now reached a grand total of 48 marathons (including ultras). At the start of the year I had intended on reaching 50 by December, but I missed the Malvern Midsummer Marathon in June because I visited a friend instead, and I have pretty much decided not to run the Portsmouth Marathon in December, so that I can have some well earned rest. I never made my target of 50 public at the beginning of the year, if I had things might be different. I am starting to draw up my plans for 2014, and this time I will go public. You'll have to keep an eye on this blog to learn what they are.