Sussex Coastal Ultra - Event Update

The results from Saturday's running events over the chalk cliffs and South Downs of Sussex were published late on Sunday. My official finishing time was 5 hours 42 minutes 27 seconds. A total of 83 people lined up to run the ultra marathon, of which only 63 finished the full distance. It would seem that two people abandoned before they'd even reached halfway, 17 abandoned at the marathon finish point, which I myself was so very tempted to do. One person made it to checkpoint 4 and then must have thrown in the towel when they got back to Birling Gap with perhaps just 4 miles left to go. So almost a quarter of the field did not finish the ultra marathon. This is a good indication of how tough the event was.

The winning time in the ultra marathon was 4 hours 59 minutes. I finished in 14th place and was the second vet over 45. However, the winning vet over 45 was someone I knew well, David Ross, who also came 2nd overall with a time of 5 hours 14 minutes. And if you're interested, the last person to finish the ultra came in with a time of 8 hours 25 minutes.

Here's a summary of the other races:

• 10k - 207 finished, 9 DNF, winning time 55 mins 46 secs.
• Half marathon - 368 finished, 10 DNF, winning time 1 hr 34 mins 46 secs.
• Marathon - 147 finished, 8 DNF, winning time 3 hr 26 mins 13 secs.

Because I love statistics and analysing data, I can report that only 13 people taking part in the marathon reached checkpoint 3 in a time quicker than me. Also, I reached the end of the marathon in a time of 4 hours 17 minutes, which would have been good enough for 17th place in the marathon, if I had stopped at that point. The last 10k of the race actually turned out to be 12.5k, and this took me 1 hour 25 minutes. And finally, for the lover of stats and the running nerds, my average pace was 9 mins 47 secs per mile, or 6 mins 7 secs per km, or a speed of 9.8kph.

At the time I wasn't thinking of the Endurancelife motto, but I will try to make it my default motivational phrase to repeat to myself in times of difficulty in future. Never give up.

Sussex Coastal Ultra

Why do we run marathons? The most common answer must be that for most it is the ultimate physical challenge that we can undertake. It is said that the human body can generally store enough energy as glycogen for about 16 to 18 miles of running. Glycogen is the preferred energy source for the body to use when running. Fat reserves and the protein of ones muscles are another source. So once your glycogen stores are depleted the body switches to other sources of fuel to keep it going over the final 8 to 10 miles of a marathon. This is also why people talk about hitting the wall, it is simply the point were there is no glycogen left and the body stutters for a while whilst it makes the switch to burning more body fat, or even muscle, for fuel. Speaking from my own experience this is the point that running then starts to feel uncomfortable and becomes a mental as much as a physical test.

Once the body has run 20 miles and the legs are starting to hurt the mind needs to stay strong in order to keep the legs ticking over and to carry on running the final 6 miles of a marathon. Like many of my marathon running peers, I have reached the point where to run a marathon is no longer intimidating. To run 6 to 8 miles in pain isn't so bad, the time will pass fairly quickly. Whenever I stand at the start line of a marathon I know I will complete the distance. The only question is how well will I do?

So, why do we run ultras? For me it is to recapture some of that fear and apprehension that I used to feel when I first started running marathons, and it is to test both my mental as well as physical limits. At times I never doubt that I will finish, but I always know that the run will be a serious challenge. However, just occasionally I am filled with the dread that I might just fail to complete the distance. I had these doubts Saturday morning. Somehow my head wasn't quite in the right place to take on a 34 mile run over the Sussex Downs and coastal paths.

In the week between Pitsford Marathon and the Sussex Ultra I had run just three times. Twice with clients and once with the Sweaty Betty running club. Each time my legs still felt slightly fatigued from running a hard marathon and a fast half marathon the previous two weekends. This was partly why I doubted whether I'd finish. I also have to confess that I had felt some knee pain in the previous week and questioned my judgement about running at all. 

On my drive down to Eastbourne on Friday I wondered whether I should speak to the organisers and see if I could downgrade myself to the marathon distance. The fact that the marathon distance was also an option didn't help with my mental preparation to run 34 miles. I had a convenient get out clause dangling just before me. I could run the marathon instead of 34 miles and it would still qualify towards my goals for the year, i.e. to run 26 races of marathon distance or more. However, I had originally picked the ultra marathon because I thought it would also be good training towards the 119km TDS race in the summer. I'd been weighing up my options all day, but in the end went to bed Friday night resolved to have a go at the ultra as planned.

After a fairly sleepless night I drove to the start of the race at Birling Gap, just outside Eastbourne. The drive to the start brought home just how hilly this part of the country is, and my fears came flooding back. Birling Gap sits between two famous coastal landmarks; Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters, which would both feature in the run.

The event is organised by Endurancelife, and there were four distances on offer, all with different start times: the 34 mile ultra at 08:20, marathon at 09:00, half marathon at 10:30 and 10k at 11:30. The idea of the different start times is to ensure that people competing in each distance are all out on the course at the same time towards the end of their respective runs.The routes for each race varied slightly, and the ultra was made up of both the marathon and 10k race combined. During a race briefing we were told that at the end of the marathon distance we were free to abandon if we felt we couldn't complete the final 10k. You can see the various routes here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx-hf2EWX3p7T2RWc1FVUjR5LWM/edit

If the hills on offer were not enough, the weather forecast for the day was also predicted to increase the level of difficulty, with an ever strengthening wind and scattered showers. Lining up at the start was very different to the bright sunshine and warmth experienced at the start of the two previous weekend runs. Most runners were wearing their waterproof jackets to protect them from the icy wind. 

The start of the ultra marathon.

At 8:20am we were set off to first tackle the Seven Sisters. The profile of the Seven Sisters doesn't look too bad, until you try to run over them in a strong headwind. I felt that I needed my jacket to protect me from the wind, but it was also acting like a sail and making running into the wind strenuous. The wind was also quite blustery, so one second I felt as if I had an invisible force pressing against my chest holding me back, then it would suddenly die down and I would lurch forward and almost topple over. I have never experienced wind like it whilst out on a run. By the time I had reached the fourth cliff top I decided I'd warmed enough to ditch my coat and to remove some of the drag factor. Removing my coat did make running over the final three cliffs easier. I wasn't carrying my camera on this run, but here are a couple of photos from Google, the first shows our view of the Seven Sisters, the second is one of the few photos I could find that show all seven white cliffs.

View of the Seven Sisters from near Birling Gap.

The Seven Sisters

We then headed inland and a few minutes later the sky darkened and then pelted us with hail which then turned into freezing rain. I wrapped up in my coat once more, but I still felt as if my body temperature was dropping. Thankfully we soon started to make the steady climb towards the highest point of the course at about mile 9.5. The effort of plodding uphill helped raise my body temperature again. At some point I drifted off slightly and found myself taking a wrong turn. I suddenly realised that I couldn't see anyone on the path ahead of me, so I turned back. I think this cost me about 10 minutes and added almost a mile.

Just before the climb we passed underneath one of the other notable land marks in the region, the chalk figure of the Long Man of Wilmington. The figure was once believed to either date from the neolithic or iron age period, but recent studies indicate it dates to either the 16th or 17th century.

Long Man of Wilmington

At about the 17 mile point on the marathon course we were joined by runners coming from a different direction who were running in the half marathon. The runners taking part in the ultra marathon had become very dispersed. I was glad to suddenly have a large pack of runners around me.

At 18.5 miles we were back at Birling Gap and heading eastwards along the coast away from the Seven Sisters and towards Beachy Head. Beachy Head is the highest chalk cliff in Britain, rising to 162m. It also has a dark history as the number one suicide spot in the UK. The approach to it's summit was certainly intimidating, but I wasn't quite ready to jump off. I was certainly feeling completely exhausted by this stage, and was often reduced to walking.

Beachy Head

I was passed by a steady trickle of half marathon runners, although I should add I was keeping up with many and overtaking a few. I was only aware of being passed by one marathon runner. It was easy to identify the half marathon runners. Marathon runners and ultra runners had to carry a mandatory kit list that included jacket, gloves, hat, foil blanket, first aid kit, some food and drink. This pretty much meant we had to have some sort of backpack. The half marathon runners and 10k runners didn't have to carry any of this kit, it was at their own discretion. Our race numbers also indicated which event we were doing. Every now and again a half marathon runner would run past, look at my number and wish me luck or say "well done".

We continued along the coast until we reached mile 22.5 overall. This was where we'd find the third checkpoint of the day and would then turn inland and then back towards Birling Gap. I was starting to seriously consider abandoning at the end of the marathon distance. I didn't know for sure but suspected that the race results would show a DNF (did not finish) next to my name, rather than giving me a marathon finishing time. This did plague me slightly. If I felt that I was running with an injury or liable to cause an injury then I would have no problems abandoning a race. But my earlier fears about my knee or general fatigue in my legs just hadn't come to anything. I really felt as if I was running well, but I still felt as if my head wasn't quite together. To get back to the race HQ and then head out again for another 10k was a daunting prospect. If the ultra event didn't go back to the start then I'm sure I would have been fine. But to have a hot cup of tea and my warm clothes within reach made it so very tempting to stop.

At about 24 miles I was joined by a particularly affable half marathon runner. He asked how I was doing, so I told him that I was struggling and thinking of calling it a day at the marathon distance. "You can't do that," he told me. "You look like you're running fine. I'm sure you can go the distance." This vote of confidence from a complete stranger was a real boost to my confidence. So much so that my pace almost instantly quickened and I left him behind before I'd had a chance to thank him. However, he caught me again at the next hill. He wasn't a fast runner, but he could run up hills that I had to walk up. "How you doing?" he asked me again. "Not bad, mate," I responded. "You're not thinking of giving up, are you?" he enquired. "We'll see," I said. "Come on now, you're doing great, you've got to carry on." His continued enthusiasm definitely raised my spirits.

At 26.5 miles (according to my GPS watch) I passed a sign saying 1 mile to go. This of course was for the 10k, half marathon and marathon runners, many of whom I was passing or at least keeping up with at this point. This was helped by the fact that the finish was mostly downhill. The finish straight had a left fork for the ultra runners, and everyone else turned right for the finish line. At this point there were far too many spectators around to even contemplate stopping. The shame would have been unbearable. So I carried on running. Just around the corner there was a table with large water containers for re-filling bottles. Three half marathon runners, who had obviously been finished for some time, were making use of the water containers but immediately stepped aside when they saw I was an ultra runner. They congratulated me and wished me luck for the rest of the race. Before I finished filling my bottle I was joined by two other ultra runners, a male and female. We left the water station together to tackle the final 10k.

The 10k course took us back towards the Severn Sisters, but this time we only had to go over the first three cliff tops. Just as well as the wind had increased in accordance with the weather forecast. I was still running with the two runners I'd met at the water station (I'll know their names when the results are published). In order to make any progress into the headwind the three of us were bent over double and plodding forwards. To my mind we must have looked like people bent over working in rice paddie fields. I don't have any photos, but we kind of looked like one of the trees that grow on these cliff tops, except we were bending into the wind.

A tree distorted by the winds on the Seven Sisters

As we turned away from the cliffs and slightly out of the wind I slowed to a walk to eat some banana loaf that I had been carrying. The other two runners then spread out in front of me, with the male leading. We then seemed to stay about 200m apart up until the long descent down to Birling Gap. It seemed that the guy in the lead wasn't as fast on the descents as the girl or myself. I could see that the girl was gaining on the male runner and I was gaining on the girl. The three of us were back together by the time we reached Birling Gap, and once again we headed eastwards towards Beachy Head.

The turnaround point for the 10k course was the top of Beachy Head. Endurancelife don't necessarily measure their courses accurately. Why make a course exactly 10k when adding a few hundred metres will take you to the top of a landmark? This is kind of their philosophy, as well as generally making the runs as challenging as possible. Me and my two running companions stayed together to the final checkpoint on Beachey Head. Up to this point we hadn't seen any other ultra runners on this part of the course. Between us we started to question whether we'd made a mistake and gone the wrong way, so it was a great relief to finally see the last checkpoint. It was then mostly downhill to the finish. I was amazed at how strong I felt. I left my two companions behind and overtook a steady trickle of marathon and half marathon runners over the last mile.

I have to end by saying that this was one event I was glad to have behind me. The scenery was spectacular, the conditions testing and the weather extreme. Given that I wasn't necessarily in the right place mentally both before and during the race, I felt both relieved and quite proud to have finished. I was very glad that I hadn't succumb to the temptation of stopping at the marathon distance. Although I could have argued that I had completed another marathon in this marathon year, I'm sure I would also have felt that I had failed. I believe that the experience from this run will help when I face tougher challenges later in the year, not least the 119km Sur les Traces des Ducs de  Savoie (that's TDS to you and me).

Pitsford Marathon and a Silly Little Parkrun

It's been a fun running weekend. It all kicked off with a great Cambridge Parkrun event. Heidi Uff was stepping down as the event director, having fulfilled that roll since the inception of the event on 30 January 2010. Her husband, John, has also very much been involved with the running of the event over the previous 4 years. I don’t know where the idea came from but a plan was hatched for people to come to the Parkrun as either Heidi or John. Heidi (usually) has red hair and John generally sports a Mohican and has tattoos the length of both arms. Many people had decided to wear vivid red wigs, but there were a few Mohicans and tattoo sleeves on display. I couldn’t get my hands on tattoo sleeves but had managed to find a full tattoo body stocking shirt. It must have been a very strange, if not disturbing, event for any first time parkrunners.

Heidi and John (or Tony and Alan?)

Before we were allowed to run there was a presentation to both Heidi and John. Heidi had obviously realized that something was afoot and had died her hair blonde for the event. After a few speeches and rounds of applause we were directed to the start line, where normally service resumed. Once everyone had finished the run there was copious amounts of free cake and Champaign. It was definitely a fun start to the weekend.

The real Heidi (without red hair) and John

What do you call a large gathering of Heidi's?

Today I ran my fifth marathon of the year around Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire. The weather was fantastic, but I still heard a few people complaining about it either being a little too hot or a bit too windy. I thought runners were supposed to be an optimistic bunch of people. Just goes to prove you can’t please everyone.

A selfie at the start of the Pitsford Marathon

My client, Robert, was also running the marathon as his first ever attempt at 26.2 miles. I also met a few familiar marathon runners at the start, all of whom I knew from the Extreme Energy multi day events.

Robert all ready for his first marathon

The marathon route was four laps of the reservoir. Not my favourite type of run, but the reservoir itself is very picturesque and it would be hard to pick out any point of the course and say it wasn’t scenic. The wind did seem to pick up on every successive lap. Each lap was about 6.5 miles and we had the wind on our backs for the first half of each lap and then in our faces for the second half, which also seemed to be the hilliest section.

One of the few flat sections of the course - across the dam wall

I started way to fast and ran the first 3 miles with another runner. Just before the 3 mile point we decided to introduce ourselves and then quizzed each other about our marathon history. My fellow runner was Matt with a marathon PB of 2 hours 44 minutes, a good 10 minutes quicker than mine. On learning this I decided to say ‘goodbye’ to Matt and slowed my pace down to something approaching the pace I was aiming for, i.e. about 7 minutes 15 seconds per mile, rather that sub 7 minute miles.

By the time I’d finished my second lap I was in 5^th place. I then gained a place by the time I was starting my last lap. I allowed a degree of negativity to start to creep into my head at this point. I told myself that finishing in 4^th place was just about the worst place to finish and didn’t feel the need to kill myself on the last lap to only come 4^th. I had almost resigned myself to having a brief walk at mile 22. I had pretty much convinced myself that I would treat the day as a 22 mile training run, with a 4 mile easy jog/walk at the end. At this stage I was passing many runners who were on their third lap. Just before reaching 22 miles I passed one runner who asked me if I was on my last lap. He then said, “Bugger, so am I. I wasn’t expecting anyone to overtake me at this stage”. This meant that I was now in 3^rd place, which suddenly gave me a podium place to defend.

I had a feeling that another runner was not far behind me. Knowing I was now 3^rd overall suddenly gave me a new lease of life. If the other runner had kept his mouth shut I wouldn’t have been any the wiser and might have taken things a little easier towards the end. But I now told myself that if anyone else was closing in on me then they’d have to beat me fair and square, I wasn’t going to make it easy for them. So I knuckled down, abandoned all thoughts of a walk break, and ran the whole way to the finish and managed to maintain a fairly even pace over the final 4 miles.

In the end I finished in a time of 3 hours 12 minutes and 50 seconds. This is very respectable on an off-road course, over undulating terrain and on a reasonably warm and windy day. Do I sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet? Well so be it. I do feel rather pleased with myself.

Matt, who I ran with at the start finished in 1^st place and just a little outside of 3 hours. I was glad I hadn’t tried to keep up with him, as I’d be ruined right now.

Left to right - 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall.

I waited near the finish area to see Robert finish in just under 4 hours, which is also a great achievement for a first marathon on quite a testing course, both mentally and physically.

A very low key finish line

I couldn’t fault the organisers, everything we needed to run the marathon was provided. There were a variety of drinks from water to squash and flat coke, and food for those who wanted it in the form of Jaffa cakes and wine gums. The drink stations were about the right distance apart and the course had all the markings that were needed to find your way around a single body of water. However I’m going to have a little whinge at some of the members of public. The event was low key, but given that we were all wearing numbers it was obvious that something was going on. On many occasions I had to weave in and out of meandering pedestrians and cyclists who seemed to look straight through me. I know they have a right to be on the paths, but surely they could show some consideration for others! And on two occasions I was almost tripped by dogs that I felt should have been under tighter control. But there you go, that’s my grumpy old git moan out of the way. I’m not going to let that ruin what has otherwise been a great weekend of running. Hurrah!

Cambridge Half Marathon

Not so much of a long run last weekend, but still one of my favourite races of the year; the Saucony Cambridge Half Marathon. This race is now in it's third year and it is the biggest running event in Cambridge with 4500 entrants. 

Why do I love it? Well first for all the obvious reasons: it's right on my doorstep, I always know plenty of people taking part and plenty of others who will be lining the street as spectators. Some people have a whinge about the choice of route, which makes two loops of the city centre, but I personally think the organisers have come up with a great run. The race starts alongside Jesus Green and Midsummer Common and then heads away from the centre to cross the river on what is normally a busy dual carriageway (it is closed in one direction for the race). Many people complain that this part of the route is quite uninspiring, but I argue that if you look to your left as you cross the river you get a great long distance view of the city. By mile 2 you are then running close to the river and not far from the historic city centre. Soon you are running past some of the most iconic colleges in Cambridge: Magdalene, Trinity, St John's, King's, Queen's and many others. The route also passes the Fitzwilliam Museum and runs through the main shopping street in Cambridge and past the 12th century Round Church. What's not to like? I do have a preference for races that only have one large loop, but I'm quite happy to do two loops when the route is as inspiring as this one through Cambridge. 

I never know in advance who is going to be out on the course cheering on the runners, so it's always a great surprise when I see  and hear someone I know in the crowd shouting out my name. The run attracts a large number of spectators but it is always great to be cheered on by someone you know. This is another reason why I love this event. The route also passes right in front of the Sweaty Betty shop and the girls in the shop always do a great job of cheering on the runners. If you didn't know, I happen to coach their run club and I always feel as if their decibel level increases whenever they see me.

The night before the run I went out for a pasta meal with some of the girls from the Sweaty Betty running club. This year a few of the girls brought along their boyfriends so that I wouldn't be the solitary male in the group, although I never have any objection to this. I find it amusing watching others in the restaurant trying to work out why there would be just one male amongst a large group of women. During the meal we made arrangements to meet at the usual run club meeting point before the run started.

The weather this year was a repeat of two years ago, with bright spring sunshine and temperatures approaching 18 degrees Celsius. Last year we had freezing weather and a mix of snow and sleet which kept some runners and many spectators away. As the start time drew nearer more and more Sweaty Betties and a few other running friends met up under the not quite so central lamp post on Midsummer Common. I definitely enjoyed seeing so many of my running friends out for the event, and was quite proud to think that I was actually responsible for helping some of them get to the start line.

Meeting with the Betties and Beasts before the race.

My long time running friend, Jamshid.
I seem obsessed with doing a "power to the people" salute.

I wasn't quite sure what sort of form I was going to be in for the half marathon. I hadn't done much in the way of speed training in recent weeks, and I had run two marathons and one multi-day ultra so far this year. My expectation was that I'd finish in about 1 hour 25 minutes, so I had sort of planned to run at a pace of around 6'25" per mile. Needless to say I ran the first mile much quicker than this, and then found myself running at about 6'10" average over the first 3 miles. I was trying to settle myself into a manageable pace when I passed the Sweaty Betty shop at 2.5 miles, the cheer I got from the girls raised my heart rate and quickened my pace and I found myself unintentionally sprinting past several runners as I passed the shop. I kept telling myself to ease off the pace, which I only achieved by the third mile. By this stage I was running close to someone who seemed to be going at my pace, so I made it my aim to stick with him.

The Sweaty Betty support team.

Passing the Sweaty Betty shop (next to Rohan) - this is my technique
for high speed cornering.

Once I'd completed my first lap I think I had seen someone I knew in the crowd at almost every half mile point. I was aware that I was still running faster than I had intended, but everything was feeling good and I was really enjoying the run. 

Running through the heart of Cambridge

On Jesus Green and just over one mile from the finish.

Many people later complained about the heat, but it was just right for me. I was having problems with the water pouches that were being handed out. I only got one out of six to work o.k. Most just delivered their water as a fine spray and I had to tear the spout off with my teeth in order to get a drink, but I'd lose half the water in the process. On one occasion I squeezed the water pouch to get a drink, but all that happened was that the whole pouch burst and I lost all the water in one go. That then meant running another 3 miles before I had another opportunity for a drink. By the time I crossed the line I was very thirsty and really glad of the alcohol free beer that was being handed out, which tasted like the finest nectar on Earth.

I crossed the line in a time of 1 hour 23 minutes 18 seconds. This was quicker than I was expecting so I was very happy with the run. I later also found out that my time was about 20 seconds quicker than the previous year, and not one minute slower, which I initially suspected.

Once I'd collected my bag I waited near the agreed meeting point to cheer on my friends. I was just in time to see my client, Robert, run past. I then went to the finish line to meet him and in doing so missed about four of the Sweaty Betties run past. Robert ran a new PB by about 3 minutes to finish just under 1 hour 36 minutes, so that was another good result from the day.

Back at the meeting point I cheered on the various Sweaty Betties as they passed me, along with other runners I knew. I did miss several people who must have past in a blur, or as I was distracted in conversation. As the Sweaty Betties started to appear at the meeting point they all seemed to have big grins on their faces, and it seemed that everyone had really enjoyed themselves. Well almost everyone. One of the Betties was seriously affected by dehydration and heat exhaustion and had to be helped across the finish line and then to the medical tent. Thankfully, she recovered o.k. and was up on her feet and walking after a couple of hours.

Lots of happy runners with their alcohol free beer after the run.

On the whole it had been a fantastic day. There were some great times, too many for me to mention and I'm bound to forget someone. And of course the most important thing is having the courage to take part and then making it to the finish line.

The weekend that is now rapidly approaching I will be taking part in a special parkrun on Saturday and running in the Pitsford Marathon in Northamptonshire on Sunday.