Adidas 24 Hour Thunder Run

The goals are starting to get a little more ambitious now. My next event will be the 112km TDS race from Courmayer in Italy to Chamonix, France. This is what I view as being my toughest run of the year. It's not so much the distance that will be the killer as the 7,150m of total ascent. There is a 31 hour cut off time for completing the event, which in itself is an indication of how tough the event is. I'm expecting to complete it in around 24 hours, and because of this I viewed the 24 hour Adidas Thunder Run as being a major stepping stone in my preparation for the TDS.

I ran the Thunder Run in 2013 and completed 110km in total. Last year I drew up a list of objectives, which included not getting injured and to run at least 100km.

I ran the Thunder Run again last weekend and drew up a similar list of objectives, which were:

- To have fun (which I believe must always be the primary objective for anything we do).
- To not get injured.
- To avoid stopping for sleep if at all possible.
- To run between 120km and 160km. 

I was really hoping to run 160km, i.e. 16 laps of the 10km course, but 120km would also represent the furthest I'd ever run in a single event. Having run the event before I knew that stopping for food would result in long delays. Last year there was just one food tent and at certain times there were long queues for food. Most people were happy for solo runners to jump the queue, but this couldn't be guaranteed.

Maybe I should explain that most people taking part in the Thunder Run compete in relay teams of anything between two and eight people per team. In total 7,600 people took part last weekend, and just 150 of those were running as solo runners, or "nutters" as most people call them. I was one of those nutters.

To speed up my access to food I decided to be self sufficient to a certain extent. So I loaded a cool box Friday morning with:

- 4 bottles of Lucozade sport.
- 1 litre of coconut water, which is a natural electrolyte drink.
- 3 cheese sandwich bread rolls.
- 1 fruit cake.
- 1 Soreen malt loaf.
- 1 Soreen banana loaf.

I also had a few Shot Bloc energy gels with me and electrolyte tablets. Despite taking some food with me I still expected to stop at the food tent for some rest and re-fuelling.

Get my food supplies ready Friday morning.

Several friends from Cambridge were taking part as an eight person relay team: Anne, Jo, Viona, Jason, Chris, Faried, Nils and Paul. The three girls are all members of the Sweaty Betty running club that I coach. I also travelled down with Gaz, who was part of my eight man Channel Row event two years ago (as was Jason) and who was also running solo. On Friday night we had a relaxing and fun time sat around the camp site sharing stories and carbo loading.

I also knew several Cambridge runners who were running in a number of other teams, and Nigel, another solo runner. So all in all it was going to be a fairly sociable weekend as well as a running challenge.

The girls preparing food for the barbie.

Solo runners' guide to carbo loading - Gaz has cake, I have beer.

I had a fairly restless night on Friday but I tried to stay in my tent to get as much rest as possible Saturday morning. At about 9am I finally got up and went for breakfast number 1 - a bacon and egg roll. This was followed by porridge at about 10.30am. Then it was just a case of killing time before the start at 12 noon.

Jason, Jo, Anne, Nils, Gaz, Chris, Viona, Paul, me and Faried

Apart from posing for a series of group photos such as the one above, I spent most of the morning lying under the shade of a tree. The last hour dragged on and I couldn't wait to get started. When it was finally time to line up I slumped off to the very back of the start line with Nigel. 

And there off...
(photo by Richard Youell)

Gaz looking like a Ninja in his headband. The arrow points to me.
Yellow numbers indicate solo runners.
(photo by Richard Youell)

I had no set strategy for the 24 hours ahead. I knew I wanted to keep going for the first 50km without a significant break. I also wanted to run the entire first lap. This was impossible as everyone is reduced to a walk up the first hill due to the volume of people, but from there on I ran up ever hill for the first lap, and most of the second lap.

Queuing to go up the first hill through the woods.

 

It was really hot by mid day on Saturday and I decided to run with as little as possible. This meant just a run belt with one water bottle, my camera and an emergency energy gel. I got round my first three laps in about 54 minutes each time. After the third lap I ditched my camera and picked up some malt loaf from the cool box just inside my tent. Solo runners have their own camping spot right by the start/finish line so it doesn't take up too much time going back to the tent, but the process of collecting food from my tent still added about 5 minutes to each lap.

It was always great to see friends on the run. Jo on her first lap out.

Chris just about to overtake me on my fourth lap, with Richard just behind in the red T-shirt.

After my fourth lap I decided to fill my water bottle with Lucozade, and to have a brief break back at camp of about 15 minutes.  I then ran my fifth lap to complete the first 50k in just over 5 hours, so I was very happy with how my progress was going. 

I can also confirm that objective 1 was so far being achieved. I was really enjoying the run. I felt way better than I did the previous weekend in the Chilterns. I was running with a big smile on my face, which hadn't gone unnoticed by spectators and other runners. Some of the spectators commented that I was looking way to happy for a solo runner, some asked what drugs I was on. My smile got me noticed and meant that I got lots of encouragement from the crowd, who I waved at and high fived as I ran around. I also found that running with a smile helped to reinforce the fact that I was running for fun. It also took my mind off how much I was hurting.

Around the course there were a few small groups of kids with water pistols trying to keep the runners cool. I got to know one small group of five kids very well. Every time I passed I would stop in front of them and shout, "Come on, get me! Give me more!". Or something to that affect. By my third lap they were looking out for me and would jump up and down with joy on my approach. After my fourth lap they started shouting,"Here comes our favourite customer." And this then continued for the whole of the Saturday. Sadly, I didn't see them on Sunday, so I guess their parents had other plans for them.

One group of relay runners, who had camped alongside the run route, were collecting the names of all the solo runners as we passed. They kept their own long list of our names next to our run numbers. One person on lookout would shout out, "Runner number 4 approaching", (my number). Then another crew member would check their list and as I ran past they would then shout out, "Well done Alan, you're looking fantastic." Towards the end of the run this particular group commented on how good I was looking and I felt that I was getting a bigger reaction from them than other solo runners. Perhaps that was just in my head, but it certainly helped me feel good.

That's another lap completed.

After lap 5 I was feeling really hot,so I lay under a tree in the solo camping area for 30 minutes to cool down. Gaz was already lying in the shade having had the same idea. After 30 minutes I pressed on but was still finding it to be really hot so at the end of lap 6 I headed to the food tent for tea and cake, I think it was about 6:20 at this stage.  

I then headed out for lap 7 just before 7pm, it was slightly cooler by now, but I realised that I hadn't eaten any proper food since breakfast, so I decided I'd have a proper break at the end of the lap. So with 70km covered I decided to stop for roughly an hour and to eat a steak baguette, which was washed down with a can of coke.

During my dinner break I got talking to a few other runners in the food tent who were all in awe of the solo runners. This is one of the great things about the Thunder Run. When you take part in most ultra marathons you are running with other ultra marathon runners, and we never consider each other to be odd or super human. However, at the Thunder Run most of the 7,600 runners taking part are in teams of 5 to 8 and they tend to view the solo runners as amazing athletes, either that or completely bonkers. The truth is we just have a little more will power and the ability to put up with pain and to keep on going when our legs are screaming at us to stop. That's the only secret, the ability to endure pain. 

Water and sponges at about halfway. The volunteers did a great
job at keeping us hydrated and cool.

I got lap 8 in just before it started to get dark. Parts of the forested sections were already getting quite dark in the late afternoon light. So after 80km I headed back to the tent and picked up my running back pack, which had in it two head torches, jacket and a long sleeve top, just in case.

It wasn't long before the head torch went on. The laps were starting to get slower. Lap 9 took a little under 1 hour 15 minutes, and lap 10 took 1 hour 20 minutes.  I had covered 100km in just over 13 hours, with plenty of stops. 

At this stage I decided to stop for another steak baguette. I then decided to go to my tent for a 30 minute rest. I lay on top of my sleeping bag in my running kit and slowly got colder. It wasn't long before I got inside my bag to get warm, and the cozy warmth of my bag seduced me into extending my 30 minute break, which became two hours before I knew it. I was very tempted to spend the whole night in my sleeping bag, but I really wanted to be out running through the dawn, so I forced myself to get up.

Runners in the night.
(photo by Jason Evans)

I had a complete change of clothing and headed back to the trails. I was initially really cold so I had three layers of clothing on: a T-shirt, long sleeve top and jacket. The jacket came off on the walk up the second hill, and the long sleeve top soon followed.

I completed the next two laps without a stop. Sun rise happened on my 12th lap, my favourite time of day. I had another break of about 40 minutes for more tea and cake after lap 12. I then completed the next 3 laps in one go. My final lap took 1 hour 8 minutes, which I think is pretty impressive after 150km on a reasonably hilly course, and with some twisty sections through woods with plenty of exposed tree roots.

This was me towards the end of either lap 14 or 15. Looks like I had already started celebrating.

I was just starting to feel a twinge or two in my right knee on the last lap. I finished my 15th lap just before 11am. In theory I could have gone for another lap to hit 160km, but I reminded myself of my second objective; to not get injured. I decided that this objective should outweigh any distance goals, so on those grounds I called it a day.

It wasn't long after I'd stopped that I met up with Gaz, then Jo and Jason, and soon after that Viona and Chris and the rest of the Cambridge team. Chris and Viona kindly got me a drink whilst Jason went off to hand in my timing chip and to collect my medal. I was feeling absolutely exhausted and in pain. Whilst I was making a feeble attempt to do some stretching Jason rounded us up for a final group photo with our medals.

Thunder Runners and support crew of one.

After the photo shoot I headed back to my tent for a lie down. It was roasting in my tent, but despite that I slept through the award ceremony and woke two hours later to discover that the site was practically deserted. Gary was also snoozing in his tent, but at about 2.30pm we decided it was time to pack up and to head to Tamworth to check in to the Travelodge. 

Tamworth was just a short drive away, and we found the hotel without any problems. I still hadn't had anything to eat since finishing the run, so we order a snack to be delivered to our room. The microwaved cheese and bacon muffin might well have been the worst thing I've ever eaten, but the calories it supplied were very welcome. We then had another sleep before heading out for an evening meal. 

I can't recommend Tamworth for a Sunday night out. I doubt it's up to much any other day of the week, but on this particular Sunday it seemed like a fairly bleak place. Walking through the city centre I felt as if I'd been transported back to the 1960s. Most of the pubs looked uninspiring and there was a distinct lack of restaurants. We ended up in an Italian restaurant by default rather than judgement, as it was the only half decent place open. The large calzone pizza went down very nicely, though.

The next morning I was surprised at how good I felt. Of course my legs were a little stiff, but they weren't in any way as bad as I had expected. The drive home was relatively straight forward and pain free. And once I was home I spent most of the afternoon sat in front of the TV catching up on the final stages of the Tour de France and some of the Commonwealth Games.

And that is now run number 16 of the year completed.