Adidas 24 Hour Thunder Run

I’m going to do my best at making my report on the 24 Hour Thunder Run fairly brief.  I’m sure that this will have some of you breathing a sigh of relief.  But I might find it challenging to reduce a 24 hour event to a few paragraphs, whilst still doing it justice.

A part of me really wants to shout about just how fantastic the Thunder Run is.  But another part of me can see that it could become the running equivalent of Glastonbury, and in future years it will become increasing more difficult to get a place.  This part of me wants to tell you all that it was rubbish and to never attempt it.  That way the rest of us can continue to enjoy it each year and not have to worry about it being swamped by vast numbers of entries.

The concept of the Thunder Run is simple; a marked 10k, off road course winds its way through the grounds of Catton Park in Derbyshire.  The aim is to run as many laps as you can in a 24 hour period, starting 12 noon on Saturday and finishing at noon on Sunday.  It can be done in relay teams consisting of anything from 2 to 8 people, or it can be attempted by solo runners, which is what I opted to do.  It’s a simple concept but it requires a massive amount of determination from the solo runners to keep going for 24 hours, and also plenty of planning and organisation for the teams to keep going for the duration.

When I first entered the Thunder Run my aim was to see if I could run 100 miles in less than 24 hours.  I thought that this would be a very safe, controlled and fun way to test my limits.  However, I decided to lower my expectations as the day drew nearer, not because I didn’t believe I could do it but because I have the Swiss Mountain Ultra just 3 weeks later, and I didn’t want to knacker myself before doing that.  So I made a list of objectives, which were:

1.      To run the first 60km non-stop (reason for this being that I believe that this would in itself be a good training running for the Swiss Alps race).

2.      To then run 2 laps at a time from there on and have a significant rest after each.

3.      To not get injured.

4.      To have fun.

5.      To aim for 120km minimum, or at least finish having run further than I ever had in 24 hours before (about 100km).

I travelled down with Jo and Jason on Friday afternoon to set up camp for the night.  Jo was running as part of an 8 person relay team with a few people I knew (Gary, Andy, Emma & Faried) and others I didn’t (Francesca, John, Chris).

Me and Jo just after collecting our T-shirts and numbers.

The site had a festival feel but without any music and without a single beer tent.  This would be my one complaint.  I’m sure many people would have had a couple of beers on the Friday night, and some sort of entertainment would have been nice.  I was also surprised that the only source of food was a large food tent, a fish and chip van and an ice cream van.  I had imagined more food choices.  There’s more catering than this at the Cambridge beer festival.  But saying that, the staff working in the food tent did a great job at keeping everyone fed all weekend, and prices were more reasonable than at any festival I’ve been too.  Large slices of cake for £1.40, not bad at all, bowls of pasta for about £4.50, and plenty of bacon in the baguettes.

In the festival village - the main food tent.

Strolling around on Friday night I bumped into running friend Nigel Cooke, who I would continue to bump into over the course of the weekend.  I spent most of Friday evening sat around in a forced state of soberness with Jo and Jason whilst waiting for Gary and co to arrive.  Once they did I said hello and goodbye and turned in for an early night, hoping to get plenty of sleep, which didn’t happen.

I was up at 7am wondering how I should best fuel myself for a 24 hour race that wasn’t due to start until noon.  First I ate a muesli bar.  Then I went to the food tent for tea and porridge.  At 11am I had a large bacon baguette.  That should do for starters.

Waiting for the start with Jo and Nigel.  Solo runners have yellow numbers.

It was already scorching at 12 noon.  Myself and a few other solo runners sheltered under a patch of shade well away from the start line waiting for the event to get underway.  When it did start all the front, fast 10k runners sprinted off.  I walked along at the back of the pack absorbing all the cheers from the onlookers and ended up being the last person to cross the start line.  I’ve not done that before!  The atmosphere at the start was amazing; it almost brought me to tears.  Once across the start line I started to jog and found myself already passing many of the back runners, including many team runners.  Then after about 600m we all came to a stand still as the route narrowed to a single track path that wound its way up through some woods.  Everyone was forced to slow down to a walk, but I don’t think any solo runner would ever have run up the hill anyway. I certainly didn’t on any of my subsequent laps.

And we're off

The amazing spectators

Queuing on the first hill through the woods

On the first lap I caught up and passed Jo.  I really wasn’t expecting to do this and started to worry that I was going too fast.  But I then shrugged it off and thought ‘what the hell’ may as well just keep to whatever pace feels comfortable at any given time.  After all, I could stop and rest whenever I wanted.

Catching up with Jo

The atmosphere on the run was amazing.  The course was probably never more than 1 mile from the camp site at any given time.  Many sections passed straight through the camp site at various points, and then disappeared off into the forest for a couple of kilometres before skirting the campsite again.  This meant there were always several pockets of spectators at different points on the course.  There were some very enthusiastic children who must have been primed to give a massive cheer to any solo runners.  They certainly gave me a big cheer whenever I saw them.

Just before reaching the end of my 6th lap.

By 6pm I was just reaching the end of my sixth lap, so I dived off the course for a plate of pasta.  So target one had been achieved.  As I was looking for somewhere to stop and eat my pasta I heard a shout from a table.  Jo, Jason, Gary and a few others from the Cambridge Fun Run team were also sat eating a meal.  What perfect timing, I had good company whilst I ate my lunch, or was it dinner?

I probably rested for close to an hour, if you include the time it took to go to my tent to restock my backpack food supplies and re-fill my water bottles.  By 7pm I was off on the start of lap 7 with the aim of running another 2 laps non-stop.  Halfway round the clouds started rolling in.  Up to that point it had remained hot, which hadn’t really bothered me.  When running through some of the forest sections it felt as if night was drawing in.  It was really starting to get quite dark in the woods.  Then when I was about 500m from the start/finish line it started to rain.  I was still thinking of continuing for one more lap.  But by the time I reached the start line the rain had become torrential and the thunder storm had started.  I decided to nip off the course for tea and cake.  Like many other people I was thinking that the rain could not continue to be so heavy for very long. 

And then the rain came down.  Waiting in the food tent for the weather to improve.

It was just after 8pm when I dived off the course to shelter from the heavy rain.  90 minutes later and it was still hammering down.  I thought about my 3^rd and 4^th objectives: to not get injured, and to have fun.  With this in mind I decided to go to my tent and rest for an hour or so, as I couldn’t see how running in such heavy rain would be fun.  At 11pm I stuck my head out of my tent and the rain was still torrential and the lightening was still flashing.  I turned back in and decided to try and get 3 hours sleep.  I lay in my sleeping bag listening to the rain hammer my tent.  When my alarm went off at 2am I decided to just get up and get on with it.

I stepped out of my tent and was greeted by two runners who were sat in their car near by.  “Are you thinking of going out in this?” one asked. “I am”, I replied.  “Well be careful, it’s really treacherous out there.  People are falling over all over the place.” I was warned.  I decided to go for another cup of tea and to reconsider my options.

Back in the food tent I sat at a table with a few other runners.  All were part of relay teams, who had either just competed a lap or were waiting for a team mate to return for their turn to face the weather.  Many runners were arriving covered head to toe in mud as a result of a fall. 

The great thing about being a solo runner was the fact that you were not accountable to anyone other than yourself.  The team runners practically had no choice but to continue, or else they would be letting the team down.  However, they only had to do one lap at a time and then had plenty of time to dry off and rest before their next lap.

I sat drinking my tea, talking to my fellow runners, and looking out at the weather wondering if I should go for a run.  It was clear that the runners around me had a great deal of admiration for the solo runners, but at that time I was feeling like a bit of a wimp.  I kept reminding myself of my list of objectives.  So far I could happily tick off objectives 1, 3 and 4.  I still had plenty of time to tick off objective 5.

Just before 4am it seemed that the rain was just starting to ease off.  I then decided I would head off at 4am, come what may.  And that is what I did.  I donned my head torch and headed off into what remained of the night determined to get another two laps under my belt.  The ground conditions were about the worst I’d every tried running in.  I was so glad of my trail shoes.  Those who only had road shoes were slipping and falling all around me.  There was just one time when I almost fell.  I was going down a short slope behind two runners, who both fell in front of me.  I couldn’t go around them, and I wasn’t going to jump over them.  As the runner closest to me was just getting up from the ground I put my hands out and reached for his shoulders to stop myself, and pushed him back down into the mud in the process.  I hope he looks back at this moment and can see the funny side of the situation.

As I reached the end of the lap the sun was coming up and I headed straight back out for lap 9.  My legs felt amazingly ok at the end of lap 8, but the mileage was starting to tell on the next lap.  I kept thinking about reaching the end of another lap and stopping for more food.  It was amazing how the condition of the mud had changed in the course of an hour.  On my previous lap it was a case of running over slippery mud or through deep puddles of muddy water.  On my next lap sections were showing signs of drying out and the mud had changed consistency to become sticky mud that either threatened to pull your shoes off, or clung to your feet like heavy weights.

It was just after 6am when I reached the end of lap 9 and stopped for a bacon baguette.  I still had another 6 hours to go.  At this stage I was still thinking in terms of completing 120km in total, i.e. another 3 laps.  40 minutes later I was up and off for lap 10.  By this stage the wooded sections of the course had become particularly tricky.  Tree roots were invisible in places and would threaten to trip you.  In other places deep holes were appearing between the roots, as the mud stuck to runners’ shoes.  On these sections it was like trying to step between the rungs of a horizontal ladder that was a few inches off the floor.  There was one section were a knee deep puddle remained, and I had no choice but to wade through it.

I reached the end of lap 10 and continued for another lap.  I contemplated stopping for a short break, but felt I might never get up again if I did. So I ploughed on for another lap.  This was now my fourth lap of the muddy course since my night time break.  I was also aware that this lap represented the furthest I had run in 24 hours. 

I was starting to get a little bored of ploughing through energy sapping mud.  Much of my 11^th lap was spent walking and talking to other solo runners.  When I reached the end of the lap it was about 9.30am, and it felt like time to reward myself to some tea and cake.

Once again, I met with Jo, Jason and this time Andy, in the food tent.  I was feeling pretty exhausted and it was 50/50 as to whether or not I would go for another lap.  Jason and Jo had already packed up their tent and were keen to make a swift exit as soon as possible after 12 noon.  As they were providing me with a lift home I decided to let this be the deciding factor for not continuing any further.  So whilst finishing my tea and cake at about 10am I mentally threw in my imaginary towel.  I hadn’t achieved my targeted 120km, but I had still run further than I ever had done before in a 24 hour period.  I’d also had heaps of fun. 

With Emma and Jo after collecting our medals.

It’s hard to explain why the Thunder Run was such good fun.  I guess it’s partly because it allows runners of all abilities to come together and take part in an event over the same, challenging course.  For many it is the most challenging running event they will ever do.  It is amazingly well organized and has a fantastic atmosphere.  It’s the closest thing to a running festival that I have ever encountered.  It is the Glastonbury of the running world.

I packed up my tent thinking I will definitely be back, but in a relay team next time.  I was even thinking about which running friends I would try to rope in to my team.  However, now the dust has settled, although I still have residual mud under my toe nails, I’m starting to think about returning as a solo runner again and beating my distance.  I know I can do 160km next year!

I loved the motivational boards around the course.

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