Thames Path 100 2015

Last year I went into the race after a campaign of good training, good eating and a perfectly honed race plan in place. Of course the race went tits up. Too much pressure on my self, it was always destined to go wrong. This year I thought I would not stress so much about everything, ate a less than perfect diet, put on a few pounds and generally had a much more relaxed approach to the race. I had a very loose plan A that was to be, run the first half in 8 hours and see how I felt. Possibly pushing forward for a pb attempt if I felt good. If anything was not going right I was going to back off as I've got the Dragons Back race at the end of June and I didn't want to jeopardise that. Having said that this race was special to me not only because it's my WS qualifier but it was to be my 11th attempt at a Centurion 100 having DNF'd 1 this would be my 10th finishers buckle.

Ready to go

I arrived a touch early for registration so headed for McDonalds for a pre race porridge and bumped into Rich Cranswick who had beaten me to it and was feasting on a sausage muffin. We chatted for a while before heading off to get signed in. Its always a good idea to get in early, I hate queuing for anything so I'd rather be early and then have to kill time. I had a good chat to James before I registered then had a natter with all the familiar faces around the registration room. I headed back to the car and got ready. I found a couple of other Spartathlon entrants and introduced myself to them, Paul Corderoy and Ian Thomas, I also had a chat with Martin Pether. Funny how you have all these FB friends and don't actually meet. I try to introduce to myself to as many as I recognise.


We were soon on the start line and the brief had taken place. I found myself right at the front and as per usually I could feel my race plan slipping away. I had had months to think how I would tackle the race and starting at the front wasn't in the program. I'd planned to start in the middle so not to get swept up in an early fast pace but no there I was again right at the front on my toes looking like I'm about to start a park run.

We are off

The horn went off and so were we. There were a few in front and I now concentrated on banging out 8min miles which due to some poor mental arithmetic should have been 9min miles. Still it felt good so I stuck with it. I felt really good early on and my thoughts soon went to a potential pb. I ran on and off with Ian and we chatted but I find it quite hard to concentrate on what I'm doing if I spend too much time waffling so the little and often chats suited me fine. Through the first aid station and I felt good.  My wife on usual crew duties told me early that I was going a bit fast but that fell on deaf ears. Today could be a quick one.


 I have been experimenting lately with a new powdered nutrition and it has been fantastic but after a couple of bottle refills it started to make me feel sick. Not great. Also I was using the Inov8 race ultra 10 pack for its first major event. It has 2 hydrapack bottles positioned under your armpits and then two straws up to near your mouth. I love the pack and set up but refilling is awkward to say the least especially trying to put a sachet of powder in the bottle then refilling then reattaching to the straws. I used a volunteer at every aid station to help with this. So thanks to all. On the flip side this is not going to be an ideal situation for the Dragons back and I'll have to have a re think on pack choice for that.


Soon out of Wrasbury I realised I couldn't maintain the pace and started to back off. My hamstrings, calves and one of my Achilles were hurting possibly due to being bent over laying turf all week. That and feeling sick certainly knocked me back. I started to enjoy the run more at the slower pace and began trying to get back on track for my 8 hour, 50 mile. Earlier in the day I had lubed my nether regions which is something I wouldn't normally do. I had chaffed my nuts during a training run so decided I needed some preventative measures. This in hindsight seems to have caused me more of a problem and I was getting sore. Perhaps I was having a reaction to the Gurney Goo I'd used? I reached Cookham and was back on track time wise. The running is lovely through to Henley and I had plenty of time to think about the race and how things were going. I could feel a hot spot on my foot and was very aware of a blister coming up on my foot.


I got to Henley and was greeted by the ever pleasant Karen and her excellent half way aid station. I decided to have a really good stop, so I first removed my sock to reveal a massive big toe blister which wasn't causing too much grief so I decided to leave it be. A change of top, a big bowl of pasta and a bag restock I was ready to go again. I'd reached Henley in 8 hours 11 so pretty much run a perfectly timed first half but the game was up I reassessed my race and made a firm decision that a pb attempt was off. Too much had gone wrong and my legs couldn't run the last half in under 10 hours. I decided it was to be damage limitation. Get the race done, no injuries and recover quickly to resume dragons back training.


I got to Reading and my chaffing was getting intolerable, I got a massive glob of vas and slavered it on but it just seemed to make the pain worse. I likened the pain to having sat on a cactus, it was awful. I had a quick few words with Jacqui and Paul before running on. I soon started running with David Thompson and we stuck together for a good few miles. We were counting down the miles a bit which is not best practice for getting you through but we were steadily run walking and apart from my obvious pain things were ok.


The head torch came out between Reading and Whitchurch as did my base layer it was getting chilly. I got into Whitchurch and my pal Lee was helping out. He had kindly bought me some dairy milk which was a real treat and gave me a real lift. Dave and I left Whitchurch and ran for a while until we reached the only hill on the course which goes down for about 20mtrs then back up the other side, well I managed to slip and fall bending my thumb back in the process. Great.

Cherry anyone?

I had a nice bowl of pasta at Streatley and told my wife to go and wait at the finish as there was nothing more I would need. It had started to rain so the coat went on too and we set off again. Some of the next 20 miles are amongst the dullest night time running you could experience. My chaffing was killing me, it was raining and it was bleak. This truly wasn't enjoyable at all. As I pondered the reasons why I do this and ate a small bag of jelly babies I managed to chomp right into my tongue. For f*ck sake there was blood pouring from my mouth. I put the jellys away and trudged on. Dave had more in his legs during this time and went ahead alone. I was ok though run walking and knew it would see me to the end. I had however forgot my cans of redbull to drink in the night and the sleep demons were pulling on my eyelids. At least twice I dozed off while running, luckily only running into the bushes and not the Thames. Not many people believe it is possible to fall asleep whilst running but I'm sure I'm not the only person this happens too.


The last 10 miles went by painfully, I had stopped applying vas hours previous and the cactus feeling was more like someone had fired staples into my bits. I ran, I walked and occasionally stopped with my legs spread to relieve the pain. I wanted this race done and I soon rounded the last bend onto the home straight. It was done 20hrs 20min. I received my buckle number 10.


I apologise to everyone at the finish who asked if I enjoyed it and got a blunt no, I'm a miserable git at best even if I've had a good race. However I did cheer up slightly after a good layer of Sudacream.


I'm glad I've got my 10th done as that has filled up my wall nicely and on the back of that I don't need to do this race again. I just know when entries open I'll be thinking that this race still has potential for a good time. Could the Thames path and I be finished? I'm not sure. I'm just not sure how to approach it next time to get a great time.

Number 10 in its rightful home 

The Nav4 Mountain Running Essentials Weekend

After another Western States refusal I was left feeling a tad flat. I was struggling to find races in 2015 that got the juices flowing. Badwater was high on the to-do list but I can't justify the cost of it right now, so that was out. I've had a hankering to run the Thames Ring 250 but as I sat there reading the blurb, finger hovering ready to take the plunge, I couldn't do it. I asked my self (a) Did it excite me? and (b) Did I really want to run or possibly walk 250 miles in one go? The answers were no and no. All I had for 2015 was the Thames path 100 which is my go to WS qualifier and incidentally my 10th Centurion buckle, so get out the party poppers!! In January I received an email that contained a link to the Dragons back race. Wow this looks exciting. Multi day, not done that, full on nav, not done that and an iconic race to boot. This ignited the fire in my belly and I put my entry in. Dragons Back is to be one of two "A" races in 2015. I looked at every aspect of the event and nothing really bothered me apart from the navigation. I can find my way around a map but bearings? compasses?? Night navigation ??? Pretty much all the vital stuff I needed for the race. A pal of mine had used Nav 4 before for navigation training and his recommendation was good enough for me so I booked the Mountain Running Essentials weekend.

Me and Dave half way up Skiddaw

The course took place over a Saturday and Sunday and covered pretty much everything you could want to know regarding Mountain skills including Nav, route choice, kit and some hands on advice and tips from the two time Dragons back finisher Joe Faulkner. Also a good opportunity to spend some time with like minded individuals.
A good friend of mine, Dave Bowen is in a similar place to myself regarding navigation and mountain running. He has had his fair share of getting lost but is also a pretty decent runner who loves a bit of mountain running. So I thought I'd ask him if he wanted to join me and make a bit of a weekend of it. Of course he did.
The location of the course is in the Lakes, on Ullswater outside of Pooley bridge. I met Dave at Penrith station on Friday with the idea of bagging a few peaks. He drove us down to Keswick where we had decided to run the first leg of the Bob Graham. Keswick-Skiddaw-Great Calva-Blencathra

Top of Skiddaw

Keswick. Easy.                                                                                                                                      We set off on our run and it was nice and warm, low cloud on the tops but nice all the same. The further we ascended the colder it got, the east wind was indeed blowing. The snow drifts were 3 feet in places and as we reached the top the wind chill must have been minus double figures. I had ice all down one side of my leg and Dave was sporting an icy beard, it was cold. Most alarmingly my man bits were really hurting in the icy wind and I had visions of getting frostbite and it dropping off. Tactical readjustment was needed fast. We carried on over the summit but as we progressed we couldn't tell the sky from the ground, it was all just white. the decision was quickly made to retrace our steps and descend fast. As we got lower we picked up a lovely trail and ended up having a cracking run.

Keswick 

We arrived at the bunkhouse at about 7pm and we were the first to arrive, we grabbed our bunks and headed straight for the pub. Stuart, one of the instructors had given us lengthy instructions on how to get to the nearest decent pub. These instructions started with turn left at the gate. Well we went through the gate and turned right. Navigational gurus for sure.

The bunkhouse

We got back and had an informal meet and greet we all introduced ourselves and said what we wanted from the course. There was five of us doing the Dragons Back and we all wanted the nav training plus Joes insider knowledge of the event. A couple of people doing Lakeland 50 and the rest although training for nothing specific wanted the navigation training. Between us there was a PTL finisher, UTMB, CCC, TDS, MDS, Spine, Lakeland 100, Welsh 3000s, the list went on but all in all a lot of experience In that room.
Introductions made we went to the pub, Dave already knew Richard and Annabelle, so we sat and talked about all things running. Very nice too. It was a bit late by the time I got to bed and the bunk house was freezing but I soon got to sleep.
I was up at 6 and had breakfast, Joe and the team had laid on endless supplies and it was all self service so no reason to go hungry. The bunkhouse lacked a seating area so we all just stood in the kitchen and got to know each other. 9am we hit the classroom and met the instructor for the day. Bernie, John and Stuart. We were split into groups of four, Myself, Dave, Richard and Annabelle teamed up with John as our tutor. We covered basic compass work in the class before heading out for a practical session.

The Nav4 team

John is an adventure racer with loads of navigational experience and taught us well. He didn't over complicate things, just gave us sound teaching that we then applied to the terrain. It was amazingly easy to learn, I did feel for John though as every feature he picked for us to find wasn't there, Stream sources etc that had long since dried up, comical but not his fault. We spent a good few hours practicing with little running but to be fair I needed to get to grips with the navigation and that is what we did. There was some snow still about and my feet were freezing so when John invited me to lead a run down a ridge I was off and cheekily took it a bit further than asked as it was such a gorgeous run. After finding various points as a group we were asked to find points on our own and the others would follow to pinpoint where we had stopped on the map. All interesting stuff. It was still very cold so rather than stopping we carried on through until about 3ish before heading back to the bunkhouse classroom to discuss route choices and decision making which would would be vital for the Dragons Back. Joe spent the next hour discussing specific DB relevant stuff which was really informative. After a while the other groups joined us and we all carried on a group discussion regarding all things running.

We have to navigate here!?

Joe then gave us a talk on kit which was very informative but could have been a bit more interactive. The time soon ebbed away and dinner was served in the classroom, homemade lasagne, salad, jacket spuds and garlic bread followed by dessert. It was lovely and enough to feed another dozen.
As soon as the food had gone down we were handed a sheet with grid references on and a map. We had to plot our control points on the map and decide on a route. We then changed into our running gear and headed to the fells for the night navigation session. I had a good route planned and decided I was going to run it at pace to give a feel for navigation whilst running.

John, Dave, Richard and Annabelle

I did ok, it was very dark and the ground was very rough but remembering Johns instructions I made very few mistakes. I struggled a bit with using time to measure how far I'd run but that is something I'm practicing. All in all I found it easy to navigate at night but if you make a mistake it is very easy to get confused. At one point I used a wall as a point to aim at but when I reached it I ran the wrong way along it, I'm still struggling to work out what made me run the wrong way but mistakes like that cant happen during the DB race. We finished around 10.30 and headed for the pub for a couple before heading back and crashing out.
Sunday I was up early again and after masses of toast and eggs we all converged on the meeting room. With very little chit chat we were told to plot some points onto a map in preparation for a mock mountain marathon. I was still not awake and rushing. I was making mistakes already so had to reel it in and start again. Glad I did as my first attempt was totally wrong. We then had to quickly decide on a route before setting off to rendezvous at the start point. We had 4 hours to reach as many points as we could before returning to the start within the time.

Its not often you'll see me in running trousers

Everyone went their own way and I set off along an easy part of the trail to get some easy miles in my legs and pick off a couple of easy checkpoints. I would tackle the harder stuff later. I got the first two quickly but fannied about a bit with the third.
The fourth I lost it completely and although I knew I was right on it I couldn't find the control point. I decided to move on, because I had lost my exact position I had to head to a visible trig point and re-navigate from there. I picked off a few of the higher control points before heading out to furthest point on the course. I just couldn't find one and spent ages running around a peak looking before telling myself I was on the wrong peak and the next one must be the one I'm looking for. After a further half hour of looking a gave up and picked up the others all the way back to the finish. I made a further error and had to climb a big hill to get to a control point that I could have got earlier whilst on the high ground. Only when I returned to the start did I find that the furthest point I had been looking for wasn't out at all. We were all told before we started except I had been concentrating on something else and like a typical man I cant use my brain and ears at the same time. Doh! Anyhow I learnt a lot on that exercise and realized that my bull in a china shop attitude doesn't cut it when it comes to navigation. It s far better to take a few extra minutes with the map instead of rushing off in the wrong direction or making a poor route choice. I must constantly remember this at the Dragons Back. We all finished at about 1ish and headed back to the bunkhouse.

Ullswater

Everyone seemed in a hurry to get away which was a shame because we had all that experience at our disposal. Everyone was gone by about 2 so I didn't want to keep Joe and the others there just for me so left too and got an earlier train.
Overall the course was very good and well worth doing if you intend doing any navigational type races. Everyone on the course was really nice and some will remain friends for a very long time. John's teaching was really good and Joe's Dragons back knowledge was fantastic. I've nothing negative to say about the weekend, as a whole it did exactly what it said it would if I was to change a couple of things, I would make the kit talk a bit more interactive but that's probably more our fault for not making it so and I'd have liked something planned on the Sunday afternoon to encourage a few to stay but these are minor details that didn't affect the weekend.
So a big thumbs up from me and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Nav4. Thanks to Joe, John, Bernie and Stuart. Also great to meet Paul and Nicola, Richard and Annabelle, Andy and Liz, Simon, Lizzie, Nigel, Leo and of course thanks Dave for joining me.

Winter 100 2014

The Winter 100 hadn't really been on my radar for 2014 but earlier in the year having completed The Thames Path and South Downs Way I decided to book up for the Centurion Grand slam again. However this plan got scuppered early on due to a chest infection just before the North Downs way. All the same I thought I'd still do this as my last ultra of the year. I wasn't quite sure how things would go being that UTMB was only 7 weeks previous but I felt ok, so went along with no great ambitions of a fabulous time.

The build up hadn't gone exactly to plan, I think I peaked a week early. The previous week had been quiet at work, I was full of energy and although I supposed to be into a two week taper I was running every day. What I hadn't anticipated was what a hard weeks work I had booked myself up prior to the race. I am a groundworker / landscaper so there are no easy days but I at least like the Friday off before a hundred to relax. Not to be this time, we did a full shift on the Friday. I did however go to bed at 8 o'clock that evening and slept right through until 5 am, so mentally tired I was not.

5am is a bit early for pre-race breakfast so I drank a couple of mugs of tea, grabbed a flask and an egg sandwich, chucked my kit in the van and set off. It's only a two hour drive from Maidstone so I had enough time to work out my plan for the race ahead. I had a few plans actually milling about in my head so it was only a case of picking which to run. Although I keep the plans simple I think it is important to have one even if you ditch it later on, in my case I tend to ditch early on. Having a pre-race plan is a great tool to get you mentally in the right place. Plan "A" was to run a 3 ½ hr first 25, 4hr 2nd 25, 4½ hr 3rd 25 and 5hr 4th 25. This obviously would have to be a perfect day, perfect weather, fitness, trail, nutrition, perfect everything really. Plan "B" is sub 20 using 4hr, 5hr, 5hr and 6 hour splits. As I didn't know what effect UTMB or the previous weeks work would have my head was saying plan B but my heart was screaming plan A. Given what a poor season I've had trying to achieve various time goals there would be little point holding back for this one so Plan A pb pace it was then.

Check In was great this time round, there was so many people there I knew and it was a pleasure doing the rounds and chatting with everyone. I did sit briefly and chat with Jeff Springford and Lee Kelly while I had my breakfast and deliberated what shoes to wear. There was not much cohesion in peoples view of what condition the trails were in. I had brought my Inov-8 290s for comfort or my Mizuno Harriers for grip. Finally deciding to go for comfort to start with. The format of the race is 4 out and back spurs so you are never more than 25 mile from your drop bag at HQ. This is great because you can travel pretty light. My decision for this race was to have all the mandatory kit on my person but just the most minimal kit I could find. Then I could have more substantial kit in my drop bag should conditions change. The kit  I carried for the race consisted of Ultimate Direction Highline pack with the bladder and padding stripped out, a bottle, both maps, Berghaus Vapourlight hyper smock, a £2 poncho, pair of skins tights which pack so small and I knew I wouldn't wear them, a 180g base layer, lightweight hat and gloves, Silva trail runner head lamp, small hand torch, batteries, tiny £2 compass, equally tiny whistle, 2 gels, iphone, scaps and an emergency blanket. I would not normally race this time of year with so little but given the format and warm weather forecast this was my decision on the day. After getting our kit checked, numbers pinned on and the briefing we were ready.

We had to walk up to the start due to the change in location of the HQ, so we strolled up to the Morrell rooms and carried on chatting. I went to the front for the start, a top 10 was going to be tough today but you might as well stand in the position you roughly want to finish. The rain just started to spit with 5 mins to go, so I composed myself and readied for the task ahead. With a blast of the horn we were off. A quick sprint down to the narrow foot bridge then we could settle into our pace. The top half dozen were off very quickly and a group of about 5 of us settled in to a 7½ to 8 min mile pace. It felt quite fast but not unmanageable.

We were straight out onto the Thames Path which wasn't as muddy as I had expected and I was just about getting grip on the grassy path. Within a couple of miles we reached a pub and three of us shot ahead when we should have turned left. Good job we ended up at the bottom of someone's garden or I would have just kept going. The pace was relentless and we shot through the 1st aid station. I was running with Paul Ali, Peter Bowles and two others, between us we exchanged chat and the miles just melted away. We were about 1/2 mile from the turn when Ed came bounding back along the trail followed not too far behind by the other podium prospects. I stopped at the turn, filled my bottle and sampled some cake. We were heading back.


One thing was for sure, it was hot! I was sweating buckets, I had anticipated a mild race and only wore shorts and a tee shirt but it was un-comfy hot. I suffer a bit with cramping in my legs but during UTMB I was taking scaps and drinking salty soup with no cramp at all. I decided that the cramps must be down to a lack of salt even though I take scaps. So I was taking one every hour during the heat.


One of the best things about the out and back format is you get to see the race unfold at the front and you can encourage all the runners throughout the pack. After many high fives we got back to running the 1st leg. The trail had now turned very slippy due to it being churned up and grip was hard to come by. I dropped back ever so slightly which felt more comfy, I felt I was pushing it a bit too much in the mud. We ran on to HQ and the first leg was done in about 3hrs 40 ish. I got in and decided that I would change to my grippy shoes for leg two. I also creamed my feet while the shoes were off. I took a few handfuls of food and shot off again.

Leg two is without doubt my favourite, it go's along the Ridgeway through South Stoke onto North Stoke and on up to Swyncombe via Grims ditch before returning. I backed off the pace slightly but still had it mind that I wanted the 50 done in daylight and that gave my 4hrs for this section. The run to North Stoke goes parallel with the Thames and isn't very far, maybe 4 mile or so and we arrived there very quickly, I still stopped, filled my bottles and grabbed some gels knowing the next section was 8+ miles. The route is mainly uphill for the run into Swyncombe, going through woods, across a golf course and through fields, a bit of everything really. As I neared the golf course the leaders came back the other way they must of been 8 or 9 miles ahead already. I carried on steadily onto the turn around being passed by the leading ladies in the process.
I had been taking the scaps very regular and eating plenty of gels backed up with crisps and fruit. Something wasn't right though, I wasn't sweating anymore and certainly hadn't peed although I'd been drinking loads. As I wasn't sweating my temperature was rising and my head felt very un-comfy.
I replenished my stocks at the aid station and headed back. Although my head felt like bursting I felt right in the zone a ran like a man possessed. I greeted everyone on the way back and really enjoyed the trail running, really great fun all the way to North stoke. I quickly filled my bottle and ran hard to the half way point. I made it in plenty of time 7hrs 50 ish and daylight to spare.
Instead of rushing through the Aid station I had a to do list and stuck to it. Change t-shirt, change socks, cream feet, fresh buff, fill bottle and eat properly. I did all that and decided to change shoes back to my 290's and I was off again. Roughly a 15min stop, but  I got everything right. I had grabbed a few bits to eat while I started leg 3. I walked up the High st, ate and carried on walking for about a mile. I was passed by a couple of runners but wasn't feeling the need to chase them down, I had a good fifty but didn't feel I had a pb in me on the day so I wasn't really bothered. I did resume my running and ran/walked upto bury down. Usually there is a wicked head wind as you run along the Ridgeway towards Chain Hill but luckily enough there was a cross wind today and it was very runnable, boring but runnable. As I reached the monument on the trail I knew the turnaround was not that far. Up ahead was the aid station, it looked like a spaceship from Close Encounters, lights flashing and all. As I got closer I could hear what at first I thought was SL2's "On a ragga tip" but soon realized it was in fact Prodigy's "Out of Space", a tune that brought back memories of my hedonistic lifestyle circa 1992. The fact there was a giant chicken in the aid station made me think for a second I was back there. Defo time to move on.
I ran back along the Ridgeway smiling and reminiscing about my youth, a happy runner was I. Back through Bury Down and the long slog back to HQ. I was through 75 in 13hrs 21. Happy enough with that but no pb today so I'd concentrate on a sub 20. Another quick cream of the feet and I joined the Thames path for the final leg.
I felt really shitty as I started the leg and really struggled to run right from the off. My hamstrings felt like they were being tightened as I moved and I was lacking energy. My stomach was not playing ball at all, I had eaten about 8 gels and 3 bags of shot blocks during the race and my stomach had had enough. I felt sick! and couldn't get any calories in. Peter Bowles and Peter Hague soon caught and passed me, I didn't care, I'd had enough to be honest. We joined up again in the aid station and walked out heading toward the final turnaround. They both soon started running and I tried to stay with them but I was hurting and just concentrated on run /walking there was no way I was death marching this one out. As I left the Thames to negotiate the housing estate I saw Peter Hague walking around looking lost. Luckily enough I have run through that estate about a dozen times and knew exactly where to go. It wasn't marked at all at the junction (someone must have removed them). We stuck together through that bit and rejoined the Thames. It soon started raining and before long it was hammering down, I put my poncho on which is really a bin bag with sleeves and a hood. The rain continued for a couple of hours and the poncho worked a treat.We chatted for a fair few miles and it soon emerged that Pete was feeling as rough as I. We carried on together and kind of worked out that sub 20 was borderline but I was doing what I could. I felt as sick as I ever have at this point but needed to eat! Energy levels were near zero. Just shy of the aid station I ate another gel, this made me gag, I swallowed it and pressed on gritting my teeth so not to be sick. I turned around at the aid station and headed straight back giving Pete the option to come with me. He agreed and we left together. We were both hurting and made a pact to finish together, we pushed each other all the way back, for once I was glad of some company. As our sub 20 came and went, we finished together in 20hrs 19mins, happy enough with that and another buckle in the bag.
All in all I had a good race, I think the weeks hard work affected my legs in the latter stages but I had kind of expected that. I didn't stop me pushing the pace when I should of reeled it in a bit but where's the fun in that. I really enjoyed meeting up with everyone before the race and making new friends during the race which for me was the highlight on an pretty uneventful race.
Something that really did go well was my feet, no blisters, no maceration, I think I really have it sussed. I used Camphor spray everyday in the run up to the race to harden the skin. The evening before I rubbed Gurney Goo into the soles of my feet as recommended and on the morning repeated that. I have now changed from drymax socks to icebreaker merino wool socks that are far less abrasive. I also reapplied the Gurney Goo every 25 mile and changed socks at 50. Sorted.
So as my ultra running season comes to an end the year hasn't exactly gone to plan. I haven't really performed when I wanted to, each time I stepped up ready to attempt a pb or other goal I've fallen a bit flat. My highlight was definitely UTMB which was a fabulous experience. My low point was the TP100 where after training so hard, losing weight, eating right and generally doing everything perfect I blew up in monumental style. So my attention turns to 2015. I have an entry in for Hardrock but with a 2% chance of getting in I'm not holding my breath. My third entry will be going in for Western States next week. Surely 2015 will be my year for that. I am holding out for HR or WS to be my "A" race next year. I have an entry in the Thames Path 100, In case I don't get in Western States so I have qualifier for 2016. When I find out my fate on the US races I can book up the rest of the season. At the moment if I don't get in either I shall enter Spartathlon but if I do I'm thinking about doing an Autumn Ironman. Apart from that it will be marathons and 50 mile or less ultras.
So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ;-)

Thanks again to http://www.kentphysio.co.uk/ for your ongoing support.

Congratulations to Kyle Blackburn for his fantastic Barcelona Ironman Finish. Well done bud.

UTMB 2014

Having failed in 2014 to gain entry into Western States again I made other race bookings for the year. Everything was sorted until my entry for UTMB came up, I had got in through the lottery. I cancelled the LL100, the C2C and The UTMB became my "A" race.


Training for this was going well up until 4 weeks out when I suffered a minor burn out. Being so busy trying to run a business and training had taken its toll. I was working 7 days a week, doing 10 hours labour a day plus my hill training of an evening. I was knackered! I was getting up, working, training, eating and sleeping. I got a couple of heavy migraines 4 weeks out which is a sure sign I was run down then I picked up a cold and chest infection. With 3 weeks to go I missed my last long run and had to settle for shorter high intensity stuff. I actually worked 35 days on the bounce before finishing on the Sunday before the race so I had a few days to chill out before we flew out. All my planned visits to the Lakes and Brecons went by the way side and little did I know what an effect this would have on my race.


This race could be done cheaply I suppose but I didn't find it cheap at all. When you start totting up I probably spent £1.8k total for my wife and I although only I ran. There was race entry, hotel for 5 nights, flights, insurance (used dogtag for specialist insurance), transfers, eating out, new kit, spending money whilst out there, the list goes on and on. We treated it as our summer holiday so I'm not complaining.

My room with a view.

We flew out from Heathrow on Wednesday morning and had a nice enough journey using BA for flights and Cham express for our transfer. The weather had been awful on the Tuesday but as we arrived the sun was shining the beauty of the Alps became more apparent as we got closer to Chamonix. I was in awe as I stared out of the mini bus window at the gorgeous mountains passing us by. After an hour and a half transfer we were there dropped off right outside our hotel and checked in. After a lengthy wait we managed to get sorted and got to our room. No, no, no this room was not good enough, no window! I can't stay in the Alps and make do with skylight especially after all the money we paid. Back downstairs and kindly ask to be moved. "We only have one other room and its a bit noisy", fine we'll take it. It was lovely, a view of the station one side and Mt Blanc out the other.


I decided to get my kit checked in straight away so I was free on the Thursday. I chucked my kit together and headed for the check in. Below is everything used or carried during the race.


Raidlight  Endurance 14 ltr pack: After trying many packs in the run up I decided on my very old and faithful pack. I can't get on with vest type packs, doing a physical job means I haven't got a typical runners physique and they rarely do up across the chest especially when full. A lot of runners had small packs and some looked like there was no way they had the mandatory kit. Any way my pack was perfect for the job. Heavy but perfect.


Water supply: I used a standard bottle for water kept in the bottle holder of my pack and a slim-line bottle shoved in my pack for emergencies and to make up the mandatory water requirement. Worked fine and only had to crack into my small bottle a couple of times.

Hows that all going in that bag?

Mobile: Iphone that has to work in all countries all the time so I took an external battery aswell, Mandatory.


Personal cup: I bought the Salamon cup which is tiny so didn't use it. What I did is to get a beetroot juice carton and cut the top off, folded up and shoved in my pack. You do need something if you want coke or tea etc because there is no cups after about the 4th aid station. Worked perfect. Mandatory.


2 Torches with spare batteries: My main torch is a Silva Trail Runner 2 used with Lithium batteries. This torch works fine and is very comfy with a good light beam. My back up is a Silva Siju which is fine but only as a back up. Mandatory


Survival Blanket: I bought the cheapest, smallest conforming blanket available at the expo. Mandatory


Whistle: On pack. Mandatory


Bandage: I had a small roll of self adhesive bandage stuffed in my pack. I also carried 2 stretchy tubey grip bandages in case my knees packed up. The roll was mandatory but the tubey was not.


Food reserve: Carried Gu gels,a Snickers and an Eat Natural bar. Mandatory. I got this majorly wrong but more about that later.


Waterproof coat: I carried my Hagloffs LIM which I carry on every race. Has never let me down. I also carried a disposable poncho for the first time which went over me and my pack when faced with a shower. Worked brilliant and will defo use it again as it so much easier than unpacking and putting your coat on and off. Coat mandatory, poncho not.


Long trousers or over the knee shorts and long socks: This one was the hardest to decide on and I actually changed 10 minutes before leaving for the start. My final choice was to wear compression shorts and have full compression tights in the pack. This was the right choice as I wasn't cold and didn't need to change. Unless you wear tights in the UK you'll be fine in shorts. The long trousers were Mandatory.


Warm layer: I carried and wore an Ice breaker Merino wool base layer 260g. Merino wool is fantastic and in my eyes the best clothing you can have. You don't get cold or hot or smell like a urinal. Mandatory.


Cap or Bandana: I carried both and usually always do. Mandatory.


Warm Hat: Same Berghaus hat I've had for years. Mandatory


Warm and waterproof gloves: I carried fingerless gloves because they are my preference but for mandatory reasons I carried light weight silk glove liners and black marigolds.


Waterproof trousers: Berghaus Paclight Goretex trousers. Rarely get worn but in this case mandatory.


Passport: Mandatory


Poles: Black Diamond Ultra Z poles optional but one of the most important items I had. So important that I couldn't have finished without them.


Handwarmers: The teabag type. Not mandatory but I have a problem with cold hands so carried them just in case.


Scaps: My electrolytes.


Pro plus: My caffeine hit.


Gurney goo: Foot lube


Spare socks: Merino Wool.


I wore;


Inov-8 290 race ultras, t-shirt, compression shorts, salomon cap, buff on my wrist, drymax socks with Gurney goo, Rock tape on various bits and my Suunto.


My drop bag contained a change of clothes, shoes and gels etc. My crew/wife carried similar.

Queue for Reg

I joined the back of a very large queue leading into a sports hall to get my kit checked and collect my number. It took a good hour to get into the sports hall and the front of the queue. I had to keep checking kit as I was so worried I'd forgotten something, too late now though I was called forward and handed over my passport. The lady tapped at her computer and looked at her screen quizzically, shit I thought what is wrong but within a few seconds a print out appeared and I was ushered on. On the print out I was asked to provide my long trousers, phone and water bottles. Kit checked passed and relax. My pack was tagged, my number handed over and the treasured wristband applied. I was out of there. I had a look around the very good expo and bumped into Peter Bowles, who was going to do the CCC. Our paths had crossed many times so it was finally good to have a chat and wish each other luck in our respective races. That evening we met some other UK runners and supporters for a few beers and a chat, we then headed back into town to watch some of the early TDS finishers come in.

Check in done

On the Thursday we did some sight seeing and went up on the biggest cable car in town. Not a great idea for someone as scared of heights as me. This thing was mental it virtually went vertical up the mountain but I just got on and didn't look down. The thing is, when this behemoth went over a ridge and crossed a pylon it started swinging. Oh my god what is going on, this is awful! I nearly passed out. Having said that it was a lovely trip after all and very beautiful indeed.

T minus 2 hours.

I had a great nights sleep and woke at 7ish on race morning, little did I know that would be the last sleep for at least the next 50 hours. We had breakfast and a walk around town trying to kill time but all I wanted was the start now. Town was slightly quieter as the CCC was under way, we grabbed a sandwich and headed back for me to get ready. The nerves were jangling but I just kept telling myself it was like repping Ben Nevis 10 times which somehow made the task seem a little less daunting. I was ready but just before leaving my room I decided to change from 3 quarter shorts to above the knee compression shorts. We walked down to the start line 2 hours early and there was plenty of room so I took a seat on a kerb and waited. Soon it was heaving and my wife had to walk away because it was just so manic. With an hour to go there was not a square inch around me but every so often someone would tip toe over everyone and squat into a non existent space. We had a few drops of rain which made some stand to don their coats which in turn made others surge forward, within seconds like a giant wave we were all forced to our feet and packed in like sardines. All the elite runners were now in the front pen and we all moved forward. I was so worried about this start as I thought if I lost a bottle or a stick I would never be able to stop and pick it up. As the music blared with minutes to go the sky opened up and it was lashing down. I took the decision to get my poncho out and get covered as everyone got packs off and rifled round for their coats. We were now down to the final minute and the Vangelis tune played, then the countdown and we were off. The start is manic, people jostle for position, crowds scream at you, and all the time you are careful not to fall.

Not long now.

The further out of town we got, the crowds dissipated and I was able to have a pee stop, two hours on the start line had taken its toll. The pace was fast as everyone wanted to crack on and the trail was easy. We soon reached Les Houches about 5 miles in and crossed the main road, before we knew it we were heading up our first climb. It was a steady climb up but by this time it was hammering down and my poncho was no longer cutting it and I was getting chilly so I stopped and put my coat on, after about an hour we reached the top. I felt good as we started to descend but it was steep, grassy and wet. My inov-8s were untested on this terrain so I took it steady thinking a fall would just end my race. The amount of people passing me was sickening, some were literally sprinting past me. We reached St Gervais and the party atmosphere was in full flow, screams of Allez,allez,allez filled my ears. This was amazing. I refilled water had some coke and onwards.

The first climb.

From St Gervais it was fairly runnable to Les Contamines then the climb to Col du Bonhomme. I was fast hiking all the way up passing lots of people and occasionally turning to marvel at the endless snake of headlamps behind. The higher we got the more aware of the altitude I was, getting slightly more breathless, very thirsty and sore headed. We passed the Col on to Croix du Bonhomme. We started another long descent into Les Chapieux, again I was getting pummeled on the descent, I just couldn't get any speed but I felt strong. I think it was Les Chapieux where I was ushered to a table for a kit check. Phone, coat and emergency blanket please. Be warned you will not get through this race if you try and blag it through without the correct kit.


The aid stations held water, coke, tea, coffee, and a salty chicken stock full of noodles. Food wise they had lumps of bread, cheese, salami, cheddar biscuit things and fruit. I was having a Gu gel every so often and a bowl of salty stock whenever it was on offer. In hindsight this was never going to see me through!


As we approached mile 30 I felt good, no sign of a bonk and the legs felt strong. I wasn't due to meet my wife till half way so pressed on. It was quite cold and about 1am so I stopped to strip off my soaked jacket and t-shirt and replaced it with my IceBreaker top, I soon warmed up. The rain had subsided but my feet were pretty mushy so I stopped again and took 5 to change my socks and reapply the Gurney Goo.

Happy to see the sun come up.

We followed a road for a while before ascending again and again I power hiked all the way before losing all my places on the next descent. There was becoming an every increasing pattern of climbs and descents with very little flat running. At this point my knee decided to start being awkward and I had sharp pain shooting through my leg so I got one of my tubey bandages out and strapped it up. This was hard going but doable, I felt ok. The climb up to Arete du Mont-Favre was steep and I felt quite lethargic for the first time. I also felt mentally tired so popped a pro plus and carried on forward. This was at roughly 40 mile, feeling slightly concerned at my tiredness I carried on. After another 6 mile of downhill we reached a plateau and as the daylight emerged I was treated to some beautiful views of the mountains. It was heaven and I had to stop to take some photos. We were just outside Courmayeur but the descent was near vertical switchbacks for at least 5k,  and my quads were feeling sore as we entered Courmayeur.

Plastic cow?

There was massive support in Courmayeur and a chance to get to my drop bag, meet my crew and generally sort myself out. You are allowed one crew member to meet you at designated aid stations and it was a boost to meet my wife and chat about the first half. I was about 14 hours in, 50 mile in and my 35 hr target seemed to be going to plan. I had a full change of clothes and reapplied the Goo to my feet. I moved through to the food hall and got a bowl of pasta with a dollop of tomato sauce. I went over to a table and joined a Brit whose name escapes me right now. I stood, as I have a saying "Beware the chair" which I stick too religiously. I once sat down after running London to Brighton and seized up totally, I never have or never will sit down during a race through fear of seizing up, although now it is a mental thing and signifies giving up in my head. Anyway the sauce on the pasta was horrid and I felt a bit sick so like a fool I slung it and wandered out. Now alarm bells should have been ringing as I had eaten very little apart from bowls of stock aka soup, a handful of gels and a few scaps.

Views to die for.

The climb out Courmayeur was hard and the Brit who I had ate with joined me I just managed to stay with him but energy levels were low, also my quads were hurting bad, the descent into the half way point had took its toll. My short lived partner pulled ahead and I carried on forward, shit, things had gone bad, this section was hell on my body. I was knackered and in pain. The lack of food meant a lack of energy and as we descended into Arnuva my quads were screaming and I was having serious doubts that I would be able to continue.  I spoke with another Brit on the massive ascent of Grand Col Ferret who informed me that we would be descending for about 10 miles from the top, the climbing I could cope with, the descent I wasn't so sure. Luckily I had a snickers in my bag as I was so hungry it was driving me to distraction. The descent was bad for sure, my legs were on the way out. My knee felt okay but my quads were blown, I pushed on to La Fouly. A lot of people passed me on the descent to La Fouly the feeling of wanting to pack it in was strong, had my wife agreed I would have dropped for sure but no she was having none of that. Basically it wasn't even considered by her. As I left the aid station her bus was leaving which she hopped on along with a wave of runners, people were walking in, quitting and jumping straight on the bus. It all seemed a little weird to me, there was no talking these guys round they were off. As I hobbled through the streets I took the time to stop and get my other tubey bandage out and strap up both painful quads. For the next few hours I hiked, hobbled, shuffled and jogged my way to Champex all the while trying to work out why do I do this sport? What is keeping me going? Why don't I just pack it in and go for a beer. My mental fortitude was being pushed to its limits. I stumbled into Champex and met my wife, and again my pleas to quit fell on deaf ears. I tend to get a bit wobbly when I'm totally shattered and was stumbling around the aid station, I was getting some looks from the medics but thought nothing of it. Only then did an American lady hold my arm and say to me "Don't come this far and get pulled from the race, they are looking at you and will pull you out" I tried hard to pull it together. Whilst in here  I tried to eat but couldn't face any of it, my occasional gel and chicken stock combo was just about keeping me ticking over. I told my wife if I was to carry on she would have to go buy me a sandwich, I had to have a sandwich! She agreed to get one and meet me at the next stop.

Hobbling along

I think I was about 25hours in as I left Champex and started to do some pretty incoherent maths on the race but my logic was, 3 peaks, 30 mile, 3hrs up, 2 hrs down each = 15 hours and I could do this! That did mean however I would be out there all night again. At this point I think I decided I would finish. After all it takes years to get in a position to earn the points for UTMB, it takes at least a year to gain those points, it took 2 years to get my entry and months of specific training to get here, now. I must finish this! As we approached the first of the three final climbs darkness started to fall again and the climb was hard, you look up and see lights in the sky and basically that is how high you will be going. As I neared the top there was a herd of cows getting rather rowdy and following us up the trail. They were making a lot of noise and generally being rather intimidating, I had to shout and clap my hands to get them to sod off. Just before the top I put my head torch on for the second night. There was a gate at the top and I leaned against it and thought, 1 down before shuffling towards the descent. This descent took my ages I could barely step down any more, each time I did I grunted and groaned with the pain. People ran past me as though I was stood still. Dozens of them! This went on for a good two hours. With the night also came the tiredness, just total mental fatigue. Just as I reached what I thought was the bottom we levelled out before dropping again even steeper, down massive steps each one bringing a tear of pain to eye. Before long I reached Trient I couldn't see my wife so was just about to leave as I was still rather wobbly when she ran in. She had just got off the bus with sandwich in hand. We chatted and I shoved the sandwich in my pack to eat en route. As I left I was pulled over by control. Another bloody bag check! Phone, coat and blanket. Bloody good job I had it, imagine a DQ at mile 86. I made a joke about having the most important bit of kit, my sandwich, before heading off again.

Kit Check. Again!

The second of my three climbs was as hard as any but my sandwich half way up helped me along. For some reason I was really struggling to breath on this ascent and kept having to stop to take deep breaths but my chest kept getting clogged up with phlegm and I was wheezing like a pensioner. How much more shit was this race going to give me! The descent was notably harder, at one point I tried to shuffle faster but tripped and fell flat on my face, on rocks and my pole flew over a wall of rock. Shit! I couldn't get up and double shit I couldn't climb over the wall and triple shit I wouldn't be able to finish without my pole! Luckily there was a runner right behind me. Great, I said can you help me, he ran on without a flinch. Fuck this I thought I have got to get my pole or I've had it, so I crawled over the wall on my stomach until my legs flopped over and was able to grab the stick. Then I had to climb back up and over the wall before righting myself on the trail. I'd done it.  The tiredness had hit hard and I was hallucinating quite strongly. Every stone had a face on it, people in bushes and trees with body parts. All pretty normal stuff. I was totally incoherent as I trudged into Vallorcine, shaking, hallucinating and struggling to think straight, all I knew is I'd better get straight out of  there before anyone noticed what an awful state I was in. I walked in filled my bottle had a coke and walked out, 1 climb to go.

Where am I?

As I left Vallorcine I walked for about 50 metres before stopping to ask directions. The path was clearly marked but I just couldn't work out where I was going or indeed where I was. As I walked up the clearly marked trail I thought I was lost, I had lost all concept of what was going on. I stopped to wait for some one to pass, they didn't, they stopped also. This was so confusing. I carried on trying to work out what was going on. At one point I was convinced we were all going to work, to build something, I even considered ringing my builders merchant! We approached a road and there was a line of lights reaching to the sky. I thought how does that road climb that high? Of course it wasn't cars it was head torches. I started the climb and had just about worked out we were in a race so that's what I kept telling myself. Quite often out loud! This did nothing to abate the hallucinations, they were rife everything had a face or wasn't as it seemed, I was completely out of it. In hindsight dangerously so. This climb was a brute, just never ending rocky switch backs. We climbed for hours, straight up. As soon as you thought you were there, you would see headlights even higher. Some of the path you literally had to climb to get through, we soon got into the clouds. We carried on climbing until we reached a rocky summit not dissimilar to Scafell Pike. We followed the markers across the boulder strewn summit for a couple of miles, this was just climbing up and over rock formations. On the bits I couldn't step down I had to slide on my arse, across the rock. This worked well until the rock pulled my shorts up and I slid bare bum down a rock. We had much joy after the race removing the rock from the cuts in my arse. This climb literally took hours in total and right at the top we popped out above the clouds a totally surreal moment for sure. The descent was okay to start, daylight had broken for the second time and the hallucinations had eased, the ascent seemed to have split the field and this was the first time I felt alone. It was nice to shuffle alone knowing I had almost done it, there was nothing could stop me now. During this descent to La Flegere an English voice piped up behind me, I turned and it was my pal Dan. We hadn't seen each other the whole week then finally bump into each other on the final descent. He was struggling with his quads, doing better than me but still struggling. We chatted the time away into the aid station, grabbed a final drink and struggled on. The downhill out of the aid station was steep and I was back to a snails pace. Dan went ahead and I shuffled ever downwards. I soon hit some nice switchbacks, rocky and painful but in the grand scheme of things nice. After another hour or so I reached civilization and things flattened out. I ran into town, literally battered and bruised. I started to feel very emotional but promised myself I'd keep a stiff upper lip. That shuffle was the finest mile or so I ran, I felt on top of the world. Ironically after running round Mt Blanc following a marked course the worse markings were in Chamonix town. I didn't have a clue where I was going but I didn't care, I'd get there eventually. As I rounded the town I saw Jacque and my pal Dave Bowen who handed me the union flag and I ran up the home straight with the flag above my head to screams of 'Go GB'. It was over. 40hrs 15mins. I collected the coveted gillet and went to sit down for first time in 40hrs. Dave asked what I wanted "Cold Diet Coke" my fave. That was the finest coke I've ever drunk. As I hobbled back to the room I couldn't help but laugh at the shit I put myself through for my sport.

OMG its over.

Without doubt that was the hardest thing I have ever done. Anyone inexperienced reading this be in no doubt this is a monster, a big vicious scary monster! I have run a hell of a lot and it took all of my experience to get this done, if you are considering it, consider the CCC first. You are either going vertically up or vertically down. My prep of constant hill rep sessions was laughable really. You need to train in that environment to do well in that environment. I'm glad I didn't drop as I never wanted to have to go back. Now if I do go back it will be because I want to, not because I have to. I have my finish, I have my gillet, it's done

. The time is irrelevant. I love to run but this is not really a running race unless you are elite then even then they must walk those ascents. It is a giant hiking contest. Having said that, it is a must do for all trail runners. The build up, the whole week is trail running heaven and the worlds best runners all congregating in one truly lovely place. Chamonix is gorgeous and so is the Mt Blanc massif.

Go GB

As usual I got my race wrong, I would have run a good CCC on my prep but it just didn't cut it for the big boy. Quads were blown badly too early, eating strategy was awful, running with verruca's is just wrong and even little altitude can affect you. I thought the key was to bust the ascents and cruise the descents but I was so wrong the Europeans walk the ups to conserve energy then bust the descents and blow you aside.
On the plus side it was an amazing atmosphere, Inov-8 290's are the mutts (they have almost wore out but great all the same), Gurney Goo for macerated feet is great, Drymax socks ain't all that. Merino wool socks are the way forward.


Anyway I did it. Am I going back?

The Gillet!

No!


(not yet anyway);-)

A special thanks goes out again to my sponsor www.kentphysio.co.uk who make life easier with their on going support.

South Downs Way 100

I do love the South Downs, it is a beautiful place to run. I can't think of many places I'd rather be in this country of ours. So running the whole length of it in the beginnings of summer holds much appeal to me. This would be my second running of the race, my first in 2012 was my performance of the year. Everything went right that time round so I was hoping for some more of that.

We travelled down on Friday afternoon in my father in laws van with the intention of me sleeping in the field in a bivvy bag and my crew sleeping in the van. The weather up until Friday had been fantastic so the idea of sleeping in the field seemed like a good one. We arrived in the middle of Friday afternoon and had a nice couple of hours sunbathing. As darkness drew closer I checked the weather and apparently it was pissing down right where we were? Well it wasn't but it was coming!  As it had been so lovely during the day I thought I'd wing it anyway so I flipped the tailgate up on the van and lay down under it and pulled the strings on my bag tight to my face. As I closed my eyes there was a flashing coming from over the hedge which I first thought was a train track but as it got gradually closer accompanied by some very loud bangs I realized it was the storm coming. I decided to ride it out and stayed put. Well it rained so hard it soon became impossible to get out my bag as I and all my gear would have been soaked. It was lashing in under the tailgate and the constant water bouncing off my face made it impossible to sleep. I had to do something, so I undid my bag, grabbed my foldup chair and put it over my face. I was soon tied back into the bag and managed to get a fair few hours sleep. I did however wake up in a rather deep puddle! I'm so glad my bag was 100% waterproof.


It was still tipping it down up until 5ish so I stayed in the van as long as possible. I had my number already so I thought I'd hang on as long as possible to save starting in wet gear. I got to the start line at 5.30 ish and didn't have a lot of time to catch up with everyone but said hi to most of my good friends. Time just flew and before I knew it the brief had been and gone and we were toeing the line. As we started Stuart Mills run off like he'd robbed someone. I just thought, what an amazing athlete he has this in the bag.


After my epic fail in the TP I decided the best plan of attack in this one would be to not have a plan and run on feel. Run for the love of running. The difference was massive, I had put so much pressure on myself for a pb at the Thames path that it took away from the enjoyment I get from running ultras. Well sod that this time, I was going to have fun. The strange thing about having no race plan is you have to make instant decisions on race tactics and as I rounded the field I had to decide what my starting pace would be. The one decision I did make and have stuck to for a long while now is to run my own race at my own pace, so no chatting for me for the first few miles just get on with it. At the TP my start pace had been 7.5 min miles, this time I settled into 8.5 min miles which was comfy and I was on my way.


The downs are gorgeous and the running was heaven CP1 was soon upon us, I had drunk half my 500ml of electrolyte and half my water at this point but didn't bother to refill as my crew had said they would meet me at 12 mile so I had a couple of cups of water and pressed on. Mile 12 came and went and I was sipping my water hoping I would see my wife soon but nothing. It was very humid, my head felt like it was in a pressure cooker as I approached the late teens of the race. My usual bad patch at 18 mile hit bang on its ETA. I was feeling really shit, thirsty, hot and  I really couldn't be arsed. My thoughts went to dropping, I couldn't think of any reason to carry on. During my ultra running life since my first 100 and only DNF, I have become mentally very strong and can usually find good reason to get it done. Could be any number of things but there is always something that you can latch onto, then you can put your DNF thought back in its box and crack on. Not this time though, for the first time I was questioning whether I could even be bothered to carry on for another 80 mile. What is the point? What am I getting out of this one? I've got a busy week next week, do I really want to feel like shit?  Luckily I entered the back end of QE park and knew the aid station couldn't be far, I sucked the last drops out my bottles and headed through the park and down the hill to the CP. My wife had found the CP but hadn't had internet all morning so couldn't look up where to meet me hence the lack of support. I drank plenty, ate some food, chatted about quitting with the wife and changed my wet hat and buff before moving on.

My feeding regime is a massive work in progress and I really didn't eat enough during the TP so I made sure I ate well this time. A caffeine free GU every couple of hours and more fruit than you'd find at a fruitarians banquet. I started to feel better and the running became easier, mile 22/23 to mile 35ish are usually very good to me and today was no exception. I could really enjoy being there. I really love the flora and fauna of the downs, it is truly outstanding and I just soaked it up for a few mile. I ran into Harting downs and my pal Gary Kiernan was helping out, it didn't take him long to take the piss about me carrying poles.
 I know the pole debate will never subside but I carried them as when else am I going to practice with them? I have the UTMB coming up and what sort of fool would go there having not used them over the distance. Not me. For those interested I used Black Diamond ultra Z poles and they were fine. I carried one in each hand for the whole distance and used them on some of the steeper climbs. My technique improved no end. The ease of putting them together and dismantling them really is really good and I shall carry on with them at every opportunity until August.
I could feel maceration starting on my feet around 35 mile, I've had it so much that I can recognise the first tingles. I was determined that this wasn't going to ruin my race so I pulled up at the next available stop, cleaned and dried my feet. I also changed socks and sprayed my feet with a silicone spray I'm experimenting with at the moment. I'm pissed off with trying to find the perfect shoe so I just wore an old pair of NB this time around. They were doing alright but it was early days.
I soon reached half way in roughly 9 hours which was perfect for a sub 20 which I would obviously take however much I was trying to run for just the love of it. I pushed on to Washington and was greeted with a hug and a kiss from Karen Webber and lots of clapping from the amazing support. I changed shirts, ate more fruit and soon went on my way feeling better now than I had since the start. This wasn't to last long.
Within a few short miles I was feeling shit again and amazingly tired. I was so tired I thought I was going to fall asleep on my feet, something that doesn't usually happen until about 2am but this was only about 5pm. I ran for quite a while with David Thompson who I've seen and spoken to many times but never ran with so it was nice to chat for a while and compare notes on how shit we felt. I was having to dig deep and was having strong thoughts about quitting again. Luckily there was a reason to continue, something I am trying to achieve so I focused on that and kept going. Somewhere around 60 mile I bumped into Luke Ashton he had got a wiggle on and was pushing for the finish already there was no keeping up with him so after a brief chat he ran off. Luke is a fantastic runner and although we have been close time wise on a few occasions I am under no illusion that he is the better runner and on his day, untouchable by myself. He is however game opposition and if I've got my racing head I will push myself to race with him, just not today. I ran down the long hill to Boltophs, had a quick stop and carried on.
 I was at least pleased I was able to run on command I hiked the ups and waddled/run the flats and downs. Somewhere between Boltophs and Saddlescombe farm my waddle turned into a half decent run and as I cruised along my toe hooked on a flint and I went straight into some brambles ending up on my back. Moments like that can only be laughed at, I lay my head back into the brambles looked at the sky and laughed, Oh what the hell am I doing? Getting up is always a lot harder than going down and what a struggle it was to get back up. Cp9 soon passed by and I was heading for Clayton Windmills. Clayton is a weird stop, you think you have run past it and are going wrong before you turn 90 degrees left and head on into the aid station. I was feeling hungry for real food and found a massive wedge of over cooked flapjack, burnt bits and all. It was delightful and I left the windmills a happy man, chewing on burnt flapjack and only 30 to go.
I was running ok now, slowly but running all the same and the miles were ticking away. Around mile 80 as darkness set in I started chatting with Dan Mayers, he too is running UTMB this year so we had plenty to chat about and good company he was too.
Next CP was Southease and another chance to sort my feet out, they were getting really sore again and I bit the bullet and changed to road shoes for the last few miles. The hill out of Southease is one of the bigger ones and I used my poles to good effect and hiked all the way up. On reaching the top I resumed running again and soon overtook Ken Fancett and caught Dan up. This section is quite featureless and although not overly difficult to navigate, you need to have your wits about you. I thought it best that I stick with Dan for this bit and Ken soon caught us, the three of us run/walked all the way to Alfriston. A quick turn around here and we pressed on, Dan ran ahead but was too fast for me so off he went. 8 miles to go and I was still running and ran all the way to Jevington albeit slowly. The last CP is always nice, you are there, you've done it, now enjoy it. I was checked in in the street and given the option to carry on but I walked into the aid station to say hello and thank the volunteers. I always think the last cp must be the worst to volunteer at, no-one stops, no-one eats or drinks and the hours are long. Pretty thankless really.
4 miles to go and I hiked my way up the hill out of Jevington, about half way up a light appeared behind me. I started to pick up the pace right to the top where I met the lonely marshall who ushered me off the downs. With the thought of someone overtaking me I got a last spurt on, all the way down the hill, past the houses and onto the main road. I switched my light off and ran by the street lights to the roundabout, hooked a left and ran down the home stretch. I actually passed Jez Isaac with only a few hundred metres to the stadium. Felt a bit of a git passing and always do that close to the end but needs must and I was on one. I entered to stadium for my final lap as I ran round that track I almost shed a tear. It had been hard and I'd almost pulled out 80 miles previous I felt quite emotional. I crossed the line got my hug from Nici, my medal from Mimi and a kiss from my wife. 20 hrs 43 but this run wasn't about times or places it was about loving running. As I stood there and calmed down I felt very unsteady, my legs were extremely wobbly and I was escorted to a seat. It was over. I showered, ate and headed for home. I need to get to bed as I had a family barby later in the day which I made and very nice it was too.

I had some major negative thoughts during the day and a lot of time to contemplate my running future. Although the camaraderie is second to none among the longer distance ultras, I for the first time ever have considered packing in the 100's. They are very hard, they take an age to recover properly, they affect my work and I don't feel I have anything to prove to myself anymore. I ran a sub 18 last year and I don't think as long as there is a hole in my arse I can better that time. The main attraction has always been  pushing my boundaries and seeing what I could achieve but once you've achieved all you wanted. What next? There are a few things I still need to do, Western States being the main one and I shall continue for sure until that is done and hopefully in sub 24 (I still have to get in first). Who knows that may well be my last 100! Watch this space...

Massive well done to Mark Perkins for smashing the SDW record time. Didn't see that coming after Stuart Mills opening mile. Also a great performance for 3rd by David Ross, about time you had the race to match your talent. Good running buddy.

Thanks again to http://www.kentphysio.co.uk/ for your support.