So, this weekend was the long awaited Born To Run Ultra. I say long awaited because it has taken me 3 years to get here as foot injuries have prevented me from doing this for the past two years. Matt Rogerson was fantastic though and kept deferring me... and deferring me... I have to admit that as I sat in the Beefeater the night before chatting with Matt and a few other runners and supporters, I was quite surprised that I'd got myself together and was finally able to run it. I was very nervous as I knew the pace I would be doing with my run/walk would have me right at the back of the field. I wasn't looking forward to being in last place for the whole race and I was already embarrassed at the prospect. Matt had assured me that I wouldn't be pulled off the course no matter how slow I was going as he knew this was a training run for my 100 mile race, and that was my only consolation going into the 40 mile race.
I didn't sleep well as the room we had was very noisy. The Premier Inn refunded our money the next morning and changed our room for us, so at least I knew I would be comfortable once the race was over. I saw Ruth in the car park, who was there doing her 300th marathon. I gave her a chocolate and fudge cake to enjoy after the race and met Nozza who was a really lovely bloke. We drove to the race HQ and there was an air of hustle and bustle about the place. It actually made me feel less nervous, thankfully. I spoke to lots of runners who were all really nice and chatty. A girl called Natasha took my photo as I was wearing a Buff (who she is sponsored by) and then Matt gave his cheerful and rather funny pre race instructions. We were ushered outside and I placed myself right at the back.... and we were off!
The first 6 minutes I just tried to get into my stride. I ran next to Ruth and Stuart and listened as Ruth was telling Stuart how she had been running 2 miles a day to keep her running streak up. I thought she was nuts. I mean that in the most polite of ways though. She had finished 7 marathons in 7 days a couple of days ago and she looked fresh as a daisy. The forecast had been good, but it was raining. I had a waterproof jacket on and expected strange looks off all of the hardened ultra runners, but a few of those wore jackets too. It was swiftly time to do my 3 minute walk and I watched in earnest as everyone passed me and left me for dust. A bloke in front wearing a blue jacket was jogging very slowly so I hoped I would catch him up at some point.
On the second walk break he had overtaken a bloke dressed in black and I had had to slow down even further to take my jacket off. Mr Blue Jacket was off. I watched the man dressed in black and hoped I wouldn't get too far away from him.
Going through each marshalling point I could see a few odd looks as I was often on a walk break. A photographer got me to run for a photo and I joked that it might bugger my run/walk plans if I ran too much this early on. He laughed. Running along the coast was very pretty. I had given my GoPro camera to Graeme and every time I saw him he had it pointed in my direction. I hoped he was filming other runners too and taking some footage of the lovely scenery.
I got to a place where there was an 'out and back'. There was a troop of cadets who were giving huge support to all of the runners. They applauded me too. Some passer by told me that surely number 1 runner should be at the front. I looked down at my number 1 bib and laughed heartily... in a sort of... sarcastic way, and carried on! Matt rode past me on his bike and I got the shock of my life as I hadn't expected to see him. Then I saw 2 of the front runners on their way back from the 'out and back'. "Oh my God... are you done already?", I said looking at my Garmin and one of them smiled and said they were. I was tired just watching them. I had done 5.63 miles in the first hour and was chastizing myself for doing it too fast. I was supposed to stick to 5mph and I hoped that wouldn't cause me problems later. The out and back section of the race was boring. I passed Graeme and asked him to get me a banana for next time. He said he'd wait there and I would probably be back in about 40 minutes. I passed a lot of runners on the other side on the way back and the camaraderie was excellent. People high fiving, saying well done, smiling, telling you it wasn't far before the turnaround and generally being very supportive. I passed Ruth and Stuart again and I was grinning as Ruth took a photo of me. Very close to them was the Mr Blue jacket and the bloke dressed in black who appeared to be running together. I wasn't too far behind them, but I was very concerned that I was still in last place at about 9 miles. I'm not competitive when it comes to placing against other runners but I'm always worried about coming last for some reason. I had been the same when I ran in India and here I was, 2 and a half years later, feeling exactly the same way. As I passed the turnaround, one of the St Johns Ambulance workers asked if I was last. I told them I was. As I was running back I saw a bloke on the other side in a red top bending down and picking up all of the signs. I've never been this close to the "sweeper" I thought! The wind killed me on the way back, so I was grateful to get back to Graeme where he had my banana waiting for me and my sunglasses. I declined the sunglasses. I'd lost Mr Blue jacket and the bloke in black. I was at least 3/4 mile behind everyone. As I would pass each marshalling point I would get a wave off the St John ambulance crew and they would drive off. I won't lie, I felt very daunted by the fact they were just waiting around for me. At the next point I got my sunglasses from Graeme and he told me I wasn't too far behind Ruth and Stuart. I thought he was full of shit! I was doing a 6 minute run when I caught up to them however. They asked how I was and I was shocked to find I was suddenly very tired. Ruth told me that the reason for that was I was going uphill. I hadn't noticed. Stuart said this is what the locals call the "Path of Doom"... a long slow incline for 6.5 miles and I was already on it. That made me feel better as I thought it looked like a mountain on the elevation picture I had previously seen. Ruth said she was knackered, and already, at only 13 miles, didn't want to run anymore. I knew the feeling, however my beeper went for me to start the next 6 minute run so I said my goodbyes and said I'd see them when they undoubtedly would catch me up.
I have to say I liked this section. After running the Coast to Coast route at home very recently I felt like I'd had good practice for this sort of thing and felt relatively comfortable. I came across another runner called Karen. She said she wasn't feeling too great and was having a walk. We chatted for a while until it was my run time again and I was off. I got to the 17 mile point where all of the supporters and drop bags were. Graeme told me he had never seen me looking this good in a race before and I looked like I was enjoying it. At that time, I was! I took a banana for later and embarked on the 11 miles until I was back at that same point. I was assured there was only 1 more mile uphill then it would flatten out and the turnaround point was at about 22 miles. I was looking forward to coming back down the hill. The next mile was much more tiring than I thought it would be. The bloke in black left the aid station after me and overtook me straight away. I could always see him ahead and he was now run/walking, but could I hell catch him up. I was starting to suffer. At 19 miles the pain in my calves and hamstrings was awful and I realised I had been a little over zealous running up the long hill. Damn. I felt like shit all of a sudden and had a wave of doubt at the prospect of running 100 miles when I can't even do 19 pain free!
I passed another runner who was walking while his girlfriend rode a bike next to him. He was another vegan runner and asked what I was eating. I told him I was only on bananas and he said he was having the same but he was really tired and suffering. I agreed it felt pretty tough just as Karen came along, looking like she had found a turbo button on herself and had decided to press it. She looked great and had had the best recovery I'd ever seen. She told me she had given her gels to a bloke whose wife had passed on a flapjack which he didn't want. It had left her with hardly any gels for herself and he hadn't seemed that grateful. People passed us on their way back down the hill and the majority of them looked knackered. Karen waved cheerily at them all and said her friend had said, "Even if you feel like shit Karen, smile and look like you're full of energy". She was convincing... either that, or she didn't feel as shit as me! She said she thought I should have a little break at the turnaround point. I agreed this was a good idea and she was off. I saw her running with her friend (you were allowed pacers in this race) and I passed the bloke in black as he sat down and messed around with his shoes. I spoke to him but he had headphones on. I wondered when he would pass me again. I kept asking people how far the turnaround point was and gauged it was closer to 23 miles than it was 22. Gutted!
I finally got to the turnaround point and sat on the ground. Karen was still there, as was a bloke in a yellow jacket. I was in agony and feeling a bit despondant. Karens' friend offered me an ice lolly but I said I didn't dare have it in case it wasn't vegan. The bloke in the yellow jacket took it instead. The man in black ran around the turnaround point and was off. I prized myself off the tarmac and carried on. It was a very short amount of time when I saw Ruth and Stuart coming the other way. I was at my very worst here and Stuart told me I didn't look as bad as I felt, Ruth agreed and said it was all a lovely downhill from here. I knew they were trying to be encouraging but I also knew they were lieing and I looked like shit. Karen caught me up and offered me some painkillers for my calves and hamstrings. I declined and quickly followed it with, "What sort of painkillers?". She had Co-codomol. I took 2.
At 26 miles they had started to work. I overtook the man in black and also the man in the yellow jacket who had eaten the ice lolly. I wanted to keep in front of him as his shoes had a sort of "sucker" sound as they hit the ground. It completely got on my nerves to the point I couldn't bear to be anywhere near him. I got around a bend and saw a long straight path. I decided that if I ran all of this then I would look how Karens' friend had told her to look and maybe the bloke in the sucker shoes would feel defeated and not catch me up. So I ran. I ran until the road curved and nobody behind would see me. I was grateful for the walk break after that! I saw Karen up ahead and saw she was running with someone in a green top. I didn't know it at the time but this was Arwel, another pacer. I passed the St Johns' people and one of them said in a thick welsh accent, "Bloody Hell... you were waaaay behind everyone else for half of the race and now you've overtaken loads, well done you!". It gave me a little spring in my step, even though I knew there was only 5 people behind me (and they were oh so close!).
When I got back to the 28 mile point I sat on the ground and said I'd gone through a really bad patch feeling like I'll never conquer 100 miles when I can't even do 40. Matts' wife Laura said it was just my brain knowing 40 was all I needed to do today so it was tricking me. I knew she was right. I ate a banana and Graeme said he would see me in about 4 miles. That felt good to know it was downhill to our next meeting point. Laura filled my water bottle up for me and I was off again. Mr sucky shoes and the bloke in black turned up at the aid station so I was off running again, hoping they would stay a while and I could get a head start on them.
I spent the next few miles thinking, "Run-to-that-tree, run-to-that-tree, now-to-that-post, now-to-that-post, next-to-that-bench, next-to-that-bench, you-can-walk-at-that-branch, walk-at-that-branch" When I later told Graeme I was doing this he said that doing that would have made him more tired. It worked for me though and kept me running when I didn't want to any more. Every now and again I would come to a long straight stretch and have to run it all in case someone behind saw they were catching me up. After being so far behind everyone for so long of the race I didn't want to get in that position again. As I went through 30 miles I realised it was 3 minutes quicker than I had every ran this distance before. I began to work out something I had avoided.... how long had it previously took me to run 40 miles? I had deliberately avoided doing this prior to the race as I knew the time had been extremely slow and I didn't want to start the race on a mission that seemed impossible. I was trying to do this as close to 8 hours as I could when in fact my best time for 40 miles (due to heat stroke in India, having flu in Kent and an ITB problem for the Wall) was 10.5 hours. I was definitely on for a PB... I just didn't know how much by.
At about 32.5 miles I told Graeme I was hoping for a PB by about 2 hours. He offered me some salty chips and I screwed my face up. I couldn't face them. He told me I only had 7.5 miles to go and I said "Yay!" As I jogged away, I realised this is also the first time I have still been running after the 30 mile mark. I had earlier told myself that I had never experienced a second wind because I had never given myself the chance to because I had just given up and walked... and here I was... running.
I saw Graeme again a couple of miles later and asked for some Gatorade at the next point. He said that wouldn't be for another 4 miles and I said that was fine. I'd been going against a headwind for the last couple of miles and despite using an inhaler and wearing a buff over my face, I was really feeling it. I was now walking much more than I was running. I kept looking behind and at one point saw someone running in a blue top. I couldn't remember running past anyone in blue and thought they must just be a local out for a jog. The next few miles were tough and I plodded along wishing I was finished. The bloke in the blue top was getting closer and I realised he was wearing a bib. Damn... I was getting caught. Just then I couldn't believe it as I saw someone in front of me that I recognised... he was in the race. It took what seemed an age to catch him up, but eventually I did and he said he hadn't had the race he hoped for and was just going to walk the rest of the way in. I told him I was going to carry on and he said well done, keep going. It was just after this that I saw Nozza, smiling away. He seems such a nice man! The bloke in the blue top was quite close as I came to the bridge before the finish. I stopped and turned around to wait for him and he bloody well ran straight past me. Bugger... I'll not do that again!
Getting over the finish line felt amazing as I really felt I had done well, coming in 33rd out of 41 entrants with a 2 hours and 9 minute PB, (Official time of 8 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds). I made mistakes, which I can easily rectify for next time, and I have barely ached since, which makes me think I could maybe have pushed a bit more than I actually did on the day. Sometimes you need an experience like this to show you it's possible you could be capable of a lot more.
That's one helluva peebee - well run that girl :-)
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