Coast to Coast - Day 2

 After a hearty Cumbrian Full English breakfast at Yew Crags it was a short flat road to the start of day 2. 50km and 8200ft of climb. The legs felt superb…..so much so I was worried about pride before a fall. 

It was 500m of road then a 4km climb up 2,200ft of Greenup Edge with High Raise just to the right at the top. Wow. This was verdant and beautiful. Empty and vast. Bloody hilly. I made mistakes at the top, there was no signage and no GPX file today. It was hard to map read and watch the constant boulder hewn path save for a short paved section. 

Local stonemasons were pressing on up to build more paved course as I made my way, this time with Black Diamond carbon fibre poles, gentle first past Calf Crag and Easdale tarn, dropping rapidly to cross the A 591 near grassmere. That next section the wheels nearly came off up Great Tongue Gill and I gave myself a stern talking to. Then on to Patterdale 

This was going to be the biggest climb out of the valley for the entire week. I hadn’t anticipated just how much it was going to be, up, down, up, down again, relentless for a couple of hours. I then did a wrong turn and ended up bagging 2 more Wainwright peaks. I had plenty of gels and water so it was about navigating successfully and grinding out the ascent

This was up to the highest point at Kidsty Pike, 2559ft up or 780m. It was lovely, but so vast and I had seen almost nO one since Patterdale. 

With that came some welcome descent. I should have taken on board the advice and gone across the next 4 peaks but I wanted to descend and avoid the extra 1000ft so I took the main route around Derwent Water. This is actually a reservoir and the route round the side was barely walkable yet runnable. 

And it was awful running. It took forever to get round 8km of path. I went pat a couple who were on their biggest day who were in bits….and then it was over. Lake District done. 100km over 2 days, 9 hours a day. 

I left the C2C at Butnbanks and then went off trail to my dinner and bed at the marvellous Mardale Inn in Bampton. I didn’t mind the extra 2.3km run and what a treat. Amazing pie dinner, great beer and a superb suite. I had such a good nights sleep. Legs were intact. Body was fine. I loved today. So lucky to be able to do this.

Coast to Coast day 1

St Bees to Rosthwaite -50km

Starting with a fry up and then a run down to the beach, tradition has it that you dip a toe in the sea to start the journey. 

I headed across the beach and up to St Bees head with the first 6-7 miles hugging the coast on a tiny overgrown path that was difficult to get up any speed. Nevertheless, I was on the start of my odyssey and after many adjustments of straps (this was fully self sufficient so I had to carry as much as I could for 50ish km every day) to accommodate the weight on my back I was feeling just about OK

Every time a sign comes into focus there is a sense of relief. Yes I had my excellent Harvey map and a GPX (that was to crash my Garmin later that day) but the welcoming sign of The Sign (C2C) was completely comforting that I was on track.

Heading inland now I began to experience the mild undulations that signalled the mountains of the Lake District were near. Today had 6000ft. I entered and quickly exited the villages of Moor Row and Cleator. I was hoping to buy a drink at Cleator 11 miles in but no shops….i filled my bottles at a garden tap on the way to Dent

Now every post about Dent on C2C social groups is about is it open, is it not? It’s basically a forested area often closed for landless or cutting trees. The alternative route seemed just fine and the first 1000 footer of the week

This was damp but lovely and barely a soul around. I think this was because I was setting out much earlier than the walkers. 

I really enjoyed the next section and was happy to take a lead from local knowledge. As I got to Ennerdale bridge, a nice old fella said to me he didn’t understand why to route went south of Ennerdale as the North route was more runnable, albeit half a mile longer. 

Now Ennerdale is a thing of beauty and I was ‘locked on’. Again no shops in the village so water had to come from carefully selected streams 

This was awesome, a great run and by now only 10 miles to go.

Boom 

2 things happened. My mojo disappeared. Firstly the Garmin crashed. I think the GPX file was corrupted or too big. Secondly, after a gentle 1000ft up to Black Sail past Haystacks on the left, it was very steep up loft beck (which I sat in as it was now 28 degrees and not a cloud in the sky) 
 

I was up at Grey Knotts just below the summit at 2300ft and was out of gas. I located the old tramway track and over to Honnister Slate mine where I duly downed 2 purchased cans of Fanta much to the amusement of watching tourists. 

Now the downhills are touch to prepare for. 5km down with 2000 ft of descent means running like John Wayne at 23% which mashed my quads. 

At the bottom, the village of Rosthwaite. My B&B was 1km from the path, but then I found a youth hostel just out of the wooded section and people were having a beer.

So I sat down for a pint! Gosh that tasted superb

A gentle bimble to the excellent Yew Tree Farm accommodation to be welcomed with a beer, a meal and a great conversation about the next day on which way to go to avoid the knarly path around Derwent Water. You have to pre-book a meal but it’s great food and the room was huge. 

Kit wash. Organise. Post on socials and bed by 9! I made it through day 1. What would I feel like in the morning?

Coast to Coast day day -1

 So I arrived on a long train journey up to St Bees Head in Cumbria the afternoon before. I was full of doubt. What if the legs weren’t up for it? What if my bag got lost in transit? What if the sole came off my shoe mid run? So many what ifs and doubts going around my head.

I had this idea 2 years ago to run Wainwright’s Coast to Coast for my 50th birthday. The route is 192 miles and the 6000 or so pilgrims who attempt this each year do so by walking, usually over 14 or 21 days. I intended to run it….in 7 days. It was to be (including having to get from the route to my hotels each day, just under 50km a day and 27,000ft of hills. For 3 months leading up to it, the planning, the resources and the training never felt enough. Here I was at a cute little B&B half a mile from the sea, ready to start tomorrow. 

I calmed my nerves by having a sticky toffee pudding and collecting the all important pebbles that you pick up in St Bees and drop into the sea at Robin Hoods Bay on the other side of the country. I had one for each of the 3 amazing girls in my family and one for myself

I then went to pack, repack and repack again. All I could now think of was the broken duffle bag where the zip split on the journey up here. 

I had a really early night!

 It has been a while.....

I've not posted on my blog in a fair few years. TBH I had almost forgotten about it until something popped up in my inbox.

Where do I start?

Perhaps this summer......

I am now up to 124 Marathons or Ultras.....The majority are ultras, I would have to go back and look at the spreadsheet but It is likely to be over 100 ultras as I haven't run marathon distance for about 4 or 5 years now. 

This summer was a plan in the making. Something that was hatched in the mind about 15 years ago, even before I broke my leg and was told I would never run again. I had a plan for my 50th birthday. To run the Alfred Wainwright route of 192 miles across the country, from West to East, across the Lake District, Westmoreland Hills, Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and Cleveland Hills all 27,000 ft of ascent and 192 miles (plus the added miles to my hotels and back to the trail each day) in 7 days

I was literally shitting this for about a year and leading up to the summer was not able to sleep every night. Busy family life had meant only 3 ultras the previous year and only 1 50km ultra race leading up to the big run. That said, I have spent far more time on the trail 'exploring' and doing things like running down to the coast and having a personal challenge than spending £150 on a 50k on trail that I have run 100 times.

A few days back from Egypt where I ran every day and we were ready. Father in law's 90th birthday, a few days in Liverpool and then a train up to St Bees for a B&B and a pub dinner on my own and then waking up in the morning with 192 miles to run........

So it all sounded so simple.......ONLY 192 miles to run but what about the logistics and the food and injury????

I left my amazing wife and kids at Liverpool Lime St and then got the train up to St Bees. 3 hours in and the most drunk mysogenistic skinhead sits opposite downing can after can after can of booze as his partner gets increasingly uncomfortable....."WTF are you doing coming to my town" he states...... I didn't entertain, other than to look down at my single can of Journey Juice (Stella) and say "My can is bigger than your can"

With this he exploded, shouted and then got onto his phone as his mate had invited him to a buffet at a social club. (class)

I got off the trail and as the line was closed due to a landslide, had to get a rail replacement minibus for an hour until I got to St Bees.

I got to my digs, walked down to the beach where the C2C started, picked up my pebbles ( more of that later), had an ice cream and then headed back into the village. Food was awful. A crap pub selling nothing but sausage and chips. Bed and breakfast was superb though.

Then I got up in the morning, had a half mile warm up down to the beach and off across the country......

What adventure awaits????

Round the Island

 

This morning I had a plan to get up early and do a lap of Mersea Island. It comes in at just over 13 miles but add on the run to the shop to grab a lucozade and the bit down to the beach from mum and dads house and then back from the beach and it goes nearly to 15. I love running around the island. It is home to mum and dad and I have lost count as to how many runs around it I have done. 

I opted for light train shoes today and was a bit of a regret. Pyfleet Channel in the 1.5 miles before the Strood was like the Somme. After this section, a full on 35 mile an hour wind in the face but enjoyed every minute of solitude. I didn't see a soul for the first 7 miles and then it was head down and into the wind and plenty of sand running for the last 4 miles. Love the island. Love going back. 

SDW run in a 60 mile an hour wind

 This was a bit of fun.....Drove down to the Tigers Inn at East Dean for a dawn run. Looked at the weather forecast and did not clock the wind. I saw it as 10mph. I missed it as FORCE10!! So we ran into a headwind that turned into a side wind of 60 ish MPH. Funny was not a word to describe it....being blown off the cliffs was our biggest concern.

and then we got pelted by stones that the wind had picked up and peppered us over the top of Seaford head. 

Lovely 21 mile run finished off with a pint at the Tigers Inn with the amazing Andy Eames

So I've not blogged in a while.........

Nearly 5 years ago I stopped blogging......Family, a recent house move and renovation and lots to do at work. 

So i need to get back into it and catch up.

I'm up to ultramarathon/marathon#114 right now. I've got a few things to update.

Race #114 - Gatliff Marathon - well this was crazy as Karl and I followed the GPX and we ended up running the whole course backwards as our brains were turned off after 2 miles. We had no CPs open for 19 miles so were knocking on doors for water. Finished in a respectable 17th after having to leave the course to find houses!

Race #113 - High Weald Challenge. Such a lovely race in the local area. Ran to the start. Loved the whole race, never looked at the instructions once and the .GPX was hardly looked at apart from the crazy bit across the Commons by Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall at the end. 28 miles of loveliness. Local boy and top ultra Runner Jamie Smith wins the race and little old me, 10 years his senior comes in a respectable 2nd place after putting in a shift between CP2/CP3 and the finish. 

Race #112 3FM 27.2 miles. A brutal race on the SDW with good old friend Robert Cameron Wood. Started sunny and warm and ended up cold, wet, slippy and horizontal rain into the face for the last 8 miles. 3450ft of hard slippy chalky climb but loved it as always. The crew at 3FM put on a superb race and never an expensive one. I am 15 years older than when I first blasted round this in 3.40 so now know that the front of the pack top 10 placing here (I think I came 7th that year) is now 'front of middle of the pack obscurity'!

Aside from that I've been doing all sorts of lovely challenges. Updates to follow

Coronavirus update

So it's been a while. I have been doing a lot of running but around work and looking after the kids during lockdown but I have done some of the virtual challenges and some personal challenges too.

1. Centurion 100. 17 hours 19 mins and 59 seconds.

A huge amount of hills and new terrain on this event. I had the opportunity to do this over school half term.....all in the morning before 9am as that's when Sue started work from home each day. Audrey cycled on a couple of days while I ran. A nice explore over to Rotherfield and Crowborough and some new trail over on Eridge Park public footpaths.

2. Tunbridge Wells Circular. 28.5 mile route.

We were going to aim for an FKT but it turns out that as I was posting it, some geezer did the same 10 mins faster. We did this as a very social run with Any Eames and Richard Carter from Tunbridge Wells Harriers, meeting family along the way at 4 stops for 10 mins per stop. 5 hrs 49 mins. I was doing this fresh off the back of  the 100 and was compromised. I had a tight hamstring. It was a slow run for me. This needs a good repeat as with some work we can get this down by an hour and 20. Too many are doing FKTs right now!!!

3. ONE UP

Another Centurion event. 90 miles. 16000ft. I found some new found resolve with the hills after hill reps in 24 degree heat. Lots of lovely folk running for altitude only. I did not want to do stairs like many folk. So it was finding hills like the lovely Nunnery Lane. Oh how I love that 20% hill for 400m. Wow. Calves like a Trojan!!

Trail Shoe Dilemmas. A sort of shoe review.

I've not been able to find a decent pair of trail shoes that I get on with for the wettest and muddiest conditions. Being a size 12 and wide fitting 80kg runner who is about 50-70% on trail, I need something robust and hardwearing, aggressive lugs, neutral and well cushioned.

Having opted for the Inov8 ultra 290s, these are still in the shoe rack. They are great for short very muddy runs but are not comfortable on the longer runs, especially when the trails are harder or there are extended road sections. I use these in the extreme wet weather but not all of the time.

Then I went for the Hoka ATR Challenger 4. Hmmm. Very very comfortable. The wide fit was wide enough.......

They ripped after 200 miles. After a replacement https://twitter.com/ultrabobban/status/1154833779019718658 was sent out, the ATR 5 (bottom left) managed 250 miles and split at the ball of the foot on both sides, on both shoes. They had been gently cleaned of the mud and dried sensibly, not too hot. https://twitter.com/ultrabobban/status/1160120104899792896 shows them after 2 races.

Then it was the turn of Altra Olympus 3.0 https://twitter.com/ultrabobban/status/1115967473935892480 . These were certainly comfortable and very wide, although the toe went after about 350 miles and the vibram lugged soles were almost none existent after 400 miles. I've still got these and occasionally go out in the dry trail as they are so comfy.

Back to Hoka and with my wife in America, i asked her to pick up a pair of Speedgoat 3s. I thought this was the ONE! Fresh out of the box, they were comfortable, grippy and responsive, whilst not picking up the claggy mud for 5kg shoes in the valleys.

Alas......250 miles later and they were totally trashed. Splitting as all Hokas do, at the ball of the foot. I still run in these, when it is wet roads and light trail. But they are trashed.

My twitter account shows the extent https://twitter.com/ultrabobban/status/1210543888173281280

Now, I'm in La Sportiva. They fit fine and are very protective but just don't feel right after 10-15 miles. I'm going to try them out for the Lenham Cross trail marathon this weekend so we shall see.

I'd like a hybrid shoe with the longevity of an Inov8, along with the luggy grip, but with the cushioning and responsiveness of the Speedgoat 3 and the toebox of the Altra. Help me please!!!

Gatliff Marathon

Marathon #104 was a long time coming. August to November was a bit of non-starter for the longer races. It had been so wet....and as I write rather belatedly, it continues to rain. It has been as wet as I can remember. The water table is so high that every time it rains heavily, it floods.

I had been winter training with Andy from the Running Club and also dad of one of Audrey's good friends in year 1 at school. He is younger, faster, lighter and fitter than me....which provides me with a challenge to keep up. Nevertheless, I seemed to have coerced him into running a self-nav trail ultra. What an inaugural ultra...the one and only Gatliff.

After a good start it was mud central. Passchendale or The Somme were regularly mentioned. It was only dry underfoot on the well-drained trails of the Ashdown. 33.9 miles of wet and muddy trail were pounded, slid and slopped through.

We motored through the course, only being overtaken by a couple of runners and coming through just inside the top ten, well 10th actually. It's hard to work out where you are in the field with a staggered start. I'd done most of the nav until Andy cracked on in the last 7/8 miles. I then slipped and fell flat on my face in the mud with a mile to go! The joys and the perils of Gatliff. Directions were as ever, awful, navigation was OK but he made it through his first ultra and then a few pints in the Red Lion in front of the fire in the village near home. I think that is my 6th Gatliff.

Peak Skyline 2019

After hugely enjoying last year, I was back for more of the same this year. Last year had been super hot. This year it was unseasonably warm for Northern climes but it had also rained significantly. So much so, that approaching Buxton, I found a lot of roads closed as the Toddbrook Reservoir, between Buxton and Whalley Bridge had begun to collapse as seen in the article below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-49189955


Last year I had a particular nightmare with the AirBnB and gaining entry. This year I went super low budget......the only problem was with the traffic being so bad, getting to Buxton at 9pm on a Friday night and nothing was open....it was either packets of sandwiches from a Sainsburys local or the dodgiest kebab shop in the North West. Not even dirty Dominos would deliver! I opted for the latter......probably not wise but I wanted hot food, washed down by a small can of IPA. A relatively early night and then round the corner to the start. It seemed more low key than last year. It felt like fewer at the start, but apparently still a sell out.

Straight up from the startline, I took a more tentative start than last time around. I felt in less good shape but still really up for it. The sun was shining but the ground was saturated, so I knew the parcours was going to be a tough day out, and there was 7000ft and an 8 hour time limit.

After a fairly lung bursting 400ft climb up to Solomon's Temple, the bagpiper at the top welcoming all to the race with the symbolic tunes was a muddy descent back into town. Laboured, I took it easy but found my race legs on the mighty ascent up Burbage Edge, Axe Edge Moor and the 3 shires head. Overtaking a chunk of the field here to find my race place I felt good. Making a similar minor error after 3 Shires to last year, I followed a group to CP1 and then across what was a nice dry field last year. This time round, a female runner first in our group of 5 went waist deep into a bog. We tentatively made our way from tussock to tussock, knee deep in anaerobic peaty mud. CP2 to CP3 was hard. The sodden ground made hard going. I felt slower than last year, especially up and over the iconic Ramshaw Rocks, where I saw my first casualty of the race, a runner who had fallen off the rocks. After checking he was OK, I carried on. Again I struggled up Hen Cloud and over the Roaches. I felt similar to last time round, heavy legs and no energy. At Roach End to Lud's Church I felt better last year.....this time I still had the funk. It was only into Gradbach Woods that I found something. Down to the CP I drank and drank, such was my dehydration. Again I had little in the legs and the rocky ascent to Burntcliff Top was a walk, not a run.

Running alone I had to battle some demons. Coming up to Shuttlingsloe I just put one foot in front of another and ground out the climb. A quick check of the watch and I thought I might be slower than the year before. I felt like something was left in the tank so I put as much effort as I could on the ascent to Cat and Fiddle and then up to Shining Tor. The back end of the race felt like I had something in the tank, but was I going to be faster than the last time around? Coming down Stakeside was a thigh-busting and boulderous descent. I was concerned about going apex-over-triangle and knocking out my teeth. Through the Goyt Valley now and in the distance I heard the deep rumble of the Chinnook Helicopter, repairing the Toddbrook Reservoir. I paused to take a photo. Then off I went. The rain and sun had led to really lush growth with face high bracken and impossible-to-see paths. I put faith in the fact that the rocky path below was in line with the faint path through the bracken. I dodged right to follow the path and then for a split second, put my foot on nothing. I span round in the air and landed flat on my back, looking up a the blue sky. I looked again and I had fallen down a landslide where the recent storm waters had washed away the gulley. I had fallen about 20 feet. Feeling the ooze of the last gel in my pocket was a blessing and a curse. I was sugar low, but at least it was a gel and not blood.

I'm not sure what happened next, its a bit of a haze. I scrambled up the bank and then back up to the path. I hooned it up to Burbage Edge and then smashed it all the way back into town. Somehow I had run quicker by a couple of  minutes than the previous year! My back was super sore though. After a shower and a drive back to RTW, I spent 3 days in bed with the worst backache and sickness. 3 things learned......don't eat takeaway the night before a race; watch where your footing goes but mainly don't drive up North on a Friday night. Its never a relaxing drive.

High Weald Challenge - 28 miles #102

Not to be confused with the High Weald 50k, this is a lovely local run organised by the LDWA. Out of about 90 starters I picked out old running legend Robert Cameron Wood...the running doctor. I've run probably 30 or so races with him and we always have a bit of a catch up. I think he is on his way to 500 marathons now...such is his prowess!

A low key start. Off from Forest Row. I am keen to explore as many local ultras as possible and this was on the other side of the Ashdown, somewhere I had not run the southern part before.

Slightly dodgy instructions and a GPX file from a wanderer helped us the more miles than this was supposed to be. I had 29.9 at the end of the race. More tailwind.....no problems. Great.

I probably was bothered in the last 3-4 miles....however a downhill finish saw me over the line in 6th.

Weald 50k #101

Room 101 is a place where we put things that we don't like or get on with. For some reason this was a bit of a bogey number. For my birthday I had planned a big one. The Butcombe 56 mile ultramarathon. I think that having lost my mojo totally after passing 100 and with work, kids and the amount of work on our house taking its toll, I think this year will be the lowest running mileage since the broken leg in 2010.

Anyway I toed the line low on mileage and low on morale.

I didn't feel the best but this was my first outing at trying tailwind having DNF'd at Butcombe...having been top 5 for the first 25 miles and then dropping 20 places in 4 miles with 9 hedge stops.....guts were awful. I finally bailed at 38 miles. Empty.

This was a bit of a revelation as it felt good all the way round. I enjoyed the race, despite being low on miles. I had run this in a much higher position in previous races. I have run 5 HWC or WC races now....Sue sends me out on them as the mugs are a welcome addition to the 'hot chocolate' or 'chinese tea' late drink...putting me in 7th position in the 'all time' list.  Nice to see Paul Thomson at the start.....However this time round, I started at the back.....took the first 30k so easily it was an enjoyable run with no lows or flat spots. I was loitering in about 120th place out of nearly 200 runners.....part of the pack that I don't often familiarise myself with, but it was lovely and friendly. With the gut-bomb not happening, I put my foot down. The last 20k I switched on some middle-aged after burners......jumping from 120 ish to 52nd overall. I overtook 15 in the last 3 miles.....all 3 miles were run at sub-7s. I guess with more confidence and training I could have gone out harder and gone into a better position....but you never know. 5.35 and 101 done

Reflections on 100 marathons

2 1st places - Challenge Hub Midnight ultra 33 miles and course record (this race in its format does not exist anymore so I'll gladly claim that CR by 11 mins and win. High Weald challenge was a win by 18 mins in 30 degree heat

3 2nd places Founders Challenge and Ranscombe Challenge pail into insignificance compared to Norman Conquest 50 miler 2nd place with Ewan.

1 third place at the Widsor Ultra 45 miler.

20 Top 10 finishes in the last 100 marathons spanning over 10 years and 11 months.

Sevenoaks Circular 50k

Some of my good running friends choose a BIG ONE for their 100th marathon. It should be a rite of passage. It should be something massive. 100 marathons is actually a pretty big achievement right? Well technically it isn't 100 marathons...more like 26 marathons and 74 ultras.

I was in the mindset of an injured runner. I didn't know how I would or could be. I recounted the day in Kings College Hospital, 2 months after my first epic UK championships at the Ridgeway 86 miler that I broke my leg 3 days previously, confronted by a senior consultant specialist to be told..."you'll never run again" which was a shot through the heart whilst also being a call-to-arms. Delicately I recovered from that. My recovery from PF was not languorous, albeit with intent, although lack of speed ensued. I could not shake this bitch....but I could confine her pain to a deep part of my cerebral cortex and just run on.

So......toeing the start line. My good running buddy RCW at wingman. We ran and ran through the sticky mud of the Kent countryside.  Some choose an ICON for a big milestone. I chose a local race with local people and a run that cuts across from 7 miles from home. Wow. For me that is iconic...(lower case lot LARGE!) Home turf for a big race. I went off with a good clip. probably my limit for the moment. I noted that I finished 20 mins slower than in 2017 but the trail was much wetter and slippier this year and I opted for the Hokas and not the Inov8s. Silly mistake for speed Great idea for injury prevention.

Weald village, CP2. Hard work but lovely. The next 22 miles were harder. From 15 we ran with Malcolm. Last time we ran together was my first PF pain. We had banter. I held on to the coat tails of these boys as I did not have the capacity to go any harder. I didn't care. I wanted to enjoy the run. The feeling of 100 started to sink in after about 20 miles. It only mattered to finish.....

Well then i wanted to finish good. RCW dropped me with 6 to go. I felt like I'd be about 30 mins behind, such was my pallour and demeanour. Comeing into Dunton Green I perked up. It was pretty much 500ft up to the finish, then down, then up, then down, then the long drag up Knowle Park and the final climb to 600ft at the finish. I changed down a gear and went for it. It wasn't pretty. It was painful. It felt good in my head though.

I came within 200m of the finish and I thought I saw Susie carrying Audrey? They ran away. She said she was meeting Denise and Molly in Knowle park and would 'try' to meet me at the finish.

What was I greeted with? Not only the hoi-polloi from my old running club in Dulwich.......Sensational. 16th place. 100th marathon 5.59 and 4000ft of hills for 32 miles. It took about 30 mins and 2 glasses of fizz for the feeling to wash over me like a tile of warmth, relief and a cheeky feeling of .....WHAT'S NEXT????

Thank you to everyone ever who has supported me, met me on the trail and been there for me on training runs, races, finish lines, marshals, RDs and above all, my wife, Audrey and Greta and my parents. 100 marathons. Done

Lenham Cross Trail Marathon

I've upped my training. The Plantar fasciitis is still there in the background......I'm never sure it will go away, like an unwelcome drunk relative.....showing up when you least need it and you've bought your girlfriend round for the first time to meet the parents. Over the last 8 months my mileage has never been so low. My recovery has never been so long. Mentally it has crippled me and this has impacted on my belief, my work, my energy and undoubtedly my mental health. I hate it. I hate the injury. I hate it and I want it to go. I have tried everything and now having dropped all speed training...the aggrevator.....it seems to subside into the ethereal mist of my mind.

With a slightly sketchy drive with the M20 closed and almost missing the start, I squeezed on to the back of the start line......oh bollocks it was the front! It was a great opportunity to catch up with podium pal Johnny Melbourne. He was "taking it easy" as he had a 50 miler in Utah next week. Nevertheless he was looking as good as ever and ready to take on Tremayne 'Dill' Cowdry's inaugrual event. Now Dill is a veteran 100 miler and a fast one at that. He organised the race with all proceeds going to Mark 'Thorners' Thornberry's Liver cancer charity. Awesome.

Superb weather and a bloody  hilly and horribly beautiful 4500ft of climb on this 27 mile race. We were promised that it wasnt a PB course. We were right. Great to see Allan Rhumbles manning a few checkpoints. He is a running legend. I'd love it one day if he would be a belligerent pacer for me on the Grand Union 145 or similar. Gent and legend.

Anyway, this was a warm T-shirted February day, such is our global warming climate. Oh bloody hell this was hilly. It was great though. I ran with a few new faces...all super people...too many to mention although I really really enjoyed running with Richard Woolley. The out was hard.....but the back was not bad. I ran conservatively in the first 13/14 miles as I wanted to nurse the bitch in my foot. No dramas so I let the muscles do the work and I banged out the last 10 miles much harder. No issues! OMG!!! Am I better? Well I needed to think longer term but mile 23-27 I let loose and banged out some 7 min miles. It felt great. It felt like the old days. Marathon 99!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winter Tanners

The Tanners is the beginning of the running year. 31 miles and 3500ft of mud and sweat. Today was unusually warm. It has been inches deep in snow in recent years but this year was less inclement.

I have been battling PF in my right foot for 6 months now. To suggest to the reader that I am anything other than F***ed off would be an understatement. I am racing for the first time in a pair of Hoka Stinson ATR in size 12.5. They seem a little stiff but it was the first outing in these as they arrived the day before.

What was good was that I ran with Dave Barker from the running club in Tunbridge Wells and Simon Culver from work. We ran together the whole way. Usually on these races I am in front of Zoltan. I've only ever run with him twice, but on race paces, he is about the same as me. This time we were over 35 mins behind. This is probably the PF effect. No doubt I am returning to fitness, but via the long road. It began to grumble at mile 14. 3 hours later it was painful but I managed it over the line. 30.5 miles of Sussex countryside. Marathon 98. Done.

Battle of Britain Challenge

Entering my 3rd month of Plantar Fasciitis was nothing but frustrating. If I spend time ruminating over this ongoing grievance then I would get myself even further down. I have felt so frustrated. I've sought treatment, I've consulted experts and yet it still persists. When I speak with fellow sufferers on Twitter, it seems this could last forever.....

So I toed the start line with my good running buddy RCW. We basically had a run and catch up over this hilly and windy course on the NDW from Samphire Hoe, out and up towards Folkstone and back again....a few times. I wanted a race to fit in with half term and yet I loathe these lapped courses. I won't waste time rating this race. It was poor. The best bit was catching up with some old friends. The rest......PF failure from 8 miles in. I was a miserable state. I had a smile on my face but it covered a deeper grimace. I hated the tendon under my foot. It hurt. It hurt a lot. I put on a brave face and completed the race. 18th place out of 200. 2800ft of hills in this.

 There is still a brave face in the photo. It was back to the drawing board on the injury. I'll do it my way.

Founders 27

It was back to Peaslake. I had not been here for a number of years and had fitted this in as was unsure if my Plantar injury had recovered and it needed to fit in with half term.

Lovely unseasonably warm weather meant it was end of October 22 degrees and t shirts for the day. I opted to start out with the runners at 10am, which was a bit late to be honest. After 3 miles it was good to bump into George Fairbrother who was running a nice-day-out pace with Michael Bennett.

I had opted to run with Malcolm of which I did for the whole race. We kept a good clip on but the course was a technical one and up and down the Greensand Ridge and North Downs Way was not going to make this a fast time.

Add in 1000 Schnausers on the national Schnauser dog walk day ("hey I've lost my dog.......What does it look like......Well its a........" How could you find one in 1000?!!) and some 3400ft of hills and we were just on a completion and banter day.

All in, coming back from injury and that, 11th place was OK.

White Cliffs Challenge 53.4 miles

This was a self navigation challenge on Bank Holiday Sunday 2018. It did not stop raining heavily all day and all night. Starting and finishing in Deal it was a 53.4 mile triangle course, along the coast, then inland, then back out to coast, on and off the North Downs Way, England Coastal Path and 1066 Route.

I met with Robert Cameron-Wood at the start and we basically ran together all of the way in the atrocious conditions that were the first 20 miles along the White cliffs through Deal, Dover and Folkstone in headwinds of 45-50 miles an hour with occasional gusts that blew us up in the air, or onto the ground. Add in face-hurting horizontal rain and the first 3 hours were horrid!

We ran with Malcolm for about 15 miles. Then at CP1 we split and the hilly inlands were as wet but not quite as windy. I'm writing this some months after running it and although it was miserable, it was good banter and certainly character building running. We made CP3 just before nightfall. I'm not sure why the start time was mid afternoon. It would have been good to start at say 7am, then get done before nightfall. It did mean that with the dark clouds and crap weather, that it was dark very early.

We were pootling along just fine. I'd used my GPX file as well as the navigation using the directions and we didn't get overly lost. With 30 miles done, my heel started to hurt. RCW said it was likely Plantar fasciitis, I thought not. It transpired to be. What was uncomfortable at 30 miles became unbearable at 48 miles. That said, a fast race walk/stomp/run got us round in 5th place, only a minute behind 3rd place, who started out an hour earlier....

A fry up at the end and the long drive across Kent and time for the recovery process.