I went into my first 100 miler excited, anxious and not knowing what to expect. Training had gone really well and I felt confident I could at least beat the 30 hour cut-off if not better. Forecast was awful with almost 30 degrees for Saturday afternoon.
Pre-RaceI slept OK on Friday night and woke up at 3.30am feeling excited and ready to go.
My Dad drove me to the start and headed off to Box Hill which would be my first meeting point with him and my sister who were crewing.
Pre-race briefing warned us to take it easy from Box Hill to halfway as that was going to be very hilly and very hot.
6am and we were off…
Start – Box Hill (0-24.6mi)Totally uneventful until we got to Box Hill at 10.00am (51st position), stopped at the aid station to resupply, hit the stepping stones which were beautiful and headed up 275 steps to the top where I met my crew for the first time.
Box Hill – Knockholt Pound (24.6-50.0mi)Easy part done and now the bit we were warned about – take it easy here and the night time will reward you we were told.
This was the beginning of a section of very steep hills and steps but the stunning views made up for it.
It got very hot here but restocking my cap with ice cubes at aid stations really kept my core temperature down.
On reaching Knockholt at 4pm I was in 48th position so had just creeped into the top 50 now. Some people were a sorry sight – shoes and tops off with blisters/chafing. Reminded me of how good I was feeling.
We had hot food (meat pasta and cheese, yum!), picked up my head torches from my crew, more ice in my cap and was on my way.
Knockholt Pound – Holly Hill (50.0 – 65.6mi)This was one of the most difficult parts mentally. I expected things to start cooling down now but instead I was getting hotter and feeling nauseous for the first time which worried me.
I felt awful by the time I got to my crew at Wrotham (60mi) and had to ease up for a few miles so I wasn’t sick. I was too hot in the aid station and too hot outside. I told myself to ease up a bit, start drinking more plain water and get to Holly Hill station. The thought of another 43mi, mainly through the night, now began to scare me and some doubts crept in for the first time.
I took my own advice, and had cooled down a little by Holly Hill, but was still feeling a bit sick and really painful in my quads so that running was now taking a big effort every time.
Had some coffee as the night time was coming soon which really helped.
Holly Hill – Detling (65.6 – 82.0 mi)Total turnaround – I left Holly Hill and after a few miles hit the start of my recce’d section. The temperatures were now falling, it was dusk, and I was leading a train of 4 or 5 guys through the forest, picking up someone who had got lost on my way. I arrived at Ranscombe Farm in no time to see my crew with a cheeseburger and milkshake from McDs!
Another slow section up to Bluebell Hill aid station and then the start of 2 gruelling sections pre and post Detling – more steps and really steep hills.
Got to Detling in 52nd position as I’d been overtaken by a few people with pacers in the last mile or so (a pacer would clearly have really helped me!)
Some hot soup and bread were amazing here. My sister taped the start of a little blister on my foot. Changed my socks which felt ace and I was now ready for the most difficult part of the whole course…
Detling - Ashford (82.0 – 103.0 mi)The trail after Detling is pretty horrific – lots of big steep steps, the path literally goes through bushes, where you have to push your way through the foliage, so parts of this section are totally unrunnable.
I almost ran into a bull at one point which scared the life out of me but luckily, he was too sleepy to bother with me.
Amazingly this bad section went really well for me. Maybe I had built it up so much in my mind, but similarly to when I hit the start of the recce’d part pf the course it felt like I got a new set of legs.
I then saw my crew at Hollingbourne (87.4mi) for the last time and headed off to an easier part of the course which ended up being an awful section for me. I think because I wouldn’t see my crew again until the finish in Ashford, and another 16mi felt really long now in the middle of the night I hit a real low mentally for the first time.
I trudged the next 3.5mi to Lenham aid station still in 52nd and got ready for 7mi to the final station at Dunn Street (98mi). I had now finished the recce’d part of the course now and this felt like a really long section, but I got running again and I knew the sun was going to be coming soon.
I finally made it to Dunn Street where I had a few jelly babies and composed myself – the volunteers said it was 2 miles downhill and then 3 miles through Ashford town to the athletics track.
The sun was now up, my spirits were up again and I could dream of the finish line for the first time – something I had strongly resisted the urge to do any earlier in the race.
I was running really strongly again now down the first couple of miles and quickly came upon the Church on the outskirts of Ashford that I recognised and that sent my spirits even higher (no pun intended!)
I ran past 4 or 5 people on the way to the Julie Rose Stadium and was desperately trying to hold it together and not cry as I knew I had done it. I stopped to warn my crew that I was a mile away from the stadium and make sure they weren’t asleep!
It was the best lap of a track I’ve ever done and over the line in 48th position in 24hr 50min 21sec
Ecstatic doesn’t even cover it!!!
Lessons Learnt• Bad patches never stay around for ever – they always get better (as Karl Meltzer says, “things never always get worse”)
• Recce’ing the night time part of the course was the best piece of prep I did
• Ice in my cap kept me cool and saved my race
• The night time is nothing to fear at all
• A McNasty's at mile 70 is a little piece of heaven
• Always have a change of socks in the 2nd half of the race – again it felt heavenly
• Its amazing how far 16mi seems at 4 am in the morning
• Having a crew is awesome – my Dad and my sister were simply amazing (would I have finished without them? Maybe but it would have been a hell of a lot harder)
