#3 Salisbury 54321

10th August 2014
5:03:00

The seemingly endless weeks of scorching 32* sunbathing weather was to become interrupted by hurricane Bertha said weather forecasts. They was not wrong!
The rain had started in earnest on the Friday with intervals of torrential downpours. Thoughts started to move toward trail shoes for what I predicted could be quite sticky trail routes by the a Sunday.

Phil drove us across to Wiltshire while wind and rain battered the motorway, reducing visibility and making 7am on a Sunday morning seem rather a silly idea. Online forecasts suggested it would stop by 10am so we remained hopeful.

It was drizzling upon arrival. Jacket on, quick loo queue, quick number pick-up (someone had painstakingly handwritten and organised all the envelopes of for collection with runner/walker name and their number).  Decided to keep the jacket as the weather looked set in and I knew I'd be walking a fair bit of the course.

Simple start with rolling clock, and away we went. Down a back-alley type Tarmac path for maybe a mile and then hit the first standstill at a gate. This stop-start was a feature of the first couple of miles as we headed up onto and across the Old Sarum with slidey singletrack, gates and stiles. Down the other side and onto some pretty standard trail footpath with long grass and nettles either side. Some paths were quite narrow and I felt sorry for the walkers who must have felt they were being trampled by the runners.

Around 4km at a steep incline I caught up with 'MarathonMan' Rob Young who had at only 6am that morning completed the NDW100. He was being congratulated by many as they passed him but looked bushed, and was mumbling/slurring I assume due to exhaustion and lack of sleep between his series of challenges. I stayed a while with him, asking him questions about his events, nutrition, feet. I had no real targets for completion time for the race so didn't mind taking a slower pace for a while. I did eventually (stop annoying and) leave him after an aid station saying "you'll probably catch me up later".

The course was well signed and easy to follow with consistent mile markers. Most of the route there were groups of runners and walkers though I did enjoy the odd moments of solo plodding through bits of forest, and then catching up with other runners and having a quick chat.

The prior and current rain had made for lots of mud on what really should have been a hard packed trail by August. I slipped a bit in several places, even in trail shoes- I might have to consider getting a pair with more aggressive tread before my winter trail races. We passed through country estates, along roads, private driveways, forests smelling of pine, fields of calves, cut straw, boggy fields and gravel tracks. A real mixture.
Aid stations were mainly water, squash and jelly babies. I really appreciated the flapjack at one station, but the one before 20miles running out of water was a real disappointment!

#2 Giants Head

28th June 2014
7:15:28

After the notorious Friday evening traffic on the M25 we arrive at Sydling St Nicholas around 8pm for camping and the first of the banter with the BCRC gang. It was hard not to be distracted by the orange onsie but we did manage to pitch a tent (poor Phil hates camping) and join in with the giant cock jokes and mental preparation for the 10hills we would face tomorrow.

The following morning. No sign of the predicted rain- in fact the sky was looking positively clear and promising. I risked it with just a folded up bin liner in my back pocket as an emergency rain jacket. A quick race briefing in the village and we lined up on the road for the start: the farmers wife and a shotgun! There was a short jog (about half a mile?) before we hit the first hill and preceded our casual run-walk. I had decided to tag along with four of the BCRC girls as this kind of 'race' for me was really only about getting round within the time limit so I'd decided I'd rather have the company and a natter than go out alone.

The Start

The (naked) farmer was in his bath at ~3miles, drinking a glass of champagne. He had two other ladies also in baths, so we had a few photos. We saw the chalk giant with his giant *ahem* head and had more photos. It was a very leisurely day. Apart from the bit where we jogged for a whole unbroken 2.5km somewhere in the second half!

Cerne Abbas, the Giant

The Dorset trail was varied- hard packed, gravel, uneven, cambered, hidden, grassy, soft, narrow, woodland- everything you could image underfoot, but happily 99% mud free, and even that was avoidable. The aid stations were amazing well stocked- cake, sweeties, squash, vodka, cake, jelly beans, biscuits, crisps, cake, hugs and cider! Some of the hills were beasts. But we just walked. It was reasonably hot with thankfully a breeze where it was open enough.

Trail

Phil met us at 'the love station' at 20miles and jogged back down with us. We also picked up a girl called Jessica who was suffering with calf/foot cramps and did actually stumble on the final decent into the village.

The Finish

All the girlies crossed the line arms high to receive our medals, t-shirts and pint glasses.
A fun day out!

Enormous Ice Cream                                                    Super Bling       

#1 Paris

6th April 2014
4:14:37

Make or break. I would either love it or hate it.
Or so I thought.

I was hideously over-excited and slightly nervous. 7 months of hard training had led to this one journey and I knew it was going to be something special.
The journey started early on the Saturday morning with breakfast and a train ride into London to catch the Eurostar.  Phil (the super boyf) would be accompanying me on my marathon adventure, as my personal supporter:) It was a carb loading day so I would be eating pretty much constantly. A second breakfast after checking in, and lunch #1 on the train. We took le Metro to the Expo where I did the medical certificate gubbins, collected my bib and got a change of pen sticker to go on it while Phil took the other entrance and started browsing some of the stalls. Overall the expo experience was very smooth. The stalls were pretty good but mainly full price so we didn't buy anything.

Outside the Expo

I'm not sure when we started talking in French, possibly before we'd even set off tbh, we know enough basic French to drop bits into sentences, so we did have quite a laugh all weekend improving each other's vocabulary.
We took le Metro to l'Hôtel (same one we stayed in last year for a romantic weekend away) and soon after headed out for 'cheese-less pizza', my go to night-before-a-race meal.


Race morning. 
Pre-sunrise jog around the plaza. 
Breakfast.
Was running (excuse the pun) a bit late leaving l'Hôtel for le Metro. 
Thought was doing ok for time once had arrived at l'Arc, but was 2minutes off missing the BCRC photo. Dammit. 
Went straight to bag drop. Quite a long walk but smooth drop off. Long loo queue. Then headed for pens, and this is where things started going wrong for me. I have no idea what was going on. I thought I was in the right place, trying to get into the green pen (4h), I couldn't hear the announcements, I was in a crowd of at least 200 people and we weren't being allowed into the pens.... There was still 30-40 minutes before our advised pen entry time so I'm confused as to what was going on really. And I needed to pee again. 
Eventually we got into the pen. After the greens had been released I think. I decided to queue up for a portaloo hoping to set off at the front of the greys. Wee done, the crowd of slower runners had been moved forwards along the start area. I nosied closer to see what bib colour they were. It was a mess of greys and pinks. I decided to try my luck going forward through the crowd to the tape at the front being held by security guys. When I eventually got there, they let me through and I walked alone to the start line and with a couple of meters to go broke into a jog.
A stressful start followed by a serene moment trotting down the Champs Élysées on my own. The crowds cheering just for me. 

I had it clear in my mind the pace I was aiming for and the advice from many of going out slow. This worked for about 3k when, near le Louvre, I hit the back of the grey crowd- aka, slower runners than me. I let them keep my pace slow for a couple of k through Bastille and towards Chateau de Vincennes, where at 10k I checked my pace band and was a little concerned of having lost about 3minutes from where I'd wanted to be, so I figured what was going to have to happen. I was going to have to weave through them to get to the pace I want to go. And this was going to be tough. 

It was hot. The forecast in the week leading up to the race was for overcast/light showers and 8-12degrees. But a last minute check of the forecast the night before had showed a clear day with lots of sun, very little cloud and 18+ degrees by lunchtime. Soooo many people were overdressed with base layers, jackets, full length tights and long sleeved tops. I was comfortable with my thin capris, short sleeved top and my saviour- the visor. I'd only worn it once before, and now I love it. At each water station (bottles) I would drink ~half the bottle, and put the other on my head to cool me down. The visor made the water stay on my head and soak in rather than running straight off and down my face.

Somewhere along the Seine. Is that a stool flag behind me?

For the latter two thirds of the race I ran in the gutter, squeezing and wiggling my way through the crowd. (It was a nightmare) I stuck religiously to my fuelling plan, only adding to it with a sugar cube at about 40k when I though I was getting a bit dizzy. Later the app stats would reveal I'd overtaken close to 12,000 other runners! A mighty achievement and one I hope to never have to do again!
I sprinted my teensy little legs off for the final 5k (<27'00"), knocking plodders and walkers out of my way as I got closer, busting the finish line in under 4h15, my original target, but with mixed emotion. I'd completed my first marathon but knowing I could have run it faster. 

 

Le Tour Eiffel, shiny bling