A look back at 2022

Well, 2022 didn’t quite finish as I’d hoped!  In fact, it finished exactly the same way it started – with a grumbly Achilles tendon.  Luckily, much of the time in between was relatively injury-free and I managed to get some semi-decent mileage in, and even a few races too! 

February was spent building back up after the Achilles injury, ready for my annual warm-weather training camp in Portugal in March.  It was great to be back in Monte Gordo again, with my coach, Les, after an enforced break in 2021 due to the pandemic.  The weather was mixed, but I managed to get in some good training on the beautiful trails and felt raring to go when I got back home.

On the trails in Portugal

Setting off on the Coventry Way

At the beginning of April I ran the Coventry Way Challenge Event – a 40-mile circular route in the countryside and villages surrounding Coventry.  I’d run the route solo previously, but this was my first time in the annual organised event.  It’s not technically a race as you can choose what time you start but, whilst there are no official finishing positions, everyone is given a finish time.  Considering I’d done next to no long runs in the build-up (21 miles being my longest) I was very happy just to get round in one piece.  I deliberately took it very steadily and was pleased with how strong I felt in the last few miles, and how well my fuelling went.  Fuelling is always tricky to get right, especially in race situations when you’re operating at paces and/or distances beyond those in training.  The main thing about the Coventry Way event was that I really enjoyed it, and was smiling the whole way round!

My next race came only a couple of weeks after the Coventry Way Challenge, and was completely at the other end of the spectrum in terms of distance - the Massey Tractor 10K at Stoneleigh Park.  It wasn’t great timing, but I’d actually entered this race back in 2020, only for it to be cancelled twice due to Covid!  It was great for the organisers and athletes alike that they were finally able to hold it.  I think trying to run 10K as fast as I could was harder than running 40 miles two weeks previously!  I finished in 44:07, which gave me 11^th female and 2^nd W45-55.  I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that I no longer have anything like the speed I used to have, this being over 10 minutes slower than my PB.  But trying to put a positive light on it – it was my first 10K since turning 50 last year, so at least I now have a benchmark to try and improve my age-PBs and age graded performances!

Massey Tractor 10K

After the 10K I started building back into longer runs again, and during May ran three FKTs (Fastest Known Times).  On a camping weekend in Lincolnshire I ran an FKT for the Wanderlust Way (3:46:53 for 21 miles).  This was fun as I didn’t know the area at all, so had no idea of the route or terrain.  Although the route is way-marked I was also having to use my map-reading skills quite a lot.  In contrast, a week later I ran a women’s FKT for the Arden Way in Warwickshire (4:28:47 for 27+ miles) on a route close to home which I had recced several times.  I ran the first half with one of my training partners which was great, but the second half felt much tougher as the temperature rose and the route became hillier.  I picked up again in the last two or three miles, although the sheer number of stiles to climb slowed me down!  Finally, at the end of May, I ran a women’s FKT for the Tissington Trail (out and back) in Derbyshire – Ashbourne to Parsley Hay and back (3:43:42 for 27+ miles).  This is a good path, used by cyclists as well as walkers, and despite a sore hip I felt really good.  I was slightly frustrated to only just miss the men’s FKT too!

The Arden Way, Warwickshire

With my MK24 medal and pin badges

After this I had to rest my sore hip for a while, which was very frustrating.  I managed to start running again mid-June, just in time for the MK24 Midsummer Run on 25^th June.  This was a 24-hour race on a 6.55 mile lap around Willen Lake in Milton Keynes.  My goal wasn’t to run the whole 24-hours as I was using it as a training run for a race I was aiming for in September.  I managed 7 laps on the Saturday afternoon / evening and was aiming to run another lap or two on the Sunday morning.  However, after resting overnight in my tent, my knee decided it wasn’t going to play anymore, so I ended up just walking (well, hobbling) one final lap on the Sunday just to get my pin badge for completing eight laps!

Shortly after this I went on holiday to the Isles of Scilly, which gave my knee chance to settle down.  I managed to run every day, but mostly just short runs before breakfast, to give us the rest of the day to explore the islands.  It was lovely to run in such fabulous scenery and the coastal paths were a welcome change from the Warwickshire countryside!  Not long after returning from holiday I had the pleasure of watching Les carry the baton in a leg of the Queen’s Commonwealth Games Baton Relay in Stratford-upon-Avon.  I’d nominated him in recognition of the 50+ years he has given to the sport of athletics in various capacities, including field official, committee member, team manager and, of course, coach.  We were both thrilled when we heard he’d been selected and I was incredibly proud to see him carry the baton.  2022 was a good year for Les as he also won the England Athletics ‘Services to Athletics Award’.  Les has coached me for the whole of my career (36 years) and I am indebted to him for all his support and positivity that has helped me, and the rest of our training group, achieve our goals.  Les has been instrumental in helping me achieve all that I have, and his awards and recognition are thoroughly deserved.

Les carrying the Commonwealth Games baton

After returning from my holiday, it was time to really knuckle down to some hard work, in the build-up to my main goal race of the year – the Self Transcendence 24 hour Track Race in London.  As part of my training I ran the Railway Ultra at the end of July.  The race was approx. 37 miles, four times out-and-back along a disused railway line near Coalport.  I set off conservatively, but gradually worked my way through the field, eventually winning the race outright in 5hrs 40 mins.

The Railway Ultra

One of my may training on the Leamington track

After this, I ramped up my mileage and spent many hours running round and round my local athletics track in Leamington, much to the bemusement of the other athletes training there.  They couldn’t fathom why I would want to run round a track for hours on end, and they were also intrigued by my fuelling practice – rice pudding, flap jack, and much more besides!  One of my long training runs coincided with a children’s athletics summer camp, organised by my club, Leamington C&AC.  I was invited along to chat to the children before my run, to show them some of my medals and answer their many and varied questions!  I love talking to school kids as they’re so enthusiastic and always have loads of questions.  And if it inspires them even in a small way then it is definitely worthwhile.  Doing these long runs during a very hot summer wasn’t easy, but I knew they had to be done so I devised coping strategies.  On one of the runs I ended up running 100m turnabouts for 4 hours in order to stay in the shade!  Les also rigged up a bowl of water with sponges and cooling towels which was a godsend!

Self Transcendence 24-hout track race

And so, after a two week taper, it was finally time to travel to London for the Self Transendence 24-hour race at Battersea Park athletics track.  This was actually my second attempt at this event, having run the race in 2021, and my main goal this time was to spend less time with the race physios!  If all went well, I was hoping to go a bit further than the 164.96km I managed the previous year.  However, nothing is guaranteed in ultra-distance racing, and so it was with some apprehension that I lined up alongside 42 others for this year’s race.  For those of you unfamiliar with 24-hour track races, the concept is simple – run as far as you can round and round a 400m athletics track in 24 hours!  The winner is the person with the furthest distance when the 24 hours is up.  In practice, however, it’s not really that simple at all, with fuelling, hydration, fatigue (mental and physical) and injuries all playing a part.  In order to keep moving for that length of time, you need to ensure you’re taking in enough carbohydrates to keep fuelled and enough fluid to keep hydrated.  You also need to think about replacing electrolytes and salt, which you lose through sweating.  And you need to make sure you regulate your body temperature by adding / removing layers as the temperature varies between day, night and back to day again.  Finally, a huge amount of mental strength is needed to make yourself keep moving when your body is screaming at you to stop!

The race started at 12 noon on the Saturday and finished at 12 noon on the Sunday.  During that time there were many ups and downs.  Times when I felt really good, like I could run forever, and times when I hated running and never wanted to run another step!  There were times when I fuelled really well, and times when I felt nauseous at the mere thought of food.  I was taking on fuel every 30 minutes, alternating between Mountain Fuel energy drink and solid food such as mashed potato, rice pudding, flapjack, jelly babies and Battenberg cake!  Ultra running is really just a big picnic with some running thrown in!  I tried to keep moving as much as possible, stopping only for toilet breaks and to add / remove clothing.  And no, I didn’t need any physio breaks this year!  The hardest part was through the middle of the night, when it was dark and all I wanted was to be snuggled under a duvet!  But then you start to see the sky becoming a touch lighter, and with the morning comes a renewed sense of energy (well, up to a point, considering we’d been on our feet for over 16 hours!).

24-hour women's winner!

Things certainly went better for me this year, and I reached the 100km mark in 11hrs 07 mins 59secs and the 100 mile mark in 19hrs 23mins 42 secs.  At 20 hours we had our final change of direction (we changed direction every 4 hours) and it felt like the end was almost in sight, despite 4 hours still to go!  By this time, however, my lower back had really tightened up and I realised I was stuck in a bent-forward position and unable to straighten up!  I felt very unbalanced, as though I was going to fall flat on my face!  Luckily, I managed to stay upright, and eventually the hooter sounded, signalling that the 24 hours were up.  I managed to run a distance of 197.72km (122.8 miles), finishing 6^th overall and 1^st female, nearly 50km in front of the next lady.  I was over the moon to find that my distance put me top of the UK all-time rankings for my age group (W50-54) for a track 24-hour race, and second for a 24-hour race on any surface.  It also ranks me 7^th in the 2022 UK rankings (all ages).  It did feel slightly strange to be racing 24 hours in London on the same weekend as our late Queen’s funeral.  I kept thinking about all the thousands of people, just a stone’s throw across the Thames, in The Queue, and the thought of them being on their feet all night too helped me to keep going.

I had a well-earned break after the 24-hour race, before starting back into some shorter runs again.  In October I ran a couple of parkruns at Warwick Racecourse.  I’d only just started running parkruns in 2019/20 and had only done four before the pandemic kicked in, so it was good to be back there again, even though I find them way too short!  I’ve started using them as part of a 10 mile training run – run there, do the parkrun, run home again!  I even managed to get a ‘parkrun PB’ of 21:48!  Nothing to write home about compared to my track PB of 16:32, but as I said earlier, I must stop comparing myself to 20 years ago!

Warwick Racecourse parkrun

My final race of 2022 was the Draycote Water 10K in November.  I had vain hopes of beating my age-PB from April, but it was never really going to happen given the windy weather and my lack of speed work.  So I had to be content with 1^st W50 on this occasion.

So I ended 2022 with another 2,468 miles under my belt, making my lifetime total 72,952 miles!  I certainly couldn’t have done all these miles without my brilliant physio, Mark Buckingham, and it's well worth the pain he inflicts on me to keep my body in one piece!  And a huge thank you also to Mizuno, for supplying me with great kit and amazing shoes that are so comfy that I didn’t need to change them at all during my 24-hour race.  My long-time favourites, the Wave Rider and Wave Skyrise (which I wore for the 24-hours), are so comfy they feel like slippers! 

2022 also saw me return to the gym for the first time since all the Covid lockdowns.  For the last couple of years I’d tried to keep my strength training going in the back garden, but limited equipment and inclement weather meant I couldn’t always do as much as I would have liked.  I’m extremely grateful to The Warwickshire for renewing my complimentary membership so that I can use their fantastic gym facilities, which will be invaluable to my training.  Finally, I’d like to say thank you to Mountain Fuel for making some great-tasting food and drinks.  I’ve finally discovered a drink that I can use throughout an ultra without getting fed up of it!  As well as all three flavours of energy drink I used their Morning Fuel and flapjack bars during training and racing too, and would definitely recommend!

So that’s it for 2022, time to see what 2023 brings now ... ... watch this space!  

Happy New Year everyone!

FKTs: Arden Way and Wanderlust Way

I've been out and about exploring the trails again recently, resulting in two FKTs (Fastest Known Times).  The first was an inaugural FKT (unsupported) for the 20-mile Wanderlust Way in Lincolnshire.  The second was a women's FKT (supported) for the Arden Way in Warwickshire.  Both were lovely routes in beautiful countryside, and blessed with gorgeous sunshine and blue skies to boot.  Here are my accounts of the two runs, as submitted to FKT for ratification.

Wanderlust Way, Saturday 30th April 2022 

Setting off from Bradley Woods, near Grimsby, at 10:23am on Saturday 30th April I had no idea what lay in store over the next few miles and hours! As a visitor to the area I wasn’t familiar with any of the route, or the terrain, and was relying on the waymarkers and an Ordnance Survey map for directions. But it was a lovely sunny day and I set out full of anticipation. Once out of the bluebell-carpeted woods the route crossed arable farmland before passing through Laceby Manor Golf Club. After crossing the A18 I then encountered the first climb of the day, up past Irby Holmes Wood to the village of Beelsby. Taking the path out of the village, I passed through some large agricultural buildings, a field of horses and across an arable field where there didn’t seem to be much evidence of a path at all! However, I spotted the way out at the corner of the field and emerged onto the lane and into the village of Hatcliffe. This was a pretty village, with a small stream running along the road and little bridges leading to the front doors of the houses. I passed the church and, once out of the village, took a left turn up a quiet country lane. The route followed this lane for about a mile and a half, to cross the B1203 at East Ravendale, and made for a section of good running. A track led out of the village, and zigzagged around some fields and past a few woodland plantations. I passed what appeared to be a small stone quarry, before emerging into the village of Wold Newton from a narrow path through shoulder-high oilseed rape. I passed the church, and through a farmyard before taking the path through The Valley – a lovely wooded section full of trees beginning to burst into leaf, and a carpet of yellow Lesser Celandine. This is the southern-most part of the route, and the path then skirts the edge of Beesby Wood before turning left for the return journey. As I ran along the edge of some large arable fields, full of bright yellow oilseed rape, I looked across to my right. From my elevated position there were fantastic long-distance views towards the coast / Humber estuary. 

Fabulous views towards the coast

From Hawerby the path contoured along the slope, before dropping down to cross the A18. The path then continued into the village of Ashby cum Fenby, across a couple more fields and a footbridge to Brigsley and then on to Barnoldby le Beck. Skirting round the church of St. Helen the path left the village and continued across a flat landscape of large arable fields with drainage ditches. It reminded me very much of the British 100km Championships I’d won several years ago, just across the Humber estuary at Patrington Haven! I could see Bradley Wood ahead and before I knew it I was skirting the edge of the wood and back to the point at which I’d started. It took me 3hrs 46:53, which included numerous stops to navigate as I didn’t want to inadvertently follow the waymarkers on one of the shorter circular route options! All in all, it was a really enjoyable morning’s run in the sunshine in beautiful countryside.

The Arden Way, 7^th May 2022

Starting at Henley-in-Arden village cross

On Saturday 7^th May, on a lovely sunny morning, I stood by the Village Cross in Henley-in-Arden, alongside my training partner, Steve.  At 10:00am on the dot we were off, up the High Street, into Station Road and soon off the road and onto the trails.  I was bowling along quite happily, ticking off the landmarks – Henley Golf Club, past a pond, through a nature reserve, past the Chapel of St. Mary and into the village of Ullenhall.  Soon enough we were crossing the A4189 and passing through Cadborough Farm.  I was slightly nervous about this section as on some of my recce runs there had been cattle in the fields that paid me more attention than I was comfortable with!  Luckily, though, no cattle this time (despite big signs saying ‘beware of the bull’) – just some really pesky gate chains to deal with!  As the path turned to the left there were some amazing long-distance views over the countryside to the south-west.  The first 4 miles were completed!

Approaching Chesters Green from Cadborough Farm

Towards the River Arrow at 7 miles

The next section took us through Morton Fisheries and across some fields of meadow pasture.  There were some cattle in one of these fields, but luckily minding their own business in a far corner!  Some of the fields were quite hard going underfoot, where they’d been churned up by hooves and now dried into ankle-turning lumps and bumps!  Soon enough we came to a track which we followed through the grounds of Studley Castle Hotel, passing people enjoying their morning coffee on the terrace!  A green track took us down to St. Mary’s Church and cemetery, before emerging onto the fields alongside the picturesque River Arrow at around 7 miles.

The next mile generally followed the meandering river, through Spernall, past a small derelict church and crossing the river to run through part of the recently planted Heart of England Forest.  We eventually emerged onto the road near the entrance to Coughton Court National Trust property at 9 miles.  On one of my recce walks we’d watched the Red Arrows give a display here, but unfortunately there was no such excitement today!  A short road section took us back across the River Arrow, by a ford which is always popular with children and dogs, and onto a stony track.  This is the first major hill of the route, and it seemed a relentless slog up Windmill Hill, before emerging onto Spernal Lane!

Approaching the end of the track after Windmill Hill

The next section took us along a ridge with views down over Alcester, over an abandoned railway bridge and past a trig point at 66m.  From here we dropped down to the road, which we followed through Alcester town centre, past St. Nicholas Church and across a small park to the old Stratford Road.  It was here that I said goodbye to Steve.  It had been great to have his company for the first half, but now I was going it alone for the second half!  I exchanged my empty drink bottles for full ones and continued on my way.  Crossing the confluence of the rivers Arrow and Alne, I glanced down to see a heron standing in the water, looking out for fish no doubt!  From Oversley Green the road steadily rose uphill, and became a track / path over the A46 and continuing uphill along the side of Oversley Wood.  At the top of the wood I took the route option for good ground conditions, as described in the official Arden Way Guide booklet, which followed the edge of the wood before dropping down along a track to Valley Farm on the edge of the village of Exhall.  By now I was about 15/16 miles and over two hours into the run and it was starting to feel quite hot (the temperature got up to about 20 degrees C) which, coupled with the hills was beginning to take its toll.  I ran along the opposite side of Oversley Wood, under the A46 underpass, and off across the fields again.

Approaching Haselor village

Going through the villages of Upton and Haselor the path then involved another steep climb through a field to the church of St. Mary and All Saints.  But at least there were some good views over the River Alne valley to my left!  After going through the village of Walcote there was another uphill section before I skirted the edge of Withycombe Wood, where the bluebells were in full bloom and looking lovely.  The next village was Aston Cantlow, which I arrived at through yet another churchyard – St. John the Baptist.

Leaving Aston Cantlow churchyard

  

From Aston Cantlow the route crossed back over the River Alne, followed by a long gradual uphill through arable farmland to reach the lane at Glebe Farm.  After passing the Dan Skelton Racing stables I found myself running though a field of buttercups where the racehorses were grazing.  Luckily they only paid me the slightest attention, as I didn’t fancy my chances trying to outrun a racehorse!  I was finding it pretty hard going by now, but kept pushing on as best as I could, through some fields of pasture with lovely wildflowers, a steep downhill through some woodland, followed immediately by a steep uphill through a paddock and onto the lane.

Reduced to a walk in Bannam's Wood!

I knew now that I was only about 3 miles from home, but those last few miles are some of the hardest on the route!  A long uphill pull through Bannam’s Wood reduced me to a walk, but I took the opportunity to take some fuel on board and admire the bluebells in this Ancient Woodland and SSSI.

 
Once at the top of the hill I managed to pick up my pace and started to feel quite good again.  I was running at a pretty decent pace, but the number of stiles I had to drag my weary legs up and over really slowed me down, and made me quite frustrated!  I think there were about 11 stiles in those last 3 miles, plus a few gates too!

Negotiating one of the many stiles 

Finally I was running past the allotments, up and down the steps of the footbridge to cross the railway line at Henley station, and the last little bit through the houses and onto High Street.  

Back at the village cross in Henley

I finished back at the village cross, exactly 4 hours, 28 minutes and 47 seconds after I’d started.  I really enjoyed the run; it was fabulous to run through some of Warwickshire’s most picturesque and scenic countryside, with lovely blue skies on a sunny spring day.  A big thanks to Steve for his company on the first half, and to my coach, Les, for constantly popping up around the route to take photos, give me drinks and generally make sure I was OK.  Looking forward to doing it all again sometime.

A few stats from the route:

• 21 stiles

• 93 gates

• 12 bridges

• 1 underpass

• 7 churches passed

• Villages passed through / edge of:  Henley-in-Arden, Ullenhall, Studley, Spernall, Coughton, Alcester, Oversley Green, Exhall, Haselor, Walcote, Aston Cantlow, Little Alne.

• Approx. 1600 ft ascent.

4hrs 28mins 47 secs.

Self Transcendence 24-hour Track Race, Battersea Park

In the words of Blur “it’s not about you joggers who go round and round and round…” Well I’d say this definitely was about the joggers who went round and round and round, and the walkers, and the speedy ones at the front end who covered amazing distances too!  Everyone taking part went through their own personal battles, their own highs and lows and, in the words of Sri Chinmoy, everyone who finished was a winner. 

24-hour running is a whole new ball game to me, and one that I’m really glad I decided to dip my toe into.  I’m not really sure who mooted the idea first – my coach, Les, or me – but it was an idea we’d chatted about on several occasions, though I was never quite convinced!  However, reaching my 50^th birthday this year I decided I wanted a new challenge as I know that I’m not going to get any faster over 50km or 100km.  The 24-hour event was one of the few events recognised by World Athletics at World Championship level that I hadn’t tried during my 35-year athletics career, so I decided to take the plunge and give it a go!  I must admit I was both excited and daunted in equal measure; after all, it would be a massive jump from my longest run to date of 9 hours.  “Why would anyone want to run round and round a 400m track for 24 hours?” I hear you ask!  Well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure myself, but it certainly became clear to me afterwards, as I’ll explain later.

How many laps could I complete?

And so it was that I found myself lining up at the start of the Self Transcendence 24 Hour Track Race at Battersea Park in London.  The concept is quite simple – how many laps of the 400m athletics track could I run in 24 hours, starting at 12 noon on the Saturday and finishing at 12 noon on the Sunday.  In practice, not quite so simple when you factor in pacing, nutrition and potential injury!  I spent the months leading up to the race agonising and stressing over what to eat and drink and how often, how to know if I was taking enough / too much salt, what socks and shoes to wear and whether to change part way through, what extra layers of clothing I might need, how to keep cool if it was hot, would my headphones stay in place and what music would I want to listen to (I don’t normally listen to music while running, so even this was new to me), would I cope mentally with running round and round in circles all day, whether Les (who was supporting me) would get enough sleep – the list was endless!  I practised all these things in training (apart from Les sleeping!) and made some important purchases – a fold-up table, decent cool box, headphones and a million pairs of socks!  It felt like I was preparing for a major expedition and I certainly packed enough food and equipment for one!  I discovered Mountain Fuel drinks and started using them in preference to the brands I’d used previously.  I really love their flavours and having the variety encouraged me to want to drink during the event.  In fact, during the last 3 or 4 hours I survived exclusively on Mountain Fuel drinks with no solid food at all.

I felt like I had enough 'stuff' for a month!

Do I really need all this food?! (The answer was no, but I needed to be prepared as it's impossible to know what you'll feel like eating after several hours running.)

From a running point of view my training didn’t exactly go to plan, unfortunately.  The start of my ‘build-up’ was delayed by a couple of months by a painful cyst earlier in the year, which resulted in a few days in hospital.  Once I got going again I managed some decent runs during the summer, including practicing long runs round and round my local athletics track in Leamington.  But then, about six weeks before the race, I started having issues with my sacroiliac joint, resulting in pain in my right hip, glute, adductor and hamstring!  This curtailed my training somewhat – I couldn’t do any quicker running and I missed a few crucial long runs.  In fact, I hardly ran at all during the final three weeks prior to the race!  Thank goodness for my brilliant physio, Mark Buckingham, who managed to sort me out enough to at least make the start line!

Les setting up my 'picnic' table!

So, I arrived at Battersea Park not really knowing what to expect – either in terms of the event itself, or whether my body would hold out.  As we put the tent up, and set up the table with my drinks etc., all the months of planning suddenly started to feel real.  

Pre-race briefing

Soon enough it was time for the pre-race briefing, where we were reminded about letting faster people overtake on the inside lane, notifying the lap counters if we were going to make a toilet stop or have a break, that the maximum length of break allowed was 5 hours (you were then deemed to have retired), rules about headphones, displaying your number at all times, athletes not allowed on the infield etc. etc.

Eventually, in hot sunshine under blue skies, the horn sounded and we were on our way.

And we're off.

The first few hours, as you might expect, felt easy and I was bowling along quite happily and eating and drinking well whilst running.  Luckily several of my long training runs had been in similar temperatures so I didn’t feel that I was affected by the heat.  

Enjoying the early stages.

Evening time and darkness starts to fall.

Unfortunately, however, by about 5 or 6 hours in I was already starting to struggle with tight quads and sore hip flexors.  This was disappointing as I’d felt far better than this in my long training runs of a similar length.  I briefly stopped for a quick massage from Les and then managed to get going again for a while.  

By about 9.30pm my right hip was becoming increasingly painful and I was hobbling, with more walking than running!  I tried to keep going as best as I could, but I was also struggling to eat by now too and beginning to feel quite cold.

Sent on my way with a foil blanket for warmth!

Fellow competitors were telling me I’d get through it and start to feel OK again, but I didn’t really believe them.  How could I possibly feel better after feeling so rubbish now – surely as time goes on I can only feel worse?!  At about midnight Les and I took the decision that I needed to see one of the race physios if I was to stand any chance of continuing.  So lap number 244 took me just over 47 minutes as I lay on the physio’s couch getting treatment!  I was really frustrated at losing so much time for no distance, but I think it was necessary and it also gave me chance to warm up with a foil blanket, stop shivering and re-set my body to be able to start taking on fuel again.  The physio’s verdict was that my muscles were very tight but nothing was actually broken, so I was sent on my way again, together with the foil blanket!  I had some lovely warm soup and walked a few laps, then managed to get myself running again.  It seems the others were right – it was possible to start feeling OK again after all!  This is the weird thing about running long distances – you can go from highs to lows and back to highs again very quickly.

6.45am and dawn is breaking at last

This pattern really continued for the rest of the race.  At about 16 hours in I was hobbling again, so took another physio break, then got going again, spurred on by the faint glimmer of dawn and the slowly lightening sky.  I swear the chip timing mat was getting higher and higher as the race went on, and I was sure that at some point my shuffling feet would trip on it and I’d end up flat on my face on the track (luckily I didn’t)!  Frustratingly I had to make a third physio stop at just before 20 hours, at about 136km.  I could feel my goal of reaching 100 miles slipping away, in fact well and truly out of reach now I thought.  However, I was determined to still be moving in some form or other at the end of the 24 hours, so I set off again, thinking of the messages of support that my family were sending and that Les was relaying to me.  

9.00am and all of a sudden feeling good again!

With about 3 hours to go something very strange happened – I suddenly picked up and started feeling really good.  I felt like I was flying round the track!  This wasn’t quite true, but I wasn’t far off the pace I’d been running early on!  Les calculated that if I could keep this going I might actually reach the 100 mile mark after all.  My sudden revival didn’t go unnoticed by others either – the lap counters nicknamed me ‘transformation Sue’, one of the other competitors called me the ‘comeback Queen’ and another said I had more lives than a cat due to the number of times they’d seen me struggle but then bounce back again!  

And so it was that at 23 hours, 17 minutes and 49 seconds I passed the 100 mile point, much to my delight as well as that of Les and some of my fellow competitors who had been willing me on!

Reaching the 100 mile point, cheered on by fellow competitors (left); the sheer elation of reaching 100 miles (right)

I managed to keep going for another 43 minutes, despite a few wobbles of fatigue in my legs.  I completed 412 laps in 23:58:33 and tried to go as ‘fast’ as I could to see how much further round the track I could get.

Crossing the chip-timing mat for the final time!

  

Exhausted and relieved at the end

Each runner had a helper tasked with dropping a beanbag at the exact point where their runner was when the final hooter sounded.  This final bit of distance to the beanbags was now measured and added to the completed laps, giving me a total of 102.504 miles (164.965km) - 40 miles further than I'd ever run before.  A wave of relief, fatigue, happiness, frustration and pain washed over me!

A hard-earned trophy!

I finished in 21^st place overall, 6^th female and 1^st W50.  I think this must have been one of my hardest-earned trophies!  I believe I also set Leamington C&AC club track records for 50km, 100km, 100 miles and 24 hours.

Running alongside the amazing 81-year old Pat

So why round and round a track for 24 hours?!  Well, boring as it might seem, it actually has a lot going for it.  Everything is contained within that small 400m oval – lap counters, refreshment tent, runners’ helpers and the competitors themselves.  Not only are you never far from assistance if you need it, but it also gives the event a really friendly atmosphere where everybody is very supportive of each other, offering help, advice and words of encouragement.  This is one of the beautiful things about ultra-running, the camaraderie between fellow competitors is amazing and everyone supports and encourages each other.  We were all chatting to each other as we ran / walked round; everyone had their own story to tell and their own reasons for taking part.  At one point I was talking to an 81-year old lady called Pat.  She completed the full 24 hours and ended up with a distance of 75.725 miles, setting new British Age Bests for 50km, 50 miles and 100km and World Age Bests for 6, 12 and 24 hours!  What an inspiration she was!

Because of the friendly atmosphere I never really got bored of running round in circles.  I must admit, though, I did go through a whole host of emotions during the race.  Just before halfway, before my first physio stop, I absolutely hated it and never wanted to do another one again (but I also said that during my first 100km, and went on to do another four!)  But then, in contrast, I really enjoyed the last three hours and that was probably my favourite part of the whole race!

Fantastic support from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team - lap counters (left) and refreshments (right)

Fantastic support from my coach, Les

All in all, the first-class organisation by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team made this a really positive experience for my first 24 hour event, despite the frustrations of so many physio breaks (and just to add a huge thank you to the physios for getting me back on track).  The support from the lap counters and volunteers manning the refreshments was amazing – thank you so much to everyone who gave up their time, and sleep, in order that we could run.  A huge thank you also to Les for managing to support me for the whole time, with only a couple of hour’s kip in the tent!  (Even though he did somehow manage to lose one of my favourite Mizuno t-shirts!)  

Thank you to Mizuno for their fantastic Wave Skyrise shoes which felt extremely comfortable for the entire race.  I’m really impressed with those shoes as I’d thought beforehand that my feet might have been an issue during the race, but in actual fact they came out of it pretty well.

So, would I do it again?!  Straight afterwards I would have said no!  But it wasn’t long before Les and were tentatively talking about “the next one”, so you never know!  It would be a shame not to have a chance to put into practice everything I learnt from this one, wouldn’t it?!