Two years ago I walked 100km from London to Brighton and said I would NEVER cover that distance on foot again. Who was I kidding? The other weekend I ran 100km in Race to the Stones, one of the UK's most well known and biggest ultras. I entered knowing that Princess (a friend from KAEM) was flying from Tanzania for the race and Lucja and Dion would be flying down from Edinburgh to support him. I was also needing a mid-summer ultra to keep me ticking through the summer so the timing was perfect.
I came into the race not feeling fully prepared or confident that I was at my fittest, having come back from Transvulcania in May, knowing that my body needed a rest from the hard training, early mornings and dieting so I took a step back to relax. My weekly mileage was hitting 30-40miles so definitely not enough for a 100km race. Though I felt bad for not training hard enough, my body definitely needed it and some might even argue that I was fresher coming into the race because of it.
Race to the Stones is an ultra marathon for many abilities. Runners can choose from the 100k in one day, over 2 days or just 50k on one day. I find it hard to book anything but the hardest option so I went for the 100k in one go. The route is from Oxbridge to Avebury along the Chilterns on the oldest path in Britain. About 90% of it is on trails that frequently undulate with a cumulative elevation of 2306ft, though most of this is runnable. As race day is in the height of summer the ground is very compact on both the chalky and grass sections. I was wearing my favourite and faithful New Balance Leadville 100s which are well cushioned so they saved me any trouble on the hard ground.
On race day I drove up with Rhianon, who I've been doing a fair bit of my training with since about November last year. Rhianon did the 50k and came home with an amazing 3rd position for the ladies!!! We dropped my car off at the hotel Lucja, Princess and Dion were staying at so Dion could drive us all to the start line incase we had problems with the traffic.
Me, Lucja and Rhianon
At registration, I bumped into Sorrell who has been leading the WMNRUN100 team which I joined and is in aid of getting more women into ultra running. Sorrell did a fantastic job of supporting everyone throughout training and the gap was certainly bridged with women making up about 40% of the race.
Lucja and I also introduced ourselves to Sophie Radcliffe (@challengesophie) before the start, who very last minute decided she was going to take part in the 100k in one day. It's always great to meet people face to face having only ever met online.
Lucja, Sophie and Me
Much to our surprise we also bumped into Harry who took part in KAEM 2014. Great to know he's still on great form and hasn't run out of stories to tell :-)
Me, Harry, Lucja, Princess and Sion. Team KAEM!
After a few words of encouragement from Lucja to put me in the right frame of mind I set off for the days adventure! I didn’t necessarily have a game plan other than to listen to my body and keep a steady pace so that I wouldn’t burn out too early. The more races I do these days, the less I over think them.
The first section was a mixture of trails with a few fun forest sections and the famous poppy field which I couldn’t help but take a selfie in (yep i'm back!).
I had arranged with Lucja and Dion that I wouldn’t see them until the 50k mark as I could do without support until then. I spent a good 10k with Sophie from about 20k in. We had a good chit-chat about our adventures so far, what brought us to the race and what we have planned for the future. It was one of the most enjoyable parts of the race for me as we had plenty to talk about and time passed by quickly.
From about 30k I was starting to feel slightly sluggish and my stomach was beginning to not cope with the amount of fluid and gels I was consuming. I drink a lot of water anyway but as it was hot I was even more conscious of making sure I was drinking enough. That mixed with a gel every hour didn't sit well in my stomach. Knowing I was getting closer to half way where Lucja and Dion would be, I pushed on so I could start counting down with 50k left to go. I ran the final km to the half way point with Dion who's springy step made me very jealous but kept me company as he updated me on everyone else's whereabouts. We met Lucja by the car so I could restock on any extra food I wanted, especially as there was no cake at the CPs!! Lucja has taught me and she is totally right in saying that you only have yourself to rely on in races. So for any first timers wanting to take part, make sure you either carry your days food on you or have someone supporting you who can feed you along the way.
At the 60k CP I spent a good 5 minutes in a portaloo relieving my stomach and taking the few minutes sat down to reset and recharge (i'm sorry if that offends anyone ha). It sure worked because I left feeling like a new person. For the next 20k the legs felt fresher, I felt a lot lighter and my stomach was finally empty so a lot easier to run on. I was definitely on better form when seeing Lucja and Dion for the second time at the 7th CP and they could tell my pace had improved. I had a bit of perpeptuem, half a chicken and bacon sandwich, which was my first bit of solid food since breakfast and plodded along the next km with Lucja. The next 20k were a slog but I kept a consistent pace, making the decision to walk parts of the uphill. I was starting to yo-yo with the same group of people so we started to share our pain to each other. The CPs were not only getting further apart because we were slowing down but also because they actually were getting further away by about 2-3kms which made a big difference. I'm sure there was a logistical reason behind it but it felt like the backwards way of placing CPs! Nevertheless, having Lucja and Dion supporting was a huge morale boost and enough motivation to get me to the next CP.
At 90k I saw them for the last time before the finish. They had calculated that I could finish in 12hrs if I really pushed it in the last 10k and that my aim to be back in time for a pub dinner was likely to happen so I set off as soon as I had more water and waved goodbye until the finish line.
The views in the last 10k were lovely as we made our way down to Avebury but the wheels had come off and although I knew how close I was, my watch had run out of juice so I could only gage how much further was left and it still felt like a very long way. In hindsight I could have pushed harder but I was already feeling happy at how far i'd come and now I realise this, I will make sure I push harder on the next one.
Forget the stones, it's all about the finish line. The final stretch of about 200m put a huge grin on my face. Seeing Lucja and Dion there put an even bigger grin on my face as I've shared so much of my journey over the past couple of years with them and as you might know Lucja has coached me since last year now. Seeing how much I've improved since then is credit not only to my hard work but also due to the time she has dedicated to training and supporting me. There will be a full testimonial on this soon!
16th lady!
I crossed the line in 12:22 putting me in 16th position out of 262 ladies and 97th overall out of 861 runners... Just in time for last orders at the pub near the finish. Lucja later drove me to the Hilton hotel we pre-booked in Swindon so I could shower and start recovering while she drove back to watch Princess over the line with Dion. Hats off to Princess for pushing through the last 70k that he had to walk due to cramping. All in all, a great race and yet another chance to push my limits and prove to myself what the mind and body is capable of if you truly put your mind to it, train hard and believe you have it in you.
My main tips for anyone doing RTTS 100k would be:
- If you can, find someone to support you along the way. I gave Lucja and Dion a bag full of shot blocks, gels, malt loaf and sweets for me to pick at and top up on at CPs.
- Be consistent. Don't set off too fast... you'll only burn out too quickly and pay the price later in the race.
- Bring your own food!!!! Don't rely on the CP food. You never know what you feel like eating on race day so bring a variety.
- Book a hotel near the finish line. The last thing you want to worry about at the finish is having to get home (unless someone can collect you).
- Bring salt tablets. It was a super hot day and this was the only thing I forgot to bring with me and certainly regretted it during the race.
- At the start, get yourself near the front. Don't be shy! The path gets narrow a couple of km's in so if you're too far back you'll be stuck in traffic for a while.
Next up for me is the Amalfi Coast Crossing, a low key 76k in beautiful Italy with 6900m of elevation and a 19hr cut off. Couldn't keep away from the mountains for too long! :-)