Written by Greg Moore

I set off on the 3 hour drive from Cornwall to Dorset straight from work on the Friday afternoon with my bosses words ringing in my ears, “What’s the point in that?” this after I had told him that my plans for the weekend involved running 82 miles along the Jurrassic coast inside a 24 hour time limit. I couldn’t give him a reasonable explanation, at least not one he seemed happy with.

The Oner is an ultra-marathon along stunning coast of Dorset, and a race I have been somewhat transfixed with after first hearing about it 2 years earlier when I was chewed up and spat out by the very same course over 3 days during the Jurrasic Coast challenge. Though I had managed to finish, being one of my first ever races, it was a massive struggle which I had totally underestimated and not something that I was particularly pleased with given the manner I stumbled over the line. My friend Tom, who had introduced me to trail running, then said you could do all 3 days in one go at a race that he, along with his girlfriend Nicky, had done. Bathing in my own self-pity, given what had happened to me over the past 3 days this sounded totally obscene and of course, the seed was sown. My revenge on the Jurrassic coast was to be taken within 24 hours one Saturday in early April, or at least that was the plan……………………….

Off We Trot

Fast forward to April the 9th 2017 I arrived at the race HQ early on the Saturday morning with training having gone really well over the previous 3 months, that is until the final 3 weeks where some quad problems had threatened to curtail all the good work. Once I had decided to start I vowed to run normally and if things flared up then so be it but I’d run on my own terms. Registration went without hitch, the brutal events team who run the race seem a well-oiled machine and with numbers, glow sticks and a plethora of free goodies attained I found a quiet corner to make final preparations. Here I met and began chatting with Jon and Richard, the latter unknowingly to me at the time, I would end up spending the vast majority of the next day with. Boarded onto the minibuses, though fairly relaxed any way, Jon’s laid back banter made the journey seemingly fly by and before we knew it we were at the start and off and running with Jon’s prediction of Richard’s top 10 finish ringing in our ears. Jon went off like a train and up until the first checkpoint I ran at a comfortable pace yo yoing with Richard along the way, albeit not by design. The weather was fantastic, really perfect for running, sunny with a light breeze, though I heard later a lot of people didn’t enjoy the heat, I couldn’t have asked for anything better personally. With some spiteful ascents and descents early on, including golden cap, which is the highest point on the south coast, I decided to take a measured approach knowing there was plenty of flat stuff later to take advantage of and ran well within myself.

Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey

Checkpoint 1 came and went, then it was onto the dreaded pebbles along Chesil beach until Abbotsbury at checkpoint 2, this all passed without incident and I ran for the first time with a great guy over from Finland for the race, or as he was imaginatively christened later, the Flying Finn. Just after checkpoint 2 myself, Jon and Richard found each other again and began running together for a while, before Richard, looking really strong began to pull away and Jon started to fall back. This was the last we saw of Jon for the race but after I caught Richard up a mile or so later, we would end up running together for what was left of the race. A first aid emergency struck at checkpoint 3, much to the amusement of everyone there when the medic had to remove the earbud from my headphones which had got stuck in my ear, some nifty tweezer work and we were away again once more to the sound of Radio 5 Live. From checkpoint 3 onwards it is pretty much all flat until you reach Portland and my rough plan at the start was to get ahead of cut offs early while the going was good, try and get around Portland and off again in daylight, and save some gas for when the race really started at Osmington Mills which was checkpoint 7 and roughly 50 miles. The run around Portland which encompasses checkpoint 4, 5 and 6 was really enjoyable as the sunset, here we caught up to Pete who we’d keep company for the best part of the rest of the race and it was onto Weymouth. This flat tarmac section is fairly long, from the causeway across to Portland until the end of the seafront in Weymouth and here we were to make our only navigation error of the race, this was slightly annoying but only cost us around 10-15 minutes when we missed a right turn into the harbour front in Weymouth. After backtracking we found the right path and with Richard and Pete going well we cruised along until the end of the seafront where we all put our head torches on, Game on! We reached Osmington Mills without further problems and I was feeling fantastic at this stage, I’d kept on top of my nutrition and hydration really well and though my legs and feet were starting to feel it, no more than I could reasonably expect, my quads were not an issue. The night checkpoints are really when the brutal staff come into their own, with most having done the race, they all know what the runners want and are unfailingly helpful and full of enthusiasm which is no mean feat given they too are out on the course for 24 hours or more in some cases. This was the first time I realised a cup of tea at a checkpoint was a possibility, from checkpoint 7 until the end, this was all I was focusing on, breaking the race down to the next cup of tea!

The business end

The race proper starts at Osmington Mills, for the next 20 or so miles we were treated to some undulating terrain to say the least, we were still moving well and were soon to be caught by the flying Finn and his rhythmic walking poles, though we rarely stayed with him for long he was either just in front or just behind us for the rest of the race. Things started to go slowly downhill from about checkpoint 8 at Lulworth for me, I was beginning to notice my legs starting to suffer and the downhills, which are incredibly steep, were really hard on my feet which resulted in a burst blister while walking at one stage. Both Richard and Pete were still going well, Richard had been strong all day and was leading from the front while Pete was quietly moving along, how he was managing those hills living and training in London was truly impressive. Tea consumed at Lulworth and it was over the ranges being a bit careful with the navigation and onto Kimmeridge. These two sections are the toughest on the course so the sooner we could get this done and dusted the better. Another cup of tea at checkpoint 9 and we were off again, I had never done this section of the coastal path as there had been a diversion in place when I had previously tackled it, for the most part it is fairly flat, that is until near the end when there is a huge, steep hill to get up, this was the first time I had stopped on a hill all day and myself, Richard, Pete and even the flying Finn enjoyed a sit down on the well-appointed seat at the top for a couple of minutes. Down and up the steps of doom and it was checkpoint 10 at St Albans head where disaster struck, the cup of tea I had dreamed of since the last checkpoint was unattainable! No milk! Argh, after recovering from this hammer blow with hot chocolate and a sit down for 10 minutes we were off again. I had no concept of time at this stage, we had bags of time until the cut offs so I wasn’t focusing on anything other than trying to keep up with Richard who was like a man possessed once he could smell the finish line, I told him on numerous occasions to go on ahead but he wouldn’t hear of it so we ambled on at an average walking pace while watching an incredible sunrise over the coastline with a completely clear sky until the last checkpoint at Swanage.

The bitter end

The last section was only really when I first started to truly believe that I’d finish this thing, I was really struggling to move at a decent pace now though as my left calf had pretty much seized up and my right quad was in a similar state, unknowingly Pete hadn’t followed us out of the checkpoint at Swanage, as we were so used to him quietly getting the job done at the back with little fuss, it wasn’t until we were into Swanage proper I noticed he was no longer there but we’d see him soon enough. I was really pushing to stay with Richard and not to let him down any further by slowing his progress, massive respect, he was strong the whole race and he really pulled me along when I needed it most during the last two sections. Up the last hill out of Swanage, around old harry rocks and then along the never ending beach at Studland, it was here we passed the flying Finn for the last time about 3 miles from the end after going back and forth for the past 30 or so miles. As we clambered onto the wooden walk way at the very end my watch gave up the ghost, 20 meters from the finish! Unbelievable! We dibbed in and following Jon’s earlier prediction, Richard did indeed finish in the top 10, well merited as he was so strong throughout and pulled me along with him at the end. After a cup of tea and a medal it was all done, a quite surreal feeling after missing a whole night’s sleep and after all the ups and downs (figuratively and literally), we’d done it! The flying Finn and Pete were both soon with us at the finish line to complete our night time groups endeavours, a great end to a superb experience!

Conclusion

The Oner is such a great race, the coastline is incredible and extremely challenging in parts, whether you are an experienced ultra-runner or not (in my case). Looking back personally, My race went as well as I could have reasonably have hoped, as my second ultra (my first being a training wheels one at only 44 miles) it was always going to be a case of tiring badly at the end which inevitably happened. I was really lucky on the day to experience no issues with either my stomach or legs or hydration wise and equally to share the course with the people I did, If you had offered me the race I ended up having at the start, I would have taken it without hesitation. Massive thanks to Richard firstly for putting up with me, in his words : “nattering away” for what amounted to a whole day in his life, beast of a man. Both Pete, Jon and the flying Finn were large parts of the day also, so big thanks to them too. Finally, to the brutal crew, all the aid stations were full of encouragement and positivity from the very start, the Tea was good and you can ask for little more! I will be back at some stage for certain, I think I can sneak in under 20 hours as I was haemorrhaging time over the last 10-15 miles. With a little more experience, miles in my legs and IF everything goes right for me again, I think sub 20 hours is a feasible target, you and I are not finished Jurrassic Coast!