Written by Gareth Bowden

I've been a runner on and off since 1998 , after years of heavy smoking and drinking , smoking finally abandoned in 2002 . I joined my excellent local running club here in Brackley this April after a break from running for eighteen months and a desire to regain some fitness . My PBs at this time were 3:27 marathon , 1:28 half marathon , 41 mins 10k and 19:50 for 5k , if I could get close to them again I would be satisfied . 

The challenge of an ultra had long appealed to me but I had never been consistent enough in my training to seriously enter one , however after a month with the club I applied for Ladybower , it seemed ideal , multiple laps , not too hilly and beautiful scenery .

In prep for the ultra I began to push myself harder in training , especially short , interval sessions which had always been my weakness . I changed my diet , cutting out processed foods 6 days out of 7 . I noticed a big change in how I felt physically , not as tired , recovered quicker from hard sessions and was now able to do back to back hard sessions or long runs , sore knees and hips were a thing of the past .

My initial plan for Ladybower was to try and complete in under 8 hours using a run walk strategy , but as the summer progressed and my PBs tumbled I revised it to 7 and a half hours and then sub 7 hours . In mid August I completed a 35 mile training run in 4:28 and then ran 16 miles with the club the following day , at this point I decided I would go for sub 6 and a half hours .

On race day my plan was to try and stick to 7 minute 35 second mile pace and hold that as long as I could , I was confident I could do it for 40 miles but the last 10 would be a journey into the unknown . 

A group of five of us led off through the wooded early section , soon splitting into a lead group of three who were 7 minute mileing I guess , and a good lad called Nathan and myself a little way back at about 7:15 pace . We had a nice chat for 5 miles or so and were still going a bit too quick for our race plans , at about mile 6 Nathan wisely backed off to look after his race [ he was hoping for top ten , finished third , awesome ! Well done Nathan !] . I tried to slow down , but was enjoying it too much , even though I knew I would pay for it later !

I passed the third place guy shortly after and then ran steadily behind the lead two , the gap staying at about 1 minute for several miles . By mile 11 I could see the second place guy starting to tire and I passed him at the half marathon point , the lead runner had now established a 90 second lead .By the time we approached the start finish point at 21 miles his lead was down to 30 seconds , I had  to restock at the car which took about 30 seconds , but the next time I saw him , a mile or so later the lead was only about twenty seconds . I put the hammer down a bit and passed him at about 23-24 miles .

I went through halfway in 3:04 , 35 miles in 4:14 , and felt good , no rubbing  , no shoe or foot problems , so I kept overcooking it a bit .

At about mile 40 , the early pace caught up with me and I suddenly felt a bit faint , and the legs were getting harder to move , a quick check on the supplies revealed I had one gel and one cereal bar left [which I did not want to chew through] . At the drinks station at 41 miles I doused myself in water , which helped and then dug in to plough through the next few miles before hopefully picking up the pace again on the faster road section , which I was able to do in the end . The last four miles were back under 8 minute mile pace and I was even able to push it up the last few inclines and genuinely enjoy the moment as I approached the finish .

As I ran into the finish and stopped my Garmin , I received some bemused looks , as they checked me off and realised I had finished . The organiser and the marshals [ two of whom were Jane and Dave , 2012's winners I realised a few days later ] , were really friendly and full of questions . 

So handshakes , t-shirt , trophy and photos then off to sit in the traffic for two hours eating cake :)

Ladybower is a beautiful course , friendly organisers , marshals , supporters and runners , I hope to be back next year with some club mates . I hope everyone is recovering well .
Gareth.