Written by Rachel Lonergan - https://runsandsmiles.wordpress.com
I’ve never felt compelled to write a blog before but, on reflection, I don’t want to forget Saturday 16th May 2015, the day I RAN 50 MILES!!!
It was an early start for all involved and my nerves really kicked in when we pulled up outside Polycarps School in Farnham – so much so that I declared that “I almost wish we’d got a puncture!” I genuinely didn’t know whether I could complete the distance on the terrain in the timeframe. It was to be my first 50 mile race and, although I had trained well for the NDW50 by recceing the entire route, I had had back problems since December and suffered a fall in a vile wet race in the Lake District in March. And, let’s be honest, it’s a tough course so I had covered some parts more than once in training, and even headed back to Box Hill close to race date to put those demons to rest – that was my last training run and, having decided that ‘Reigate Hill wasn’t too bad as it was only 0.25 miles’, I started to think a bit more positively, even to the point of making sure I wore the same outfit as that that I wore on the last ‘good’ run for silly superstitious luck!
Once in the school hall I started to enjoy myself as it was a great opportunity to have my second breakfast, catch up with friends and even make some new ones. My highlight of registration was my personalised race number from lovely Nici Griffin with ‘Good luck Gorgeous’ written on the back!
After the race briefing we were off! I was VERY pleased to find that the pace of the runners starting near me was conservative and that people truly were walking up hills, even the early ones. But it was hot, even at 8.00am, so I used the short wait at one of the gates to take my sleeves off and stuff them into my trusty rucksack.
It became apparent early on that, strangely, things were going well! The first 5 miles (‘1/10 of the way there!’) absolutely flew by and before I knew it I had reached the first checkpoint. I had been sternly briefed by Peter, our crew for the day, that I was not to chat and spend too long eating a full picnic at the aid stations because, although 10 minutes doesn’t seem a long time, 6×10 minutes adds up. This advice was ringing in my ears because I knew, even if I made the distance, I would be close to cut offs so apologies to all the fabulous Centurion Crews that I didn’t take full advantage of your wares! So the first third of the race continued and somewhere in this section friends Zoe and Mo popped up to cheer me on which was much appreciated!
Another piece of advice I was determined to heed was from my husband, Michael, who was also running and that was to ‘Get to Box Hill as quickly as you can to buy time in the second half.’ In training I had reached the Stepping Stones in 5h07m and HATED the section around 18-20 miles so I was really pleased on race day to have joined up with 2 lovely ladies called Vicky and Ceri and we ran this section together. I loved the downhill from Denbies, hated the underpass (but even this was dramatically improved by being cheered on by friends Emma and Andy at this point!) and made it to CP2 in 5h03m including one wee stop!
Confession time: I HATE the Stepping Stones and simply cannot cross them – they scare me! So I was possibly the only person to have used the bridge on race day but it stopped me stressing so worked for me! Box Hell is tough, very tough, and there is no way to sugarcoat it. But at the top Peter was waiting with my box of treats, along with another friend, Rodney. I had been eating well but felt desperate for a large Coke – apologies to everyone on Box Hill for the massive burp that followed but I found it hilarious after 25 miles:
Salt and vinegar crisps were also going down a treat! I carried on running with Vicky for the next section including Reigate Hill, and headed into CP3 having lost about 5 minutes of time versus cut off, but knowing I really liked the next section into Merstham. I was delighted that I ran all the way to the next crew point at 34 miles and made it there in exactly 8 hours which had been my dream plan!
I slogged up the next hill with Nina Smith who I had met at a parkrun event a couple of years ago and, again, it was lovely to have someone to chat to through a tough section. Reaching the 38 mile checkpoint felt like a milestone because I made it in 9 hours which was another goal of mine, and the remaining 12 miles starts to sound achievable. One of the great crew remarked on the fact that I was smiling to which my response was, “I chose to do this… and I’m having a fab day!” And that sums up my day – I LOVED it! The ice cream at Caterham was highly tempting but, having never tried it on a training run, I didn’t risk it on race day! The 12 miles in question were hard and I knew what was in store: some brutal steps, Titsey bloody Hill and a killer grass slope, but I didn’t factor in a lovely surprise cheering appearance from Andy and Emma again, especially when they updated me that Michael had finished – phew, one Lonergan in, one to go! My mental arithmetic was confirming that I should be on for a finish which drove me forwards and Louise Ayling’s famous Sugar Crack gave me a final boost at the 43 mile aid station.
With about 2 miles to go I exited one field to meet 2 other runners who told me that we couldn’t go through the next field because a cow was guarding the gate. We had got the map out to see if there was an alternative route when a Centurion car appeared like magic out of nowhere and Chris Mills got out, banged the gate for us and miraculously the bull* moved! (*Chris later said it wasn’t a bull, simply a cow, but it had horns and looked like a bull to me!) By now my legs were very tired, muscles achy, a toe was a little sore and I had stumbled a couple of times so I decided to march to the finish rather than risk too much of a run. Rachel Smith overtook me towards the end so it was nice to have a little chat with her and, before long, I reached the road. I have to confess that at this point a couple of tears escaped – I was SO amazed and thrilled to have reached the point that I knew FOR SURE that I would finish… wow! Friends and family were there to cheer me over the line, Nici cried, Michael gave me my medal which was lovely and I was still smiling!
I emerged relatively unscathed – sore legs (naturally!), a few areas of chafing which didn’t reveal themselves till I got in the bath (ouch!) and a couple of small blisters on my feet. I am proud not only to have finished, but to have eaten enough, paced well enough etc to never have hit a dark patch during the entire race. A finish time of 12h 38m is never going to get James Elson to sign me up to Team Centurion but it is a huge victory to me!
Was it hard? Hell yes!
Did I enjoy it? HELL YES!!
Would I recommend it? Yes, but can’t also recommend recceing the route prior to race day enough…
Would I do it again? Not necessarily, but only because I feel I have ticked it off… I have ordered the Harvey’s SDW map and have got a faster finishing time in mind for April 2016!!! Can’t wait!