Written by Hannah Turner - https://runnertrainermummyandwifenotalwaysinthatorder.wordpress.com
This is a lap race. A 10k cross country route that you run as many times as you can in 24 hours. You can run as a solo, pair, team of 5 or team of 8.
Last year I entered as a solo and manged 12 laps (I'd hoped for 16) with so much going wrong: bad kit choice, needing to sleep, giving up early, wrong nutrition, the list is long!
This year I hoped for 16 laps. This meant not a lot could go wrong!
Firstly I had my shoes sorted,
Second I had my nutrition sorted. Real food and as advised by my coach, stick to the same food as long as you can before moving on to something else. Home-made wraps with chicken, sweet potato and avocado. Natures valley, sweet and nutty peanut bar, so nice! Jam sandwiches. Sausage rolls. Pot noodle (really think this will be great!). Bacon rolls for breakfast. Fruit. Sweets. 33 shake chia gels. High5 isogels. Iced buns, Chicken drumsticks.
Third a pacing plan. Even pacing for each lap, stopping each lap for hydration and nutrition.
And crew, my husband and kids would be there supporting me. Also, my running club always enter quite a few teams so there would be plenty of people around. A friend who lives locally was also going to pop along to say hi!
We arrived on the Friday to set up camp. My club always camp together around the 2km mark. We managed to set up the tent just before it started raining, which it then did for about 12 hours. My friend Matt arrived to say Hi (in the rain) and said he’d try to visit the next day and join me for a lap. I ate a pasta meal I’d prepared before we set off for dinner on the Friday night and went to bed about 9 to get as much sleep as possible.
solo camp
Race day
I woke early and the rain had stopped, but 6am was too early to get up for a race that starts at midday! I tried to relax, faffed about the tent, had breakfast, set up my checkpoint point food and got dressed. Then about 9 I tried to rest again.
I went down to the start with all the other runners at about 11.40 for the race briefing. The good thing about long races is you start slow, so I went to the back of the queue with all the other solos!
The race started at midday so I set off aiming for each lap to take 1h15m. It was quickly apparent on the first lap that the on certain sections the ground was very muddy from the rain and it was slippery mud. I had to tread carefully so I didn’t join the other runners who slipped over. After the first lap I’d decided I may need to change to trail shoes but after the first 2km of lap 2 the vast number of runners had compacted the mud so it was very runnable again. Phew!
My tactic for getting through this event was to simply count laps, if I started counting the miles off my brain might explode with the sheer enormity of the task I’d set myself.
At the 2km point we had our club camp so this was where I topped up with food and drink each lap. I decided after 4 laps (+ 2km) I’d stop for a sit down for 5 minutes and eat a bit more but my friend Matt turned up just as I ended lap 4 to join me for a lap, so I thought it would be rude to sit down! We did a lap together, possibly the slowest 10km he has ever run, but it took my mind off lap 5!
a bit more running
I was running, eating and drinking very consistently through to about 11pm, by which time I’d run about 8 laps or 48 miles. I now suffered from a cramp in my right glute which meant every step with my right leg caused me pain. Luckily our club captain, Colin, was on hand with his massage table to relieve the cramp and send me on my way.
The night started well, my head torch lit the way and I was steady in my progress. At some point, possibly 10 laps, I decided to have a rest so lay down on the back seat of our car for 30 minutes. I still had my trainers and bag on so it was pretty uncomfortable but it made me feel better. It was now properly dark, no lighting on the course other than around the start/finish area, so head torches a complete necessity. This was where I made a big error of judgement. When my torch started to dim, I borrowed someone else’s from the club rather than changing my batteries and I didn’t carry a spare. Lap 11 proved to be almost too much, my torch was virtually non-existent and every time a runner came past me I didn’t have the energy to keep up with them so I was reduced to a walk in the dark which was very miserable. I cried a lot, some runners asked if I was ok and I sobbed yes and no, some runners just ran past.
Then one runner stopped and asked me a few more questions and then offered to run with me to the end so that I could see, she was in a team so really had to slow her pace to keep with me. It made so much difference to me and she then offered to lend me her torch for my next lap as she wasn’t doing any more laps. When we had about 2km to go and were out of the trees she headed to the finish and said she’d wait for me there. When I arrived at the finish I couldn’t find her! Too dark and too many people, oh yes and in my fuddled state I hadn’t asked her name!!! I quickly decided to enter the solo area and see if anyone was awake/around and may have a spare torch. The first van I found had a light on and someone sitting inside. I knocked on the window and asked politely if he had a spare torch I could borrow for a lap (it was now about 4.30 so the sun was due up soon), he quickly offered me his to borrow as he had finished running. I thanked him and promised to return it in about an hour and a half.
I set off on lap 12 with a brilliant beam to light my way. I pushed myself thorough, got some food at camp and generally grumbled and griped my way round the lap. By the end of this lap I’d decided I’d had enough, I felt miserable and tired. I stopped at the finish, returned the head torch and just leant on the barrier sobbing and feeling very sorry for myself. A surprised bystander asked if I was ok and I said yes but I thought I was finished. As I stood sobbing and feeling sorry for myself I watched another solo female cross the finish line and keep going, she was waddling, hand on hip but without a thought she’d kept going. I immediately felt wrong for wanting to stop. I decided I’d check the results to see how I was doing. If I was way down the rankings I’d stop (fingers crossed), if I was doing ok I’d give myself a stern talking to! The man in the results tent was slightly surprised to be met with a sobbing athlete asking how they were doing. His first response was do you need a medic, I said no just where was I in the rankings. 2nd lady (yeah, but oh no), how far away was 3rd – 1 lap, but the last lap had taken her 2 hours (yeah, but oh no). A bit more sobbing and another suggestion that I might need a medic, my response no but now I have to keep going!
At 6am off I went on the start of my 13th lap, I reached camp and stated I needed help to keep going, I couldn’t do it on my own. Immediately Colin (club captain) and Benjamin (husband) jumped to it.
Top crew – Benjamin
Colin quickly got changed and came with me to run/walk. Benjamin and Euan (son) met us half way round and took over from Colin keeping me company. It was now over to them to keep me going. Every lap I wanted to stop, but still win, so they checked the results to see what I needed to do. The lead lady had stopped after 14 laps so as long as I kept ahead and did 15 I could win. I then got a bit fixated on just 15 laps, other runners could of course keep going too so if I stopped at 15 someone could start a 16th before the 24 hrs had finished and beat me. Benjamin (knowing I’d be really happy with 16) and Colin convinced me I needed to do 16 laps to ensure I won. So I started lap 16 with Benjamin and Euan, collected a bacon roll from the camp and we walked the last lap together. It started raining on the lap, so slightly damp but with the end in sight I felt good. With 200m to go I said I’d run into the finish, as it felt more fitting than walking. Benjamin had run ahead so they knew I was coming and I got a big cheer (makes my eyes water remembering). I finished in 24:03:22, 16 laps, 160km (almost 100 miles). I felt fantastic, damp, emotional and tired. I went to the showers, Benjamin brought my kit and we went back to camp to await the presentation ceremony. A club mate, Andy Jordan, also won the men’s solo category, our male pair came 3rd and we had many other teams who did brilliantly. It was a great day at the office for Harpenden Arrows.
Very chuffed
Catching a kip before the presentation
3rd place male pair. Ammon and Patrick.