Bovington half marathon 2017

At 26.6km, this was by some way my longest ever half marathon.  A full-on, good-humoured, quirky, eccentric and very British event, this was a lively trudge through a wasteland of tank tracks and highly technical forest paths.

The lovely Mrs S was in support mode, still recovering her knee.  We arrived in Bovington in good time on a cold December morning.  It was a carnival atmosphere with equal numbers of Christmas and military fancy dress, to the point where I felt I was rather letting the side down in straight club kit.  We met a few familiar faces at the start and we were off.

With the Winkworth boys

At the start line

I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  Mark and Ian Winkworth had advised me that the course was 14.8 miles long, which with a bit of mental maths I reckoned was a little under 24k.  Soon enough we were into forest paths, up some sporty hills and then on to the tank tracks.

Think poorly maintained gravel tracks and then magnify them.  Huge puddles and ruts everywhere.  It was quite a job to pick a path that avoided going into these fearsome lakes.  For mile after mile it was these strange post-apocalyptic gravelscapes alternating with really tricky paths through pine woods.  I managed to stay on my feet, but only just.

For much of the race I was shifting places with Chris Chambers and Jo Meek, which kept it interesting.  We went on and on, and it was difficult to retain a grip of time or space in a weaving course and no discernable sense of direction or landscape.

Here he is!

The last 5 miles or so were tough.  The signage deteriorated, and a few times I was very doubtful of the route.  But the killer was that we actually covered 26.6km.  Once we reached 24, I was already panting and straining for the finish and tried hard to keep it going, but it was mentally tough.  I was gaining on the runner ahead (I'd managed to lose Jo and Chris by this point) but I finished 10 seconds behind him in 4th place, tired but happy.

Here are the results, my Garmin stats and the Strava flyby.  This was, apparently, the last Bovi half, and I was delighted to have experienced it. 

Tadley xmas XC, 2017

This time last year, this was the lovely Mrs S's first ever race, on a bright frosty morning.  But today it was a sodden damp day, 2 degrees and periodic rain and sleet.  Mrs S was in support mode, rehabilitating her knee, and luckily on hand to lend hat and gloves because like an eejit I had failed to pack mine.

It was a cold and muddy trudge from race HQ to the start, in an exposed grassy field.  It was a bit grim at this stage, rather Type 2 fun, with lots of grimaces and semi-ironic what-are-we-doing-here and whose-idea-was-this discussions.  We stripped down to as few layers as we dared and stamped about on the start line.  The briefing was mercifully brief and off we went.

Lovely day for it

I had asked some bloke at the registration desk whether spikes would be a good footwear option. He said they'd be fine, so I gave them a go.  I'm not sure they were ideal, as it was hard to keep from slipping on the steep downhill sections.  They were great uphill, but I lost a couple of front spikes... I think there was a bit too much gravel on the course.  Lesson learned.

It was a glorious mudfest, and highly technical.  The conditions were very, very wet.  There was a lot of swerving, ducking and balancing on a variety of tight turns, overhanging vegetation, a few water splashes and deep ruts.  I picked off a few and by halfway was more or less on my own.

It was in the second lap that it went wrong.  The path took me to the edge of the woods.  I missed the sharp right turn and carried on to a path across an open in field.  No one in sight; no tape, no hi-vis.  I carried on for a bit and then heard a shout from back in the woods.  I turned around, and it dawned on me what had happened.  I scuttled back to join the course, cross at my lack of concentration.  Seven or eight runners had got ahead of me in the meantime, and I reckon it had cost me about 50 seconds (check out the Strava flyby - go to about 11:24:30).  I pressed on at full throttle, hoping there was enough distance remaining for me to regain a few places.

Back to the final leg to the finish... over the water splash (sorry I never saw you, Mrs S), and then up the long hill and onto the windy field.  I finished alone, in 5th place.  If I hadn't gone wrong I might have had a good chase with Stephen Ridley, who finished 48 seconds ahead of me.  Here are the results and my Garmin stats.  I was about 6 mins longer running than last year, with a longer course, slightly extended by my little detour, and about 10s/km slower in the mud.

The water splash before the final hill

This was a proper XC race with lashings of hearty British awful weather and good humour.  Lovely job!

EnduranceLife CTS Dorset 10k

I really had no idea what expect from this.  I've heard of EnduranceLife before, but I've always been a bit reticent about going in for branded runs, suspicious of corporate glitz and razzmatazz.

The lovely Mrs S and I arrived at Lulworth Cove yesterday morning; a cold, calm, overcast day.  The whole area of abuzz with tough, capable-looking runners.  The registration tent involved an industrial process of getting number and dibber sorted.  Behind the tent was a monstrous hill, down which ultra-runners were descending.  I was up for the 10k, the shortest of the 5 distances on offer.  A big crowd of half-marathoners (running a 16-mile version of a HM) set off.  Alice and Julie, both running 33 miles, came past with much waving.  Then we met up with Anna and Wendy, who were also doing the 10k.

With Anna and Wendy

And then we set off up, straight into the first hill.

10kers starting, while half-marathoners complete their first leg (of 16 miles)

This being the Purbeck coastline, it was all hills as we headed west.  After the first ascent I found myself near the front.  I felt strong and I managed to get past a couple more, until I could only see one runner ahead. 

The hills were exhausting and draining, and my lungs were absolutely working at the top of their capacity at the summits.  But I've raced so many hills this year that they all felt within my grasp and I recovered quickly.

At 5k a friendly bloke waved madly and did a dibber time check.  I pushed on, now mostly flat or slightly downwards, trying to squeeze in the seconds where I could.  I seemed to be gradually gaining on the bloke in front, and I focused to reeling him in.

With a mile to go, we were downhill into Durdle Door caravan park and then up for a gentle ascent to the final hill.  Game on for the denouement of this particular drama.

The path on the right is the final descent to the finish

The final descent was utterly extraordinary.  I can only describe it as the chase of my life.  I'm not at all brave going down steep hills, but I was utterly driven by the pursuit and I caned it.  At one point I nearly lost it, which could have been catastrophic, but I stayed upright and got onto the gravel where I gave it everything I could.  I was closing the gap.  I charged on... but suddenly the course was at an end and I finished 4 seconds behind him in second place.  Check out the my Garmin stats and the Flyby. 

One of my more unusual prizes - a box of chocolate protein bars

Symon - thank you for giving me a thrilling, exhilarating challenge!  Sue was agog with the excitement of it, and afterwards I had strangers coming and telling me how much they'd enjoyed watching the battle. 

I had been completely wrong in my fear that this would be a bit naff and corporate.  It was a tremendously well planned and organised event, full of good humour and really gutsy runners of all kinds.  We'll be back for sure.