Marlborough Downs Challenge 20

A fortnight on from London, and I was back for another long race in a heatwave.  This time we were in Marlborough for a proper, gritty off-road 20-mile adventure.  The humbling part was that this was the junior fun run event - there was also a 33-mile version.

There were 4 of us from RRR - Sue Sleath, Abi, Ian W and me.  The Lovely Mrs S had decided to do a long run the day before, so was in race support mode.  We set off after a very cheery and brief welcome, and we almost immediately climbed a steep hill onto the Wansdyke path, giving us our first view of the Marlborough Downs.

The Romsey gang

This was a self-navigating race, which was a first for me.  I had no idea how technical the route-finding would be.  I didn't want to be pfaffing about mapreading in a competitive race, and in the end I opted to use OS Maps on my phone.  It worked OK, except that every few minutes I'd brush the screen and change the view, and then have to pfaff around re-setting it, which was a bit hairy while running on rutted trails.

The first ten miles or so were gloriously varied... bluebell woods, escarpments and tremendous views looking south over the chalk downs.  At this point there were about 5 runners well ahead of me.  As I approached the second checkpoint, I could see them, stretched out in a line going up a long hill to my left.  The marshals were shouting 'don't follow those guys - they've gone the wrong way!'  Gratefully, I pressed on in the right direction, up a long hill and out on to the Wansdyke, a great long defensive medieval ditch.  Here's a picture, courtesy of Getty images.

The Wansdyke, looking east

Soon after this I reached the third checkpoint, roughly half way.  We were now heading north along a very exposed a rather featureless track, which was hard going.  I was starting to feel weary, and was grateful for my water pack.  At this point 4 runners came gliding past.  What I didn't appreciate at this point was that 2 of them were the first 2 33-milers, and the other 2 were 20-milers who had taken the wrong turn but were now catching up.

Through Bockhampton, where I missed the cut-through footpath and took a longer road route instead, and then towards Avebury, where plenty of people were out and about enjoying the weather.  The Lovely Mrs S was at the far end of Avebury; she shouted encouragement just as I was having a moment worrying whether I was going the right way.  And then on to the last bit of wilderness.

Goodbye Avebury, hello Ridgeway

I knew that after Avebury came the Ridgeway.  I was expecting a distinct crunchy hill... what I hadn't expected was a gradual slope that steadily increased in intensity, going up, and up.  The heat was quite intense, the sun was relentless and my system was now feeling the strain.  Through Fyfield Down, with its astonishing field of sarsen stones, and then a turning south east, more or less downhill now past a lot of horsey gallops towards Marlborough.  I was slowly approaching a bloke ahead of me, and then he slowed to a walk.  I passed him with a combination of sympathy and satisfaction, tempered by my own exhaustion.

Into the final approach, I was counting down the remaining distance, desperate to finish.  Mrs S was shouting encouragement, but the last 100m felt endless.  I collapsed on the ground in some shade (and on a few nettles), feeling shattered.

The last hill, thankfully down

Astonishingly, I had come home in third place in 2:34.  Massive hats off to the two guys who ran the 33 mile race in under 4 hours... the thought of doing another half marathon was awful.  Runners from both races returned in varying states of decomposure.  We were joined by Sue, Abi and Ian, but I was really a bit out of it.  My legs were OK but I wasn't feeling that great and I wasn't terribly communicative. 
 

A bit glassy-eyed

This was a wonderful event; very different to London, and yet similar in that it was a bustingly tough endurance event in the heat.  Unlike London, I managed to keep my pacing reasonably even.  The second half was mostly Type 2 fun.  I'd do this again for sure, but ideally in cooler weather.

Wearing a hoodie in a heatwave, and still a bit wobbly

A terrific trophy