June-December retrospective

It turned out that the sore knees that I had (unsurprisingly) developed on my coastal trek weren't the little local difficulty that I had thought. My right knee, with its longstanding tendency towards occasional but insubstantial achiness, turned into an injury that I just couldn't shake off for months. Running was minimal and cycling even less so.

Here's a brief round up of three events which, with varying degrees of delusion and cautious optimism, framed the second half of 2024.

1 - Supporting Matt's South Downs Way 100

On 8 June (less than a fortnight after finishing the coastal trek) I supported Matt Hammerton's 100-mile race over the entirety of the South Downs Way. I met Matt at the halfway point at Chantry Hill and escorted him for 20 miles to the Clayton Windmills, from where Ian Ralph (a SDW100 vet) took over, succeeded by Hannah Shutt to the finish line in Eastbourne.

Waiting at Chantry Hill with Ian and Mrs S

We're off

Matt was determined and focused. He really didn't need much from me, beyond opening gates in advance so he could pass through. I kept badgering him to drink water, as instructed. He didn't want to talk much, so I spent much of the time in a long monologue about my recent coastal trek. (But he did tell me afterwards that this had been a big help.)

Passing through Devils Dyke

At Clayton Windmills, figuring out the next move

Well, Matt did a blinder. He finished in fourth place in 15 hours and 4 minutes. A wonderful experience. Perhaps not the wisest thing to do on a tender knee, but I really wasn't going to miss being part of this.

Waiting for Matt and Hannah to arrive

Team Hammers

2 - Bosun, Dorset

The CapTen race has been a become a bit of a fixture in recent years. Mrs S and I had registered for the 2025 race months before and then discounted the prospect. With a week to go, we got reminders and thought, let's give it a go. At this stage I had started to do brisk parkruns, and reasoned that if I dropped down to the 5-mile Bosun version of the race and the risk was manageable. As the course is a figure of eight from the start at Seatown, walking back in the case of knee-based soreness was a viable option.

It was pouring with rain as we left home. The forecast said it would brighten up, and I was hopeful for some decent coastal views. We met up with Alice at the tail end of the sogginess and they both headed off ahead of me on the CapTen. With about an hour before my own start I had great fun exploring the coastline, cheering on the ladies and seeing how close to the cliff edge I could get. (Don't try this at home, kids.)

A damp start

That's close enough

Leg 1, lap 1 done

Then it was my turn. I knew I was reasonably well up in the field but I didn't know for sure, and quite soon the Bosuns were intermingled with the Cap'ers. I can't remember a lot about the race, except that (a) I loved it and (b) nothing hurt too much. Doing the circuit once is an awful lot easier than doing it twice! I was actually quite sad to finish as it was such a blast. I was second over the line, but as I had made a late change of course I didn't feature in the results. Shortly afterwards the ladies returned, also having had a blast. And then off to the beach for a swim and a coffee. Tremendous!

3 - Endurancelife Dorset 10k

I ran the half marathon version of this race in 2023, and we had both bought places for this year and then promptly forgot all about it.

The forecasts relating to Storm Darragh were sounding increasingly threatening the day before, and parkruns and races were being cancelled all over the shop. but Endurancelife, the thoroughly competent and professional bunch that they are, shelved the marathon and ultra distances and moved the course for the shorter distances to a contingency route a few hundred metres inland, and the show carried on.

And so it was that we drove to Swanage in a bit of a hoolie on Saturday 7 December and boarded a coach which took us to a lonely spot next to Kimmeridge Bay. Mrs S and I had a warm-up trot in one direction - easy - and then back into the wind, at which point it dawned on us that (a) the wind really was very fierce and (b) we would have it propelling us along for most of the point-to-point route. Thank heavens.

Waiting for the coach to leave Swanage

Off we set, and the first couple of hundred metres were comically slippery. I managed to stay upright. Then I turned left parallel to the coastline, merging with the half marathoners, and shortly afterwards descended into a gully. I didn't manage to stay upright. I slipped and fell a few times on the greasy mud,  after which I concluded that it was more effective to slide on my arse. All very well, until I got to my feet again to find myself weighed down by monstrous muddy skidmarks and dingleberries.

Out of the gully and up the only significant hill of the race, and then along a headland overlooking a turbulent grey sea to the right. I marvelled at how many of the runners were sticking to the muddy centreline in the open sections when much more grippy vegetation was available to the sides. A few sections were narrow single-file passes in between rocks, which a couple of times enforced a brief walk.

By the latter stages I had no idea where I was in the 10k field, but drew strength from steadily passing HM folk. Past Durlston Head, but omitting the steep coastal section, and then into Swanage. I manage to avoid taking last year's inadvertent shortcut truncating Peveril Point, and followed the coastline around to the finish line. I was chuffed to land second place.

Mrs S had told me that she'd take about an hour and a half. With 40 minutes in hand, I made the trek back to the car and changed into dry clothes, only for her to arrive shortly afterwards having finished a mere 9 minutes after me in 56 minutes. Even better, she had also scooped second place. A cracking day out.

You are the storm, Mrs S