The Thames Trot 50 mile Ultra Marathon

(Mikey and myself at the start. Pic by Ellie Coulthard).

              We were thirty-five miles in and I needed to stop. I was dehydrated, dizzy and having a panic attack. I told Mikey I needed to stop to catch my breath and urinate. My urine had confirmed the seriousness of my dehydration. It was dark like treacle. I hadn't even seen it this dark after a binge drinking session. Now I was really panicking and thinking I was going to die. Mikey did his best to reassure me as we walked and I drank more fluids. That was the worst I had ever felt during a race and there were still fifteen miles to go. This is what was happening all inside my head but on the outside it was a bit like this...

             I got up at five a.m on the first day of February. Mikey and Di were coming to pick me up at 5.30. Of course, they didn't turn up at that time so I had time for another coffee on top of my bowl of Special K. We then went to Eastleigh to pick up Ellie who was coming to support with Di. Di is Mike's wife if you didn't know. We were on our way to Iffley in Oxford to run fifty miles. Well, I was only going to run twenty miles wasn't I? But we know that's not true already from my previous paragraph!

           Rob Kelly had talked me into entering this race and after some careful consideration I had said yes. We then talked Stuart Smith into it and later found out that Simon McCarthy that already entered too. If you didn't know, all the people I have mentioned so far are from my running club "Lordshill road runners". I must also mention that there were two crazier people before us to do this Thames trot race a few years ago, Dan Campion and Phil Dimech. These guys finished in under Nine hours with a lovely snowfall finish.

        I was doing my research and had read many books on running ultra marathons. Mikey and myself had run our furthest in August of last year, completing 50K on the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 race. Only Nineteen more miles to add then! I read the write up over and over that had been published in our club zine fron Phil and Dan. I was doing marathons here and there but not really training for a fifty miler. Your longest run was supposed to be at least thirty-one miles. I struggled to run twenty miles in my last marathon. Everyone was pulling out of this race, me included. Mikey who I had talked into entering was still keen though. Was he really mad enough to run it on his own? I felt guilty and said I wasn't doing it but would run the first Twenty miles or so to support and keep him company.

(Thanks to Ellie Coulthard for this pic of the start in Iffley).

       We arrived at the pub to register, got our chip timing wrist watches and numbers. We also collected a technical t-shirt. I asked for an XL but ended up with a Small somehow. We had a Bacon sandwich and another coffee at the bar. The start was delayed by about twenty minutes due to last minute course changes. The changes were being made because of all the flooding on the Thames, but the race was still going ahead and that must have taken some tough organisation.

    We set off at a nice slow pace knowing that we had a few miles to go. It was quite surprising to us how fast people were actually going. We were pretty near the back and there weren't many behind us. We followed the runners in front but when there weren't runners in front we didn't have a clue where we were going or if we were going in the right direction. About Three miles in I had already stubbed my toe and tripped over a curb. This was more of a Mikey thing to do rather than me. He was always falling over on his waterbottles. I was running with my rucksack to carry drinks, my coat, hat, gloves, t-shirt, toilet roll etc.. I was very well prepared.

      We had to stop running and wait for this guy to help us with the directions. We really should have had the map handy. I'm shocked that we didn't run the wrong way more often. In the end I was getting a bit annoyed with getting lost so got the map out but couldn't really understand it too well. Other runners were having the same problems so we often gathered in groups to work out the route between us. The written instructions were easier to use but didn't always make complete sense. There were parts of the course where we would see runners running in different directions but still getting to the same location. I remember this happening at least three times on the course. Who knows who ran the right or wrong way. The only thing that mattered was that we were recording the correct mileage and getting to the checkpoints. The first part of this race was diverted because of the floods so we ran through a town centre and then with some hesitation we ran into and through a village.

    The first checkpoint was only about eight or nine miles in. Ellie and Di came to meet us as we ran in. I wasn't feeling hungry yet but managed to force a banana down as I had read it was best to eat often and as little as possible. This is so that you have more blood pumping around the oxygen in your body. Blood is needed to digest the food that you eat. So eating less is more effective in that sense and can be broken down more efficiently. Anyway, I had already had enough of my backpack as it was making my back sweaty and I was now warm enough to run without a coat, hat and gloves. The sun was shining even though strong wind and heavy rain were predicted.

      We then went onto really slippery mud where Mike fell over and I thought he was going into a stream. This made me laugh but as I was laughing and running trying to catch up with him, I also fell over. After the slippery mud we had an open field of bog. I was walking carefully and I was worried with my weight that I was going to sink pretty deep in this mud. Luckily my shoe laces were tied pretty tight cos I think I would have lost a shoe. We had already ran through puddles of unavoidable water. So the feet were already cold and wet. The water was icy cold and was too painful to run when you came out of it as your feet were numb. So we would walk fast and then run again when the feeling came back into out feet.

      All we thought about was reaching each checkpoint. We had a guidebook to tell us how far each checkpoint should have been. This wasn't quite accurate because of the flood diversions but weren't too far off to begin with. Someone was calling me just before the second checkpoint. It sounded like my name was being called but I didn't think I knew anyone else at this race. Haha, small world eh? It was Dennis Cartwright. I first met Dennis through an internet running group. He was a keen marathon and ultra runner who is doing his first one hundred miler this year! Seeing Dennis lifted my spirits immensely. We ran and chatted away while looking at the red kytes hovering above us. Not very often I get to see birds of prey. What a great sight.

      There was no sign of Di and Ellie at checkpoint two so we had water and cake and then just kept on running. Yet another diverted route as we were running down a main road with the traffic zooming towards us. I think we went the wrong way to be honest and should have turned off earlier but we got to where we were supposed to in the end. I was expecting to do more walking than this for some reason. We were running a lot and only really walking up the hills and on the really muddy bits, unless we were wading through the icy cold water. Although out pace was fairly slow and relaxed most of the time.

     It was so good to see Di and Ellie running. Just seeing their smiling faces totally changed my frame of mind and my spirit. My energy levels became refreshed and I was feeling more confident now. We were nearly Thirty miles in and had just waded through some really cold, icy water. See the photo! Thanks to Dennis Cartwright for letting me use his photo below.

(Yes, we had to wade through this! Thanks for the pic Dennis).

        Just before mile thirty we were still running with Ellie and Di. At this point Mikey wanted to stop for a pub lunch but I wasn't so keen to stop for so long and we had time limits for the chceck points as well. I went in the pub with Di to order drinks and food but I was covered in mud where I had fallen over four times by now and my trainers were soaked. The pub was quite posh so we decided against the idea.
In the end Ellie and Di managed to get us baked potatoes with bacon and cheese and cake for dessert. I wasn't in the mood for anymore sweet stuff but the potato tasted amazing just after running thirty miles. I changed my socks and put my coat and hat on again as the temperature had dropped. We were sat in a car park chatting and eating and all felt good. It was great to rest the aching legs though.

        This story may be a bit scattered as it was so eventful and i'm having trouble remembering what order things went in. Everyday after this race I am still reliving it. There are so many great things to remember. It was just like a big adventurous day out. In fact, that's exactly what it was! I said to Mikey that we should just aim for thirty-five miles as it will be the longest distance that we have ever run and that in itself would be some achievement. Not bad for someone who was only running twenty miles to support! When we reached the checkpoint at mile thirty-two I wanted to change into clean, dry socks straight away. There were also pork pies, sausages and mini scotch egg things on the table to eat at this checkpoint. I was straight in there. After some more fluids we said farewell to Di and Ellie who had now picked up some DNF'ers and were taking them to the finish. Not long after we got going, my socks got wet again pretty much straight away as there were more unavoidable puddles. We had some choices to make on directions as well but Mikey was sharp enough to point out the muddier routes with the majority of footprints to follow.
From time to time Mikey would get annoyed. Sometimes the terrain got really tough to run on and he would threaten to quit but I would just laugh at him and tell him to cheer up. This was obviously easier said than done...
 
  Anyway, back inside my head at mile thirty-five.... I was having a funny five minutes and Mikey was being very supportive. I was battling away with my thoughts. It's hard to stay positive when you think you're about to die. I thought about Ellie and Di who had taken their whole Saturday to come and support us. I thought about my running club and the Campion "No pressure" quote written on my facebook wall. I knew we were never going to beat his and Phil's sub nine time but that didn't matter to me. I also remembered that I was going to run this race for Thomas. I wanted to raise awareness for his type 1 diabetes and the JDRF charity. I bottled out though. I didn't think I would ever finish a race like this. I had all my friends who believed in me and that helped so much. It was worth trying and try I did.

(The thirty-nine miles that I managed to record)

     Those funny five minutes elapsed and we were back to the running. We ran into Reading and finally onto the Thames toe-path. It was quite nice looking out onto the Thames. Mikey mistakenly pointed out a Moorhen but I knew it was a Coot. White stripe for a Coot, Red for a Moorhen. ;) Anyway, we kept on going on tired legs. After a while you get used to the legs aching and they just become desensitised. I felt like I could run forever after mile 40! My garmin died at mile thirty-nine so now we didn't have a time, pace or mileage reference. We reached the 40 mile checkpoint where I ate so much cake. Luckily Di and Ellie were there to greet us again. We now needed head torches and were lucky not to be wading through the water of the Thames in the dark a few miles earlier.

   We had made it to the checkpoint with only twenty or so minutes to spare. We were told that we had to run in pairs now as it was dark and that the finish was roughly only six miles away. We met a guy called James who would join us and run with us the rest of the way as he had no-one else to run with. He was from Wimbledon and was turning Forty in a weeks time and saw this as a great way to reach it. His friends told him he was mad and should have just got a fake tan instead.
The head torches were on and we were running up and long hill that seemed to go on for ages. We came to a shop and another runner. Who asked if we knew the way. It turned out that they had changed the finish route from what my guide book said. We waited for his friend in the shop to buy a coffee and then ran with them and were shortly joined by more runners. There were now about seven or eight of us running together. Two of these guys had run it a few times before. One guy had a GPS map of the route on his phone but only had five percent of battery power left so we had to get moving.

    We were really lucky to have met these guys otherwise we would never have found the route back and would have definitely DNF'ed. We were running through some woods when the battery on my headtorch died so I had to keep up and use the other runners light to guide me over the uneven ground and around the puddles and avoid debris. We finally found civilisation  and ran into the centre on Henley. We had people cheering us on to the end. I could see Mikey starting to pick up the pace and I wanted to do the same but the others didn't. We all ran across the finish line together. We were a team after all and if it wasn't for the others we would never have finished. We got our medals and finished in a time of ten hours and twenty-six minutes. We came one hundred and seventy seventh and still had over an hour until the cut-off time to finish. The winner finished just over five hours ahead of us! Unbelievable really.

     So, would I do it again? Yes, definitely! I have already been thinking another ultra already. To have people support you really makes a difference on these long events though. You have mood swings and highs and lows throughout but overall it is a very enjoyable experience and one I will remember for the rest of my life. Also a big thanks to Lawrence for making the "Lawrence cakes" which we ate on the way round. Until next time ;)

http://www.justgiving.com/deanjonez

Stormforce 10 Camborne

                 Although I used to live in Newquay, I have never done a race in Cornwall. I had friends down there so I thought why not book a race and catch up and do some skateboarding at the same time and throw in a cycle ride on the camel trail. The Stormforce 10 is part of the Cornish grand prix. Which is pretty much a Cornish league race from what I can work out. So you have all the Cornish clubs racing but there were also a lot of Devon club runners. Who knows how it works, i'm just making all this up now!
             
              I didn't get to the start of the race in the best of conditions and I sure wasn't going for a PB that day. I had cycled to Padstow from Wadebridge and back along the camel trail and we had then cycled to Bodmin and back from Wadebridge as well. If this wasn't tiring enough we went skateboarding in Mount hawke but after about 10 minutes I had fallen off the ramp because my back foot had slipped off the board. I then rode over my own foot causing my ankle to twist and as I fell backwards I also hit my head on the ground. I felt dizzy and a bit shaken up. Panic had set in and I was freaking out. I was helped along by Five pints of Tribute. This was all the day before my race.

              I wasn't actually expecting to be at the start-line of this race with all that beer and the stiffened ankle but it happened! I woke up, my buddy Chris made me a bagel with Peanut butter and we were off to Camborne school for the start. I collected my race number and stood staring around the room at all the other club runners. Falmouth road runners, Newquay road runners, Tamar Trotters, Truro running club, St. Austell running club etc.. It reminded me of our Hampshire road race league with all the teams in their colours gathered in different areas. A lot of runners saw my Lordshill road runners vest and spoke to me and welcomed me to their race and thanked me for coming down. What an awesome response! I even messaged Falmouth road runners to thank them for the support from their runners even though this wasn't their race. The "Carnies" were also nice though and spoke to a few other club runners at the start and on the way around.

           We were very lucky with the weather. The sun was shining and actually felt quite warm even though it was the end of January. I enquired about the course. Any hills? Terrain etc.. Slightly undulating. Yeah right! Cornish people are funny. We started on a road going downhill which was fun. Loved overtaking people but the ankle was still a little sore. It was all road and mostly country lanes with some very big hills. The steepest one was at mile 4. As I ran down it I remember thinking. "Surely we don't run up there, it must turn off somewhere". Then I just replayed the voice in my head of the man who said it was slightly undulating. He must be laughing right now. And that was enough to make me smile to myself. I battled hard to get up that hill. Everytime I run up a big hill I think about Roger Bradley from our running club. He gave me the best, yet simplest hill running advice ever. "Keep your head up Dean, how are you supposed to get oxygen in your lungs with your head down there?" Haha. That man is a legend.

          I remember wanting to average Seven minute miles as a training race but it never happened. I wanted to get some speedy miles in for the Romsey 5 as I was long overdue a 5 mile PB. So the course was just a series of country roads with hills dipping and climbing. About mile Seven maybe? We veered off to the left and onto a gravel path which was just kind of a cutway through the back of some houses. There was a really big downhill. My favourite thing in the world! I seem to get noticed in races running downhill cos I go flat out. Runners were saying well done as I passed many of them. My garmin said I was running a 5.46 minute mile but this ended up being nearly a seven and a half minute mile as this downhill had to end and mirror itself to another big hill climb just after mile 8.
It was around here that I got speaking to a man who used to live in Sway who was a keen tri-athlete and supported Bournemouth football club and drove down to watch them play a lot. I love meeting people and finding out about them. Adds to the awesome experience for me if i'm not racing flat out. Obviously, you can't actually do any chatting if you're racing properly ;)

        Anyway, the marshall just after mile Nine told me that it was all downhill now. That was exactly what I wanted to hear. The ankle was still aching all the way round but wasn't affecting my running. I sped up and did my best to run fast. It was still dry but the sun had gone in. I crossed the line around 1 hour 14 and it started to rain. I grabbed a free banana and got a pair of more mile gloves and a hat that didn't fit me and we left. I was expecting a medal but didn't get one. I think I was supposed to go back into the gym for this? Wasn't sure really. It wasn't really clear. There was hot soup available though but I just wanted to go back to bed as I was feeling so tired.

    Really enjoyed the race. Very challenging and would love to do more Cornish races. Falmouth road runners have also invited me down to train with them so I may take them up on that in the summertime.

The start of 2014

As always, I like to set some goals as a runner. This is always done or thought about at the end of the year for me. I reflect on what I have achieved in the year and simply ask myself "What next?".
    Well, this year I am hoping to get some PB's on the shorter distances as I only managed Two 10 mile PB's last year. I am long overdue a 5 mile and 10K PB. I even managed to beat my 5 mile PB in training last year and often beat my 10K PB time when running 10 milers or half marathons.       I am hoping to stay away from the marathon until at least the summer but i'm mostly focused on the first 3-4 months of the year as you never know when injury may strike. I don't want to waste lots of money on entries fees again! Best to be cautious I think.

     So January will see me running quicker parkruns and doing the track sessions on Wednesdays with the club when possible. I have two races lined up for January. The Storm force 10, which is a 10 mile race in Camborne and is the same day as the Hampshire league race in Stubbington. I was originally going to do the 50 mile Thames trot race in Feb but decided against it due to lack of training and still feeling tired after running three marathons in three months.
    I have also entered the Romsey 5 the week after my Camborne race as I have never done it before. So that's two races for January and I am hoping to do the first Bodmin parkrun the day before my 10 miler in Camborne.

Nothing planned for February yet. All suggestions for races would be much appreciated. I have decided to skip the Salisbury 10 this year as I have come away with injuries two years in a row despite PB's both years. This means that I have entered the Eastleigh 10k and have never ran it yet. So I am looking forward to that one in March but before that I am doing the Llanelli waterside half marathon with my cousin in Wales. Also hoping to do the Llyn Llech Owain parkrun near crosshands the day before. I may even enter the John Austin half marathon the week after as it's one of the best half marathons I have ever done.

    After running parkrun at Lakeside today I was wondering what the highest position I would be able to manage this year. I came 22nd today, although the weather was appalling and there were only something like 120 runners but so what! I know I will never win a parkrun but would love to come in the top 10 of one or even the top 20. I'll aim for the top 20 for now but must train hard and get back on that diet on Monday. I hope you all achieve your goals for the year. Happy running everyone :)

A Review of 2013

           Looking back on 2013, I can reflect on a great year of running and probably one of my best despite only a couple of PB's. I ran Seventeen races and didn't start in at least four that I can remember due to injury. There were Four races that I nearly didn't finish to due weather conditions and injuries picked up along the way. I am lucky never to "DNF" in a race, or just stupid enough to keep running regardless of pain ;) I also ran more parkruns in 2013 including Southsea, Cardiff and Winchester. I also finished my first ultra marathon distance of 50K on the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1.
I ran a total of 1354 miles last year. I was hoping to reach a thousand miles, something I couldn't achieve last year due to more injuries. Above is a picture of things I got from races. I did forget to include two t-shirts in there. One from Snowdonia and one from Marathon du Beaujolais.
In the last Three months of the year I managed to complete Three marathons, Two half marathons and a 10 miler. A great achievement for me with some amazing memories captured.

      Out of the Seventeen races I did, my favourites were:

1. The Bratton hilly 11.4k race.

A friendly little race, with friendly local villagers. Running the first mile up a big hill and taking in the sights of Wiltshire. You can read more about this race on my previous blog entries.

2. The Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1.

My first ultra marathon distance of 50k. You can choose various distances to race. A very scenic look at Salisbury. Just eat the cake and walk a bit ;) You can also read about my experience of this on a previous blog entry.

3. Marathon Eryri.

Or Snowdonia marathon as it's also known. Intimidating race when you see the course profile and they tell you its UK's toughest marathon. Great views and lots of hills to speed down as well as the uphills. Read more on here again.

4. Wimborne 10.

A great race but clashes with our Hrrl race "Gosport half". Great atmosphere and a crazy downhill start where I thought I was running way too fast but you pay for it on the return anyway. Great finish and support.

5. Marathon du Beaujolais.

Those French people sure are crazy! What a weekend away this was. Lots of wine, cheese and meat. Everything you need for a marathon right? Visiting vineyards and wine cellars and chatting to other crazies in fancy dress.

Those are my top 5. My worst ?

1. The Wales half marathon.

Hottest day of the year and the start of the race was midday. Can't remember seeing more than half a mile of flat on this course! Great support from the locals but the heat exhausted me after only Three miles. Country lanes with no shade. Would be a good race if it wasn't for the dangerous conditions. Saw Three ambulances come on course with people collapsing and was delirious when I crossed the line with all the marshals running over to my aid.

2. The Meon valley plod.

Again, crazy weather conditions. A 21 mile race, this time it was torrential rain and strong winds from start to finish with clay to wade through at certain points. Many people dropping out at 10 miles and I was close. Shivering and tired. Had to run as fast as I could just to try and get warm. Wet t-shirt stuck to me and painful lungs. Probably a great race in better conditions.

Above are some other mementos from various races. I managed a 10 mile PB at Salisbury 10 miler in March with a time of 67.57 but after the race I picked up shin splints. I actually went to hospital for an x-ray as I thought I had broken something. It was so painful to walk. I put this down to running a hard 10 miler two days before the race. Stupid thing to do as I thought I was lacking the training. Obviously not! I would later beat this PB at the Wimborne 10 race in November with a time of 66.59. Still don't believe I can average a 6.41 minute mile for 10 minutes! Seems absurd to me. I also ran a sub 20 parkrun at Southsea parkrun but only just with a time of 19.59. This was my first sub 20 in Three years.

       In reflection, it was a brilliant year with fewer injuries and more awareness about running. I still feel I am learning a lot about myself and about running and the two combined. I am lucky to have met so many great runners from my club who have taught me a lot about running and life in general. Race days are exciting and making jokes of others is part of the camaraderie. I also get to eat lots of lovely food in pubs afterwards :) Looking forward to 2014 with more emphasis on speed work. Track sessions and less distance running hopefully but we all get easily enticed into these races :P Hope you all have a great year and have set your goals and challenges for the year ahead.x

Marathon du Beaujolais

(Photo: At the start. Thanks to Roger Bradley for this pic)

        Okay so it seemed crazy to travel 600 miles each way to run a marathon but we were crazy enough to go ahead and do it anyway! It was me, Lawrence Chen, Di and Mike Mattingly. We also met Derek and Roger there who were travelling from Turin.
There was heavy snow on the way to Lyon and the snow had laid on the hills where we were staying. We stayed in a Gite in the middle of nowhere thanks to Larry but it was awesome there high in the isolated hills with breathtaking scenery. I was pretty nervous and had a couple of panic attacks here and there and I knew this would happen but you can't live without fighting fear all your life can you? And the attacks don't last forever,  unlike the great memories of this weekend. We had collected our race numbers, goodie bags, t-shirts the night before from the expo in Villefranche sur-saone.

         Villefranche sur-saone was also the finish of the race. We had to return on race day to get a 45 minute coach ride to the start. It was then that I knew I was taking this marathon too seriously when lots of Santas got onto our coach, followed by some dudes in stripey prison outfits. I, of course had to sit next to Chen who rustled through his noisy bag for 45 minutes.
When we got off the coach, we were handed tumblers of Beaujolais straight away. Bit of a weird marathon warm up but it was about 1 degrees. We walked through an archway of people holding up flags of countries around the world. They reported they had 57 different nationalities running today. Not only was there a marathon, there was also and half marathon and a 10k race going on as well. The organisation of this race was phenomenal with 8500 runners in total. They also reported that there were 850 supporters. So this wasn't exactly a small race and next year would be the tenth anniversary.

(Photo: Taken from the coach on our arrival to the start. P.S Mickey mouse was a tosser and held up all the traffic when I was running next to him).

      At the start we danced to music to keep warm and then held a one minute silence for some people who had passed away. I was feeling quite emotional at this point even though I didn't know the deceased. I thought about their lives and their friends and family and their premature end. Anyway, we started to shuffle forward. The race was quite congested at the start and it took a while to get any pace despite the downhill start. It was tricky to overtake and watching Lawrence get frustrated at this, made me laugh and relax a little. 5k in and I was ready for a toilet break. I knew the wine at the start was a bad idea! People were urinating everywhere. I must have seen about 20 people urinating during the first mile.

     Then, the craziness began. I had already forgot to mention all the costumes the runners were wearing. I hear someone shouting "Go England Go". I turn around and i'm greeted by a Frenchman dressed as an Ostrich. Even his Ostrich had running shoes on and his mate was running the marathon in Hawaiian style clothing and a big surfboard under his arm. Did I mention it was 1 degrees?
We passed many vineyards and we came to a wine cellar which we had to run through the grounds, down the stairs and into the cellar where there was music playing and a display of food and drink. Wine or water, Meat or cheese, or all of it. I took the water and slipped up the stairs of the cellar on the way out. I was 10k in and my legs were feeling like I had run 20 miles already. It'll probably pass I remember thinking. I kept on running and tried to keep the positive thoughts going which was aided by the roaring crowds. There was so much to take in on this run that it all felt a bit surreal. The locals were out cheering everyone on. "Allez, Allez" they would shout. I used my very limited vocabulary of "Bonjour" and "Merci" over and over and was developing a great accent with these two words.

(Photo: Larry was so excited to see his Singaporean flag. This flag was only here because of his entry! That's some welcome).

        I managed to catch up with the Ostrich man around mile 20. He was still dancing for the crowds and shouting stuff while lively music blared out from a massive lorry. He had warned me that there was a big hill coming up. I was in bad form and shuffling. I had a weird lean to the right as if I looked injured but I wasn't. I was just so tired. I tried to eat lots of food at a previous station. I got some meat, cheese and banana and just squashed it up into a ball in my fist and put it in my mouth. I was struggling to eat this strange concoction and just ended up choking on it while some young French girls stood there laughing at the stupid Englishman. Must have looked pretty funny I guess. I felt in desperate need of Glucose/sugar but could only find water. Later came another mistake of downing what I thought was coca-cola but it turned out to be hot coffee which scolded the throat a little. I definitely learnt a few things from this marathon but i'm not sure what.

       Somehow I made it up the hill and there was a downhill not long afterwards. I saw a fellow runner who was holding on his race number with only one safety pin and it was quite windy at this point so I ran alongside him and gave him one of my safety pins. He smiled, thanked me and I pushed ahead now holding the corner of my race number.
I had struggled to do 8 and a half minute miles from the start but the last 5k I was able to open up my stride a little due to the downhill. Running my fastest mile at mile 24 and recovering some sort of running form, I knew I would be behind my 3.39 PB and was hoping for 8 minute miles to get me a time of 3.30 but it just never happened. I finished in a time of 3.43 though and it was my first marathon without walking at all. I put my all into that finish. Running through some weird townhall building and into a market with cheering kids "Allez, Allez". There were a few other buildings to run through as well as the vineyards and running up and down steps.

(Photo: An underground car park that was the baggage area and free refreshments for all)

        I had crossed the line pretty dizzily when I was dragged to one side. "Dean, yes?" Before I knew it, I was talking to the crowd through a microphone. Damn, that thing was loud too. I was being asked questions and trying to answer them without dribbling too much or slurring. My words then got translated into French. I remember saying "Amazing" a lot and saying i'd return. I was a minor celebrity. After my interview and the tv cameras I was approached by many French people congratulating me and asking me about my experience. And what an experience it had been.

      I had picked up my bottle of Beaujolais and a "wine tasting" medal at the finish. I went to collect my bag to keep warm and there was yet more free mulled wine and cheese. Larry had somehow got a PB on this course despite the hectic start and also got interviewed. Mike and Di didn't finish that far behind me and Derek had to look after Roger who kept on falling over and knocking people's things over. We had all finished and that's all that had mattered. This was an "amazing" experience and if I did it again it would be in fancy dress and with more wine stops and banter.

Wimborne 10

            As I had done Gosport half two years in a row I thought I would give my number to Mike Bisson and enter the Wimborne 10 instead, which seems to clash with the Gosport HRRL every year. I was told about this race initially by Rob Kelly and convinced to do it even more by Pete Lewis after chatting about it at our own 10 mile race. I was lucky to get my entry in just before the race had reached it capacity.

           Pete picked me and Kathy up in the morning and although it was not raining, it was quite cold. Rob Kelly was supposed to be running but was currently injured. We arrived with plenty of time but there is a nice long 10-15 minute walk to the start/finish line. We spoke to many of the other runners, including the American lady who had finished last at our 10 mile race only two weeks ago. We were glad to hear that she had enjoyed it and praised us for the friendly support which she received. We waited until around 10.20 to take our bags to the baggage tent, due to the cold weather but after that we managed a couple of warm up runs before the race was to start at 10.30.

         I had looked at the results from the previous year and I thought this would be a good indication of where I should position myself at the start. So, I would start about a third of the way back. As we waited, we were given instructions and warned that the Muskets and pistols would soon be fired and that would be our cue to start running. The man announced "If anyone here has a dog, keep hold of it" This received  a roar of laughter from us runners. The guns went bang and off we ran, but slowly..

 

   
This race isn't chip timed and a lot of the slower runners are quite happy to start at the front so this means that the first part of the course can be quite congested. I even had to slow down behind people running down a nice steep hill! But then again, I had somehow managed to run my first mile 6 mins and 10 secs. I don't even run a mile that fast at parkrun!

     After the first mile there was plenty of open road and the runners were now nicely spread out. I still seemed to be running as if this was a parkrun and not a 10 mile race. I wanted to achieve a sub 70 minute finish today but I had been warned about the hill at mile 9. Many people had told me to "Save something for the last climb". I was saving nothing though, this was racing after all and today I was feeling good :) Pete had referred to the hill as similar to that of Toothill. One of our local biggish hills that we sometimes trained on.

     Despite the 6.10 first mile and the 6.28 second mile I still wanted all my miles to be under 7 minutes but that didn't happen as I reached mile 5 and hit a 7.04. It didn't matter though, I was going strong even though I felt like I hadn't been able to breathe properly since the start. I had noticed that a few women were overtaking me now and this had caused me some concern until I had found out it was currently the third woman who had just passed me. I got my own back though as I told the fourth woman who overtook me that she was fourth and the third lady was up ahead. I was still overtaking men but not women! It was quite exciting to be among the fast women and being able to see them race against one another. I didn't bother telling the fifth woman that she was fifth. I had had enough and decided to overtake her instead..lol.

     Then I saw and heard the amazing Morris dancers. This created such a great atmosphere. Loud music was playing and everyone was cheering in the streets. This always encourages me to run faster and clear any negativities than may have been going on in my mind. I had run my fastest 5 miles in a time of 33 mins and 2 secs and my fastest 10K in a time of 41.08. I was flying, but still knew that the hill would be tough at mile 9.  At mile 8, I had thought to myself that even if I run two miles in 7.30's I should still get a time of 1.08. Not far away from my 1.07.57 PB from the Salisbury 10 that I got in March. I was getting tired though and wasn't sure if I was making much sense with my time predictions. I had hit the 9 mile mark in just over an hour and then came the hill. I told the Marshall half-jokingly that I was on for a PB until I had hit this hill. The PB potential had gone, or so I had thought. I ran as hard as I could along the finishing straight and there were signs that informed me that there were "400 metres to go" and then I could see the giant clock ticking away. I want to get across the finish before 1.08 and I had just made it in 1.07.59. I was really happy with this time and so close to a PB by 2 secs.

        I was over the moon and had surprised myself with how well I had run. There was free tea/coffee and soooo much cake to choose from but was sweating so much and feeling sick with my effort, so I jsut decided to head back to the finish line and cheer in the other runners while I waited for Pete and Kathy. In they came and then we went for free coffee and cake. You could go as many times as you liked as well. There was so much variety of cake! Kathy looked like she was going to pass out at the finish as she was all dizzy. Turns out she got a PB by about 3 minutes! 137.55 was her time. Peter did it in: 127.16 and when I got home and checked my garmin I had actually done it in 106.59 and the official results confirmed this, so it was a PB after all! One of 57 seconds. I was even happier. Another great event and a wonderful day. A big thanks to Pete and Kathy for making it even better.

Winchester parkrun

        The plan was to get up at 5.30am, have breakfast and run to Winchester for parkrun. So a nice half marathon training run plus a slow 5K when I got there. However.. It all went a bit wrong! I had washed all my parkrun barcodes. I remember leaving a barcode in my shorts and putting them in the washing machine. This had happened for two weeks in a row. I was now behind schedule and wouldn't make Winchester parkrun.  There was a saviour though, and his name is Neil Garton. I had explained my situation on a facebook status and Neil had come to my rescue. Not only did he give me a lift to Winchester but he also printed me off some barcodes. I was still going to run :)

     As we arrived, the sky had become very dark. We knew it was going to rain but we weren't sure when. We left the leisure centre and headed to the start and it was already pouring hard with rain. It was also pretty cold as we stood by the trees to try and shelter. The Race Director briefed us on the course, thankfully this was kept short as everyone was keen to get going.
Winchester parkrun starts next to the leisure centre and it's on grass. This means it was slippery due to the current weather conditions. It wasn't too bad to start with but got worse as we did each lap. Each lap is roughly 1 mile, so you do 3 laps before heading to the finishing funnel.
     It's not as boring as it sounds though. You start by running around the pitch and then you go in between some trees where you have to be aware of the tree roots that protrude from the ground. You come off the grass and then run onto a path and over a bridge and eventually back onto the grass to complete the lap. I really liked this course despite all the mud and rain and would love to do it again.

     Due to a low number of runners I managed to come 9th which is the highest i've ever placed in a running event. There were only 105 runners. I ran a little bit harder at the end to make sure that I beat the first female home who came 10th with the same time as me. The course was slightly shorter than 3.1 miles though and I think I would have been closer to 21 minutes rather than the 20.30 that I achieved.
The support was amazing. Especially the two loud girls that shout at the top of their lungs as everyone passes them. A brilliant experience which wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for Neil. Neil came 70th with a time of 27.17. He also took the photo for me. Cheers Neil. I then ran 13.1 miles home in the rain in a time 1hr 41 minutes and went straight to bed :)