race
Race Recap: Spitfire Scramble 2015
Race Recap: Spitfire Scramble
Date/Time: Saturday 15th August – Sunday 16th August
Location: Hornchurch Country Park
Distance: As many 10km laps as possible in 24hours
Last year myself and 7 lovely ladies were lucky enough to win a spot in the first ever Spitfire Scramble. We had the most fantastic time (you can read my full recap here) and I promised that I would be going back next year for more 10km loops, camping and of course my favourite – running in the depths of night!
Fast forward to 2015 and last weekend saw the second ever Spitfire Scramble and I am pleased to say that the event had got nothing but bigger and better! The amount of participants had certainly tripled and it was great to see so many tents, flags, banners and picnic style set ups on the starting field. The food vans had doubled and offered a little more variety than last year and the toilets were nearer to everything – extremely handy when you have tired legs and it’s pitch black! But whilst everything seemed to grow it was fantastic to see that the atmosphere had not changed at all. One of the things I loved about this event was the community that came with it. Yes this is a race, there are winners and you are being timed but it is still one of the most supportive races I have ever taken part in. From the race organisers themselves, to the incredible volunteers who stay out all night to ensure we don’t get lost, to every single competitor – everyone shows support, encouragement and just general friendliness! It is so lovely to be running along chatting to other runners as you pass, rather than just trying to steam ahead.
I am extremely proud to say between the three Run Dem Teams we covered over 700km in 24 hours and I think those stats are pretty incredible!
I said it last year and I will say it again – this is a fantastic event and I cannot wait to take part again next year. A huge thank you to the organisers and everyone involved for putting on such a fantastic and friendly event! If you fancy taking part I could not recommend it enough, and if you want a few tips for how to survive a 24hour race …
1. Pack layers! Even if it is hot when you leave the house, believe me it’s amazing how cold it will get in the night! Plus your temperature will dramatically cool down once you stop running!
2. Pack snacks! Yes there are food tucks but I still suggest bringing a variety of nibbles as you might not fancy a jacket potato / bacon bap at 3am when you are about to do a lap. I took a variety of 9bars (of course) nuts, fruit, pre-baked sweet potato and chocolate covered raisins.
3. If you can, pack a camping chair. Strange I know but between running and then lying down it’s amazing how much you will appreciate a seat, particularly in the morning when everything is damp! Trust me!
4. Make the most of your rest! There is a fantastic festival atmosphere in the camp site which all adds to the experience. In the Run Dem Crew camp we spent a lot of time just enjoying the sunshine, hanging out together, sharing food and swapping stories. But all I would say is that as the day carries on, if you are doing one of the night time laps ensure that you try and get a bit of rest and it’s a very interesting experience running whilst half asleep. Even if it’s an hours power nap you will be surprised at the difference it could make!
5. It’s camping, with plenty of food and with your friends, with a little bit of running thrown in too … enjoy that this is a totally different kind of race! !
Wet and Wild: Shock Absorber WomenOnly Challenge
An opportunity arose to take part in an open water triathlon and as much I would have preferred a little more time between my first and second I thought it would be silly to not have a go and see how I get on in my first open water event! SO…
Human Race Shock Absorber WomenOnly Challenge
- Date/Time: Sunday 12th June
- Distance: = 400m swim, 21.2km cycle, 5km run
Held at the Olympic rowing venue, Dorney Lake it was quite exciting to walk up to the event village and see the Olympic Rings in the distance (if not a little daunting!) With race pack collected and numbers stuck in their correct places (triathlons have so many numbers and such strict placement rules so thanks to Paulie here for, as always, sorting this whilst I try and pretend to be totally cool and calm) it was time to get ready – wetsuit or no wetsuit?
With about 70% of people wearing them we decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to just “practice” with the suit. It’s not that I don’t like wearing my wetsuit, in fact I love my new Orca suit but it was the getting the thing off that worried me. However, following some advice on Twitter I had brought some baby oil, so slathered some Johnson & Johnson on my wrists and ankles and “slipped” my wetsuit on.
Heading into the water I tried to remain calm. I knew I could swim the distance but you hear so many stories of kicking, elbows, missing teeth! Eurgh! HOWEVER, whilst treading water waiting for the start, we were given an informative and funny race briefing by a hugely enthusiastic race marshal and it seriously helped calm my nerves. A HUGE thank you to that man. When the air horn went it was busy, I did have to be careful initially of people around me but then whilst singing “under the sea” thanks to some twitter chat earlier on I just swam, kept spotting the orange blobs otherwise known as buoys and tried to forget about the people around me. Compared to the manic splashing about in the Henley indoor section this was actually quite calm. The weeds and other things did create some little “moments” but generally it felt amazing to be swimming outdoors, warm and well, happy and apparently it showed as I clocked my fastest 400m swim yet!
By this point it’s worth mentioning that the rain was really coming down and the clouds were getting darker and darker.
I slipped my wetsuit off no problem – THANK YOU BABY OIL – but trying to dry my feet whilst it was chucking it down became a bit of a problem! So I talc’ed as much as I could. inhaled some Soreen, grabbed my helmet and made my way over to the mount line. I knew I had taken longer than needed but hey – it’s practice. Over the mount like the 13 mile cycle started, and the rain came down even harder!
The cycle sees you do 4 laps around the lake, it’s tarmac, its unbroken, pretty flat and you have no cars to contend with. HOWEVER, the clouds were menacing, the headwind was real and the rain created a laugh or cry situation, it just didn’t stop, in fact it got heavier and heavier and heavier. But what was amazing were the supporters and marshals along the route. Regardless of the incredibly AWFUL weather the marshals were still out clapping, encouraging us on and the supporters were a plenty too, including my very own incredible one man support team who I saw every single loop and who managed to put a beaming smile on my face each time!
Coming to the end of the final lap I knew my trainers were filled with water and that the run was going to be interesting however I came over to the dismount line, hooked my bike up, scoffed more banana bread, waved at Paulie, then headed off for the run which would see us go up along the lake and back, twice.
Now usually I am not a fan of an out and backs but I absolutely, 100%, bloody loved every minute of this run. I LOVED it and it can be seen in every photo Mr. Paulie Roche took.
This run saw you join lots of other women all different ages, shapes and sizes running, encouraging each other on and just getting the race done. I saw lots of the women I started the swim with and one by one we high fived and spurred each other on :D! Regardless of the rain (yes it was still coming down and yes the sky was black) supporters were still dotted all along the out and back and were fabulous, just fabulous! At the end of the “out ” you do quick U-turn where three drenched marshals stood cheering and clapping – I thought it was impressive that they were still managing to be upbeat! Coming up to the finish line I pushed for a sprint finish as my legs felt, well great, I mean don’t get me wrong I was tired but I was just so happy!
Finishing my second triathlon, receiving my medal and seeing Paulie with that grin cemented the fact that I love this sport. Triathlon’s are scary, I mean really scary. They are hard, there are so many things to think about and they definitely bring out all the pre race nerves but they are incredible events that seem to bring together a wonderfully supportive crowd.
The Human Race Shock Absorber Challenge was a fantastic, well organised, well staffed event that could have only been made better if the rain hadn’t have been so consistent. I finished my race in 1hour32 and I could not be happier. I know that I have elements I need to work on and that is totally fine with me because I cannot wait to tackle these and see what can be achieved next year!!!!!
Thank you Human Race for offering the opportunity to take part in this event and thank you for making it such an incredible day.
Race Recap: Vitality Run Hackney Half Marathon
Vitality Run Hackney Half Marathon
Date/Time: 10th May 2015 / 09:00
Location: Hackney Marshes, London
Distance: Half Marathon / 13.1 miles
Last year I took part in the first ever Hackney Half Marathon which saw us runners explore some of the beloved streets of East London. I thought the route, the crowds, the volunteers were all brilliant HOWEVER it will mostly be remembered for being the HOTTEST DAY EVER. With training taking part at the end of winter and the very beginnings of Spring I think it was safe to say that none of us were prepared for the insane heat wave that took over London that day. But depsite memories of melting into the pavement I was actually really looking forward to this race coming round again … this was until of course I got flippin’ injured 10 weeks ago (!?!)
So the race … 
I was really excited about this race because for me East London is home. I live East and it’s where I meet with running family – Run Dem Crew – each week. The other reason why I was so excited for this race was because I knew so many of the crew would be hitting the streets too, and of course, those who can’t run CHEER! Cheer Dem would be in full effect, crew on the road and crew on the sidelines = happy running. 
A quick group shot … and a few physio exercises first …
We set off to the starting pens with roughly 13,000 other people and at 09:00am on the dot the race began (I genuinely cannot name any other race that has started so perfectly in time so 10 points for that Run Hackney!) I had always planned to take this race slowly as annoyingly I am still coming back from injury so as much as I am desperate to go all out in a run and let my legs really push themselves I want to be able to keep going without causing any damage so steadily we set off on the “fast, flat route”. Readers let it be known that this is not quite the case. East London certainly isn’t known for it’s hills and I know many of my other incredible running friends would laugh at me but Run Hackney is not flat! Instead the routes offers quite a few cheeky little ups and downs which only highlighted how my legs are still getting used to running again.
One thing that had really stuck with me about this race last year was the amount of support along the route and once again this year the incredible people of London did not disappoint. Starting so early on a Sunday morning non runners would have been totally forgiven for staying in bed and enjoying a lie in but instead I don’t really remember any point of the route that was left unmanned, people were even cheering in their PJs!
As mentioned earlier, last year was the hottest day ever and so this year the organisers had planned for the race to take part a month earlier in hope of beating the sun, but obviously the weather gods had a thing for Hackney. May 10th, 2015 was another scorcher! Once again I spent 13.1 miles shade chasing, but at least this time there seemed to be a lot more water stations (either that or I noticed more this time) and each station was manned with plenty of smiley volunteers all offering words of encouragement and water in bottles, not squeezy, impossible to work, pouches last year! (another 10 points here Run Hackney for listening to feed back and offering bottles!)
If I am totally honest, for me, this race was extremely difficult. I struggled from about 3 miles onwards. The route offered variety, the crowds were fantastic, water was plentiful but my head was not ready for it. If you a runner your first injury is a funny old thing, regardless of where it is or how serious it messes with your head and I think this race really highlighted how much it had effected my mentality. HOWEVER, I knew that Lissy and Cheer Dem were waiting at mile 10 and seeing various members of my Run Dem family, including Daddy Dark himself, pass by I knew I had to keep going! At this point I would like to apologise for all my gorgeous friends for saying hello as they ran past … I think it’s just best to say I had my “game face” on and Paulie had to do all the talking for me … usually I smile when running but sadly not during this race.
This was until we got past the Mile 10 marker …
The noise from Cheer Dem could be heard all the way down at the bottom of the hill were they waiting on. Literally I could not wipe the smile from my face, the love and support that they give each and every single runner is just incredible but for me having so many incredible people to run through … well let’s say during an extremely tough race it made me extremely emotional and well … Cheer Dem you made my race.
The final 3 miles quickly (!?!) passed and the elation at crossing the finish line was unprecedented! We were handed a medal, a bottle of water, bananas, all the bounce balls we could get our hands on, a goody bag AND a tshirt (I actually really enjoy the tshirt). All in all I would say that the amount of goodies was actually seriously impressive!
So to recap – this race was tough for me. I didn’t spend the whole time smiling, it wasn’t a run where I thought hey I am running in the sunshine with so many friends, this is great! However, in terms of a race in London I actually think it is brilliant. Word of warning, plan your route – there were a few transport issues getting to the start due to lots of road closures, otherwise everything else seemed to run smoothly. Minimal queues, lots of space, to the second on time start, lots of water stations, lots of toilet opportunities (thanks to local cafe for letting me jump in!) and the post run treats bananas, bounce balls, popcorn and nakd bars were FANTASTIC! Run Hackney I will be seeing you next year!
Celebrating the only way we know how .. massive waffle “burger” for him … cake bigger than my face for me!
Thank you to Action PR for giving me the opportunity to get involved with Run Hackney Half Marathon 2015. If you fancy running Hackney next year pre-registration is already open so get clicking here www.runhackney.com
Race Recap: Hyde Park 10km
Date/Time: Sunday 25th January
Location: Hyde Park
Distance: 10km
I had heard really good things about the Run Through events and at £18 I thought that this little race would be a lovely one to add to the schedule.
7 weeks until Barcelona Marathon this race would be part of a longer training run and thanks to new surroundings it turned out I could run 3 miles along the canal, meet the lovely Lissy, continue for another 2 miles to meet with a bunch of TNR ladies and then carry on for another 3 miles to the start line.
Coming across the park to the start line this race had pulled in a lovely number of runners, offered an extremely stress free “race number” collection station, simple bag drops and well just a lovely running atmosphere. Plus there were lots of familiar faces hanging about too … 😀
The start soon came and we headed from the bottom of Hyde Park Corner towards Marble Arch, shortly to turn left into the depths of the park.
I was proudly wearing my Run Dem Tshirt and at this point I have to say I could not be prouder to be apart of this family. Quite a few crew members had offer their time to help marshal this race and well they were an absolute treat! Every big turn or possible moment where a runner could head in the wrong direction the marshals were there singing, dancing, clapping, shouting words of encouragement and even banging a baking tray! I am in a very lucky position to be able to call these guys my friends so it was a HUGE boost to see them and have them push me and all the other runners on! Another reason why I loved this race – the marshals, Run Dem or not, were truly brilliant!
The race took us through the park past the edge of the Serpentine towards the Royal Albert Hall and then back towards the bandstand. It was a two lap race so I was lucky enough to see all those lovely marshals twice. The second lap was definitely tougher but the surrounding were so lovely it was easy enough to get distracted!
Crossing the finish line I was shattered. I hadn’t planned to push on this race as my week had been quite full on workout wise and the 8 miles before meant that my legs weren’t quite “race” fresh. However, I knew I had kept at a good pace and was really pleased with that!
This race didn’t offer a medal, instead we were given a Tshirt which actually I was seriously grateful for as it was freezing! We were also handed water, fruit and flapjack – awesome flapjack which I may or may not have had three pieces of. WHOOPS.
All in all I really enjoyed the small nature of this race. It was stress free start to finish, no big queues, no congested route and just just fantastic volunteers! Run Through are offering a series of races and I definitely will be joining one again! Particularly at the BARGIN price of £18!
Oh and we celebrated with pancakes … huge pancakes
It’s dark in the Arctic Circle
Returning from my last minute trip to New York back in November I had an email from fellow Northern friend Alex which read …
“You like mad ideas. How about this? Midnight Sun Marathon : Polar Night Halfmarathon”
Running, in the Arctic circle, with 24 hours of darkness, snow and ice, below freezing temperatures … oh ok then!
Arriving into Tromsø you are greeted by the most beautiful main street lit up by rows and rows of red lights in the shape of hearts and in the background you can just make out the landscape filled with impressive snowy mountains, so far so good!
We were staying at the Clarion Aurora Hotel, just off the main street (I will write more on this in another post). Tromsø isn’t that big but it was an absolute treat to be a 3 minute walk away from where we had to collect our bibs. Similar to our journey to the building, collecting the packs themselves was the most relaxed “registration” I have ever experienced.
Bibs collected it was time to make some decisions about footwear and clothing. As well as packing every different kind of layer I could think of I had also brought two pairs of shoes, my trusty trail shoes as well as my marathon shoes with attachable “yaxtrax“. It is worth mentioning that every bit of ground is either covered in thick black ice or snow, slippery snow. It is rare to find a clear bit of path in Tromsø.
I will admit that to collect my bib I wore one of each shoe to test them out and this proved that the yaxtrax were going to be essential! With this decision made off Alex and I went for a short little jog around town just to make sure that we could actually run with these random spike things!?!
2:30pm came around really quickly and if I am honest I was actually quite nervous, this race was going to offer completely alien conditions that I just had not been able to train for – proper snow, THICK black ice and total darkness in the middle of the day! By 1pm, for someone who is used to seeing “day” and then “night”, you feel very confused about what time of day it is and whether you should be tired, or thinking going to bed?! Not the best feelings before a 13.1 mile race! Also kit wise it was tricky to know how many layers to add. I had proper winter tech stuff from Nike, a winter running jacket from Lululemon as well as leg warmers and glow sticks ;D. In the end I went for everything … EVERYTHING!
All kitted out we made our way to start line (also 2 minutes from our hotel) to join around 500 other runners taking part in a seriously high energy warm up to some pumping dance tracks!
As we crossed the start line it was clear that everyone had spikes on, everyone. They really are essential for this race which initially takes you up the one and only main street in the Tromsø along an extremely icy road. About a mile later you take a left and then you treated to a truly beautiful race backdrop. For the next 3 miles or so you meander around a residential area, guided by large candles. The buildings here look like gorgeous gingerbread houses, complete with snowy roofs and Christmas decorations, it’s just so pretty. Up and down (yes there were some pretty interesting hills in this race, more interesting than normal due to the icy paths) turning left and right you then are brought out to a road on the edge of the island, looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, once again providing incredible views whilst running.
Along the route I was extremely surprised by how many people turned out to support the race. It was dark, it was cold and it was about to snow A LOT and yet there were people of all ages out along the route! Seriously this race was just amazing! Mile 5 -8 saw us come up towards the airport, traffic was actually stopped for us so we could cross main roads, planes took off right over our heads and supporters still kept appearing along the route!
Now due to the size of Tromsø this race actually does 6 miles one way, circles two large roundabouts and then you head back back following the same path. Usually I wouldn’t be thrilled by this but the whole experience was just so incredible you barely noticed.
Heading back towards my favourite section, the residential area, it started to snow A LOT. Another essential item – waterproof clothing. Alex and I were both absolutely covered in huge white flakes, sadly the photos don’t do any justice for this!
What was also a life saver at this point was a handwarmer. The actual day of the race was relatively mild compared to the -12 temperature we had been experiencing (which felt like -18 due to windchill). We had set off at around -1 / -2 but on our way back the wind picked up and the snow was relentless. Now for anyone who runs with me knows my fingers are extremely annoying, I often run with double gloves, and well they were starting to go just ever so slightly numb so having that hand warmer was HEAVEN!
Reading about this race it was mentioned that you should expect to finish 20-30 minutes slower than your normal pace. With a mile to go, and almost at exactly the same time, Alex and I looked at our watches and were quite shocked to see the numbers on our watches. Coming into the main street again we were greeted by those gorgeous lights and even larger crowds cheering us on.
Giving it our final push we crossed the line at 1.57 with stupidly big smiles! I can honestly say this race was the most beautiful race I have ever done. Not only was this race beautiful but it was just such good fun! I adored running with Alex who humoured me, saying that we were just taking it at “party pace” (Alex is an incredibly speedy runner so this will have been super slow for him) but we chatted the entire way round and had a great time interacting with all the supporters along the route.
Post race we were treated to a banana, water and the best hot juice I have ever tasted! We headed over to one of the fires to stay warm whilst we stretching. This was something to mention! Stretching was INCREDIBLY difficult, even trying to lunge was a huge effort! We found a post to elevate our legs and I can only imagine how ridiclous we must have looked just trying to get our legs up!
If you ever have the opportunity to do this race DO IT! Without wanting to keep repeating myself this was a truly amazing experience and I loved every single minute of it! Yes it’s dark, yes it’s cold and yes it is EXTREMELY slippy under foot but these are all things that can be easily combated with proper kit! Thank you Tromsø for a truly epic experience.
Race Report: Mo’Run 2015
Date/Time: Saturday 29th November
Location: Greenwich Park
Distance: 10km … and all the hills!
Last year I did this event and I loved it as a race, this year I did it again and I stick by my initial thoughts – this is a great event!
MoRunning happens all around the country proudly supporting Movember and their fundraising for Men’s Health and in particular Prostate Cancer UK. Plenty of people attack this race as a serious course but there are also plenty of people in fantastic (?!) fancy dress outfits, donning impressive “mo”s running just to enjoy the day.
Turning up at this race I was excited, with an incredible 167 people from Run Dem Crew running I imagined spotting “Run Dem” tshirts all along the route and the noise through CheerDem was going to be insanely loud! (I wasn’t wrong!)
One of the many things I love about this race is the simple start. It certainly helped having our race numbers all in one area – big up to Glenn for sorting that. But there was no huge queue at bag drop, before or after! There were toilets all over the place, no queuing there either and we didn’t have to queue up hours before the start!
I sort of wanted to see if I could get a solid PB of sub 50 on this 10km knowing full well that with hills this would be very presumptuous but why the heck not try. Plus I was lucky enough to have Steph pacing me so off we went. Now the course follows the many pathways around the beautiful area that is Greenwich Park but unfortunately these are not made for 100s of runners so the first 1km or so was all about weaving in and out with a little bit of trail running in between ;D. Once out of the bulk of people started the hills. Downhill first, which was lovely as it was the start of passing so many Run Dem tshirts and a whole load of hi-fives. I adore being apart of this family as it is just super supportive. Regardless of how well you know each member the support and encouragement is there and that is priceless!
As well as spotting a lot of familiar faces it is worth mentioning the absolutely incredible marshals along the route. It was like these guys were sent to a special training school about how to be incredibly helpful whilst being super supportive! Every single marshal I passed was either dancing, singing, shouting words of encouragement or well just being flippin’ brilliant and it made my day! So thank you guys!
It should be said that yes most the race was spent with the goofy smile on my face, once I had removed the tash (which at the time felt like I inhaled everytime I breathed in) but those hills were no joke. In a 10km you really want to push. It’s a “shorter” distance when you compare it to a half marathon / marathon but trying to push and trying to overcome long, steep hills is no smiling matter. As Steph kept reminding me “it’s all about the arms” and well if nothing else it has reminded me how important hill training is! OUCH!
Passing Crew Dem at the top of the hill, heading down the atmosphere was electric and definitely helped add speed to the legs, however what goes down must come up. Cheer Dem had positioned themselves at the top of what I felt was the steepest hill along on the route. Getting to the bottom after flying down and having to turn back around was definitely a shock to the system as you now had to battle back up the hill and then of course put your game face on passing back through Cheer Dem. The hill was hard, it was steep, it was at the end of the lap (or at the finish if you were on your second lap) and well did I mention it was steep? Knowing that at the top was the CheerDem family it gave you that extra boost and you just gritted your teeth and got on with it! So thank you to all the Run Dem Cheer family for giving all us runners that extra boost when we needed it most!
Crossing the finish line I discovered I was just off grabbing that PB but to be honest I was ecstatic to have gotten so close, particularly when my PB was achieved on a super flat course! As we finished we were handed a pot of Wheyhey Banoffee Protein Ice Cream, which I pretty much inhaled, a bag of popchips and a bottle of water. Then of course the medal ….
This race really does have a fantastic medal!
All in all I would definitely recommend this race! It is just a truly lovely atmosphere, with fantastic volunteers and in an extremely beautiful setting. Bring on next year!
PS Greenwich Market does supply some incredible post race cakes ;D!
Race Report: NYC Marathon
Date/Time: Sunday 2nd November 2014
Location: New York
Distance: 26.2 miles
So I had always hoped for a “Marathon Miracle”. I had taken the expression #YOLO on board and randomly booked my flights to New York so why not see if I could try and get a spot in one of the (in my mind) greatest road marathons in the world as I was going to be there for it! Well the day before the New York City Marathon my spot was confirmed and I was about to set off and run my second ever marathon!
I would usually do a full race recap but if I am completely honest the whole thing is still a little bit of a blur and I am still in shock that I actually did it so instead I thought I would share with you what I learnt during my second marathon…
Remember this is what you do
When my space was confirmed I spoke to my parents to ask if I could really do this. My first and only other marathon I took extremely seriously, followed my training plan to the letter, looked at what I was eating, stopping drinking, got super stressed/nervous etc etc etc. The only other person I spoke to about whether or not it was a stupid decision to run this last minute marathon was my roomie in New York, a fellow runner and someone I trust to say it like it is. His response “I will not be impressed if you run the marathon, you should be able to run this distance, you train, you run, this should not be difficult for you”. Now this was quite hard to hear, I know what he was trying to say but to me a marathon is, and always will be, a HUGE DEAL. However, he was right. Week in, week out I am always training. I LOVE to run, whether it be with my crew, by myself, to work, on the track, I adore running, there is something about it that just gives me a super goofy smile. I am also loving my strength training, my muscles are growing and I doing my best to feed them to help make my body grow from strength to strength. Yes 26.2 miles is a lot further than I have ran in a long time but I train hard, so in theory I should be able to do this…right?
Just another weekend run
The night before the marathon instead of hyper ventilating, checking my kit 101 times I just reminded myself this is just another weekend run. Every single weekend I run with friends, granted sometimes it is just a 5km parkrun but it’s a run just the same, and well this was a weekend and I was going to be running with friends … nearly 50,000 other friends. During the marathon I just reminded myself this is what I look forward to and do every weekend, I run and at the end there will be food … and a marathon means there will be all sorts of food. Plus I am in NEW YORK, the food will be insane!
Never think of it as 26.2 miles
This marathon has a marker every single mile, great to know where you are but extremely tempting to count down from 26 miles! DONT! During my last marathon I started by counting down “parkruns”. A marathon is roughly 8 parkruns, nice, fun parkruns. Once you get to 8 miles it’s just two more of those and a bit. By mile 16 you have 10 miles to go and you can definitely start counting down. There were a few times during the run that I got a little overwhelmed about what I was doing, I was actually attempting to run 26.2 without “official” training what was I thinking, and then I would remind myself to think of it in short sections and just keep going.
Let the crowds help you
The crowds for the New York City Marathon are just amazing, and I mean AMAZING! I honestly don’t know if I would have got round the course if it wasn’t for the incredible people of New York cheering like they were. I know a lot of people listen to music whilst they are running and I definitely had my headphones with me just in case but during the full 26.2 miles I instead took in the sights and sounds around me, never actually using my music. There was no way I was going to give up with all that support surrounding me, I imagine that is what London feels like, it’s just incredible to see so many people and have them wishing you well every step you take, just incredible!
When I crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon believe me I was just as in shock as everyone of my gorgeous friends when they saw my finishing line picture! But I did it, I actually did it and I am extremely (shocked) pleased to say that I was fine the next day. Now I am not saying that marathons should not be taken seriously, they definitely should, it is an extremely long distance and not one to be tried off the cuff. But this race for me was never going to be about time, in fact I didn’t even have my watch, this was about taking part in something amazing, exploring a new city and doing something I love to do every single weekend. Now my next planned marathon is in Barcelona and I plan to follow a training plan and try my best to achieve a quicker time but for me the New York City Marathon was an absolutely incredible, once in a life time experience and taught me that the body really is an incredible thing!
Race Report: Spartan Race UK “The Beast”
Date/Time: Saturday 11th October
Location: Pippingford Park, East Sussex
Distance: 20km+
It’s pretty common knowledge that I love a challenge, particularly one that involves running and being part of a team so when my work asked if I would fancy doing a “Spartan Race” I was definitely interested. HOWEVER, when I discovered that they were referring to “The Beast”, the hardest course out of all the Spartan Races, I will happily admit that I was extremely nervous. But with lots of support from my gorgeous friends and family I finally said yes.
5 weeks leading up to the race I changed my training routine (partly because of my stupid tumble during Bacchus meant I couldn’t run properly) and decided to seriously up my strength training sessions. I did all the (assisted) pull ups you could think of, slowly but surely upped all the weights I was lifting and jumped at the opportunity to try as many rope climbs as possible! It was actually quite exciting seeing my self named “Mr tickle/snowman twig” arms grow and even show a little bit of muscle! But I knew that I was still definitely going to be relying on guys to throw me over the walls during the race!
So race day! Now the weather forecast was horrendous! Black cloud and TWO rain drops on the BBC app! However, when we turned up at the station I am pleased to say the sun was shining and well, the surroundings were pretty beautiful! Don’t get me wrong it was still COLD but at least the sun was out!
Race number, aka our headband (which I love and will keep forever as proof!), collected my team of four guys and one other girl headed to the start line.
The first wave of nerves came before the race had even started! To get to the start line you had to climb over a 6ft wall! I felt a little sick after this, this wasn’t even part of the race! After a pep talk from a man in a spartan suit, with one seriously impressive 6 pack, we were off into the woods to battle!
The scenery was absolutely beautiful but the track itself, to a road runner, was SCARY! It was just so muddy and I don’t mean a little muddy field “muddy” I mean lose your shoe muddy! If you didn’t have trail shoes this race was going to be horrendous! In fact ten minutes in we sadly passed a spartan on the ground with his ankle strapped! This muddy track led us onto the first obstacle, down a seriously steep, muddy hill. I chose like many others to slide down on my bum trying not to pick up too much pace so not to fall in the water at the bottom! Then of course you had to cross the water and climb back up another muddy hill…not easy! This was to be the first of many downhill, uphill, muddy, climbs!
The track then looped round back towards the starting area, where were all the spectators were, and towards an “A” climbing frame which I really enjoyed, it was like being a kid again! Quick tip here climb up normally, but when you climb over go down on your back like a crab, it makes it quicker to get off at the bottom and get running again.
From here it was back into the woods and it was the start of the water and I don’t mean puddles! The first water crossing was up to your knees, cold but bareable. But for the (I think) 6/7 water crossings we did they varied from knee height to a short swim, barely being able to touch the floor! This is where the first of the thank yous start. At the end of a water crossing there were no convenient stairs out, it was wet and muddy and you had just been in freezing cold and seriously smelly water. Safe to say it was exhausting and I really struggled to get out each time but my team were INCREDIBLE, the guys literally just pulled me out of the water and plonked me on the ground (I have the bruises to prove it!!!)
Whilst looping back again we jumped over wooden hurdles and climbed through small gaps in walls bringing us to a seriously long set of monkey bars. These of course had muddy water below. I knew there was no way I would make it the full way across but you had to try and well I managed to get half way before dropping (apparently my grip strength was better than I thought) so off I went to do the first of 3 sets of burpees! The next two sets came during the rope climb and the rotating pull up bar?!? But I did manage to lift a heavy weight which was attached to a rope. You had to lift it all the way to the top and I used the pull and sit down method learnt watching YouTube videos!
From here it was uphill … Oh and when I say uphill I mean uphill for a LONG time on your hands and knees trying to avoid the barbed wire above you! This was quite ridiculous, every time you thought you were done it just kept going!! And what followed was a serious amount of lifting – logs, sandbags and a tire (which we had to carry for a mile!) of course up hill, down hill over extremely uneven, boggy ground! Then it was onto the smelliest of obstacles the muddy hurdles (and when I say muddy I mean up to my thigh muddy!) We were faced with three hills to climb up and down with pools of water in between! It stunk and it was super exhausting!
More muddy running, lots of sliding and more wall climbs later it was time for “the swim”. Now we knew they were going to be a swim as the organisers had pre-warned us. I knew I could swim, I’m not the best, but I can swim. HOWEVER, this was a lake, it was a good distance and well I had NEVER done anything like it before. Safe to say I had a little moment but surprisingly I just got in. It was cold but that wasn’t bothering me, what bothered me more was the open water, trying not to swallow it and also working out the most effective, I mean quickest, way of getting across.
Here comes another thank you, there were two guys on canoes in the water and I think they must have seen that I wasn’t looking thrilled about this part and so they stuck with me talking absolute rubbish the whole time! They got me through this, there is no way I would have been as calm without them! Coming out of the water I sort of wanted to cry a little (probably because I was tired, we were 2hours30mins in at this point) but also because I had just done yet another thing I really didn’t know if I could do!
Free banana (so so grateful for the organizers planning the one and only food stop here!) inhaled and a quick tire pull around a tree we were back to the running, muddy climbing, crawling under walls, tire flipping and water crossings. I swear every time you got dry they planned more water!
The final carry was a big bucket full of water around a small course which included a stupidly muddy hill of course, and then a water crossing. Plus point – the bucket floated in the water, bad point the water had huge logs in so you had to tread so so carefully and getting out wasn’t that fun either!
More high climbs, thanks to a man dressed as the hulk for literally throwing me over, and it was onto the spear throw! The Third set of burpees was here!
And now the finish! There was another A frame, but not a fun climbing frame, a wet, slippery surface with a rope to pull yourself up and over. We had been on the course for nearly 3 and half hours I was wet, muddy and well maybe a little exhausted but you had to do it, I could see the finish line! I started off strong quickly pulling myself up but it was high, really high and well I think I just panicked, I sincerely thought I was going to fall backwards – and that would have done serious damage! Luckily a guy in front saw this and literally grabbed me … more bruises to prove it and he helped me over! THANK GOD FOR HIM!
A climb down, a serious pep talk and then it was a little hop, skip and a jump over a FIRE PIT! YES A FIRE PIT! Then across the finish line! WE DID IT, we actually did it!!!!!
Grabbing our medals and all the freebies, thank you Whey Ice Cream for all those extra pots ;D we collected our bags, changed and ate everything in sight!
I sincerely thought there was a huge chance I would not complete this race. I knew I could run the distance but the obstacles. This is my final thank you – my team were incredible! We all had very different strengths and weaknesses and decided that we would tackle the whole thing together! It was an awesome experience with these guys and I could not have done it without them … we might be looking at another OCR next year ;D
If you are thinking of trying a Spartan Race here are my top tips!
1. Tri suit – You are going to get wet and cold almost immediately. I don’t know if all my nerves kept me warm or whether all the carb loading the night before helped but I was lucky enough to not get too cold during this race and I swear a lot of that was done to wearing a tri suit offered by the lovely Jen Slater!
2. Listen to as much advice as possible – Act as a sponge, logging any hints, tips and tricks about how to tackle various obstacles. Watch videos of previous races and ask for help from previous Spartans!
3. Wear long trousers – I wore 3/4 length trousers and safe to say my legs, two weeks on, are still a HUGE mess! Scratches, bruises and all sorts of marks all over the place!
4. Do it with a team – I could not have done this without my team. They got me through it, with chat, encouragement and of course physical strength! As mentioned at points they literally pulled me out of the river!
5. SHOES – Invest in proper trail shoes!!! This course is always going to be muddy and if you have no grip on your shoes you are asking for trouble! I had incredible trail shoes on from Helly Hansen which were amazing but they even at points struggled with all the mud!
6. Train outside – Get used to the cold, the wind, the rain! I love the outdoors but even I have to admit that if it is chucking down outside I am tempted by the gym. When in Spartan training embrace the weather! It will mean you are used to dealing with the elements!
The Spartan Beast IS NOT EASY! However it is a fantastic thing to achieve (in my mind anyway)! If you have any further questions please free feel to drop me note :D! I know I spoke to 100s of people pre race so I would be happy to pass on everything I have learnt!
GOOD LUCK!
Race Report: Beauty and the Beast
The Helly Hansen Beauty and The Beast
Date/Time: Saturday 20th September 2014
Location: West Wycombe Park
Distance: 26.2 miles (completed in a team of 6)
I love that my friends ask me out for food as much as they ask me to join race teams…
Held in the stunning West Wycombe park Helly Hansen’s Beauty and the Beast is tagged as the “UK’s toughest multi lap marathon” and when we arrived I could see why…
Staying at Charlie’s the night before we obviously took our race prep seriously, fuelling appropriately at Outsider Tart (GO, GO THERE NOW!)
Then early on Saturday morning myself, Charlie and Leah made our roller coaster experience of a drive over to West Wycombe to attempt the race as a team of 6, with fellow lovely ladies Jen, Josie and Emma, each doing one lap of the course. When we got to the race area we were firstly distracted by the start and the small mountain that seemed to follow directly after it! Next came the second mountain which we had to drive up to get to the start – we spent a good few minutes stuck in the mud, like I said it was a roller coaster of a journey!
Parked up, hand break definitely on, we wandered over to the Helly Hansen tent as they had kindly provided us with the bibs and kit for the race. The tent was a life saver, huge comfy red bean bags, shelter from the cold, as it was a little chilly out, and ALL the food which appeared to just kept coming!!!! Picking up our race pack was far too easy and I was extremely grateful to be handed a cliff bar with my race number (this was to be the first of many cliff bars much to my excitement)! So back to the tent for a quick sample of all the cakes – muffins, flapjacks and some of the best tiffin I have ever had and then it was time to wave our first runner off!
Charlie set off amongst other relay teams, individuals doing half marathons (3 laps) and people doing the full 6 laps!
Whilst waiting I got into my awesome Helly Hansen leggings and laced up my trainers. Now usually I wouldn’t advise wearing brand new trainers for a race but it was wet and muddy and after last weeks falls I felt that trail shoes were a lot more sensible and I was only going for 4.5 miles!
We saw Charlie coming in so I stripped off my layers got the ankle tag and then headed off … up that hill!
Filled with motivational quotes the whole way you just knew you were in for a treat of a race.
But luckily what goes up must come down and straight away we did.
I think I had been running for 5 minutes and already I had spoken to various people en route. I am starting to learn that trail runners are just awesome, they are a very relaxed crowd who just enjoy running and getting muddy!
First hill done and it was into the woods! WOOHOO!
Ever since the Spitfire Scramble I have realised that I love running through the woods and this was great! Making more friends along the route and high fiving the fantastic Marshall’s I steadily made my way through woodland and parkland and fields.
And then it was time for the second of three mini mountains!
This one came out of no where and was crazy steep so a power walk it was. I was told that it was always better to walk up hills, conserve energy ready for the flat and the downhill. Mountain done, around a corner and down hill for a quick water stop then it was up up and up all over again but at least the top provided gorgeous views of the surrounding area and led onto more woodland path!
View from the top
I had heard rumours of a river and en route I bumped into a couple of runners I had met earlier in the day who confirmed this and then continued to explain that the only way to cross was straight through the middle ….
So, after a little pause, a photo and a pep talk I went for it! Ha! It was awesome and after a only a few squelchy strides my new Helly Hansen shoes were clean and dry! AMAZING!
Once away from the water we got to explore the gorgeous grounds of the Wycombe estate, past gardens and a lovely large pond, a little mini hill, which was far more tough than it should have been (I blame the fact that I had been nattering none stop with one of my new buddies) and it was round the corner to the finish line!
This route was fantastic, if it wasn’t for my knee after last weeks tumble I would have definitely gone for another round and have no doubt that I will be doing this next year.
Once finished I swapped over with Leah and proceeded the make use of the VIP space, eating yet more cake and of course getting involved in a little legs up a wall, no wait legs up a deck chair, action whilst catching up with the rest of my awesome team and eating more cake.
One by one the girls came in beaming from their laps and when we spotted Josie, our final runner on the course, coming round the corner we ran together to cross the finish line as a team!
Finishing in under 5 hours in total we were pretty pleased with ourselves as we had just set out to enjoy the course rather than focus on a time. Our medals were given to us on a podium which, in my mind, had one of the greatest tag lines above it …
I loved this race. I loved the route, I loved the various terrain, I loved the views and I loved the atmosphere!
Thank you Helly Hansen for a such a brilliant event, the cake was fantastic and I shall definitely be seeing you next year … for the half ;D!
Race Recap: Bacchus Half Marathon
A unicorn, 2 tumbles and whole lotta wine
Date/Time: Sunday 14th September 2014
Location: Denbies Wine Estate
Distance: 13.1 miles
Before I knew my incredible friends from TNR I used to read their blog posts and always enjoyed hearing about the crazy races they were involved in. One in particular stood out, Laura‘s post about the Bacchus Half Marathon! Fancy dress, wine stops, all the food and in glorious countryside. This year there was no way I wasn’t going to get involved.
So firstly the fancy dress, after a few ideas inspiration came … I was going to run like this ….
To get to the race venue it was a quick journey to Waterloo and then onto a 50 minute train to Dorking which as the stops went by slowly filled up with people in fancy dress … and trainers! Off the train and a little 10 minute walk to the “vineyard” we were quickly surrounded by where’s wallys, brides, soldiers, wedding presents (?!), bumble bees, cheer leaders, minions … I could go on. The sun was shining, the music was pumping and everyone was in such good spirits!
After a super quick bag drop and registration (NO QUEUES and smiling helpers) we had a quick group shot
And then headed over to the start line…
This race was SURREAL! I would say about 90% of people were dressed up, varying levels of effort but still everyone was a little different and after about a mile and a half of running through beautiful rows of grapes we came to the first wine stop ….
These “fuelling” stations were incredible! A shot glass of wine, roast chicken crisps, haribo, raisins, dried apricots, jaffa cakes, borbon biscuits, fig rolls, nice biscuits, digestives, oranges, bananas, water, squash and energy gels. It was really hard not to just grab everything, in fact we are sure someone people had little bags so they could stock up for later!
So after enjoying the first stop we then carried on to the next, through a little village which is where I took my first of two tumbles…. I tripped on the pavement … no idea why … I’m a light weight but there is no way a shot of wine would do that! Anyway I picked myself up and carried on to the next stop where we came across a group of farmyard animals (in trainers) singing “wine wine dehlia”, again this race really was surreal. Stop two was also where a very kind first Aider dressed my knee, after a had to rip my tights off … apparently things had got a little bloody …
Through stop three and onto stop four we tried some glorious wine, I particularly enjoyed the rose, and the continued on a relaxed run through fields, among cows, horses, up woodland tracks, past beautiful country houses and on what would certainly make glorious Sunday walking routes.
At stop four we were greeted by bagpipers which actually seemed to be particularly fitting and after enjoying a very nice red wine Jen and I decided to carry on … Unbeknown to us, up a LONG hill!!
We were about half way through by this point and though it had been an extremely relaxed run I found the stopping and starting hard, plus I don’t really drink or eat whilst running so this was a totally different experience for me! So as the hill continued up and up this was definitely a test for the legs but of course I wanted to see if I could run the whole thing, just because I am crazy like that. I managed it but at the top I couldn’t see a wine stop (surely there should have been one by now) I was by myself and well, shattered, so I decided to walk for a little bit but of course as I ventured round the corner there it was, the wine stop! Typical ha!
This stop was one of my favourites! The volunteers were fantastic, dressed in Hawaiian gear, there were sweets all over the place, a steel band playing in the background and well the views were pretty incredible too!
From here it was back through the woods and onto my SECOND TUMBLE! Yes I fell again and this time really shredded my leg! I still cannot believe I fell…twice! Anyway, I dusted myself off and carried on through the beautiful woodland where I heard someone shout “love the unicorn costume” where I responded “it’s not a costume… Oh wait STEPH!” My incredible, crazy, friend was actually running the race as a marathon! Yes if you wanted to (?!) you could run the Bacchus Marathon and she was! Looking so incredible strong and going at a great pace it was absolutely amazing to run a couple of miles with my dear friend and I was extremely pleased to wave her off at the penultimate wine stop looking so fresh!
By this point we were onto a very dry white wine which was perfect for me as I really didn’t like it so didn’t feel too guilty at not finishing my shot glass. Seriously all the liquid and food isn’t easy to run with! The final stop had promised fizz so you imagine our absolute dismay to find out that by the time we got there it had all gone!!!!
The last two miles were, as Steph promised, down hill and gave us the most incredible views! And coming back onto the estate smiles were all around!!!!
On crossing the finish line I had Steph screaming my name and then proceeded to cry in her arms upon hearing she had absolutely smashed her marathon times! SERIOUSLY PROUD FRIEND MOMENT!
From here things got really exciting, the medal was a beast! And around the corner … ALL THE CAKE, chocolate tray cake, lemon cake, chocolate Swiss roll, vanilla Swiss roll and my favourite fruit cake with a marzipan layer! They also had loads of yummy fruit laid out too! These organisers know how to make a runner happy! This was then followed by what we had all been looking forward to! The hog roast! So as we all came across the finish line we sat and enjoyed our free HUGE hog bap in the sunshine and of course a glass of complimentary wine ;D …. I may have found the self serve ice cream too ….
All in all Bacchus Half Marathon is a fantastically fun race. Personally for me I’m not great at stopping and starting as my legs get a little achy but this race is definitely one to be experienced and enjoyed! BOOK YOUR PLACE FOR 2015 NOW…
…whilst I sit in unicorn socks icing my knee ;D
Run Round Town 