100km Ultra Marathon - RACE TO THE STONES

    To live is to suffer, to survive is to find the meaning in suffering.

I have never really believed in myself, I think when we are young our minds are vulnerable to what we hear, it imprints itself deep inside our subconscious where it controls our lives without us really knowing its happening. All of us at some point will have been told we are not good enough, we are not ready, we cant do it! all of us will have been laughed at for having an idea? a dream? and most of us will go through life never really achieving anything outside the norm because of this, because fitting in is easier, I choose not to fit in.

The last 2 years has taught me that we as humans are capable of so much more than we think is possible, you can achieve anything you want, anything at all but you have to be willing to suffer, you have to be willing to sacrifice for your goal, whether that's a long run, a fitness challenge, a new career or different lifestyle, step outside of what's normal challenge yourself it will change your life.

I'm not special in anyway I just refuse to be normal and through the suffering of the challenges I have put myself through I have developed an unshakeable belief in myself that I'm capable of anything I want to achieve. Below is an honest account of my first ever 100km ultra marathon.

July 10th 2022 

0400hrs - After months of training, conditioning, stretching and kit prepping the day was finally here, I had arrived at the finish line car park at around 4am, I was instantly full of nerves and that horrible sicky feeling that comes with it, pushing this feeling to the back of my mind I got on with sorting my kit doing my last few checks making sure I had everything I needed for what lay ahead of me and then joined the other runners in the que for the bus to the start.

0810hrs - This is it!! minutes away from the hardest thing I have ever put myself through, the nerves had gone, there was a gentle buzz and chit chat going around between all the runners, and i was pumped, heart pounding with adrenaline and my mind focused, i had only one goal whatever suffering was about to take place i would make that finish line, only the cut off can end my race, lets get going now I'm ready to suffer i said to myself.

The race started like many others do a slow bimble while the pack thinned out over a few miles and I could eventually drop into my own rhythm concentrating hard not to go off pace and try keep up with some of the obviously fitter and more competitive guys. apart from some beautiful scenery and wildlife, (2 deer spotted in the long grass and several red kites) in the first few miles nothing else happened I knew from here on in it would be a mental game not only to push through the pain that was to come but the relentless path that just kept disappearing into the horizon.

   

First and second checkpoint had come and gone, and whilst leaving the latter I bumped into a lovely guy called grant, I didn't know at the time but we were about to spend the next 50 miles suffering together and pushing each other to the finish line, there is a camaraderie between runners that I've not experienced since my days in the military, that kind of instant friendship you have after 10 mins, everyone one of us there for the other no one wanting anyone to fail.

The heat was relentless, from the moment that sun came up it tortured me for the next 12 hours, temperatures rose to 31c couple this with the baked hard white clay ridgeway reflecting the sun back in your face it was like running in a sauna, despite this we were making good time and had just passed our 27th mile, one marathon in we told each other, the convo with grant was easy and flowing we talked to each other all about our lives and our family's and this really helped to tick off those miles unnoticed.

We were both raising money for charity and this gave us both an extra drive to make it to that finish line, with the 50km halfway point a few miles away I really started to struggle in the heat there was literally no escape from it and although my hydration and nutrition were good it just sapped all my energy I eased off the pace and before I knew it grant had disappeared out of view, smash it mate I said to myself not expecting to see him again. those next few miles to the halfway point were hell they had put on extra water stations due to the heat which was a life saver I think it would have been a very different race for many if this hadn't of happened. I received a good spray down from one of the lovely volunteers and a refill of my water and electrolytes and having been told it was only a couple miles to the halfway point I set off with a bit more of a spring in my step, although not very steep this just happened to be all uphill!?

50km - halfway point reached   

This was without doubt the most morale sapping part of the race, the halfway point for the 100km runners was the finish for the runners doing 50km a day, as they finished to music blaring, singing and dancing race directors, and ice cream vans parked up, I lay there in the grass wondering what the hell I had signed up to and for a brief moment I genuinely wondered how the hell I was going to do another 50km that day. "up you get mate lets go" I heard sitting up to see grant stood there, instantly getting to my feet I grabbed a couple drinks a sandwich  and before I had chance to get too comfortable we were off to take on the 2nd 50km.

60km in and this was officially the furthest I had ever run, and it was around this point that I felt a burning sensation in both of my heels, the next checkpoint confirmed my suspicions both heels were already badly blistered, I was gutted I had ran hundreds of miles in my trainers and never had any issues at all, I hobbled over to the medic tent to get them sorted. In the tent the medic took one look at my heels and said to me great effort shame they have put a stop to your race. STOP!! no I said I just want you to drain them and tape them please I want to carry on. she did a super job but the pain of getting those shoes back on was horrendous. I would have to grit my teeth for the next 40 km if I wanted to make that finish line.

80km in and now pitch black we were making good time and passing a few runners, we continued to chat and push each other along but my heels were absolutely killing me and I was praying for every mile to come quicker and quicker and slipped into a bit of a mood not wanting to talk just head down and get it done.

90km in and if I'm honest these last few miles were a bit of a blur I was just putting one foot in front of the other and willing that watch to beep signalling another mile down and the finish was getting closer, it had been pitch black for hours now and in the distance we could see bright lights the finish it must be I said to myself, and it was and for the first time I realised I was going to do this I was going to complete a 100km race. upon nearing the finish we could see runners coming back towards us and I was really confused until I remembered that we weren't allowed the normal route to the stones this year and had to do a 1 mile out and back at the end to get to the finish.

As soon as we hit the furthest point and turned to come back to the finish me and grant got some energy boost from somewhere and literally sprinted that last mile it was actually the quickest mile of the whole race, we crossed the line together at around 2am in the morning.

YYYYEEEESSSSSSS YES YES YES I shouted over and over again a huge wave of relief and pride washed over me I couldn't believe I had just ran 100km, my official time was 17hrs 56minutes.

I raised a whopping £850 + for Cancer Research UK 

Always believe in yourself, welcome the pain, embrace the suffering and stay disciplined.