Thames Ring 250 – 3rd July (100 hrs cut-off)
This race first grabbed my attention in 2009, I was working in Reading and was out
for a lunchtime jog along the Thames when I saw several runners come past me with
race numbers on, considering it was midweek I thought this was strange. I got back to
work and did a quick internet search and was immediately intrigued. The UK’s
longest non-stop running race, I thought I had done that when I completed the Grand
Union Canal in 2006, I was disappointed to find that there was something longer!! I
didn’t really think much more about the Thames Ring but the seed had been sewn.
2012, I’ve just Dnf’d at the Piece of String Fun Run and I’m chatting to Dick Kearn
and the Thames Ring comes up in conversation, Dick mentions that the 2013 event
maybe the last time the Thames Ring is staged. That was all he needed to say. I
couldn’t miss out on this opportunity. I hadn’t even realized it was staged every two
years.
It was never going to be my “A” race of the year as I wanted to compete in a Triple
Enduroman at the end of the year organised by Enduroman, (www.enduroman.com)
So I started to think about how I was going to approach my training based around my
2013 targets.
I set myself the following Goals to complete in 2013:
March 2nd White Cliffs 100 - completed
April – 24 mile 24hr Swim - completed
-
Brighton Marathon - completed
July – Thames Ring 250 - completed
August – Charity Indoor Double Ironman
September – Triple Enduroman (Lands End to Dover)
I train pretty much consistently all the way through the year, with minimal rest
periods, in terms of running mileage, I consider it to be extremely low, in some
respects it is too low for the races that I am competing in. The bulk of my training is
done on a bike with lots of strength training in the gym; circuits, skipping and
anything that challenges me physically. I usually swim 3- 4 times a week. I don’t
follow any particular programme but I do enjoy training and it’s never a chore.
Leading up to the Thames Ring my monthly run mileage is as follows:
Jan – 10 mile.
Feb – Brighton Half Marathon – 1.28.59. + 8 mile
March – White Cliffs 100, 3 days later HMP X-Country Championships + 20 mile
April – Brighton Marathon, paced a friend 3hrs 37 mins
May – Nothing
June -17 miles.
So you can see, I pretty much don’t do a great deal of running. A coach would look at
this and laugh. I made a conscious effort to try and put a little bit of weight on, which
may seem daft but I wanted to feel strong and robust. Unbreakable. I also knew that if
I completed the Thames Ring this weight would have been shredded setting me up for
the rest of the year.
The plan for the Thames Ring was solely completion and not to ruin myself for the
remainder of the year, time wise I expected to finish in the region of 80 -90 hrs,
although I believed judging by past times and completion rates anything could
happen.
Mike Trew had also entered, Mike has competed in very similar races and events that
I have, and has been a friend of the family for a long time. We decided to give
ourselves the best opportunity to finish we would run together. Mike had been
running well leading up to the race having completed the Enduroman 100 in 21 hrs at
the start of June. Unfortunately for Mike two weeks before the Ring he slightly pulled
his calf muscle. Not knowing how this was going to affect his race he decided to give
it ago anyway.
Race morning arrives, I register, and say hello to several people I’ve met before.
Stephen Woodus in particular, who blames me for him being on the start line. The
first thing I notice is I have packed so much more kit than most of the other
competitors. Not a bad thing but my bag is full, later in the race this would really
annoy me and as I became tired I even struggled to do the bag up. I’m not usually a
flapper but I was flapping, checking, and rechecking kit, putting kit in taking kit out.
Martin Pether had come down to the start to see us off; he even commented that he
didn’t have me down as a flapper. I put it down to nerves and the uncertainty of what
I was about to undertake.
The checkpoint schedule is detailed below:
SECTION FROM - TO
Leg dist
Goring – Hurley
27.25
CP1
3.63
GR = SU828842
CP2
3.48
time
Closes (hrs open)
7.5
13:00
16:30 Wed
8
55.05
15.5
CP3
3.03
00:30 Thur
9
82.25
24.5
(9.5)
Yiewsley – Berkhamsted
23.6
CP4
2.95
8
105.85
32.5
(11.5)
CP5
MK6 3AB
M. Keynes – Nether Heyford
NN7 3LE
N. Heyford – Fenny Compton
CP7 GR= SP430532
CV47 2FE
F. Compton – Lower Heyford
CP8 GR= SP483246
OX25 5PD
Lower Heyford – Abingdon
CP9 GR= SU498967
OX14 3HP
Abingdon – Goring Finish
CP10 GR= SU594808
06:00 Thur
17:30 Thur
HP4 2EG
CP6 GR= SP659584
24:00 Wed
09:30 Thur
UB7 9NJ
Berkhamsted – Milton Keynes
18:00 Wed
(7)
27.2
GR= SP880364
27.25
CP opens
KT16 8JB
Chertsey – Yiewsley
GR= SP997077
7.5
Total
(3.5)
27.8
GR= TQ066800
time
Total dist
SL6 5ND
Hurley – Chertsey
GR= TQ054666
Leg
RG8 9HT
24.35
8.5
130.2
42
2.86
12:00 Thur
02:00 Fri
(14)
25.95
11
2.45
+1*
156.2
53
18:00 Thur
15:00 Fri
(21)
26.99
12
183.14
65
2.17
02:00 Fri
02:00 Sat
(24)
22.84
12
205.98
77
1.9
08:00 Fri
14:00 Sat
(30)
23.55
12.5
229.53
89.5
1.88
14:00 Fri
02:30 Sun
(36)
18.83
1.79
10.5
248.36
100
18:30 Fri
13:00 Sun
(42.5)
9am on Wednesday 3rd July the first checkpoint is 27.25 miles away. Jogging and
chatting with Mike we start to proceed forward. We were running at a fairly decent
pace, but comfortable as it should be. This first leg went by, and both of us said to
each other for some reason it seemed to take more out of us than expected, we didn’t
stop long at this checkpoint enough time to grab some food and refill our bottles. It
was hot and with higher temperatures forecasted towards the weekend I was fully
aware that staying hydrated was going to be key to finishing. I was using my Salomon
S lab run vest with a Platypus 500ml soft flask. The hydration pack had 1.5L of water
in it and in my soft flask I was using Electrolyte tablets provided by H2ProHydrate.
www.myh2pro.com.I would alternate the electrolyte tablets with High 5 energy drink.
In good spirits we continued to press on. During this leg we had to run through
Henley Regatta, or walk through, it seemed pointless dodging and weaving endless
amounts of people. Although a little frustrating in the grand scheme of things it really
didn’t matter. Mike seemed to be getting a fair bit of attention, with people cheering
“come on Mike, you can do this!!” we both forgot our names were on our race
numbers.
The walking seemed to break our rhythm ever so slightly and it took a good few miles
to get back into the swing of things. We caught up with Javed Bhatti on this stage, this
was a bonus as Javed had completed the Thames Ring twice before. He knew the
route and it was good to discuss a few things over with him. It was slightly worrying
though, Javed had finished in 79hrs in 2009 so I was thinking to myself perhaps we
were pushing on too fast. Another 27 miles cracked and we reached the second
checkpoint. I’m unsure of the time it had taken or what time it was, I do remember it
was still light though! Again, both Mike and I commented that it was harder than
anticipated.
At this checkpoint we reminded each other to pack our head torches as we would be
going into our first night, I also packed my jacket as well just in case there was a chill
in the air. At this point I believe Mike made a small complaint about his calf and that
it was starting to niggle.
Woody (Stephen Woodus) was already at the checkpoint and he said to Ian Thomas
that his plan was to grab a nap at checkpoint 3 (82 miles) as the arrival time would
coincide with the bodies natural time it wants to be asleep, roughly 3am in the
morning. This made sense and in previous races I have found this to work but for this
race I thought it was too soon for me to stop (roughly 18 -20 hrs). So in my head I
planned that I would like to crack onto checkpoint 6 (156 miles) that would give me
roughly 40 hours being awake, this was the rough plan but I was happy for it to
change depending on how I felt. I could also break the race down into 2 x 50 odd
miles to the finish which mentally was manageable.
Myself and Mike left checkpoint 2, we seemed to be going fairly well, at some stage
during this leg we were running with Javed and Ian Thomas all of us working really
well. Mikes calf started playing up and I could tell he was struggling. Along the way
we picked up Rikard Hallgren who was tired, he stayed with us for a while but he
decided that he wanted to have 10 mins sleep on a bench. We tried to persuade him to
get to the next checkpoint and rest properly and safely.
Ian pushed on, Mike, Javed and Myself continued to move forward. About 6 miles
from the checkpoint, Mikes Calf had started to play up and reluctantly I left him to
carry on walking to the checkpoint. I was feeling fairly strong and without realizing I
put a little distance between myself and Javed. Arriving at the checkpoint there were
several competitors resting, so I decided to go with my plan of not stopping for long
and moving forward. I’m sure it was roughly 4am as it was starting to get light. I
immediately put my warm coat on. I ate some hotdogs, had three cups of tea. I hadn’t
changed my socks yet, but at present my feet still felt fine. I replenished my hydration
system then was thinking about starting again. Dudley Manning who I had met at
White Cliffs 100 left, I followed him out about 5 -10 mins later. Knowing he was in
front, in my head I decided I would conservatively try and chase him down. I was
unsure of how he was moving so this could happen quite soon or take some time but
with 23 miles to do it in I’m sure I could catch him.
I eventually caught Dudley, I was doing a lot of running at this stage, with very small
amounts of walking just to give the legs a break. I knew Woody and Ian Thomas
wouldn’t be too far behind me, they are much classier runners than I am both with sub
3 hr marathons and both had completed the Grand Union Canal this year in very
respectable times.
I arrived at checkpoint 4 (105 miles) it was good to see James Elson (Centurion
running) there. He attended to my needs and was keen for me to not to spend too
much time at the checkpoint. I even put my Centurion Running crew t-shirt on for
him! I ate some spaghetti and drank two cups of tea and probably spent no more than
twenty minutes at the checkpoint. As I was thinking about leaving Dudley came into
the checkpoint.
I was heading for checkpoint 5. Milton Keynes (24 miles away). I was still feeling
positive at this time. At some point I started to notice my feet were increasingly
starting to get hot spots on them. It wasn’t uncomfortable but noticeable. I was still
running more than I was walking. I’m normally a strong fast walker but for some
reason during this race I couldn’t seem to stride it out and it was more comfortable to
jog. I decided to have a look at my feet this time round and was pleasantly surprised.
Not too bad at all. I changed my socks. Ate and drank. I was at this checkpoint for
quite awhile, and then Ian and Woody arrived. I think Ian commented I had been
running well, so I just presumed they were trying to chase me down.
All set to go, Ali Nuttal arrived at the checkpoint with a box of Twister Ice-lollies,
absolutely needed. It was the best thing. Off I went, straight away my feet were
painful and they just didn’t feel right, initially I thought it was the amount of time I
had spent at the checkpoint but every step was painful. It felt like the skin had split on
the ball of my right foot. I stopped after about 2 mile and sat on a bench. I had a quick
look and there seemed to be an area of damaged skin. I put on an extra pair of socks to
see if that would provide extra cushioning. The only trouble with doing this was I
knew my feet would get hot and sweat considerably more, and also, my feet were
swollen already putting the extra layer on made my feet uncomfortable in my trainers.
This area on my foot remained very painful for the remainder of the race.
I didn’t really have any navigational issues up until this point, the route cards
provided by the organisers very good. I came off the canal path up over a steep hill
and hit a road. The route description said follow the road for 1.5 miles and enter a car
park on the left hand side. So I proceeded to do this. I came across a sign which I
thought indicated a car park but in my head I knew was too soon, so I carried on. Self
doubt kicked in and as I kept running up the road I kept thinking it must have been the
sign I had seen. After running for probably 20 mins I made the fatal mistake of
turning around and running back to the initial sign. I entered this car park but couldn’t
find the path I was meant to rejoin. I was getting angry with myself. So I went back
onto the road. In the distance I could see two head torches approaching so I waited for
them to join me. It was Woody and Ian. I told them what had happened. Fortunately
they knew where they were going having done the route on the GUCR a few weeks
ago. It was back up the road I had run!! I knew at this point I was tired so said to
Woody and Ian if I could tag along with them.
We finally reached checkpoint 6, the planned stop. It was definitely needed.156 miles
done. As we arrived the two guys in front of us were just thinking about leaving. They
had also slept. All three of us decided we were going to have 90 mins head down. We
ate, drank sorted our kit out then got into our sleeping bags for some down time. Ali
Nuttall who had been following Woody round to each checkpoint was instructed to
wake us up. Woody at this point was struggling with his Achilles, but there was no
way Ali was going to let him DNF. As the race progressed I couldn’t believe the
strength of Woody, his “get on with the job” attitude was inspiring and I can honestly
say now I may not have finished if Woody hadn’t been there in the later stages.
I think we spent roughly 2hrs 40 at this checkpoint, which may seem a long time to
those of you reading this report, but at the time it seemed to fly by. All three of us
were in good spirits; we were actually having a bit of banter. Peter Johnson led us out
of the checkpoint back onto the canal. I said only another hundred to do, which Peter
and I found funny, I was talking about a hundred as if it was no mean feat. Its funny
how this Ultra stuff warps your perception of what is long and what isn’t.
Ian and Woody were dictating the pace and I found it hard going, we were pretty
much walking at this stage. Their walking was fast and uncomfortable for me so I
found myself jogging behind them for a few minutes then walking for a couple of
steps then jogging again. I then would go in front of them stretch my legs out running
then walk at my comfortable speed until they caught up then run again. That’s how
the next leg went on. The sun was scorching. We stopped off at a pub along the way
and sat in the shade. We got some ice to put in our bladders and myself and Ian
necked two pints of coke. I munched through two packets of Pork Scratching.
We arrived at checkpoint 7; again we were looked after by the crew. The highlight of
this checkpoint was when Gunnlaugur Juliusson came into the rest area, the crew
asked him if he wanted to sit down, his reply was “I’m not tired”, he was asked what
he wanted to eat, he had a look at the food that was being offered and obviously didn’t
fancy any of it, he ran off and 5 mins later returned with two pints of Guinness in his
hand, Legend. Rumour was he was drinking Guinness at every checkpoint, which I
can believe.
Myself and Woody at this point were struggling a fair bit and once we left the
checkpoint, Woody said to Ian Thomas that he should crack on and run his own race,
I think Ian was a little reluctant to but it was definitely the right decision. About a
mile up the canal, the chaffing in my legs really started to annoy me so I took off my
compression shorts and just ran in my running shorts. This felt so much better, and I
don’t know why I didn’t do it earlier.
This leg was emotional, I was on a real low, it seemed to go on forever. This was
definitely the hardest leg for me. I was counting down bridges to when the checkpoint
would arrive. Every time I went round a bend I was hoping there would be a bridge to
tick off. Woody was going well, much stronger than me. I’m became a moaner on this
leg, I had a whinge about everything. Woody just let me get on with it though.
We eventually got to checkpoint 8, 205 miles done. Woody and myself decided we
would get our second 90 min sleep of the race. It was quite surreal being tucked up in
a sleeping bag in a chair on the side of the canal. We were given Mash potatoes,
sausages and beans to eat which were really good. I also had 4 cups of sweet tea. I
changed my trainers at this checkpoint, my feet were really swollen and these trainers
were a couple of sizes bigger. It made a difference, however I knew I had developed
several blisters which were so uncomfortable.
We left the checkpoint fully fuelled and in good spirits, it was roughly 6am. This leg
was 23 mile long. I led out the pace; I think Woody would have left me easily at this
point if he decided to. We put in some great run efforts on this leg, it actually felt like
we were motoring. The sun was scorching. At around the 15 mile point I lost my head
a little. I said to Woody I needed to stop at the next pub and refresh with a pint of
blackcurrant and Lemonade. My feet were in bits. I felt like I was slowing Woody
down considerably with about 5 mile to go, someone had come out to meet us and
take us into the next checkpoint. I said to Woody he should push on and stretch his
legs out. He shot off with the guide in tow, I found out at the next checkpoint Woody
had dropped the guide and was running a 7min/mile pace!
I was slowing considerably and was on a proper downer with about 2 mile to go
Martin Pether came out and met me. It was nice to have a chat with someone else (no
disrespect Woody, your piss taking kept me going!) I had another proper moan up to
Martin, I don’t think he’s ever seen my like that.
I made it to Abingdon, only 18 miles to go! At this checkpoint my blisters got sorted
out, I don’t recall the name of the man who helped me out but I’m deeply grateful.
The blisters were drained and tapped up. Woody said he would wait at this checkpoint
and we would finish the race together. It was around 3pm and the plan was to try and
finish for 9pm, this sounded feasible and I really thought we could do it. That
confident we didn’t pack our head torches.
Again we started well, I knew I was holding Woody up, I said that he should push on
but he was adamant that we should finish together. The sun was absolutely blazing at
this point. There were points on the run that were really exposed to the sun, there just
wasn’t any shelter. I felt like the pace was good and a 9pm finish looked imminent. I
then started to fade again with roughly 7 mile to go Woody suggested that I have an
energy gel. I’m not too sure what happened, I didn’t even open the gel up and it set
my stomach off and I ended up vomiting. Once I had finished, in true Woody style he
said “now you can show me what you’re made off, let’s crack on!”
I kept sipping water but every 15 – 20 mins I was bringing it all back up. I’ve never
experienced this before and just put it down to being out in the sun too long.
Martin Pether ran out to meet us with about 3 mile to do; it was just a matter of
walking into the finish line now. Martin had brought some flat coke out which I
polished off and this seemed to settle my stomach. The finish was hard to describe, I
was elated to finish but too tired to fully appreciate what I had achieved.
I must say a Big Thank – You to everyone at the finish, especially Nici Griffin who
looked after me and sorted my feet out. A special Thank- You to Dick Kearn and the
TRA for putting on such a massive event. Would I go back…..not a chance this one is
definitely boxed off.
I roughly finished at 10.30pm; I got my head down at 1am and was up at 6am. I
promised my wife I would be at a Christening in the New Forest so I packed my gear
up and drove to meet her.
Recovery is going well, I’m hoping to race in the Midnight Ironman Triathlon in two
weeks, but this may turn into a swim and a bike!
I hope this isn’t the end of this race, it really is something special.