Thunder Run 2015 - Lessons Learned

So it has been over a year since I last blogged, but running has been rather non existent, work, injuries, being told to pack in long distance running, yadda yadd yadda.

Anyway, I digress. I am happy to be writing this blog, having taken part in my 3rd consecutive Thunder Run.  The whole process started in October last year when I experienced a couple of tense hours just after midnight trying to register our team.  Fortunately I managed to get our team registered.

Last year (and the year before) I was part of a team of 5.  The team this year was myself, Brian, Matt, Dan & Derren (we were the five man team 'A Kick in the Blocs' last year) and we were joined by Susie, Claire & Kellie, Brian's, Matt's & Derren's wives respectively.  Claire being a relatively late replacement for my wife Mich, who had to drop out due to injury.

The 8 of us made up team 'Runner Beanz & Has Beanz'

Team 'Runner Beanz & Has Beanz'

Friday morning, myself and my support team (my wife and my 5yo boy) left Kent at 6am and arrived at Catton Park at 9:45 a.m as the campsite opened at 10am.  However, a hundred or so cars were already in front of us.  Getting on the field at 10:15 I quickly roped off an area for all of our tents which also included 2 additional tents as a couple of my friends Karien & Emma from my running club Petts Wood Runners (and fellow Thunder Run team mates from 2 years ago) were running as a pair and would also be camping with us.

Having pegged out my ground sheet and getting the tent laid out, I realised that the pump was sitting in my parents conservatory 150 miles South of my current position.  With hundreds of people setting up camp, I knew there was a high chance of somebody else having a similar tent.  Better so, that said family were virtually next to us which was very welcome as the rain had begun to fall.

Lesson No.1  If you purchase a new state of the art inflatable tent, once you have practiced erecting it at your parents, ensure that you pack the required pump back into the bags.

Over the next 3 or 4 hours the rest of the team arrived one by one and we all mucked in to help put up each other's tents of various shapes and sizes in the persistent rain until our last team members Derren and Kellie turned up.

Our tents so far varied from 3 man to 5 man man tents with extensions, separate bedrooms etc.  There was much laughter when Derren's pop up tent was put up in approximately 4 seconds.  This was to be the abode for the next 2 nights for himself and his wife.  We all thought it was funny, Kellie was less impressed!

The Tardis.  Plenty of room for 2 adults and all the gear needed for 48 hours!

So come 5pm our area was home to 8 tents, 2 gazebos, 13 adults and 8 kids.

Base Camp (photo taken Saturday morning)

It is a well known fact that top athletes ensure that they hydrate and eat well before an endurance event, so despite the rain, we huddled and ate and drank.  Although there was no Quorn on the BBQ and I am not sure of the electrolyte content in real ale, lager and wine?

Athletes and support crew in preparation

Friday night Mich, Max and I acquired a lodger.  Emma's tent wasn't performing the basic role of a tent and keeping her dry so she ended up kipping in ours as well as drinking our coffee and eating our food oh and sitting on my chair!  Something I reminded Emma about occasionally :-)

Saturday morning we were greeted with sunshine and light cloud.

Some of the kids fuelling for a long day of cheering and High-Fives.

Derren went to collect the T-shirts, numbers, timing chips and the all important baton were collected.  We were also provided with a selection of deodorant and shower gel. Maybe a subtle hint that 24 hour race runners smell?

We had a chat about team tactics and started to get prepared for the event, which obviously required a the obligatory team photo.  As you can see our racing entire included an accessory.

At 11.20a.m we wandered down en-mass to the start area for the pre-race briefing which included a introduction to the Pioneers.  These are the few hardy souls that have taken part in every Thunder Run since its inception in 2009.

Getting ready for the start

Brian being our team whippet was taking the first leg and at 12pm the race begun, only 24 hours until the race finished.  We wandered back to our tent, knowing that we wouldn't have much time to get into our supporting position, this was just after the 9km mark where we could cheer wildly to encourage our team mates for the final push.  It was only about 35 minutes later that we all went mad and crazy as Brian flew past and finished the first lap in 38:41.  We were currently in 5th place :-)

Not often you see a man in a pink tutu at the front of the pack!

Matt was next out and as you can see had truly got into the spirit of being a bean and despite it being warm and being clad head to toe in lycra put in a tremendous 47:59 lap

A Runner Bean - Quite literally

I was next out, the rain had made the course quite testing and slippery underfoot.  I knew i was in no shape to do anything spectacular (although round is a shape) yet I managed to get round in 1:02:40 when I had predicted a 1:15.

The Sugar Plump Hippo

 Running that first lap just reminded me of what makes the Thunder Run such a unique and fun event.  Loads of support, loads of banter from supporters and runners alike.  The atmosphere is simply tremendous. I was called a 'Big Fairy' there were a few shouts of come on Desmond and lots of other comments about my attire.

Dan & Derren then followed with laps of 57:58 & 46:32.

Lap One, still smiling

Derren swooping in for some High Fives

Now it was the turn of the girls.  Claire was out first and this was not only her first ever Thunder Run, but also her first ever 10k.  Nothing like a baptism of fire. The route despite being 10k long is quite compact with a lot of switchbacks.  I suggested that we made our way to the 6k mark to give Claire a surprise mental boost by cheering her when she wasn't expecting it.

As she came round the corner, we went radio rental and her two young girls were delighted to see her.  We then went back to the 9km to cheer her home. En-route back to the 9km I suggested we keep it quiet what we had done and repeat this surprise for the other two girls.  So it was explained to the kids that they musn't say anything to the other mummies, yet it was Matt who nearly let the cat out of the bag. Claire completed the course in an excellent 1:28:53

Claire coming up the hill at the 6k mark

Next was Susie, once again we went crazy when we saw her at the 6k mark, but she did see to be in some discomfort with her knee, which I might add had been taped up early by Dan.  I am not sure of Dan's credentials and reckon it was just an excuse to touch Susie's legs (only kidding).

Even the knee tape was colour co-ordinated

The final team member to run was Kellie, I think she was a bit nervous being the last person to run, but once again was given load of encouragement at the 6k & 9k markers and she completed her lap in 1:09:32.  We were about 40 mins ahead of our schedule.

Kellie on the final k of her first lap

So we had now all completed one lap each, which meant that we would all get a medal.  Now the next task was to work towards the 25 laps which we had worked out we wanted to do pre-race.

Once the race begins, there is a constant hive of activity, as each runner comes back, they have their own schedule of maybe showering, eating, resting and getting ready for the next lap.  The wives/supporters have to eat and look after entertain the kids.  There is no routine, but that is what makes it fun.  We would all plenty of time spend time cheering on strangers and just have a laugh.

Brian became quite attached to his tutu and even completed some domestic chores whilst wearing it!

The solo runners, yes people that run the event on their own (also known as fruit cakes in my book) have different coloured numbers, so they always get extra support from the crowds.

Two of the SOLO brigade. Big Mike (Spiderman) one of the Pioneers along with Little Chris (Batman)

Myself, Brian & Matt even managed to squeeze in a mid race beer from the Bar/Bus.  Well it was sunny and technically we were on holiday :-)

Bus/Bar.... What a perfect combination

The next phase would be two cycles of the 5 gents.  Brian did his lap, Matt went out on his lap and I was next up.  I got ready as normal and started to make my way to the start/handover area.  However nearing the area and without beating around the bush, I needed to take an emergency toilet break.  This took a lot longer than I wanted and resulted in me not being in the handover point when Matt finished his lap.

I have seen this happen a lot over the last 2 years and it is possibly understandable at 3am in the morning.  But this was at 9pm in the evening and I am still not sure how we missed each other?

Matt tells me he was at the handover shouting Ray, then because of no response he started shouting Derren, Dan etc.  This is where the macabre humour sets in and others in the handover area started questioning Matt asking if he was just making names up.  So Matt decided to (and was encouraged by all accounts) to run another lap.

I honestly could have only missed him by seconds?  So I am standing there thinking, blimey Matt is taking longer than expected, he must be injured, 10 mins pass, 20 mins at 30 mins I am panicking.  So I speak to a volunteer on the water station with a radio asking if there has been any reports of an injury?  I am asked for a desciption and number. "Er I think 2427, erm about the same height as me, darker hair, no way near as fat as me, oh and he is wearing a pink tutu"  After some communications on the radio, she tells me that there are no reports of anybody injured.

About 5 minutes later, Brian turns up at the handover area saying that they didn't see Matt either at the 9km mark.  Now, I am having visions of Matt lying in a ditch somewhere and nobody can/has seen him.  Brain checks the medical area and then  goes to the food tent and types in Matt's number and comes back to tell me Matt completed a lap in 44 minutes.  We are both confused and concerned, but this now gives us hope that somehow we had all missed him and he was doing a double lap.

And so it transpired, Matt had indeed gone out on a second lap, it also transpired that Matt was not wearing his tutu.

Lesson No.2  Have a plan for such a situation.  You would think this being my 3rd year, this would have been considered.  If we get in next year, we WILL have a plan.

Lesson No.3  If you have a team outfit of a pink tutu.  Wear it every lap :-)

I trundled out into the darkness, still confused by how we had missed each other, but also relieved that Matt was OK.  As I got halfway up the 1st hill, a Marshall called me over. "Are you the missing bloke with the tutu?" "Ah no, misunderstanding, all good, team member alive and well" At the next Marshall point "Are you the missing tutu man?"  I had to ask the next marshall to radio back that 'tutu man' was alive and well.  Despite being questioned multiple times, It does show though the great organisation of the event that all marshalls were aware of the situation.

Due to the morning dew the conditions were 'claggy'  that is the only word I think that can describe it.  It wasn't particularly slippery but the mud was trying to suck the shoes of your feet.

So now the scheduled plan or runner rotation was out of the window.  It was 00:50 when I handed over to Dan.  Getting back to camp I woke Derren we had a chat and I said, miss Matt out of the next cycle so he can get some extra sleep.

I tried to get some sleep, but probably only got an hour as missed handover was playing on mind (my wife will tell you, I hate being late for anything) plus in a slightly fatigued state I wasn't 100% sure what time I would be next running.  Eventually Derren stuck his head in my tent, said that he had handed over to Brian and Brian would be doing a double-lap.  What I didn't realise at the time, is that Derren had also run a double lap as well.

So i went out for my third lap at 05:40.  In the post mortem afterwards, Matt told me he woke at around 6am and was also a bit confused as he was originally scheduled to be running.  But as a team we had all decided (even if not collectively) to give Matt some extra Zzzzz's due to his unscheduled double lap.  If you ask me, a sign of a great team.

I pretty much knew this would be my last lap as my knee was really beginning to ache and having done virtually no training, longest run being a parkrun.  My body was saying time out.  I did offer to walk shuffle another lap, but was overruled by my team mates.

Despite losing some time, we were still on schedule to complete our planned 25 laps and at around 11:25 Matt handed over to Brian to complete the last lap.  It had now been raining for the last few hours and was getting heavier, so conditions were deteriorating.

Brian finished his 6th and final lap for him and our team at 12:09 and was joined by some of the team and supporters crossing the line (Others were sheltering from the pouring rain)

25th and final lap

I queued to collect our medals and then we had our finishers photo followed by hugs and handshakes all round.  The final tally of laps was 25.  Brian-6, Matt-5, Derren-4, Dan-3, Me-3, Kellie-2, Claire-1, Susie-1  A great team effort from everybody and despite a small mishap.  Spirits were high and everybody wants to do it again next year.

Winners!  Every one of us.

We came 74th out of 227 (6-8 person teams) but to be honest finishing position doesn't really matter.  What makes this event so enjoyable is that even if you run 1 or 6 laps, everybody is involved in the team, yet you can have your own personal battles trying to get a PB, a sub time or just the satisfaction of completing a pretty tricky 10k. We have a great team!

Brian and I had already decided before the event that we would stay camping on the Sunday night, so once the rest had packed up and departed, we went with our families and got some lunch and a few beers for the evening to accompany our take-away pizza!

This is mine, not sure what you lot are having?

Even if we hadn't of planned staying, I think we would have anyway as it didn't stop raining all day Sunday.  Fortunately, come Monday morning, the rain had relented and it was pretty windy which meant tents could be packed away dry.

So another great Thunder Run, I just want to say a massive Thank You to my team mates, my wife and all all of the other supporting crew and kids.  Thanks to the organisers for another great event.

Well done also to Karien & Emma who completed 8 laps between them.

If I am fortunate enough to get my team registered again next year, we will all be back for more.

Oh, Lesson No.4  Larger Gazebo to cope with the traditional British Summer weather

Cheers
The Hippo.

I don't care what the Weather Man says

This morning, I woke to see it was a bit damp outside.  Whilst doing a few things in the morning I get caught in downpour and there was thunder and lightning.  The radio suggested there was a yellow weather warning for the South East with risk of localised flooding.

I even posted on my Facebook that it certainly looked like it would be ideal conditions for a Hippo running a trail race.

So I set off for Harvel (a small village between Jcts 3 & 4 of the M20) just before midday. I got to the village a bit quicker than I expected and was greeted by Henry VIII.  Just the sort of thing you expect in Kent on a Saturday afternoon?

There were some menacing clouds, but the Sun was putting up a good fight.  I parked in a field as directed and made my way to the village green to pick up my timing chip.  Straight away you could see this was going to be a fun friendly event. Even the portaloos were individually labeled.  I particularly liked this one :-)

I have heard a quote before, that the best events are the ones organised by runners for runners and I couldn't agree more.  Especially with some of the prices now being charged for 10k events by some of the PR companies that have jumped on the running bandwagon. Anyway I digress.

To start there was only myself and one other PWR, Janet and we were surrounded by a sea of luminous yellow of our local friends/rivals the Orpies.

Slowly but surely the Black & White turned up and we numbered over 30 runners.  I haven't been running much and due to work I haven't managed to go on a Tuesday night club run for a couple of months now, so it was good to catch up with a few people that I haven't seen for ages.

The predicted monsoon had turned into glorious sunshine.  Perfect for sitting on a village green and having a beer, probably not so good for a 5 mile trail run.

800 runners lined up just before 2pm and soon we were away.  The first mile was on a country lane (closed to traffic) and then we ventured onto a trail path, this gave some welcome shade.

There was a drink stop at 2.5 miles and along with jelly babies you had a choice of water, lager or ale.  This was my kind of drink stop.  Now I am not a man to turn down a beer, so had an ale.

What sort of run is this I hear you cry.  Well the Harvel 5 is organised by the Harvel Hash House Harriers and in case you didn't know, Hashing is a form of non-competitive cross-country running with the main objective of working up a decent thirst. Great emphasis is placed on the social aspects - particularly the refreshment session at the aprés-hash. It's a fun activity and must not be taken at all seriously.

There was still plenty of mud on the course despite the lack of rain.

I finished in a time of 45:05 which is not too bad considering I am not in the best shape of moment and I stopped for a few minutes at the water, er I mean beer stop to drink my beer.

Medals were presented by local children and then it was time to re-hydrate with a pint of Kent Brewey Pale, direct from the cask.  This was accompanied by some home-made cake courtesy of Jo one of the PWRs.

All in all a delightful afternoon and run. And I even managed to catch up with a few people that I was cheering on last week at The Kent Road Runner Marathon.

Oh and to top it all, the medal..... Very unique.  It doubles as a bottle opener!

It seems that I am back running and back blogging!

Until the next time
TJH

Family

Well, it has been a while (too long) since I have blogged, so time to put that right.

Last week, I managed to take part in an event on my birthday which was a first, but I also achieved another first by running an event as a family with my wife and my son.

We took part in the BUPA Westminster Mile.

Despite it raining pretty much all week and during the morning, come 10:30am there was a window in the weather which enable us to all run round together without getting soaked.  We completed the mile in 11 minutes with my 4yo boy running all the way!  It was fantastic that the three of us could do something like this together.

Some friends of ours (Brian & Suzy) were also running with their two young boys and the finish ended in a competitive yet friendly sprint, which we managed to win :-)  That will be the only time I will ever beat Brian, seeing as he is a Sub3 Marathoner. We all had a few beers afterwards (well the kids didn't) as it was my birthday.

My Family

Saturday 31st May, I set my alarm for 05:30am to get up for another event, the Kent Road Runner Marathon.  I had entered this year's event having won a place in last year's event via Southern Running Guide. (Blog on that event can be found here)  Having immensely enjoyed last year's event despite being injured pre-race and not running  anywhere near as fast as I would have liked.  I had registered straight after.

Unfortunately, I still have issues and was unable to run.  But I wanted to be part of this great event again, so had no hesitation in volunteering.  So, a 6:30 a.m meet was arranged at the gates of the Cyclopark in Gravesend.

I along with another dozen or so volunteers met up with Ian the Race Director on a beautiful crisp sunny morning.  A lovely day was promised, for maybe a gentle bike ride or a spot of fishing, but probably not ideal conditions for running a Marathon? We all had a brief chat and received instructions and then it was all hands to the pump with absolutely loads of stuff needed to be done, too numerous to mention.  I helped unload the van, erected a large Gazeebo where all the important electronics would be for the race timing and was also given the task of erecting the inflatable arch.

Stunning Morning

It was amazing the amount of tasks that were completed in such a short time.  Wearing a hi-viz vest with 'Marshal' on it means that with hundreds of runners milling about you then become a focal point for questions, which I was delighted to help with, despite not always immediately knowing the answer, but it also meant that it gave me an opportunity to have a chat with all sorts of wonderful people.

The race started shortly after 9am.  Prior to the start I had started chatting to another volunteer Neil, who had driven up from Southampton. (I think that shows what a great event this is, that people are willing to travel that far, just to volunteer)  We were asked to be on the microphones at the start/finish line.  After an hour, another marshal was needed on the course to relieve somebody from their duties, Neil offered which meant I was on my own on the microphone.

Now, friends and family will know that I am a shy, quiet character and was worried sick being in this situation.  OK, complete lie, I was in my element.

The beauty of the KRR Marathon is that it is 17 laps of a cycle track, which meant that I got to see every runner 17 times!

Anybody who has run a Marathon I am sure will tell you how uplifting support can be.  So I made a conscious effort to try and encourage virtually every runner.  I can tell you, I had so much fun.  I was high-fiving a crocodile (as you do), telling Orpington Runners that Petts Wood Runners are better ;-) and basically having banter and laughs with the runners.  Some asked me what lap they were on, which I was able to oblige with as I could see all the timing gear.  Some people accused me of being a liar as I was telling them that they were looking good.

It was good that I could encourage the supporters to applaud finishers as I saw them coming up the hill and it got to a stage that I was even recognising and remembering names of people despite them being a couple of hundred metres away.  It felt like I made a couple of hundred new friends in the space of a few hours :-)

It was a very rewarding experience, and I know people had to run a Marathon in blazing sunshine, but I can tell you, standing there for almost 7 hours encouraging and applauding is bloody tiring :-)

But there was still work to be done as the tidy and pack up needed to commence.  I eventually left at 4.30pm.  There was still work to be done, but unfortunately I couldn't stay any later.

Just like the runners, the volunteers were also presented with a good bag which is a nice touch.

I have my own family and if you are a runner, you automatically have an extended family!

I will definitely be at the CycloPark again next May, if not as a runner (hopeful but unlikely) certainly as a volunteer!

Until next time
TJH

Another one ticked off.

My local parkrun at Bromley has now been cancelled since before Christmas due to unprecedented precipitation or as I would like to call it, 'bloody rain'. So in addition to my pilgrimage to Bushy Park a few weeks back it has also meant a couple of weeks running at Orpington parkrun.

Saturday just gone I decided to venture to Lloyd Park.  This is about a 30 min drive from me and I have mentioned in my blog before that I am quite fortunate in that I have over a dozen parkruns within about a 45 min drive from me.

I arrived about 15 mins early with the Sun making a concerted effort to make an appearance and despite no precipitation of any sort during the actual run, that didn't make conditions any more pleasant as a bloody cold wind was blowing.

As the 85 runners present warmed up and waited for the start we were treated to an acapella duet by two Huskies.  They were quite good and would give a few of the X-factor contestants a run for their money.

The course was two laps, it was very muddy and it is quite a challenging course with a short sharp hill that has to be tackled twice.  Even at the top of the hill there is ankle deep standing water which I think goes to show just how saturated the ground is at the moment.

On the 2nd lap I had to fish out a running shoe which had decided to part way with it's owner.  I did have a wry smile as said owner was hopping on one foot, as if it really mattered as all our feet were soaked anyway.

I managed to trundle round in 30:03.  This was my 64th parkrun at my 13th venue. So that is another one ticked off.

The following photo (courtesy of Kevin Hann) shows A) what the conditions were like and B) what a fat git I have become (again!).  Current weight is 15st 13lb, so only a 1lb lighter (so that is another one ticked off) than a few weeks ago but still 8lb lighter than the beginning of the year.

Smuggling a medicine ball under my top.

Until next time
TJH

A Pilgramage and looking to get back on track.

A slightly belated Happy New Year!

Over the Christmas & New Year period, my running has been non existent.  This was due to a chest infection.  This meant that I missed two cross-country events and various parkrun events as well. I was hoping to run Bromley parkrun on Christmas Day for the 3rd consecutive year.  As fate would have it, the events was cancelled anyway due to flooding.  In fact Bromley parkrun is currently postponed until the end of January.

Pilgrimage
This Saturday just gone I finally felt well enough to attempt a run.  With no Bromley parkrun an alternative was needed.  Jo a member of PWR had mentioned on Facebook that it was the 500th parkrun at Bushy Park near Hampton Court.

If you are unaware, Bushy Park is where parkrun started in October 2004.

So, Bushy Park is was.   At 7.15am myself, Mich & Max left home, in the dark! picked up Jo and had a 70min drive over to Bushy Park.

The weather forecast was for blue skies after the month of biblical rain that we had endured and lo & behold as we got closer the clouds disappeared.

We arrived just around 8.30am and then followed the crowd and once people started gathering at the start line, a crowd it was; just shy of 1200 people!

Prior to the race there was the usual announcements from the Race Director and he mentioned that he knew people traveled from further afield to take part in the event.  I was nodding contently, thinking yes, I have driven for over an hour to get here.  He then followed the previous statement with "and one person has traveled up from Yeovil this morning" So that well and truly blew my journey out of the water.

The run was a delightful if (not surprisingly) a slightly muddy 1 lap tour around the Royal Park.  I jogged round in 28 minutes. I have run over 60 parkruns now at over a dozen venues and the only reason I can is because of the volunteers.  I honestly do not know how the volunteers there managed to process 1200 runners.  But considering the numbers, there is very little waiting time to get your barcode scanned. Very impressive.

So the pilgrimage to the birth place of parkrun has now been achieved!

Back on Track
I must admit, that once I was given the news last year that due to my knee injury I would have to give up long distance running, I kind of lost my enthusiasm for running.  I was only running the odd parkrun and was also eating and drinking far too much.

My enthusiasm was slightly re-kindled by taking part in a couple of cross-country runs.  PWR are members of the Kent Fitness League which is a series of cross-country runs around Kent.  After taking part in the first couple, I decided I wanted to complete everyone in the series.  My chest infection soon blew that plan up in smoke.

Anyway, my lack of running and over-indulgence meant that that on 1st Jan this year, I was back up to 16st 7lb, only 10lb lighter than when I started training for the London Marathon 2.5 years ago.  I had got myself down to 14st 3lb.

I am pretty pi**ed of with myself that I have let myself get so out of shape again.  So it is back to running no more then 10k (except maybe on the odd occasion), back on the bike, back in the gym and back down the BMI ratings. I will be providing updates of my weight loss in my blogs.  Today I am 16st.

Until the next time
TJH

An early Christmas Present to me

Well it has a been a few months since I have blogged.  I have been very busy at work and if I am brutally honest after learning that I needed to pack up my long distance running, I kind of lost my mo-jo for running.

During September & October I ran a few Parkruns and that was about it and with lack of regular exercise and enjoying a night out or two I have put on a fair bit of weight.  However in the last 3 or 4 weeks, I have started running cross country events with Petts Wood Runners and doing a few more Parkruns and have started to realise why I enjoyed taking up running again a few years back.

In some ways regaining my appetite for running has also been frustrating, because I have realised how out of shape I have become and in a few of the events, people that I would be competing with on time or finishing positions have been leaving me for dead.

However what has also been refreshing is just running naked.  Don't worry, I mean in the metaphorical sense.  I wouldn't subject people to seeing trundling round some woodlands in my birthday suit.  I have just been running without my Garmin (of which I had become a bit of a slave to).

In fact this weekend, I have taken part in 3 events.  The first was the Bromley Parkrun on Saturday, which had been nominated as the Movember Parkrun.  So I pushed my boy (who recently turned 4 and is now getting a bit big)  round in the running buggy, in quite muddy conditions.  Everybody got into the spirit wearing stick on moustaches

Today, I had two events.  The first was a cross country mob match between Petts Wood Runners, Orpington Runners and New Eltham Joggers.  The course was a testing 2 lap-4.2 mile course.  I did in fact wear my Garmin for the first time in 3 months.  To start it would only show elevation and nothing else, so I had to reset to factory defaults and then when I did finish, I forgot to stop it until 5 minutes or so after finishing.  So a bit pointless wearing it really!  For the record, the Orpies won the mob match, with PWR taking Silver!

After finishing I had to dash off quickly as I had my 3rd run of the weekend, the Bromley Santa Dash.  This was a family affair as you can see

The course was 2k which included a steep uphill bit and a finish in the High Street.  My boy ran over three quarters of it.  The pre-race warm up was a joy to see with 500+ Santa's performing and aerobic warmup and it was great to be running with my wife and boy along the finish getting cheers and applause from the crowds and witness the atmosphere gee my boy up for a burst of energy sprint finish :-)  I am proud to say we finished in 24minutes.  Not bad for a 4yo!

So my early Christmas present is the return of my mo-jo.  I know I need to take it easy due to my knee condition, but I will be keeping to 5k and 10k events and not have to put in the training miles that I was doing previously.  But when you can have fun and get photo's such as the one below, (which I know I am obviously biased, but I love) it certainly makes running, whatever the distance, very worthwhile!

Until the next time (which will not be another 2+ months)

TJH

Tourism

This weekend, I travelled up to North Yorkshire with Mich & Max and with a mate of mine 'The Rat' and his wife and their two boys.

None of my mates have normal names :-)

The main purpose of the weekend was to visit a couple of racecourses, Thirsk on Friday and Beverley on Saturday.  Having now visited these, this now takes me now having visited 30 of the 59 in the UK. You could say that I am taking part in a kind of racecourse tourism.

Thirsk was the Super Hero Family Day and Max managed to meet SpiderMan!

 

At Beverley, The Rat and I made a tidy profit, so two successful racecourse visits were had.

So whilst up North, I thought would take advantage of the situation and take part in some Parkrun Tourism as well.  We were staying in a static caravan in Skipsea which meant that the closest Parkrun was just over 10 miles away in Bridlington.

The name of the Parkrun was Sewerby! Now I must admit having the word Sewer in the name didn't sound too appealing.

This was my 54th Parkrun and my 11th different venue and I can quite easily state this is my favourite Parkrun that I have done.  I must admit that I was very lucky with the weather.

There were around 90 runners and I did have a wry smile (being a Southerner) listening to the locals chatting and I heard at least three 'Ay Ups'

The start is in front of Sewerby Hall, a rather grand start to say the least.

The run then takes you along a coastal path, then around a cricket green, through some ornamental gardens, along some wood chip tracks, through some woods.  A delightful run, and for me the epitome of what Parkrun is all about.  As I have stated, I was lucky with the weather and I am sure if there is a gale blowing in from the North sea, the mile or so along the coastal path could be brutal!

I managed to get round in 25.25 and came 37th just being beaten by a Husky.  No stats as once again, I left the Garmin at home.

We all had a great weekend, lots of activities and I even squeezed in an hours fishing on Sunday morning and managed to catch a 3lb Carp!

Next family weekend away........................not sure when or where, but wherever it is, I think I will be checking to see where the closest Parkrun is.

Until next time
TJH

Running Naked

Metaphorically of course.  I wouldn't subject anybody to seeing me running in the nuddy!

So it has been a month since I received the news that I have to pack up long distance running in earnest otherwise I would be requiring a large piece of titanium to be placed into knee.  So despite having to knock anything longer than 5k on the head, it does mean that I can still at least run Parkrun. If albeit not as frequently.

So having not done any running at all since the Adidas Thunder Run 2two weekends ago, I decided to run the Bromley Parkrun this Saturday.  There were two main reasons behind this. 


Reason 1 -Not a Headache
I had gone into work on Wednesday & Thursday and had to return home on both days due to migraines and didn't make it into work on Friday  Sometimes you hear people saying I had a migraine earlier (thinking that it is just a bad headache)  I can assure you a migraine is not just a headache.  I lose my periphery vision, I then get black spots in front of my eyes, followed by nasuea/throwing up and then the mother of all pressure headaches.  The only thing I can do is lay down in a dark room.  So in a nutshell I spent 90% of Wed/Thu/Fri sleeping or trying to sleep.  So I had to get out Saturday morning as I needed the fresh air.

Reason 2 -All the Gear, No Idea
I have been fortunate enough along with a number of other Petts Wood Runners (for the second year running) to be asked to help test and provide feedback on a selection of running apparel, nutrition and technology.  So I wanted to test a couple of items that had been assigned to me.  Can you guess what I had to test??

I look like a packet of Opal Fruits

What you may also notice from the pic above is, no Garmin! so in running terms, I was naked!  Having spent the best part of the last 2 preceding almost every run waving my wrist at the sky trying to pick up the satellites, I just wanted to run and not worry about pace or time and not having to wait for the recognisable Garmin beep that can be heard a thousand times at most events (running or cycling).

I got round in 24:14 (only learning of my time when I got my text from parkrun in the evening). 

No link to my Garmin stats.  So here is a link to duck billed platypus instead?

The gear that I tried was Ashmei compression socks - very comfortable and despite being compression socks, not a nightmare to put on. But the acid test for me with any pair of socks is how much they seem to shrink after washing (although being Merino wool, potentially less washes are required!)

My other item being tested were the Puma Mobium running shoes.  I admit these look strange as they have what looks like a pre-formed  high arch.  Reading the bumph the idea is that the shoe effectively flattens out and moulds to your foot on footstrike but then recoils back to shape once you lift your foot and therefore getting power transfer.  Well that's the idea?  From my perspective, they were comfortable with loads of cushioning especially in the forefoot (which is important for me, being a mid to forefoot striker), and very lightweight.  I had some minor discomfort on the instep of one of my feet, but I will be giving them another whirl to see how I get on with them.

So there you have it, a brief blog by my standards.

Until next time
TJH

24 hours of Run, Sun, Fun and One (hell of a Thunderstorm)

Jackanory Time.

Are you sitting comfortably? then i'll begin.

I Have an Idea
Just under a year ago, I posted a message on the Petts Wood Runners Facebook page stating I fancied running the Adidas 24 Hour Thunder Run and would anybody like to be in a relay team.  Four intrepid/stupid/brave/desperate* (delete as appropriate) put their names forward   My fellow team members were Karien, Emma, Matt & Eleanor.  So the first thing for me to do was come up with a team name.  Now if you chuck my name into the equation, our first name initials (in alphabetical order) are E, E, K, M, R.  So I came up with a few ideas and in the end the resulting team name was KREME KRACKERED. (Saatchi & Saatchi eat your heart out).

Fast forward 11 months and e-mails began to be exchanged plus a post Tuesday night run Pub visit to discuss plans and tactics.  Emma & Karien had been part of a team in the 2012 Thunder run, so they had some inside knowledge.

Arrival
Myself and my support crew (Mich and Max) were planning on getting there early on the Friday, Emma & Karien suggested the best place to try and set up base camp.  A few things transpired that  meant we didn't get the spot we wanted.  First, it was widely advertised that the camping areas would open at 3pm, but from somewhere it changed to 12pm, we were never going to get there for that time (there being Catton Park in Derbyshire).  We were planning however getting there around 1:30pm, but having left just gone 10am Friday morning, we didn't arrive until almost 4pm (2 hours on the M25!)

Thirdly there were some TR24 professional people already there with rolls of plastic tape cordoning off large areas where there were whole running clubs taking part.  Some had tent, some also had Gazebos, there were even Marquees!  Fortunately one of these professional groups lent us some of their tape and we managed to cordon of the the last remaining area relatively near the course.  Lo and behold as we started erecting the tent, they opened up the next field where we would have had ample opportunity to get a prime spot! Ce La Vie.

The rest of the team couldn't arrive until Saturday morning.  In the warm summer evening I lit up the BBQ and treated myself to a couple of bottles beer, my way of preparing whilst watching others jogging the course!

Bedtime stories for Max, Real Ale for Mummy & Daddy

Saturday
9am the next morning, I was still without a team, but by 10am the other four had arrived.  It was a glorious day.  I handed out everybody's timing chips, numbers and Thunder Run T-shirts that I had collected the night before and then handed out the team shirts that I had made up.

Smiling, oblivious to what lie ahead

The Plan
The race started at 12pm.  I was scheduled to do the first lap.  Our planned schedule estimated that we would average around 1 hour per 10k lap so the plan was that myself, Karien, Matt & Elie would do 5 laps and Emma would do 4.  Also Elie said she would prefer not to run in the dark but would a double lap to counter that.  Well that was the plan......


Getting Started
We all wandered down to the start area for the 11.30 briefing.  I had looked at the weather in the week and light rain was forecast for Saturday night.  However, during the briefing we were told the good news was that the thunderstorm that was due at 3pm wouldn't be happening, the bad news was that is was now due at 7pm.  And, ominously, it was mentioned that the event WOULD NOT be cancelled and it was up to us if we wanted to continue running.  I think they knew something that we didn't?

Emma didn't like the mention of Thunderstorm, Karien put on a brave face!

Max with matching supporter's shirt

Lining up at the start line there was a real buzz in the air as everybody anticipated what lie ahead in the next 24 hours.  I managed to find Liz, another PWR who was running the TR24 for the third time and this year she was running solo! Crazy Woman!

Psychologically, it is strange trying to get prepared as to start off you are only running 10k and without sounding cocky, if you are a regular runner, 10k is not far.  What is the unknown, is how your body will handle running 10k multiple times in 24 hours with little or no sleep? And compared to the solo runners I would only be completing a fraction of the distance they would be achieving.  There was a countdown from 10 and then we were off.

"Ha ha this is easy Liz", "Ray we have only run 100metres"

Off and Running
Less than half a mile in there was a bit of queue as the course narrowed and turned right up a very steep hill, I think quite a few people were secretly thankful that we had to walk that bit.  The sun was blazing down and the temperature was in the high 20's.  Most normal people would not choose to run 10k in midday heat, but come to think of it, most normal people wouldn't run in a 24 hour event.  Just after 2k there was another hill.  Liz was using a strategy of walking up the hills, so I said goodbye and pushed on.  I was surprised at how tough the course was, twists & turns, undulating and concentration required a lot of the time avoided tree roots, pot holes and other hazards.  Mich, Max & Emma were waiting just after the 9km marker to cheer me on.

Max doing his Meerkat impression and being a lookout

Hands up if you think it will rain later

I managed the first lap in 1:03 and handed over the baton (a reflective snap strip that you could wrap around your wrist) to Karien.

The handover is quite funny as there are a couple of hundred people waiting and you are trying to pick out your team mate.  Yourself and incoming runners are shouting names, the waiting runners are shouting names.

I wandered back to the my tent had a chat with the gang and then went and queued in a field to have a shower.  Just your normal Saturday afternoon! ;-)

Once I had freshened up, I went back to the tent and then Mich, Max and I found another vantage point to watch the runners at around 8k and due to the design of the course enabled us to then take a cut through which took about 1 minute to then see the runners again at just after 9k.  Mich also went to the Start/Finish area as well to try and get at least one photo of all of us running.

Karien being chased by Pat Sharp (it's not really him)

Matt being photo bombed

 

Elie showing her Tiger clawing impression

Emma completing her 1st lap

Whilst we were waiting at the 8k mark, supporting the runners, Max was trying to get high-fives.  I think it shows the feel good factor of the event as within 10 minutes he was up to 51 high-fives and said 'Daddy I don't want to do it anymore as my hand hurts'  Whilst we were waiting for Ellie, one fella ran past with no top on and Mich's eyes lit up.  I was in the process of explaining to Mich how I had a similar physique, but I had a protective layer covering it and we managed to miss Liz approaching.  We shouted encouragement but couldn't get a photo.  So Mich took the shortcut to get a photo of Liz which she managed to do, but she also managed to get another photo as well!!!

Liz looking good on what must have been lap 3?

Very similar physique to myself.  Mine is disguised.

Before I knew it, three and a half hours had passed and I was getting ready for my next lap.  It was still warm but was beginning to cloud over. I wandered down to the handover area waiting for Emma to come in.  The camaraderie amongst the runners is fantastic, everybody chatting and having a laugh.  For the racing snakes that were obviously competing to win the event the handovers were extremely slick.  Where as for us mere mortals it was more of a case of a quick 30 second chat ask how the incoming runner was feeling and trundle off.

My second lap was my fastest in 58 minutes.  But I was definitely aware of my lack of fitness and  due to very little running recently due to my knee issues.  I was putting in effort that I know 6 months ago would have been getting me an 8:30ish minute mile, yet despite my input, my output was nearer a 10 minute mile. I was also being consciously careful to nurse my knee a little bit, especially on the down hill sections where normally, time can be made up.  Just as I reached the 9km the first few raindrops started falling.


An event for Lunatics
Whilst sitting outside the tent earlier Matt had mentioned that thinking about it, this was an event for lunatics.  I agreed but suggested branding it as such probably wasn't the best idea.  However, his comment was justified as once again I stood in a field with 40 to 50 others in a queue wearing only shorts and running vest, standing in light rain waiting to have a shower.  Lunatics, every one of us.


It is Just a Passing Shower
I got back to the tent and Mich had knocked up a nice hot Tuna pasta, just what was needed. Whilst Karien and Matt did their legs the Thunder & lightning was rumbling in the distance and then it was time for Elie to do her double lap.

The Thunder Run was certainly living up to it's name.  May I make a suggestion to the organisers, can you rename it to Pimms on the Lawn run next year?

Karien and her hubby Kobus popped into our tent and then the rain started in earnest.  We were wondering if Elie might come in after one lap (although technically it is against the rules as you need to have somebody on the course at all times)  But we shouldn't have doubted Elie, she is made of stern stuff. 

The rain fell and fell and fell I did take a short video at 19:30, but alas I can't seem to upload it to this blog.  But the only way to describe and I think I would 2000+ people to verify that I am not exaggerating as that we had torrential rain for almost 8 hours.

I managed to get about 45 minutes sleep but was awoken by the tent zip as Emma ventured out to take the first stint in pitch black darkness & the rain.  I didn't envy her, and I knew I would be following just over an hour later.

When I did wander down 45 minutes later, I was soaked before I even got to the handover point.  I felt particularly sorry for a woman that come running in shouting for Ken, 10 minutes later she was still standing there in the rain waiting for Ken to take the baton.  I have a feeling that Ken will not be getting a Christmas Card this year!

Emma came in and simply said it is ridiculous out there. The first bit is of the route is on grass, so that was just squelchy, but the first hill was virtually a water fall.  Now this is where I was to rue an enormous schoolboy error, despite getting my trail shoes out at home, I had forgot to pack them.  I was like bambi on ice and fell over 5 times in the first 3k. The conditions were, well as Emma put it ridiculous.  I trundled past Liz without realising it and she shouted out.  So I decided to walk with her A) to keep her company and B) to take it a bit easier and try and stay on my feet.  I achieved A), but still managed to fall over twice, once nearly taking Liz out in the process.  We had a good chinwag whilst trudging through rivers of ankle deep mud.  With about 1k to go I said to Liz I had better push on as I knew Karien would be waiting for me.  This third lap took me 1:26

After telling Karien to be careful I wandered back to the tent. I think the time was about 00:45?  I didn't and couldn't be bothered to shower, so just tried to wipe as much mud off as possible with my wet running gear and put something on dry as quick as possible. Mich then came out of one of the tent bedrooms and  Emma came out of her bedroom wrapped in her sleeping bag shivering, so I made Porridge & Coffee.

Because Elie had done her double lap, during the night there was 1 less hour's rest before the rest of us had to do our next lap.  I got into my sleeping bag and probably managed about an hours sleep.  At 2am I was woken as the intensity of the rain increased to biblical proportions, I honestly had visions of the tent floating away.

I went to meeting area at 4am and the rain had finally stopped.  Despite the conditions, the humour of and mood of everybody was still top notch, one fella come running in wearing nothing but a red pair of pants! Bizarrely I managed to see and say hi to one of the ladies of the Men's & women's Running Magazine Project 26.2 that we were involved in last year.

Dawn was beginning to break, head torches were still needed though.  I didn't even try running on two thirds of the course, it was nigh on impossible.  A pothole that was at least a foot deep had appeared just after 2km, where there wasn't ankle deep mud a lot of roots either exposed due to mud being washed away or hidden under a slurry of mud and just after 7km there was a puddle, well more of a sheep dip really as it was knee deep!

Being a drama queen? maybe? But the main objective for all of us was to get round in one piece and complete the challenge.  Chatting to others I found out that there were teams that pulled out and I heard of two people with broken ankles and one with a broken arm! and I managed to navigate lap 4 without falling over in 1:23

I was now feeling quite fatigued, I had a cup of tea and a bacon and egg roll, I went back to the tent, got into some dry gear and got into my sleeping bag, but now Max (who had slept through the monsoon) was now awake, so sleep for me was not forthcoming.  Mich took Max for a walk up to the HQ area to get some breakfast, but I still couldn't get to sleep.

The Final Countdown
By now we were a few hours behind our planned schedule, so it was now looking like only two of us would be doing 5 laps.

Despite now having daylight and the rain stopping, 8 hours of rain and hundreds of people running round the course meant that underfoot conditions were not going to dramatically improve.  Everybody came back saying the conditions were now different but still very difficult.

I went out for my fifth and final lap about 10:30am, It was now getting hot again, the slurry mud was now turning into a glue pot and was literally trying to suck your shoes of the feet.

The support and encouragement on the final lap was fantastic and I should say that is was excellent on the first couple of laps.  No surprise that during the night almost everybody were tucked inside their tents trying to keep dry and warm.  I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the marshalls.  I think there were 10 Marshall points, where a couple of people were camped out on the course and despite not running had to endure the conditions for over 24 hours.  Much respect.

My last lap took about 1:20ish, I say ish as my Garmin was showing a 'Low Battery' warning.  I am not sure if that was the watch or me?  But it took a while for the watch to pick up the satellites, so I could only start it about 500metres after I had started. .  I saw Liz again for the 3rd time on course, well actually she saw me.  This was our briefest of encounters as I just wanted to get round, but I discovered she was on her 10th lap.  A truly amazing effort!

The TR24 rules state you can stop whenever you want and if you finish a lap at 11:59, as long as somebody starts a lap before the midday cutoff, they can continue and finish the lap.  As I came in at 11:50, I said to Karien, "Don't feel you have to go out"  We were all tired and decided we were happy with 21 laps between us, especially considering the conditions.

Two-Tone skin colour

So whilst I queued for a shower, the rest of the gang queued for medals, the deal was hand your timing chip back to receive your medal.  Matt had managed to lose his chip, but they took pity on us and we all received a well earned and deserved medal.

Team KREME KRACKERED, still smiling, just!

One More Race
There was still one final race to complete.  Rumour had it that another storm was approaching in the afternoon.  The early morning wind and sun had dried out my tent so I wanted to get it dismantled and packed away.  Elie had shot off, but many hands make light work so the rest of us manged to get the tent packed away in record time.  This also meant we had to have a bit of a team bundle with us all lying on the tent to try and expel the air.  Quite a funny end to the event.

We said our goodbyes to then embark on a long journey home.  It took about 30 mins to actually get off the campsite.  We stopped at services on the M1 and it seemed that quite a few other TR24 competitors had chosen this strategy.  We were all easily recognisable by our bright yellow Adidas t-shirts.  Lots of knowing looks, nods and wry smiles were exchanged.

Conclusion
A friend of mine on Facebook questioned last week that he thought I had been advised to give up long distance running.  I explained that this event had been booked a year ago and there was no way I was going to drop out. This was going to be my 'Last Hurrah'  At midnight on Saturday, I was wishing I had dropped out :-)

This was one of the toughest 10k's I have run, I just had to run it 5 times in 24 hours in conditions ranging from midday blazing sunshine to midnight monsoon mudfest conditions.  Suntroke and hypothermia in one event?

I thouroughly enjoyed it (I must be a lunatic) and it is these type of events that epitomise why I got back into running in such a big way.  Irrelevant of speed, we are all runners enduring and enjoying the same experiences.  Camaradarie is top notch and the sense of achievement is fantastic.  It doesn't matter if you have just run a Marathon, got a PB or just completed your first Parkrun.  The running community is unique.

As a team we performed brilliantly, nobody was left waiting at the change over area, we all managed at least 4 laps (210k in total), no arguments, (depiste Matt leaving his boxer shorts lying around in my tent ;-) All in All a weekend experience that none of us will forget.  Massive Thanks to Mich my wife, who put up with us all. She is a star!

What's Next?
So I have been told that if I continued all of my long distance running and training (typically this has been 6+ half marathons, at least 1 marathon and endless miles of training per year), I would probably require a knee replacement within 10 years.  So that means I have to dramatically reduce my running, no more marathons or half marathons and just Parkruns for me now.  I will now be back on the bike and will be cycling regularly to regain and keep my aerobic fitness.  But I am sure doing one event a year won't do me too much harm?

Adidas Thunder Run 2014, Where do I sign up?

Until Next Time
TJH