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!
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| 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.
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| 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?
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| Emma didn't like the mention of Thunderstorm, Karien put on a brave face! |
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| 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.
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| "Ha ha this is easy Liz", "Ray we have only run 100metres" |
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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.
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| Max doing his Meerkat impression and being a lookout |
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| 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.
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| Karien being chased by Pat Sharp (it's not really him) |
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| Matt being photo bombed |
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| Elie showing her Tiger clawing impression |
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| 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!!!
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| Liz looking good on what must have been lap 3? |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
