HEATWAVE!! I am not complaining about the wonderful weather
we have had over the last two weeks, I am definitely a sunny runner. I know
it’s too hot to talk about PB’s, especially over the longer distances, but I
was hoping for a good time in the Stansted Slog half marathon at Stansted House
in Rowlands Castle.
I have unfortunately got a bit out of shape, well not so
much out of shape as I am not match fit at the moment for any long distances. I
have been running a lot with a couple of friends Nikki Bone and Suzie Taylor
who are training for the Victory 5 Mile race in September, raising money for
Children with Cancer UK and are aptly named the Victory Vixens (more of this
story nearer the time). What this has meant is that I have been running shorter
distances and have not been sneaking in my usual longer runs. I used to rely on
my long runs with the lads on a Sunday morning with SMCD running club (Sunday
Morning Church Dodgers) but I haven’t been out with them for a while. All
amounting to the fact that anything over 13 miles starts to get a bit painful,
so I have used the Stansted Slog to slingshot me back into peak fitness again.
I have been detoxing for the last two weeks, no crap food,
no alcohol during the week (maybe 1 or 2 lapses), and stepping up the cardio and
interval training. Running in this heat I found has conditioned me quite well,
however I am still running a flat half in about 7min 30second miles, which is a
good 30 seconds off of my normal pace. Something had to give so I could
dedicate more time to serious training and unfortunately it seems like the only
solution is Monday night football. I love playing football, and have been part
of a team at Roko now for about 11 years, my skill level isn’t the best, I just
like to run after people the way dogs like to run after cars, I have a lot of
determination just not the skill to go with it, but I have found it helped me
with my running as it was like an interval session. Anyway it looks like I am
hanging up my boots in favour of 2 hour runs instead, all starting with the
slog.
The lead up to the slog was pretty uneventful compared to
recent events, no emergency toilet dashes, no tumble dryer tummy, just positive
anticipation. I think it’s because I know I can cover the distance, I have run
marathons in the same climate and conditions, and on the same sort of course,
so I know I have it in my legs, I was just looking to enjoy this one and run it
with my friend Michael Cobb. Cobby and I have similar running times and are
roughly the same sort of runners, we both like cross country and scenic runs,
and we both love hills, this race seems to have it all. It is described as a
scenic undulating half marathon in the countryside. I had read the reviews and
most people had advised that it had a couple of ferocious hills in it, but they
didn’t last too long, and the weather looked just about perfect.
So at 9.30 on Sunday we set off for Stansted House, all
essentials packed and lots of water consumed, it’s going to be another scorcher
so we need to keep as hydrated as possible, I am really looking forward to
this, I am well prepared and fit, and very much looking forward to the ritual
beer in the Jolly Taxpayer afterwards, just 13.1 miles between me and that
pint.
Numbered up and with 5 minutes to go I realise that I haven’t
applied Vaseline. I approach a marshal and she lets me into the room where the
bags are stored, I merrily chat away to her as I grab large handfuls of vass
and apply liberally to the ‘under the shorts’ and nipple area, as with most
runners this is a normal practice, things like this happen at every race, it is
no longer strange or weird in the same way that some changing areas/tents are
not always segregated and that isn’t weird either, it’s just a running
community thing, I mean in what other circumstances would it be quite natural
for a 37 year old man to rub handfuls of petroleum jelly into his groin and
nipple area in front of a 60 year old lady whilst chatting benignly about the
size of the inclines to come?
Lubed up and ready to go I slide (quite literally) over to
the start line. Cobby and I decide that we are just out to enjoy this, but if
one of us feels like we want to go ahead then to just jog on. Alan Shons (race
organiser) gives us some do’s and don’ts of the day, do hydrate, do take on water at the stops, do enjoy the
race, don’t fall down rabbit/badger holes, don’t get lost, don’t carry on if
you are suffering from the heat. Looking around everyone is a club runner,
there are only a couple of us who are not affiliated to any club, I am wearing
my charity Mr Tickle vest and I can see a lot of local clubs have turned up,
Portsmouth Joggers Denmead Striders,
Stubbington Green Runners, Fareham Crusaders, so the standard is going to be
high. I am however confident, I know that I can cover the distance and the
terrain and I am still hopeful of a pretty good time, about 1 hour 50 minutes
would be fabulous.
3, 2, 1 Go .... And off we run, up one of the only bits of
tarmac on the whole course. Of course we went off to fast, it is in the
runner’s bible that every plan and preparation be forgotten in the first mile
of any race. We planned to stick to approximately 8minute 30 second miles but
the first 3 miles came in at 8.13, 8.26, and 7.45. The scenery was amazing from
the start, we are running through grass paths and stone tracks meandering
through fields and woodlands, the shade of the tree’s meant that it was cool
and breezy, opening up into bare fields where the sun beat down relentlessly.
Every single second was a picture perfect postcard of beautiful countryside,
this is why I run, no matter what the weather the views are going to be
spectacular, not many people who even live in the area have ever ventured up to
see what amazing scenery lies on their doorstep, and here I am lapping it up on
a spectacular summers day doing the sport I love the most.
The hills were actually ok, as I have said Cobby and I
actually like a hill or two so we managed to power up them and then power down
the other side, weirdly the down hills seemed to outnumber the up hills, which
is always nice, one of my worst ever experiences of a race is when I ran the
Isle of Wight half marathon, we seemed to run up every bloody hill on the
island but it seemed like I only ran downhill twice. The course was indeed a
bit treacherous at times, a lot of the down hills were quite long and steep and
had a good splattering of tree roots, dips, holes, and large flint rocks, I
still however like to stretch my legs out here and let the recovery process
take its toll at speed.
I turned round to chat to Cobby at about mile 5 but he had
fallen back a bit, I carried on over styles and through kissing gates and
looked back again but couldn’t see him, my legs felt awesome at this point and
I was loving the down hills so I decided to push on. I was keeping to pace and
picking off people slowly, Mr light blue top came and went, Miss Red top I
eventually caught up and overtook, Mr White top took ages to get alongside, but
eventually I left him behind, it was just Mr Fluorescent Yellow top that I was
fartleking for now.
The course was indeed undulating but the ground underfoot
was good, no rain meant no sludge and mud and the paths were hard and
firm. The paths at times were overgrown
and a fallen tree at mile 9 had us limbo dancing for a while, beating back
brambles and stinging nettles just added to the fun of the race. The best bit
of the course beyond doubt was whilst running through some of the woods, it was
dark, cool and uphill, I keep my head down mainly when running uphill and use
my arms to power me to the top, it eventually levelled out and there was a
right turn ahead, following the signposted arrows I turned right. Suddenly the
darkness made way to astonishingly bright sun and yellow fields, it was as if
someone had pulled a curtain up and you ran into the yellow brick road, a path
cut through the field and led downhill, I don’t want to wax lyrical too much
about this but I actually had a bit of a euphoric moment, my legs automatically
replenished with energy and I caught up with Mr Light Blue top, we chatted a
for a while about the course, this was his normal running route, and we both
enthused about how lucky we are to have this on our doorstep, he wished me luck
and told me to plod on, the only downside to the conversation was that he said
something about knowing what was coming up soon, I presumed he meant a hill,
but I felt like Captain Awesome so I strode on with purpose.
There was indeed a hill but it was fine, the calves and
thighs were doing as they were told, and another gel took the edge off the
weariness. I noticed the mile markers were not quite right though, they seemed
to be about a couple of hundred yards out to start with, then at mile 12 I
passed a marker that said mile 11. I confirmed with a couple of other runners
that our Garmin’s seemed to be correct and the course was slightly out. I
treated it as only two miles to go so put a bit of a spurt on, Mr Fluorescent
Yellow top was now out of sight so I was just racing against the watch. At 13.1
miles my clock told me it was 1.51.30, I was proper chuffed with this, that’s
not a bad time for this course, however the finish wasn’t in sight yet, I was
on tarmac now so I knew it couldn’t be much further, in the distance I can see
a marshal, I looked behind and can see someone catching me, I decide to get on
my toes and put everything into the finish, rounding the corner the marshal
tells me just 100 yards to go, I can see then Blue inflatable of the finish
line and put a sprint on, the timer on the line states 1.54 something as I dip
through and claim my medal.
I run back up the road and wait for Cobby to come through,
he was about 9 minutes behind me and obligatory sprinted the final few yards.
The results are printed and up on the board within minutes,
yet another sign of a well-managed and organised event. I came 15th
out of over one hundred competitors and 8th in my category, I
averaged 8.44 minute miles and finished in a time of 1.54.45, I made the final
distance to be 13.61 miles, so it was about half a mile out, however I am not
complaining as I could have carried on for another few miles I was enjoying it
that much.
Out of all of the 40 or so events I have run this is one of my favourites, it had a little bit everything that I love about running in it, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone local. Now only one more thing left to do …………….. PINT!!
