Ghost Stories of The City Run

Bit late for Halloween, but we are still in Lockdown, so anything goes. Been exploring the city with Andrew more through running during Lockdown V2.0, using some self-guided city walk routes, which has been fun, but has mostly highlighted quite how gruesome the city's history is. Starting with a ghoulish Halloween route.....

First stop, Liverpool Street Station. Doesn't ever look very scary, but ever since the 2015 Cross-Rail excavation uncovered the burial ground of Bedlam Hospital, and found 30 plague victims, there have been reports of a strange male figure waiting for a train, who disappears seconds later. (I can vouch for this. I've been at Liverpool Street before dawn, usually on the way to a marathon, and it is scary, with plenty of strange male figures around the place, but usually quite solid looking).

Then it was to the Bank of England, AKA the Old Lady Of Threadneedle Street. Who knows why it's called that. I don't, so I looked it up. The Bank has been located on Threadneedle Street for almost all of it's 300 years. The nickname dates back to a cartoon published in 1797, depicting the Prime Minister (William Pitt the younger) wooing an old lady (The Bank of England) - or, trying to get at her money. So there you go. There's also another Lady of Threadneedle Street. She is Sarah Whitehead, the devoted sister of Philip, who was a former employee of the Bank. Sounds like he was a bit disillusioned with it all, and got into forgery, and in 1811 was executed for it, which seems a bit extreme, but that's history for you. The truth was kept from his sister, as it would be too upsetting, but she found out when one day she visited the bank asking for her brother, and the clerk on duty told her what happened. The shock was too much, and she thereafter came every day to the Bank asking to see her brother. When she passed away, she was buried in a churchyard which is now the Bank's garden, and her ghost has been seen many times, sadly wandering along Threadneedle Street.

On to St Pauls, which has a good haul of ghost stories. For a good shiver inducing one, I like this one. Visitors have reported seeing a lady kneeling on the floor searching for something. When they approach to ask if she needs help, they feel a tap on the shoulder. When they turn around, there's no one there, and when they turn back, the lady has vanished. 

Fortunately, all I saw on the floor was a squirrel.

Then it was on to Hen and Chicken Court on Fleet Street, to finish off with the delightful story of Sweeny Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. He who murdered his clients in his barber's chair (this was way back in the days when people could visit hairdressers freely), before making them into meat pies with the help of his lover, Mrs Lovett, and selling them. I think it's a bit sketchy as to if he was real or not (it's pretty horrific, so probably he was, yes) and if he was, his shop might have been near here, so this isn't altogether conclusive as to being the site of the gruesome deed. 

Anyway, I hope that's been nice and uplifting. Next up is the Charles Dickens run, which is by no means any more cheerful, so that's something to look forward to. 

SVN Halloween 100 Miles, 31.10.2020

This was my 4^th 100 mile run. Up until now, I have done them all with the LDWA. Although these are hilly, hard, self-navigated, include large portions of the route being through bogs etc, they have a time limit of 48 hours, so I am lucky in that I know this should be achievable for me, even if things go wrong. The Halloween 100 had a time limit of only 32 hours, so I was quite anxious about this! I got myself in a right state during the week, worrying about it, comparing myself to others doing it, and feeling convinced I couldn’t do it. All day on Friday I felt so sick with nerves, I could hardly eat, which isn’t great preparation for a long run! So, feeling jittery and like I was about to head off to my first day at school, Andrew and I set off on Friday night to escape London, and stay in Dover ready for the early start.  

I still felt sick when I woke up, but as soon as we got to Samphire Hoe and I started to see everyone, I started to feel a bit better. This was SVN after all, and Traviss and Rachel and Crew always look after us so well and put on brilliant events. I started to feel a bit more confident that even if things didn’t go to plan, it would still be a good weekend. Plus, I now had Foxy the Fox (thanks Sarah!) to oversee things, so it was going to be OK.

Samphire Hoe was created at the time the Channel Tunnel was dug, and is at the base of Shakespeare Cliff, to the west of Dover. It was reclaimed from the sea, and the spoil from the tunnel digging was used to create it - 40 hectares. At the time he wrote King Lear, Shakespeare travelled regularly to Dover…..

“There is a cliff whose high and bending head stares fearfully in the confined deep….Halfway down hangs one who gathers samphire, that dreadful trade!” - King Lear, Shakespeare

….and “hoe” is a piece of land which sticks out into the sea. So, that’s how it got named Samphire Hoe!

Because of Covid, there was no starting altogether, so everyone was starting in little waves (next to the big waves, in the sea). There were a few different events going on today, as well as the 100, and Andrew came to run the six hour challenge, and did his 50^th official marathon/ ultra! Congratulations, Andrew!

Because of the weather, the sea wall had been closed, so the route was changed (and was now much hillier! I clocked about 12,000 ft). The first part was 7 x 6.55 miles on the big route (around Samphire Hoe, through the tunnel, up the cliffs, along and up and down the top of the cliffs, then back, through the tunnel, through Waste Land, and back to base.

I ran the first 5 laps (33 miles) with Andrew. Thank you for spending your whole weekend helping me do this! And also for helping me to develop some really quite sophisticated psychological techniques to get round 100 miles, including the 100 miler version of Jay Z’s 99 Problems “I’ve got 99 problems, but 1 mile is done!” ….. “I’ve got 98 problems, but 2 miles are done!” (etc etc, repeat each mile).

On lap 2 we fell into step with Sarah, Jon and Ollie (who had all run the Track 100 last weekend!!), and I ran the whole of the rest of the run with Sarah.

The weather was wild (thanks Storm Aiden)!! In Samphire Hoe it felt very windy, but when we got up on the cliffs, it made the weather in Samphire Hoe seem like a calm summer day - gusts of at least 60 MPH up on the cliffs Saturday! It was so windy, that running into it was like running into a wall, it picked us off our feet and blew us into fences, and took all of our core strength to stay vertical! It was one of those times where everyone seemed lost for words (not that anyone could hear any words up there anyway) and really all you could do was laugh or cry. But, we were with Andrew after all (who being Scottish, is happiest in bad weather) who was in his element (as well as the elements) and having a right laugh, so it seemed the best thing to do was laugh too. Actually, I really loved those laps, swaying around, aching with laughter and shouting into the wind. The rain from laps 3-7 added a bit more spice to the proceedings, especially when hitting you in the face at 60 MPH, but hey HOE! (sorry)

I have to mention the tunnel. The tunnel in and out of Samphire Hoe has actually been there longer than the place has, since the 70s, and I've only ever driven through it before. I hadn't realised how steep it was. For the record, it is steep. Up on the way out, with the wind behind was the most bizarre feeling, the wind was so strong, it really felt like being pushed up it! On the way back in, it was downhill with the wind blowing us back, it felt like one of those wind tunnels that people practice parachuting in. So exhilarating! 

After 5 laps, Andrew had done his 6 hours, so Sarah and I carried on together, and it was fabulous to run into Richard, and we ran some miles together up on the cliffs.

During the last long lap, Sarah and I realised neither of us had stopped for a wee, and that this was mostly because we were so soaked from the rain that it would be too difficult and too much hassle to take our wet leggings off and try to get them back on again. Ultra running girl problem #99. This is one of those topics of conversations that is completely normal to talk about during ultra runs, but I appreciate that afterwards, it may sound odd. We decided we would celebrate finishing the big laps (about 46 miles in total) with a wee stop at the portaloos (as it had now stopped raining and we had dried out a bit, which makes taking leggings off a bit easier (FYI - if you are a man, and interested in understanding such problems).

Duly celebrated, we got snacks and headtorches, and started off on the little laps just as it got dark. The little laps were 3.22 miles long x 16 all within Samphire Hoe along the bottom of the cliffs. I think it was nice, having the two sets of different laps. It made it almost seem like two separate runs.

The little laps went all the way to the end of Samphire Hoe along the “up and downy” bit closer to the sea, turned around at the end (before going in to the sea), up a hill, along by the railway track, through the car parks and in to Waste Land, to the turn point, then back the other way, back to base. Base camp was always lovely. A little beacon of light as you came down the last hill, and brilliant support from the SVN team always. Plus, despite Covid, there was plenty of individually wrapped chocolate, sweets and crisps, hot drinks and soup, and you could order a sandwich, which would magically appear by the time you got back next lap! I struggled with my nutrition quite a lot today, (nothing much wrong, just feeling nauseous) which was annoying, as I was trying to test out some things I’ve been learning at uni and had spent ages planning and preparing things, and then couldn’t eat any of it! But there you go – goes to show all the theory in the world of what to do is useless, if you have things that get in the way of doing it!

Anyway, I liked the short laps, plus Storm Aiden kindly switched off the rain overnight, and although it remained very windy, it was nothing like it had been up on the cliffs in the day. Sarah and I ran a few laps on our own, and chatting to others on the way round, and 16 laps quickly turned into 15….14….13 etc etc. Got into a bit of a rhythm with which bits of the lap we ran and which we walked. We learned in the early evening of the lockdown that had been announced. So strange to think that outside our little world of Samphire Hoe, at the other end of the tunnel, all these world changing events were going on, and that this would be our last event for a while.

It was Halloween night, of course, and the full moon was out, and almost as bright as the sun (actually, much brighter than the sun had been in the day, as the sun had taken most of the day off). It reflected off the white cliffs, which seemed like snowy mountains rising out of the dark, and it also reflected off the sea, all glittery and shiny. The chalk paths were wet from the rain in the day, and the patterns of the dark damp patches and the drier white patches looked like bats and ghosts. All the while, the sound of the crashing of the waves against the sea wall, and the glittering of the spray shimmering in the moonlight. Spooky!

10 laps from the end (68 miles) Craig joined us, for the Pacer Challenge, and we ran the rest of the way as a three. Thank you Craig - and I’m sorry we didn’t run too much by that point! Thank you for making us laugh, keeping our spirits up, and always knowing the right thing to say at the right time to make me feel better! Oh, and opening all the gates, and helping us to avoid puddles. Oh wait.... haha!

Location of the biggest puddles on the course was The Waste Land. This is an area just after the car park, which is well, a waste land really. It’s near the cooling station for the channel tunnel, and between the road and the cliff and I think got a bit forgotten about. It’s very desolate, has lots of holes (which turn into giant puddles in storms), rocky bits, brambles to trip you up (we all got brambled), thistles to prick you, and a general air of hopelessness about it, amplified each time you put your foot on a shadow and realise it's deep cold water. 

After our 16 laps, we completed our last mini lap to make up the 100 miles, and finished just after it got light, around 06:30. It was the most amazing feeling! Finished in 22:19:44 which is 6 hours 22 minutes faster than my 100 mile PB. Ever since I did my first one in 2016, I have so wished do do sub-24 hours, and it's always felt so far out of my grasp. Very excited!

Thank you so much Sarah for putting up with me for more miles in a go than anyone ever has, ever! You are such an amazing runner, thank you for sticking with me and helping me through. Love you big time! 

Thank you to all the other runners for all your company and encouragement (and especially Andrew and Craig)! Massive well done to everyone. And of course, thank you to Traviss, Rachel and SVN Crew for another tremendous event (and for staying up ALL night in a storm, counting, smiling, encouraging, filling bottles, making food....bloody amazing!) Feeling so lucky to have got to spend this weekend with the running community - an encouraging, very special bunch of people. Will miss you all during lock down. Stay safe, and see you, I hope, very soon! 💛🎃🌙👻