Centaur 100 Miles, with Phoenix Running, 18.06.2022

I can't believe it's a year since this event last year! I absolutely loved it last year, but I was a bit apprehensive about this one and wasn't sure how it would go - I did my last 100 miler 2 weeks ago, and a marathon last weekend, and I have never done 100s so close together before, so I was a bit unsure how it would go, or if I could do it. But I figured, turn up, try your best, and most important - remember to have fun!

The Centaur 100 was part of the Denbies Festival of Running weekend - where there were lots of different events on; a half marathon, marathon, the Minotaur 50 miles, Centaur 100 miles, or the P12 and P24 (where runners run a mile on the hour, every hour). Everyone was doing different things, and some people were doing multiple events. Which is always fun, I like it when people are all doing all sorts of different things! There were so many running friends around, it was brilliant to see everyone, and to make new friends too!

The course was a one mile loop around the triangle shaped field and the bottom part of Denbies Wine Estate. Compared to the rest of Denbies, it is relatively flat, although it doe s have some slopes! I love this loop - it's all through the vines and is surrounded by beautiful views, and it is easy to break it up into the different sections, and I find the loops go by so quickly. The greens of the vines, and the trees and the hills were just beautiful! These are some of the sections of the course:

Box Hill and then end of our "Pacer Section" with little Max (thank you, Max!)

Box Hill through the vines

 

"Green Carpet Hill" (start of walking bit)

 

"Nice Downhill" before "Wendy Hill"

Remember to Have Fun!

Heard it on the grape vine! (vines on the left were where we had to get to before we were allowed to walk)

How can you ever get tired of this view? The greens! So beautiful!

The Grinch Tree

The camping field was by the aid station, and the whole event felt like a festival really, with some running thrown in! This time, I had purchased a pop-up tent especially for the occasion, so felt like a proper camper (compared to the last time I went camping, and only took the ground sheet instead of the actual tent). It's different shades of green, and looks like a small green egg. It doesn't have a front, so Andrew says it is a fishing tent, but actually I think you'll find that it's name is actually a "beach tent" which is suitable for family camping, fishing (OK, fine, whatever), the beach, and picnics (now we're talking!). I thought, it would be perfect to pitch by the edge of the route, and arrange everything inside, so you can just grab things as you go past. Which was a great idea, apart from if it rains (see later section on The Weather)......

Another 100 miles with Sarah, and another 100 miles of chatting. This was our 6th 100 mile adventure together! We always have the best fun, genuinely, and I know it's 100 miles, and of course it is hard, but really we always do have such good fun and the miles fly by. I think, what's the point in doing these things if you won't enjoy them? People sometimes say, how can you find things to talk about for 100 miles? And I always want to be able to say something intelligent like, well, of course, for miles 0-20 we usually start by discussing the origins of the universe and any new theories we have been developing since our last run, then for miles 20-30 we move on to debating the changes in the political environment of the last week, before at mile 30 spending a few further miles contemplating quantum physics. But actually, of course, we are probably just talking rubbish, which becomes increasingly random the longer we've been running for. The tiny tiny grapes, and how they must make tiny tiny bottles of wine! The psychedelic grass pattern on the green carpet on Green Carpet Hill in the headtorches, and how this compared to green paisley carpets we may have had in our home growing up. 50 Shades of Green. If today is a good temperature for shrimps (actually, that's a rolling agenda item).  Which is just the best fun, and I do think that the more you smile, the less you can worry about what mile it is, or what time it is, or what part of your body is starting to hurt now. We didn't even officially check what lap we were on until lap 92, and then there were only 8 left to count, which was much more manageable than 100! 

It was fabulous too, to chat to and catch up with so many people during the event. And to see everyone achieve so many different things. All amazing!

Fabulous to spend the first marathon distance with Andrew - thank you! And well done on your bivvying adventure with Alan afterwards - hardcore!

Super to see Tara too - who dropped in (with cake!) after her Surrey Seven Tea Shop 27 miles (but in an impressive display of willpower, didn't go in a single tea shop). Thank you for the cake, and our unicorn biscuits!

The Weather: Oh! Must mention the weather, of course. Very hot and sunny when were started at 08:00 on Saturday, and it was very hot running around in a vineyard with no shade. In the afternoon, it started to rain (sandy rain!) and it cooled down a bit. Then the wind picked up. The combination of sandy rain and wind did not suit the fishing/picnic/beach tent at all, especially when it's open side was facing into the wind. Sarah's tiara had also blown off the top. We had a short interlude of tent rearranging, where we unpegged it, turned it round, and solved the problem, but not before everything inside had been covered in sand rain. Oh. The rain was on and off, heavy and drizzle. Soon after it got dark, there was a storm, with the most spectacular lightening show over Box Hill! Then it rained some more, got really cold overnight, and stayed that way. Lovely standard summer weather really. We did our packing on Friday, when it was 32oC, so packing gloves and extra layers seemed so unnecessary, but wow I'm glad we had them, it was chilly overnight!

It was very dusty at Denbies (no puddles like last year), and these were our legs after taking off the timing chips 😂

We finished 100 laps in 22:59:59, which is hilarious, as we had absolutely no plan about any particular time we wanted to do, and didn't know what the actual time was either, but now I am going to tell everyone we were aiming for sub-23 hours, and we nailed it by one second 😂

Huge big thank you to Phoenix Running and Rik, all the AMAZING marshals, and Timing Monkey for a brilliant event. And absolutely huge congratulations to everyone who ran - you are all brilliant and did amazing - thank you for everyone's company and support on the way around! And of course, thank you Sarah for another amazing adventure!

Saturn Running - The Great British Bake Run (marathon), 12.06.2022

I had a free day, and needed something to occupy myself with, so did a last minute entry into the Saturn Running Great British Bake Run.

Aim: to check that my body still works after last weekend.

Engineering works on, so no trains going, but I had devised a Plan B, and even a Plan C (as that's always advisable these days). 

Plan B was quickly discarded, due to tube delays, so Plan C involved a 1 mile walk, 2 tubes, a bus and a 2 mile walk. It all took two and three quarter hours, and I got there by 9.30, which I didn't think was bad.

It turns out that everything is still working fine, with the exception of my legs which feel a bit heavy. I did a marathon, and enjoyed a nice potter along the Thames (from Waysbury Skiff and Punting Club House, near Egham), with lots of chatting and catch ups!

It was hot, and the river was looking lovely in the sunshine. 

The Wraysbury Dragons were out training from the club house. They are such a magical sight, floating on the river that is sparkling in the sunshine! I have looked them up, as they are one of those things I always see and think, oh that's nice, and then never learn anything about them. A Dragon Boat is a 40 foot traditional Chinese boat which has a crew of 20 paddlers, a drummer and a helm, and rows along in time to the beat of the drum. The boats are beautifully painted, and have a golden dragons head at the front, and a curling tail at the back. With the beating of the drum, it is quite the spectacle!

A lovely day, thank you Saturn Running! And to everyone for the chats and good cheer! I love my medal and the little cupcake pin.

 

The journey home was much harder than the run.....I decided to go from Egham rather than Staines, as Google Maps said it was about the same time, and it was less walking, and I was a bit knackered by then, so it seemed the better option of some not very good options. The number 8 bus that was meant to leave the high street at 3:48 didn't come, and it was an hour until the next number 8 bus. I was not going to be stranded in Egham for an hour. I had already bought a sandwich from Waitrose, and some crisps from Tesco (Waitrose sandwiches are nicer, but crisps are just crisps after all), and it seemed I had exhausted all that Egham on a Sunday afternoon had to offer.  Another Plan C was needed. I looked as if there were rail replacement buses going to Hounslow, and then the trains were running up to London from there, so bought a train ticket on my phone and headed towards the station. Then the number 8 bus drove past. I shouldn't repeat what I said to it as it drove by on it's merry way, but you can imagine. At the top of the road to the station, I ran into Bushy, who was also trying to get home on the rail replacements, and had already been to the station and been directed back to the high street to find the rail replacement bus. After realising we were actually both going in different directions, and that I was therefore at the wrong bus stop, the rail replacement bus going in my direction appeared, so I leapt across the road and was forced to do a sprint, which I felt was unfair, given I'd been running all morning. But I made it, and then it was just the bus, the train, the Overground, and a walk, and I was back home in a (long) jiffy, only 3.5 hours after leaving the run! 

The LDWA Trans-Pennine 100 Miles - 03.04.2022

Thanks to Covid, it's three years since the last in-person LDWA annual 100 miler. It was good to be back! It felt quite emotional in a way - over the weekend, I saw so many people I haven't seen since before the pandemic started, it felt strange to think of everything that has happened since the last 100. It feels like a lifetime ago, and also like it was yesterday, in equal measure.

The thing that makes me most anxious before the LDWA 100 is the mandatory kit checks, and the fear I will have somehow forgotten something (even though it's all stuff you actually do need, so would be pretty hard to forget), and get disqualified. So I spent all of Wednesday evening packing, un-packing, and re-packing and re-checking the kit list. Thursday morning, I carried on with that, until leaving to catch the train from St Pancras up to Sheffield. I had decided a luxury Purple Palace (aka Premier Inn) stop over the night before would be a good idea to get some extra rest before starting, plus it was purple, so fitted the Jubilee theme of the weekend. Had an M+S picnic, watched some Miss Marple, went for wander around Sheffield.....and re-packed my bags again....and again.

Friday morning I woke up really early and couldn't get back to sleep, which defeated the object of staying in the Purple Palace really, but there you go. I amused myself by trying on my head gear for the event, and having a last minute luxury foot spa (before taping up my feet and back, this time I was determined not to get blisters and cuts everywhere like usual!) and caffeine boost.

After breakfast, headed over to the train station, and met up with Alan, and we caught the train over to Wombwell and walked up to the start at the Netherwood Academy. We got there at about 11:15 and weren't starting until 13:00, so there was plenty of time for checking in and collecting our trackers (from Richard from Beyond Marathon), chatting to people, re-packing again and making sure everything was in the right bag for 1) running bag, 2) drop bag for 62 miles, and 3) bag for the finish.....and time for a cup of tea!

At 13:00 it was time for the off! There were different start waves, and lots of people had already set off at 09:00 and 10:00, and I think there were about 30 or so of us starting at 13:00. The 100 miles were split into 17 different sections, each with a checkpoint at the end manned by a different local LDWA group. If you've done an LDWA event, you will know that their checkpoints are legendary, and this time they most definitely positively were!  A lot of my memories of this event are focussed around them, the lovely marshals, amazing refreshments, funny conversations, and good cheer - on this event I spent 3.5 hours in checkpoints, and those were probably the most fun hours of the whole event!

The first 11 or so miles were along a disused railway line, so nice and flat, and we got some good miles in. 

CP1 was after 5.6 miles, at Gilford Lane. The lovely Pam took a photo of my Jubilee nails and tiara, and it was great to meet someone as enthusiastic about nail varnish as me!

From here, it was another 6 miles, lots of it on the railway line, to CP 2 at Penistone, which was manned by Beds, Bucks and Northants group, so saw Dave and Merrian (for the first time since Covid!) which was fabulous!! A piece of Yorkshire Parkin was a nice treat, to see us on the next 6.5 miles to Birds Edge Checkpoint. Some of this section was a little bit more on the railway, before leaving it and heading off along a nice trail beside Scout Dike Reservoir, then some trails through fields and woods, seeing the lovely Jean on the way. Also saw some beautiful giant poppies, and some lovely rhododendron woods!

At CP3 at Birds Edge, in a giant barn, there were scones (and a lady with a squirty cream carton aiming it at people with scones!) but I opted for a sort of mince pie flavoured Bakewell slice, which was delicious! 

From here, it was 7 miles over to Holmbridge, and it's lovely this bit, the views start to open up as you run along the south side of the valley, with the River Holme at the bottom, and you can see the moors ahead in the distance. 

CP4 at Holmbridge was epic, and beautifully decorated for the Jubilee and had pie, peas and mash! I struggle to eat a lot all in one go on big runs, but I hate to leave anything at checkpoints as it is so delicious, and I had a good shot at it! Mashed potato and gravy in particular I have added to my personal "good foods to eat on a 100" list. I was sad to have to take off my tiara, which was too tight and was giving me a headache. I had become quite accustomed to pretending to be Queen, and felt quite in character after a marathon of it. I was wanting to wear it for the whole 100 miles, but things don't always go to plan, and even the Queen has to adjust things sometimes, I suppose. 

The next section was a big one! 8.3 miles up over the moors over Black Hill and Laddow Rocks, over to Crowden on the other side, and had the second biggest ascent of any section of the route. The first part was along Brownhill Reservoir (to a self clip).

And soon after came a kit check in Holme, which turned out to be for both maps, a headtorch and spare batteries. My million times of re-packing had paid off, and I passed! The first thing I took out of my bag was my tiara, which was quite embarrassing as the Mountain Rescue guy checking me was watching, but again, I'm sure the Queen gets embarrassed at times. You just have to own the moment, and pretend like you meant it to happen. Of course a tiara will be useful in the dark up a mountain when you're lost. It could act as a sort of reflective beacon. When Queen Victoria used to go up Ben Macdui on a horse, I expect she had some sort of tiara or crown on then, and no one laughed at her. Just as I was thinking this, we went past this post box, which seemed like some sort of sign to prove my point.

Anyway. Focusing on the serious things. Black Hill. Yes. Although it's tough, this is my favourite part of the whole route, the ascent isn't too steep, and up on the top is just stunning. 

Along the Pennine Way, over Soldier's Lump, and then up to Laddow Rocks. I'd been worried starting at 13:00 it would be dark before getting here, and there is a sheer drop just to the left of the path. As it turns out we got there with plenty of daylight and the light and colours were sensational, it was the perfect time to be there. The wind had picked up by that time though, and it was a bit dicey along the top, but at least the wind was blowing away from the edge.

Coming down the rocky path towards Crowden, met my cousin Sammy, so had a good catch up, and as always it was lovely to see him! 

At Crowden, there was soup and pizza! The next part was 5.6 miles, to Dinting Vale (by Glossop), along the Torside, Rhodeswood and Valehouse Reservoirs, and through a tunnel up and back onto the Trans-Pennie cycle trail, through Hadfield, and on to Glossop. Great to see Neil, Jaqui, and Brian on this part. It was just starting to get dusky before we got to CP6 in Dinting Vale....

....where there were Staffordshire cheesy oatcakes (which are like pancakes, rolled up with cheese inside)! This was the first time I had had a Staffordshire cheesy oatcake since the first time I one, which was at about mile 80 on my first 100, where I wasn't feeling at my best - so I had eaten a tiny bit and wrapped the rest up to try and eat a bit later, but found it two days later in the bottom of my bag....thankfully this oatcake experience went much much better! Thanks Brian for the photo, and hope you are OK.

Headtorches on before leaving the CP, and off in to the night! It was just over 5 miles to the next CP, with a climb up out of Glossop, over the moors, and down to Hayfield. Good to see Gary, and some of the guys from the Hadrian 100 on this part, it's always especially nice to see familiar faces in the dark (and this night was much better than the night on Cross Fell!!!) 

Coming down into Hayfield, my headlight caught the Queen standing in someone's garden. My photo didn't come out, what with it being dark, so I doubt anyone will believe me, but she was there alright!

At Hayfield I was starting to feel a bit sick, which was worrying me, as it wasn't even midnight. I usually feel sick in the early hours on an overnight run (I have established that this must be something to do with circadian rhythms and whatnot, so there's not much to do about it, other than have mints and sipping at water helps) but midnight was a bit soon for it to happen! Still, as always there was a very warm welcome in the CP, and I chatted to Dave (who I met on my first 100) and had a bit of lemon Bakewell, and two cheesy feet with paprika blackened toe-nails! 

The next section was tough, and easily the hardest part for me! 7.5 miles and the most ascent of all the sections (1750 ft), it was totally dark by now, the wind had picked up and the temperature dropped. It was tricky underfoot, and was up and down on rocky trails, climbing up to the Mam Tor Ridge. I managed to fall over on the only grassy part of the whole trail, so only got a bruise, which was unbelievably lucky! Bizarrely, there was a car with two guys in it driving along the trail - we kept leapfrogging them at gates, and turns out they were farmers, doing something, I'm not sure what exactly, but I got an "Ey Up!" from them when I fell over!

My watch also ran out of battery, conveniently just when it was darkest and I felt the coldest. Thank you Sarah for the special connector that means you can still keep it on your wrist whilst charging it! Got it all sorted, the reassuring pink line of the GPS was back up, got on some some handwarmers, gloves, and an extra layer, and things felt better again!

CP8 in the Mam Tor car park was wonderful - who would have thought you could manage to provide a menu like this from a car park!!

Opted for rice pudding and a sugary tea, and a little sit down in a deck chair, and felt better!

Next section was along the Great Ridge from Mam Tor to Lose Hill, which although we didn't get the views with it being dark, was really nice to run along, and the cold wind didn't seem as bad now.

 

From the top of Lose Hill, it was down into Hope, and the lovely checkpoint there, with toast and butter and tea. 

And the next part from Hope to Hathersage was all along the Hope Valley next to the River Noe (Noe Hope?), and was lovely running. Soon it started to get light. 

Good Moo-rning!

CP10 at Hathersage was the official breakfast stop (East Lancs LDWA, who always do it, and know how to do the best breakfast!!). We timed it quite well for breakfast, getting there at about 05:00. Alan had a full English, and I opted for toast and butter as was still feeling sick. I'd packed spare trainers, socks, a whole change of clothes....but in the end I just changed my top, just for something to do really, more than really needing to. My feet were feeling really good, which I couldn't believe, but wasn't going to complain about, or interfere with them at all! 

From here, it was a climb up to Stanage Edge, a gritstone edge, which is beautiful.

And then to CP11 at Moscar. This was an outdoor checkpoint, which was intended to be in a marquee, but in the battle of marquee versus wind, the wind had won, and so a car boot had been commissioned instead, and a finer car boot I had never seen - such was the organisation and array of goodies laid out. I opted for ready salted crisps, which after eating these and having more water, the nausea finally finally went away!

Rejuvenated, we tackled the next section which was past the posh Sugworth Hall and tower, which despite having plentiful unwelcoming signs all around it, was looking resplendent with all it's rhododendrons in full bloom.

Then it was down to Dale Dike Reservoir and through some lovely bluebell woods.

Through Low and High Bradfield, and on to the CP at Worral. Here we first of all had another kit check (for a whistle) and then the Cornwall and Devon CP had jacket spuds!

I loved the next section! It was the last part with any real climb in it, and went all through Wharncliffe Wood and along Wharncliffe Crags. When we came through here on the recce a few weeks ago, I thought it was magical here, and we named it the Leprechaun Woods. Now, with all the leaves out, and the extravagant pallet of bright greens smacking the senses, it was quite overwhelming!

I was sad to leave it! But we must press on and all that. And soon we were at CP 13 in Wortly, which was a very professional looking refreshment kiosk at the Rugby Club, with super chatty marshals who we had a good talk to about 100s, and a sweet dog named Max who kept eyeing up my scone. It got really cold again though. The forecast for the day was 16oC and was certainly wrong!! Jackets back on, and it was off for the next section, which was a mini 2.4 miles to Tankersley, including some "jungle like" bits through rape-seed fields, where the paths had been very kindly cleared by the organising team!

At the Tankersley CP, Alan had a catch up with his friends Reece and Angela, and I had a chat with Dave Morgan and Simon, and had a fish finger sandwich with ketchup. As you do. 

15 miles left! The bit from Tankersley to Wentworth has some road bits, which was quite nice after all the trails. Saw Dr Rob on this part, always good to see him. CP15 was in Wentworth Cricket pavilion, and saw my Mum and Dad's friends Wendy and John manning the CP. 

Circumnavigating the cricket match and flying cricket balls, we headed through the Wentworth Woodhouse Estate, past the house (with the biggest frontage in Europe), through the estate parkland, to the mausoleum (which at this point was feeling like a tempting place to have a lie down)....through Nether Haugh and Upper Haugh, and turned back on ourselves to head to Elescar. 

CP16, the last CP, at Elescar was run by Dave, Merrian and friends, and as always was full of fun and laughter! A few sweets and some water to see us through the final few miles, plus the remainder of my emergency Kendal Mint Cake, and we shared some of the last few miles with Mark, running along the canal and cycle tracks, to the FINISH!!!

Alan and I finished in 27:34 which is an LDWA 100 PB for me, and my 5th x LDWA 100 (5 more to go to the coveted 10 x LDWA badge!) and 10th x 100 miler overall. Thank you Alan for an amazing adventure, and being my running pal and for putting up with me for the whole 100 miles - you are awesome! 

Lovely, as always, to see Pauline and Yvonne at the end! And congratulations to Sandy on your 10th LDWA 100!

A shower feels so good after 100 miles! And veggie curry and rice for tea tastes the best. Sleeping on the wooden floor of the gym (aka "the morgue") on my yoga mat, although not the most comfortable of places, was good fun - I loved waking up randomly in the night and looking around, and the baggage area was getting more and more empty, and more and more people in sleeping bags were filling up the floor. And I loved hearing snatches of the finishing bell and the cheering from the hall next door when people finished, whenever someone opened the door of the morgue. 

Huge huge well done to everyone who took part! 

As it's LDWA, it's not a race, so there is no one winner, but everyone is a winner - so there is Colin the Cup and Frank the Ferret that everyone can have their photo taken with!

Thank you to Aaron and the team at Vermuyden LDWA group for organising a really most marvellous event! And to all of the lovely marshals from all of the different groups - for being so kind and funny and caring all the way around, and for all the amazing foods and refreshments you provided - wow! And to Richard and the tracking team, and the Raynet Team (I enjoyed learning about that at breakfast!). It was a really special one indeed, and I have so many great memories.....

....so here's to the next time we say Ey Up and 'Ow Do!