Race Report – Adidas Thunder Run 2011

I ran 30 miles last weekend, what did you do? It’s nice to be able to ask that question, I’m sure many people will never be able to say that and maybe that is part of the attraction of this kind of event.

What an absolutely amazing experience this was. My first outing at the Adidas Thunder Run started on Saturday morning at 04:45 when the alarm went off and that was when it dawned on me that lack of sleep would be a key feature of the next 24 hours.

I met up with the rest of the Team Kamon Wing Chun guys at 05:30 and we headed north up the M1 to Catton Park in Derbyshire arriving some time before 09:00. First job was getting tents pitched and settling in before registration.

The Team Kamon campsite: Rich and Steve

As you can see the weather was amazing, clear and sunny although later on I think most people would have preferred cooler and cloudy!

Once we got setup we took a wander over to race registration to sign in and pick up race numbers, timing chips and goody bags. The freebies were pretty good; a few pouches of SIS nutrition products, a copy of Runners World and a decent Adidas technical shirt amongst other bits and pieces.

We had chosen the running order on the journey up. Me as the newbie in number one slot, Jim Hiatt 2nd, Susan Mansfield 3rd, Richard Harris 4th and Steve Barson 5th.

Once we had signed in we moved on to breakfast and the start of the all important nutritional and hydration strategy. By now it was 10:05 so I had just under two hours until race start at 12:00 to get breakfast down and digested. Therefore I opted for the lighter option of a full english breakfast and coffee.

Team Kamon: Me, Rich Harris, Jim Hiatt, Susan Mansfield, Steve Barson, Mini Steve

Having eaten the breakfast of champions I headed back to get changed in to running kit for my first lap. By now the temperature was approaching 26° C, far too hot for all that running malarkey. We attended the race briefing at 11:30, which covered the usual rules, procedures etc and then it was time to get out to the start for my first lap.

Start / Finish

At that point my stupid Garmin 405 decided it had a flat battery regardless of the fact it had been fully charged the night before. I wish I had never sold my 201, which seemed to keep its charge for weeks. I had to switch to Runkeeper on the iPhone which does have the benefit of announcing stats every 5 minutes. I was feeling the usual mix of pre-race nerves and excitement at this point and keen to get cracking. I was also feeling the heat but then looking to my left saw the Royal Marine Commando in combat boots and trousers with a 40 kilo Bergen on his back, his only concession to the heat being a T-shirt! Hardcore, he was running solo!

Finally the klaxon went and we were off. This is a really nice course, all cross-country with some pretty challenging technical sections in the woods, with exposed tree roots, switchbacks and very narrow pathways. Difficult for overtaking and treacherous in the dark, especially when tired. The first 5k is mostly climbing, with the first climb in a fairly steep and narrow wooded section. This takes you past the 1k marker with the course then opening out as you double back on yourself and head back down towards the campsite and 2k. It was really hot and I was cursing my choice of breakfast by now. The 3k marker was a welcome sight after a nice twisty little section then yet more long slow hill up to the 4k.

Me just completing my first lap

TR24 Course Map

The only water station is at the 5k point, which is at the bottom of pretty much the end of the hilly section and is followed by a couple of  very technical  bits and nice downhills through 6 and 7k. Still too hot though!

You run along a ridgeway for 1/2 a kilometre or so with great views out over open country and the River Trent, then loop back on yourself heading downhill to 8k, with the final 1.5k back on the level running through the camp site .

The last stretch takes you up yet another hill, just a short one and then back across the start / finish timing mat to the changeover pen.

I finished my first lap in about 59 minutes, by no means anywhere near a PB but good enough for me given the course and the heat. I absolutely hated it!

There were some absolutely storming performances, Richard Harris ran a 52 minute or so 10k and Steve was Mr Consistency averaging about 53 mins except for a 1:03 in the middle of the night. Jim was running with a nasty neck injury and still pulled out 4 laps. Susan and I did 5 each and our overall total was 220k (137.5 miles) in the 24 hours.

The official results aren’t out yet but my times were approx 59 mins, 1:03, 58 mins, 1:07 and 1:08. I ran at 12pm, 5pm, 10pm, 3 am and 8.45 am. The second lap at 5pm was worse than the first, the temperature had got up to 28° C and it was pretty horrible. I loved the 10 pm lap, it was really cool and the technical sections by torchlight were awesome. I made it back to my tent for approx 11 pm, refueled with chocolate and a small whisky and went to sleep (for a little while).

Dragging myself out of my sleeping bag at 2:30 am after 2 hours sleep to run again at 3:00 am is one of the worst things I have had to do in my life. It was cold and miserable, getting started on that lap was a real struggle, but there is something pretty special running by starlight and finishing felt great. It was a nice bonus to catch dawn breaking at about 04:30 and I particularly enjoyed the bacon sandwich and cup of tea before bed.

Dawn breaking over the TR24 camp site

I actually had a reasonable kip, all 3.5 hours of it until it was time to wake up and run again at 08:30 the next day for my 5th and final lap. I’m not really sure how I got my legs turning over but it was very tough as the 1:08 time would suggest. Finishing and knowing there was no more running for me was amazing and although I had to queue for an hour for the shower it was well worth the wait.

I met up with a friend who I follow on Twitter so I think that counts as my first Tweetup. Steven Wright is, as his Twitter handle  @Runningthetube would suggest, running the full length of the London Underground (Tube) system to raise money for a charity called Sands! Well done mate and it was good to meet you.

I collected a nice selection of blisters with one massive one between two toes and one just under the nail of each of my second toes. I woke up yesterday morning, absolutely exhausted,  after a solid 9 hours sleep, got out of bed and promptly collapsed in a heap on the floor, well almost. My legs were pretty sore, and I was having to do sideways  walking going down stairs! Much better today, ready for a Kung Fu class tomorrow night and back out and running at the weekend after a little rest.

Will I do it again? Definitely, no doubt about it. I want to come back next year and go faster and longer.

Finally I just want to say a massive thank you for support and well done to my team mates, a fine bunch of people if ever there was one, and an absolute privilege to race with.

Related articles

• Adidas Thunder Run 2011 (kungfurunner.wordpress.com)

Fun on the Fells

So I had my first fell running experience on Saturday morning and it was pretty amazing. The weather was good, cool and clear after rain and I set off with a spring in my step. The spring lasted  approximately five minutes until I realised just how tough running straight up a Lakeland hill is. I have done a lot of walking in the mountains over the years but I had forgotten the effort required to lug my (now not inconsiderate) frame upwards.

Going Up!

I should point out I was not wearing the right shoes having to make do with a pair of old Saucony road shoes with no grip so traction was a problem. The surface was a mixture of damp sheep shorn grass, loose wet scree and wet slabs of  rock and was by no means easy to run on, coupled with the sheer exertion of running up hill it was very tough. You have to find your lowest possible gear and of course accept that small distances will take a lot longer to travel for far more effort. I still can’t work out if my legs or my  lungs were burning more.

It's tough up there!

There was no real path as such except a sheep track and there were a lot of sheep, including this poor one in the picture! The views even at a few hundred feet of elevation are ample reward for the effort. I got to about 1000 feet in 25 mins or so and was exhausted but exhilarated. I only had an hour to spare for my run and it was with sadness that after a brief traverse across the slope I headed down again, I could have spent all day up there.

Going down is when the fun really starts. Gravity is, in one sense, on your side and theoretically makes it easier but control is a major problem and I either fell or slipped at least three times on my descent. The strain on knees and thighs on the way down is immense. I almost turned an ankle slipping on a rock, broke my Garmin strap in another fall and funniest of all lost my footing on scree and managed to sit backwards in a gorse bush; not recommended! My wife spent ages removing gorse splinters from my palms on Sunday night and it’s ridiculous how much things like that hurt.

I am very much looking forward to my next trip to the mountains although for the next few months I will have to make do with Hertfordshire hills.

View over to Hopegill Head and Ladyside Pike