Race Report - Stonehenge Stomp

Well I completed the event and, more to the point, survived!  I also have a lovely certificate and embroidered badge to show for all my effort.  Really didn't know what to expect from the day so I went with an open mind and with the sole aim of finishing.  It did not start well.  Other Half was on a work's night out, came home rather drunk at 1.30am and then proceeded to snore his head off for the rest of the night.  Ended up sleeping in the spare room but that didn't help matters much as I could still hear him!  I remember looking at my watch, it was 3.30am which was not good when I was getting up at 7am.  However, despite the major lack of sleep I felt surprisingly chipper.  A nice bowl of mini shredded wheat and two cups of coffee and I felt I was ready to face my biggest challenge yet.  Off I set at 8.15am and eventually found Amesbury leisure centre where I caught up with the rest of the gang.  The weather was being quite kind, no rain thankfully but there was a rather strong wind.  Why is it when it's windy no matter in which direction I run the wind is always blowing at me?  Anyway, into the main hall to register to find out that the 40k route had been altered slightly due to a bad flood in one of the fields; this meant the run would be just short of 25 miles which was somewhat disappointing.  Back outside, rounded up the gang and, in my naivety, asked where the start was.  Now, I was expecting some sort of official start line, even just a bit of tape across the road or something but apparently nothing - you literally could start running from anywhere within the car park.  In fact, you didn't even need to run as the event was organised by the Long Distance Walker's Association and therefore runners were actually in the minority.  So off we set and, much to my surprise, the first 3 miles were run through a large housing estate, all on tarmac - not at all what I was expecting.  Mile 3 saw us come to the first check point stocked with juice, gummy bears and biscuits (this was to be repeated for the other 5 check points).  At this point I took the opportunity to remove my coat and buff as I was starting to get a bit warm.  What I didn't realise was that I accidentally turned off my GPS so that it stopped recording my run beyond this point for the next half mile or so which was a real bummer and it has come back to bite me on the bum as I shall tell you about later.  After mile 3 we headed off onto a farm track which was much more pleasant than tarmac but an awful lot harder going.  The majority of the run (I would say 75%) was either on farm tracks or fields.  The going was pretty horrible; basically two types of mud a) thick, gloopy and sticky so that it clung to every part of my shoe and made them unbelievably heavy or b) ankle deep soup that was as slippery as an ice rink.  With the going underfoot, the head wind and the undulating profile it made for one tough first event.  However, I really enjoyed myself and I am proud that I managed to finish with the majority of the distance actually run.

Lessons learned:

1.  I need to do more hill training as they really do sap your energy so I must practice in order to get fitter and stronger on them

2.  I need to look up and look at where I am going rather than down at my feet (see photo above for proof, my friend is staring firmly ahead whereas I seem to be looking for the meaning of life in my shoe laces or something).  The only niggle I had following the run was the back of my neck and shoulders being a bit sore and I'm sure that was caused by looking down all the time

3.  I can drink from a cup as long as I am standing still and not planning on bounding along any time soon after.  On all my previous races if I have tried drinking while running I have a) ended up wearing quite a lot of the liquid and b) felt really sick for at least the following mile

4  Whilst I normally wouldn't entertain eating a shop's own biscuit (McVities all the way for this classy bird) they taste bloody fantastic when it's all you are offered during a 25 mile run

5.  I need to run my own race.  It's great running in a group for the moral support however, because I am new to all this and they are far more experienced / faster than me, they end up going just that bit too fast for my personal comfort zone

6.  If I am going to run my own race then I need to become far more observant (see point 2 above).  Apparently it is perfectly acceptable to mark a route using one strip of coloured electrical tape around a given object (lamp post, fence post etc).  Who knew?

7.  I need to double check that I haven't accidentally turned off my GPS when taking my coat off.  I have made this error several times now so you think it was a lesson I had already learned however it is clearly taking some time to sink in.  My friend's GPS showed the run as 24.1 miles (so shy of the 25.4 miles we were expecting because of the detour) however mine was on 23.45.  My longest run I have previously recorded was 23.8 (a night run to recce part of another ultra race) so that means that although the Stonehenge Stomp was a longer run, it doesn't count due to the GPS not recording for half a mile or so.  'Tis a right bummer I tell you

8.  I remembered to take a change of clothes for driving home in (although I got away with only changing shoes / socks) however I didn't prepare anything to eat and I forgot to take any money with me so I couldn't treat myself to a bacon butty.  I could cheerfully have stabbed someone for a bacon butty after four and half hours of running

All in all though it was a really great experience and one I am pleased I completed.  It certainly hasn't put me off ultra marathons so I now have a few months to gear up for my first proper 'ultra marathon' of 35 miles in April.

Next race is The Terminator which, at only 12 miles, should be a walk in the park but apparently they like to shock and surprise their competitors (I have heard tell of knee-high bogs, wading chest deep in water and having to climb hills on hands and knees they are so steep).