The Running Man by SeanG

Well, my brain is pretty scrambled after this week, but here are my ramblings......

Monday and Tuesday were complete, non-running rest days after Sunday's Grafham Marathon and a 2 day taper before starting the Great Barrow Challenge on Wednesday. No aches, pains for after effects so all was well.
Spent most of Monday and Tuesday writing out a list of things that I needed to take with me as I was staying over for 4 nights arriving on the Tuesday evening.

Barrow is situated between Newmarket and Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk and is only about 50 miles/1 hour away from home. The Great Barrow Challenge is a 4 day event (Wednesday to Saturday) where competitors can chose to either run, walk or cycle with a choice of distances each day. However, the Great Barrow Challenge Medal is only awarded to those who complete all 4 days at the maximum distance of their chosen discipline. In other words you have to run or walk 26.2 miles (or thereabouts) or cycle 125 miles each day within a time window. In other words, you could any combination of running, cycling and walking cycle over the 4 days to get the medal. The running/walking routes were the same. The time cut-offs were quite generous - up to 10 hours for the run and 11 hours for the cycling and walking if you chose to start at the earliest opportunity. There was a 2 hour starting window every day. 0700 for the walkers and cyclists and 0800 for the runners giving people flexibility as when they wanted to start.

I naturally chose 4 days of running. Part of the challenge (well, a big part of the challenge) was to follow the routes correctly. This meant being able to follow a combination of written instructions, map and arrows on the actual course itself. Each day was a different course with a varying degree of road/off-road running.

I arrived the the venue at around 1845 on Tuesday evening and set-up my blow-up mattress and sleeping bag on the floor of the gym. At least I was inside! You could have chosen to camp or sleep inside one of their provided army tents but I decided inside was the best of the options available. There was about 10 other people or so sharing the floor space. Inevitably, there was one really loud snorer so little sleep was to had on any of the 4 nights there. Less than 4 hours sleep a night added sleep deprivation to the "challenge".

Was up on and about just after 0600 on Wednesday morning. Breakfast options were provide your own or a choice of a bacon or egg roll/sandwich. I chose a bacon roll - not my usual pre-marathon breakfast and never usually eat so close to starting a long run. Due to the limited amount of water stops (and with no mile markers on the provided maps) and not actually sure at what distance there were at and how far between, there was no choice but to carry fluid too.
The main running brief was at 0750 and a mass start at 0800 (mass = about 20 runners or so). Had some pretty heavy rain overnight so the off road bits will be very "interesting" but the running conditions weather-wise were pretty much ideal - cool and overcast but the wind did start to get up on the return back to Barrow. Started off in a group but within a mile it was already quite splintered into sub-groups. The signs and instructions took a little getting used to, but not too bad in general once you knew how the signs had being placed etc. Ran the 1st 4 miles with another chap, but after that I was running by myself. The majority of day 1 was off road and deemed to be the hardest running day. The routes were basically along bridal paths, footpaths and roads but were very much mixed terrain with the surfaces varying from nice to ankle breaking! About 70% off road. The "highlight" of the 1st day was running in 6 miles of tank tracks! The course itself was pretty straight forward (well, from looking at the map anyway!) but spotting the route signs (small circular signs with black arrows on a red background) was a little more challenging. 1st water stop was just after 8 miles with the main checkpoint after 17 miles. The 3rd final water stop was at 22.5 miles. The last 6 miles or so was all road. Managed to get around without taking any wrong turns in about 4.20. Felt pretty comfortable but couldn't help think that I had maybe ran the 1st day a little too quickly with another 3 days to follow. Day 1 measured 27.1 miles. Finished with a single small blister on the little toe of my right foot. After the finish it was pretty much a case of shower, dress, eat and then spend the remainder of day chatting and refuelling readying yourself for the following day. Another sleepless night.

Day 2 followed pretty much the same pattern as Day 1. The legs felt okay but nowhere near as comfortable as Day 1. Day 2 was similar to Day 1 in that it was mostly off road and ran on trails and bridal paths etc - about 70% off road again. Another fresh day with a little bit of sun but again pretty windy later in the run. Departed at 0800 with the mass start and again the group became splintered pretty early on. I ended up running with a couple of guys who were running today but had cycled the 125 miles yesterday. Pace was maybe a little quick to start with but after about 7 miles or so settled into something that was much more sustainable. Day 2's route was much much more trickier. Quite a lot of twists and turns and potential for going off route not to mention being much more up and down too. 1st water stop was just after 7 miles, main checkpoint was before 12 miles and the 3rd water stop was at about 19 miles. Managed to stay on route again today but had to stop fairly frequently to check the map and written instructions to make sure that we were okay. Finished in 4.19 with the distance coming in at about marathon distance. Many people had gone off route with varying degrees of disaster. One group managed to pick up the route markers for Day 3 within a couple miles of the start and ended up 9 miles off route, but somehow managed to persuade a van driver to drive to the 1st check point so that they could continue! They still managed to run over 29 miles for the day. This was no easy challenge. Even though I managed to stay on route and made no navigations errors I found the day both physically and mentally tough. Finished with a couple of minor blisters but feet were still in good nick. My quads in particular were suffering by now. Still getting very little sleep.

Day 3 pretty much followed 1 and 2 (as it does!). Decided on a couple of bacon rolls for breakfast as I felt like I was struggling for energy on Day 2. Day 3 was about 20 miles on road and 6 or so off-road. Decided to switch from my standard road training shoes to my lightweight road shoes. Felt much more comfortable today. Route was pretty straight forward but still had to stop periodically to check the map and written instructions. Managed to find a nice rhythm that was pretty easy going. Water stops at about 6 miles, 13 miles (main check point), 18 miles and a 4th at about 20 miles. Shot straight past the 4th as I didn't need any water and was feeling good. The last 3 miles were very very tough on the feet especially in lightweight road shoes. It was cross country over ploughed and fields and running around the edge of tractor rutted fields etc. My feet were pretty uncomfortable for the final run in. Finished in 4.09 and again it was about marathon distance. Same blisters as Day 2 re-appeared but soon dispatched. Feet still okay. Legs and quads etc felt okay but a little stiff after a while.

Day 4 started with getting a later breakfast so back to just a single bacon roll. Not ideal so that was supplemented with a gel just before the start. Legs felt okay, no aches but not a huge amount of energy in the tank. Day 4 was again largely on road with a few bits of trail and a couple miles towards the end off road. Light weight road shoes was again the order of the day. The day started off cool, but the sun was out and it soon started to warm up. Day 4's course suited me the best. A little undulating for start to finish with the up bits being long and the down bits being generally sharp. Route was very well signed and the easiest to follow. Basically, ran towards Newmarket around The Gallops before running through the centre of Newmarket and back into Barrow via some back roads and a little bit cross country. Had to stop a couple of times for horses around Newmarket (as they have right of way). Water stops at approx 7 miles, 13 miles (check point) and 21 miles. Even the last few miles cross country was pretty easy and kind on the feet. Finished in 4.05 but the course was a little short at 25.8 miles. Actually didn't feel any worse at the finish than I did at the start. 'er Indoors and the Little One was there at the finish.

131.50 miles ran for the week.

After finishing we found out that there was a slight "technical" problem. The medals hadn't turned up! So, basically, 4 marathons in 4 days for err nothing! Been assured that it will be sent in the post when they arrive! Not too sure how the 100 marathon are going to view/treat this event if an odd day is "short". Impossible to prove that the routes are followed in full to achieve the correct distance. The event was well attended by 100 Marathon Club members and wannabe's too. A very friendly event with all the competitors being happy to chat and talk to each other. Over 1,000 miles of routes had to be "signed" for the cycling and running/walking routes so in general the Great Barrow Challenge people did very very well to get it pretty much right. It was the 3rd year of the GBC but the 1st year for the cycling and running so there was obviously going to teething issues and little problems here and there. Good value for money event which will only get better and better with feedback acted upon. Will I do it next year? Not sure. Enjoyed the running, but still not keen on any form of self-navigation (although it was mostly pretty minimal) and the possibility of getting lost and running extra miles, but I'm sure that some people will say that adds to the "fun".

Legs are in great nick today, but this has been the longest week of my life and the sleep deprivation did not help! Probably the best they have felt since Wednesday. I do think that my Recovery Skins play a large part in keeping the legs in good nick. This week should see me run the Honington 10k (yes, a stones throw away from Great Barrow). However, I will not be racing that one and then the Mablethorpe Marathon next Sunday where I hope to be helping some achieve a double world record (a chap called David Smith who will be dressed as a Monk and will have both of his hands handcuffed together - he currently holds a couple of other marathon fancy dress records). Sounds pretty insane to me, but I hope to get him around in sub 4. Who said life is dull!

Right, where's my medal?