I had a serious bone to pick with the Pilgrims Challenge, a lovely 66 mile race on the North Downs Way over 2 days on the first weekend in February. I’d run it in 2010 and, while you can run without maps and just follow the North Downs Way signs, I’d got seriously lost (missed the signs due to being distracted by nice sunny day, boats on water, too much chatting etc) to the tune of at least 90 minutes cumulative wasted time over the two days. Normally I live too far away from races to recce them, but this one was pretty much on my back door step. There was no excuse. So I was back in 2011, pretty familiar with the route and feeling fitter and faster. This time, it was going to be personal!
Day One: Having got lost at the back of the ‘elite runners’ (ha!) pack last year, this year I opted to start with the ‘normal’ runners group. We set off at a good pace, and I was surprised to find myself tailing the leading group of six. The recce-ing certainly paid off, and it was really lovely to run with a sense of familiarity and without the need to constantly check signage. I headed happily into the first checkpoint just before the river, and was even able to give directions to another lost runner over the ill-fated bridge where I went so wrong the previous year. I slowed to a walk to get up the hill to the church (approx 9 miles), and was overtaken for the first time, but I caught him up later after he’d taken a wrong turn. The next stage was relatively flat and I felt really good. I made decent progress, and ended up running with two guys for company so it was nice to have some chat. The organisers had taken care to put some extra arrows up at one of the key points where I’d gone wrong the year before, so that was another potential pitfall avoided. All went well into the next checkpoint (top marks to the organisers for the super checkpoint snacks) and then it was downhill from the vineyard (carefully opening the gate which last year I’d threw open with such enthusiasm it had bounced back and nearly knocked me out, resulting in an attractive fence sized lump on my forehead!). My running companions stopped me going the wrong way at a junction at the bottom of the hill – proving that maps still serve a purpose even in a race like this where you can get by more or less on the signage. Next up was the biggest climb of the route over Box Hill (approx 24 miles in) but I’d trained over this so many times now that the climb didn’t faze me. Having recce’d this bit a couple of weeks before in some brutally muddy conditions, it was a huge relief to find that the route had dried out. I was still feeling pretty good, and was delighted at the next checkpoint to be told that only a couple of runners had been through before us – clearly some of those who had been ahead of us had got lost somewhere (notwithstanding the fact that the fastest runners starting at the later time were still behind us of course). Stupidly, I didn’t eat much at that checkpoint; I was feeling a bit sick and was too focussed on the route to think to myself that I needed to make myself eat. Progress up the next hill was okay, but the flat trot from there to the final checkpoint felt much worse than it should. I knew the last 2.5 miles from there were all downhill, and should have been an easy run to the finish, but again I didn’t think enough about eating and only took a couple of chocolate fingers, one of which I threw away as I just couldn’t stomach it. Boy did I not feel too good for that last section. I was really cross with myself but slowed to a miserable walk a few times. I was duly punished by the running gods as a girl overtook me about 300m from the finish. I tried to get myself into a sprint to overtake her again, but couldn’t quite make it. So I was happy to finish in 5 hrs 36, an hour and ten mins quicker than the previous year, but cross with myself for letting myself down for the last few miles.
Day Two: As it turned out though, it seemed I’d had a good day’s run the day before, and was surprised to find that I’d come 3rd female. The three fastest girls had all been in the slower runners group, with the first female home that day only finishing 10 mins or so ahead of number two, who was only a matter of seconds ahead of me, so all to play for on day two…. I had been put into the ‘elite runners’ starting time for the day, and it seemed like a good plan to get pulled along with the fastest runners. I might just have worked myself up into a state of over-excitement, as I found myself in the lead of the whole pack as we raced from the school into Merstham, albeit only for a few hundred metres! I was surprised how good my legs felt, and managed to keep the pace at a decent run, even up the hills. I was still annoyed with myself for my poor performance over the last hour the day before, and while I had no idea how well I would cope with a second day, as this was only my second ever stage race, but I was prepared to give it my all. Race tactics were simply ‘make hay while the sun shines’ – I was determined to cane the pace for as long as I could, and then accept that after that I’d have to slog it out feeling rubbish. The challenge seemed to be as much a mental one as a physical one, and I had to resist the urge to listen to the voice in my head that was warning me to slow down before I blew up. The girl who had overtaken me near the finish the day before caught me up after a few miles, and we had a good chat running along together. As we descended the first big hill, all my training with nimble-footed mountain goat types paid off, as I shot off in a hail of glory (well, sort of) down the slope – startling the dozen or so chaps who I passed (a couple of whom congratulated me later in the day on my ‘amazing descents’ - bizarre for me as I’m normally the clumsy one at the back on the downhills!) Yikes did that feel good, and I really got the wind in my sails. The girl who’d come in first place the day before overtook me with her boyfriend up the next hill up to the vineyard. To her absolute credit, she was lugging a 6kg pack complete with roll mat with her, as they were training for MdS. We had a bit of a chat but I lost them at the checkpoint, when they didn’t even stop for water. She certainly deserved her first place. The familiarity of the course made the rest of the race tick by very pleasantly, and I was constantly surprised to not be overtaken by anyone and to not start feeling dreadful. But running though the woods, I must have taken a slightly parallel track to the main path, which then presented me with a junction I didn’t recognise. My tired brain panicked, but there were a couple of hikers sitting by the path, so I asked them if they knew the way. They confidently pointed down the path that went into the fields. Off I went, stupidly ignoring the voice in my head that was singing out ‘this isn’t right, this isn’t right’. I realised my mistake, but then figured that if I carried on, I might be able to cross the fields back into the woods where I needed to be. Bad plan. Eventually I admitted defeat and turned round. The mistake cost me ten minutes altogether but I was furious with myself and really frustrated that I might have lost my possible podium finish. On the plus side, the inner fury certainly channelled some speed into my legs – I was determined to make up for my mistake. Having learnt my lesson from the day before, I force fed myself up the hill to the church (approx 24 miles in) and ate as much as I could. I’m sure this paid off, as I carried on feeling strong. At the last checkpoint, I grabbed some more biscuits and sped off. The heels of my feet had been troubling me all day – no matter how tightly I tied my laces, they were still rubbing. The good side of this was that while running was sore, walking was absolute agony, so the couple of times I did slow down, I pretty promptly sped back up again. It looked like I was on for sub-6 hours and knowing the route was great, as I could mentally check off the miles in my head left to the finish. From the top of the fields it was pretty much downhill, and boy did I fly! (well that’s how it felt to me, it was probably a pretty lame shuffle!) I was so pleased to finish feeling strong; I certainly felt like I’d raced to the best of my abilities that day. I finished day two in 5 hrs 52, with a total time for the 66 miles of 11 hrs 29, and I was really chuffed to come in second lady for the weekend.
Many thanks to the organisers for putting on a great race.
