Endure24 is a 24hr race which is held from midday Saturday to midday Sunday.
The aim is to complete as many 5 mile laps as you can in teams of 8,
5, 3, 2 or on your own depending on how much you want to challenge
yourself. The route is 99% on tricky forest trails and has some
impressive hills.
What’s
that saying? The couple that runs together, stays together?
Nonsense.
The
couple who runs together, will end up going to a 24hr race together,
fall out over who should have checked the tent for leaks and whether
the the other should be charged extra petrol money for having to
return to the house for forgotten items and end up sulking. With one
half of the couple in a car in a puddle of mud, the other one in a
tent in a puddle of rainwater.
....
Diary
of Endure 24
I
like to be organised for races. I get neurotic, uptight and
eventually sulky if things don’t go
my
way beforehand. All winning traits I’m sure you’ll agree and ones
which make
me
an ideal race buddy. (cough)
I
needed to pack for Endure 24 which I was to be running as part of a
team of 8. However, due to a busy week, I hadn’t had a chance to
check the tent, pack kit or sort out the best bit – the food. And
snacks are my FAVOURITE thing. Apart from the running of course.
Therefore,
I'd relied on The Mister to check the tent and I sorted out the food.
I like sorting the food for long races. It involves taste tests and
pick’n’mix tends to feature heavily. I’d baked a couple of
sweet potatoes and tucked in some Chia Charge flapjacks for a special
treat in between the sweets.
Saturday:
9am: Pack
car with running kit, tent and food.
9:15am: Sit
in car honking horn while The Mister runs to and fro between
house and car
debating which hat to wear and which pair of
running socks he can’t live
without.
9:20am: Leave
house and drive towards M4.
9:22am: Return
to house for The Mister's headphones.
9:24am: Leave
house and drive towards M4.
9:26am: Return
to house for The Mister's car charger.
9:28am: Leave
house and drive towards M4.
9:26am: Return
to house for The Mister's car trainers.
9:27am: Resist
urge to leave The Mister behind or beat him to death as this will
mean I will have to run extra laps at Endure 24. Leave house for
final time and drive towards M4. Refuse to stop, turn around or go to
drive-thrus. Despite whinging.
11:00am: Arrive
at campsite. In pouring rain. Luckily the other team members have
registered the team and have picked up the numbers, chips and race
packs so The Mister and I unpack the tent in the sodden field.
11:15am: Realise The Mister’s idea of ‘checking the tent’ meant he
opened the tent bag and went “yep it’s a tent.” We have brought
The Leaky Tent with us.
Sigh
and get on with putting tent up. Might be able to peg it tautly to
limit amount of water inside the tent.
 |
| Non-Leaky NOT our tent. |
11:20am: Realise
The Mister hasn't packed tent pegs with the tent.
11:21am: Sit in tent and scoff entire pack of chocolate bananas in panic as
the lightning crackles around the tent and the rain drizzles gently
down my neck.
11:22am: Calming
soporific effect of chocolate kicks in and I calm down slightly.
Trenchfoot
takes longer than 24 hours to develop right ...?
11:50am: Line
up with about 600 other runners for lap 1. Race has grown from 600
last year to 2000 this year but start funnel is same width. Personal
space is not an option and spend 10 minutes with nose pressed in
armpit of runner beside me and cheek stuck to someone else’s back.
Remove someone’s elbow from my buttock and am relieved to hear the
starting horn as it means I may be able to draw a breath soon that
doesn’t smell of someone else’s nervous farts. However it’s the
same old camaraderie and there is chat all around and everyone is
discussing races and snacks.
12:07am: Lap 1: Realise
have started too far back when I get hemmed in by a pack of
solo runners who are trotting along at a “I can do this all day and
night” pace.
Some are eating snacks already. Have brief moment of
snack envy before
deciding stealing a snack from someone capable of
running for 24hrs isn’t a
smart move. They may not move fast but
they will get you in the end. Would be
like Halloween and Mike
Myers but with more lycra and less Jamie Lee Curtis.
Plus I’d
have to give the snack back.
I
decide to get a move on.
Start
dodging and weaving between runners to try and get some space to run
in which doesn’t involve treading and being trodden on. It’s the
same at the start of every race especially one on narrow trails but
I’m aware that the path narrows even further so I run along the
grass verge to try and get around some of the slower runners.
12:10am: Find
a nice pace although the course is still congested and footing is
tricky due
to the trails. There is a change to the course this year
which is an out-and-back
additional section through the woods. The
black earth is springy and bouncy to
run on! Boing!
12:15am: Despite
the earlier downpour it’s surprisingly hot in unshaded sections and
I’m
grateful for the water dripping off the trees onto me as it
cools me down.
However the rain had left big puddles on the trail
and each corner had muddy
footprints and a deepening muddy trench
around it.
Get
a bit carried away with the excitement and run a bit too fast.
12:17am: Hear
noises like gunshots. Come to conclusion that race HQ have
implemented zero tolerance to Al Fresco toilet habits and have given marshals
permission to shoot runners caught short on the trails. Resolve to cross legs
and wait for the portaloo.
implemented zero tolerance to Al Fresco toilet habits and have given marshals
permission to shoot runners caught short on the trails. Resolve to cross legs
and wait for the portaloo.
12:28am: Have forgotten how massive the hills are. Get urge to check lungs not in fact
hanging out of mouth like it feels they are.
Get caught up in the fun. Lots of people to overtake,
friends to see and exciting trails to run. Going too fast to maintain pace over next few laps but will have a long rest in
between and it will be fine. Pick’n’mix will make everything
better.
12:40: Coming into the field with the out-and-back sections past the
tents, my name
is shouted and I’m cheered on .... waving madly I dashed on. There’s a lady in
is shouted and I’m cheered on .... waving madly I dashed on. There’s a lady in
front of me and I have less than
400m to catch her in ... come on legs!
Caught
her! And a sprint finish to the line. Across and I hand the wristband
baton to Aurian, the runner after me.
12:42: Check
Garmin: 90 seconds quicker than last year. And about 90 seconds
slower than my 5 mile road PB. Huh ... maybe I didn’t run hard
enough in my
last 5 miler.
Or
maybe I went too fast on the trails despite having to run another few
laps later on ...
Had
been cheered over line by awesome teammates and The Mister! Had a
good catch up with Simon T, Linda, Glyn, Cath, Rob and Hannah. Lovely
to see them and they all seem to be doing triathlons. Have a brief
moment of tri envy ...
1pm: Went
back to leaky tent and had Trampy Camper’s bath. This consists of
clean clothes and a baby wipe wash.
Didn’t
feel too bad about Trampy Camper bath as the amount of water coming
in through the tent roof means I'm effectively getting a rinse
anyway. If the rain increases I’d probably be able to have a bath.
While inside my sleeping bag.
2.30pm: Get
phone call to confirm 5 year old completed her own race of 2 miles.
She has a medal and everything and hardly needed to be carried at
all. She is very proud of herself and has been telling everyone she
won.
3pm: Spot
Zoe Forman in coffee queue. Have a chat in real life after being
Twitter buddies for YEARS. She is tiny in real life and strong
looking. She is super fit and ready for her Ironman in a few weeks.
Resolve to be super polite as she looks very strong and unlikely to
take any cheek off a mere marathon runner.
3.30pm: Chat over coffee with Andy Cooney who says he had been talked into Endure
is super-fast long distance runner. Much quicker than me.
Resolve to push him
in hedge if I can catch him as this will
improve my lap ranking.
4pm: See Michael, Kenilworth Runner and friend from local parkrun and 12 Miles
(and 6 Pubs) of Christmas Run. Lots of exciting plans for him
including
triathlons and ultras. He is friendly but am
not taken in as know he is quicker
than me. Resolve to push Michael
in hedge if I see him on course to improve
lap rankings. Note to self: don’t use same ditch as am pushing Andy into as
they might be
able to use teamwork or make a ladder out of trainers to climb
out.
4:23pm: Text
from little sister at Glastonbury “Currently sat on a plastic bag
in the middle of a muddy field in the sun xx”
4:24pm: Sent
text back: “Currently sat in a plastic loo in the middle of a muddy
field in
the sun xx”
5pm: Share a coffee with Jo Ferguson in food tent. Jo and I had done Wolf
Run
together. Mud is RIGHT up her street. She is very chilled out
about it and not at all fazed at the thought of meeting a sticky end
in a bog somewhere in a wood in Berkshire.
6:10pm: Lap
2. Legs are sulking as I'm forcing them to run despite a hard effort
earlier.
In attempt to wheedle them into running faster I have my
favourite and most
striking pair of compression socks. This was a
mistake. Due to the rain and the
massive amounts of runners going
through it, course has turned into quagmire.
It is like paddling in
a bog. Kit is quickly drenched and turns the same colour as
the rest
of the landscape. Poo brown.
6:12pm: See David who is running in a pair with a friend. He is NOT happy at
the mud
and is swearing about ultra running and stupid ideas. Am
secretly sure he will
be hooked and resolve to talk him into
another ultra ASAP ...
6:15pm: Tummy
is making blurp, blurp noises. This isn't good. I can't stop in a
wood with
600 runners on the course. It will end in humiliation.
Although … my lycra IS
already brown … Dismiss thought. May be
covered in muck but will draw line
at soiling lycra. Tummy blurps
again. Think of earlier shotgun noises and ignore
it.
6:25pm: Can't get breathing right. The mud is making everything harder and I
went out
too fast on my first lap for a hilly trail course. I pass
solo runners every now and
then. All that training and to be
confronted with these conditions … the perils of
English weather
...
6:30pm: Realise favourite RMR compression socks in pink and orange diamonds
are
now covered in mud and completely brown. Sulk as realise they
will never be
quite as pretty as they once were.
6:40pm: Run past tank (yes there's a TANK in a shed) and back into the field
with the
tents on the final stretch. Am cheered again by the same
man as the first lap:
“Go on Sarah!!” Wish my eyesight was
better as I have no idea who it is but
it’s nice to be cheered.
it’s nice to be cheered.
6:47pm: Hand over the wristband baton to the next team member and that's
the
second lap done. Am splattered with mud but decide a cup of coffee is required
before a wash. Well I say wash …
second lap done. Am splattered with mud but decide a cup of coffee is required
before a wash. Well I say wash …
7pm: Back to the tent, babywipes out again.
7:01pm: Discover
tent is perfectly proportioned to catch maximum amount of rain water
and sprinkle it over the entire area inside tent. Would be ideal
for growing
mushrooms in here. Is dark, warm and damp. There is
also a significant
amount of bullshit about how “The tent pegs
were here last time I looked ...”
Plantar
Fasciitis isn’t causing problems although felt a ‘stretch’ a
few times. Went to roll ball on sole of foot to ease PF But discover
ball has been lost in massive amounts of mud surrounding tent.
Improvise and roll foot on can of deodorant instead. Might not do
much for the PF but my feet smell lovely.
7:25pm: Consider taping foot but realise I have forgotten Rock tape.
7:27pm: Discover I have brought duct tape. Consider taping foot before
deciding having
an entire foot silver might be considered bionic
bodyparts and ground for
disqualification ...
8:02pm: Storm keeps storming and rain is heavy. Entire campsite waterlogged
and the
mud is rising. Apparently tent has sprung several several
more leaks and inside
is a geyser effect.
8:05pm: One of these geysers is pouring into The Mister’s kit bag. Suspect
is karma for
forgetting tent pegs.
8:06pm: Suspect I may sleep in car.
8:27pm: The
Mister admits he has nipple chafe. Suspect it is karma for forgetting
tent
pegs.
9:15pm: Cath
has fallen over and hurt herself on the trails. She kept going though
and
managed cracking time. Team More Endure 24 doing really well
despite
conditions and Glyn and Simon B and Simon T running really
well. Aurian is
super fast as usual. Decide he must have
rocket-powered trainers. Morale is low
though as mud is making
everything more difficult. Hannah who stepped in at
late notice has
run 2 laps and Rob manages one lap but is now stepping out.
He has bad quad injury which causes pain on downhills and uphills. There are
He has bad quad injury which causes pain on downhills and uphills. There are
no flat sections at Endure 24 except for final half mile
on field so it is not fair to
expect more.
10pm: Hannah
and Rob go home. They have done a brilliant job at filling in for the
team despite late notice and injuries.
We're down to 6 team members and the mud is rising ...
10:30pm: Mutiny
in Team More Endure 24. Tents are leaking. Team members
campaigning for extra sleep and better running conditions. I have nothing to
offer.
10:31pm: Retire
to car. Expect a picket line and burning oil drums any minute.
10:45pm: Have
brain wave and volunteer self and Aurian for double lap. Luckily
Aurian
doesn't kill me for this. Suspect this is only because he
doesn't want to have
to run my laps.
to run my laps.
11:00pm: Offer
accepted by Team More Endure 24 and mutiny averted. I retire to car to
attempt to dry
out self and kit from rain while waiting for next lap.
11:30pm: Crazy
woman comes out of tent and screams at me for having car engine
running as she can’t sleep. Turn car engine off and sit in dark and
cold. Wonder why crazy lady wasn't also being stroppy about the loud
noise of the generators from main arena 15ft away and think she is
just being grumpy and mean spirited. Realise she may be in a damp
tent with no car to warm up in. Feel sorry for grumpy woman. I would
have let her sit in the warm car if she’d just asked. Would have
made her take her shoes off though.
11:49am: Lap
3: Receive baton from Simon T and set off running. Have new white
waterproof jacket on so also have smug face on as will be dry despite
rain. However discover that course appears completely different to
earlier as road and grass gone and is now slurry and mud. Conditions
treacherous and slidy. Is brilliant fun. Headtorch is nice and bright.
Sunday
00:10am: Have
massive smile on face and am running too fast and enjoying mud too
much.
00:11am: Fall
into hole in trail.
Manage ninja-like forward roll through mud and jump back to feet.
However due to reaction from nearby runners suspect it may have
appeared that I fell on my face, rolled over and floundered in mud
before staggering upright. I reassure them I am fine despite hole
in my leg and brown splatty mud marks on new no-longer-white jacket.
At least it was dark.
00:12am: Knee
hurts. Hand hurts. But takes mind off Plantar Fasciitis in foot which
is a
bit sore.
00:14am: Walk
for a bit to test knee. Seems ok. Am able to run again but not
smiling so
much as have mud in mouth from falling over. Deciding
best strategy to walk
up hills and run rest of it. And stop
smiling.
00:20m: Discover
running not possible in latter parts of course as mud is so deep.
Manage to create a sort of trotty-walk. Shall call it a ‘wotty’.
Shall be future
claim to fame.
Wonder
if banged head when fell over. Or maybe mud has previously
undiscovered drugs in it. That I discovered when the mud got in my
mouth.
Maybe famous scientist instead.
00:30am: Mud
is ridiculous now. Think may as well have stayed near tent and
paddled
in portaloos instead. Although probably less risk of e-coli
on course and
getting loo roll caught up in lugs of trail shoes.
Decide out on course probably
a bit better.
00:36am: Lap 4: Go
through start gantry and start on 2nd
of double lap. Mud is much the
same but headtorch dimmer so it
keeps the running … well wotting …
interesting.
00:45am: Tummy
a bit dodgy again. Luckily not many people around as solos seem to
have gone to bed and team runners going a bit slower due to dark
and mud.
Despite lack of people my belligerent tummy seems to
coincide parps with
other runners appearing. Luckily is dark so
they can't ID me. No one really
wants a parprise. Is like a
surprise but smellier.
01:15am: Trudge
in mud feels like it takes forever. Shoes getting heavier and heavier
and legs look like those of a golem.
01:28am: Finally
finish lap and hand band over to Aurian for his double lap. He
sprints
off into the darkness … no one likes a show off Aurian …
Slow down. You're
making me look like a slacker.
 |
| Food tent ... |
01:30am: Food
tent: Have definitely earned a packet of crisps and a can of tango.
01:35am: Start
taking photos of own legs as can't believe the amount of crap I
appear
to be wearing. Mud in mouth does strange things to brain.
01:45am: Had
a chat to another muddy runner who turns out to be Chris of Sandhurst
Joggers. He appears nice and quite
normal and not at all fazed by the
strange person taking
photographs of her own muddy appendages.
01:50am: Drink
can of orange tango and eat crisps. BEST MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
FOOD EVER.
2:01am: Decided
couldn’t even sleep in car as amount of crap on self horrendous.
Decided to brave camp showers.
2:10am: Found
empty shower. Well was empty of people. Was full of second-hand
mud.
Managed to jump over worst of the mud and hang clothes and towel up.
Even
managed super fast speed-grab as towel tried to fall
into mud. Am like
shower-ninja.
2:25am: Hot
water ... mud off ... Best. Shower. Ever.
2:26am: Reach
for clean clothes.
2:26am: Realise
have forgotten to bring clean clothes to shower block and will have
to
get back into wet, muddy, sweaty clothes to get back to tent.
Cry a bit at
thought.
2:27am: Realise
can rinse revolting clothes in shower and get back into wet but
CLEAN clothes. Do so.
2:30am: Get
to tent. Climb into PJs and dry sleeping bag, warm and sleepy.
6:15am: Crawl
out of sleeping bag after shout outside tent that my next lap is
coming
up.
6:16am: Inspect
feet. Not too bad. Toenail looks a bit dodgy. Wiggle toenail. Should
toenails wiggle? Tie it back on with elastoplast tape and put on
dry socks.
Trainers
are wet but dry socks give illusion of dry feet for 30 seconds.Resign
myself to fact that feet will probably retain their pale, damp,
pruney look for
some time.
Meh
… my feet were never going to win any 'sexy feet' prizes … they
never
have enough toenails for that sort of thing. The only place
they'd win any
prizes would be on some sort of grotesque specialist
website. Where the
users have a fear of toenails.
6:17am: Inspect
knee. Knee looks grotesque from fall and has an awesome wiggly cut
down the middle. May have a cool new scar. Must try and clean all
that mud
out though. Didn't all come out in shower and don't want
mud tattoo.
6:25am: Head
to changeover point to get baton wristband from Simon T.
6:45am: Completely
unable to recognise Simon T as he now looks like a bog monster
due to
the dramatic amounts of mud he is wearing. Take wristband.
6:50am: Lap
5: Course is completely unrecognisable from the one I did my first
lap
on.
on.
Thick mud drags at my feet and deep puddles fill the course.
The mud is
pouring like slurry down the hills and roots are sticking
out of the trail where
the dirt has been worn away from the tramping
of feet. They're difficult to avoid
and my trainers, weighty and
filthy with mud clogging up the treads don't want
to lift to jump
over them. Almost every runner has a brown smear from a fall on
the
course and a section has turned into a steeplechase-style jump. Once
a
dip in the course, now full of brown water.
7:35am: Complete
a slow lap but without any falls and have a chat to a solo runner
who
is about to break 100 miles. He is walking the hill but looks quite
serene
despite the mud up to his knees. Dread to think what he does when he's not
wading 100 miles through knee-deep bogs and climbing slippery hills … bear
dentistry? Shark fighting?
10am: Meet
Carl and Kelvin Ara, twitter buddies. Have a chat to Kelvin and
Carl
strips off immediately. Didn’t realise I had that effect, then
realise he had
finished a muddy lap and is cooling off. Not me then.
11am: Chat to Martin (of Team Bob) for first time in real life. Have immediate hat
envy. Resolve to steal hat if get chance. Do not get chance. Sulk.
11:20am: Lap
6: Head out for the final lap. I need to get a bit of a move on to
ensure
Aurian gets a chance to do a final lap for team More Endure
24. No more
slacking off and walking up the hills and chatting to
solos. The trail is better
than it has been and the sun is drying
the mud out in a line through the middle
of the trail. There is no
place to overtake slower runners but the pace can be
maintained if
you stay on this section.
All
the runners are wearing mud on their legs like tribal tattoos. The
dark
patterns bright in the sunshine.
11:50am: I
complete an uneventful lap and pass baton to Aurian for him to
complete
final lap for team More Endure 24. He sprints off and I
am finished at Endure
24 for another year. It's been unforgettable
with the mud and conditions this
year but I've learned not to smile
when I fall over (mud in mouth) and not to
wear new white clothes on a muddy trail
run (mud everywhere).
11:55am: Head
to food tent for a final cup of coffee with the other members of Team
More
Endure 24 except Aurian who is out on course.
Discover
after final lap that the drinks station in the woods was also a
snacks
station. How did I miss that? Snack radar obviously confused
by mud. I sulk as
the other team members unload pockets full of
protein bars.
11:56am: Cheer
self up by going to Clif Bar stand and eating own bodyweight in
peanut
butter bars before heading back to food tent.
12:00: The horn blows signifying no more runners are allowed to
leave for new laps.
12:20pm: Aurian
comes in on final lap.
12:21pm: We
all realise Aurian is due to come in and hustle out of the food tent.
We spot
him already finished and make apologetic noises and gesture
at the hot dogs
and bacon sarnies we were holding. “We forgot.”
12:30pm: Meet
up with Yvonne and Andy. Yvonne has run her furthest distance ever
and in these muddy conditions on a difficult trail. She is a
superstar. A muddy
superstar.
1:15pm: Watch
as cars slide around the tents in the mud completely unable to leave
the campsite. Mud is going everywhere and the cars dig deep holes
as the
drivers rev the engines and splatter mud up their rear
windows. Cars are
queued in great lines trying to leave the
campsite … and are slowly sinking
into the mud.
2:00pm: Decide
it's probably time to pack up the tent. Simon B and Simon T decide to
demonstrate how tents should be put down. The wind helps.
2:10pm: The
line of cars trying to leave the campsite is no shorter.
2:15pm:: Go
for a walk as can't leave campsite. Discover secret way out of
campsite.
Start sprinting back to car before everyone else finds it
and we’re in car
queue for 2 hours.
2:16pm: Everyone
sees me sprinting and discovers secret way out of campsite.
2:25pm: Stuck
in queue in car.
3:30pm: Have
finally left campsite. Strange smell in car. Decide it is probably
me,
warm mud and melted pick n mix that I left in the car window Who would
have thought it would turn into a massive dashboard-shaped sweetie?
Seems a
shame to waste it …
Sit back in car seat and study medal. It was hard-earned this year. But worth
it.
This
was our 3rd year at Endure 24 and we will be back again in
2015. The organisation is always spot on, the portaloos tend to be
fairly clean and the showers are hot. I love running
trails and even under a foot of mud it's a gorgeous
course. Besides next year I'll know where the snacks are ...
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