Endure24 6#in14

This was our first attempt at a 24 hour race and what a memorable weekend it was. Endure 24 is an event where runners solo or a team complete as many 5 mile laps of a trail as possible in 24 hours.  We arrived on the Friday afternoon to scope out the site of the event and to meet Kelvin to find our pitch for our tents we were very surprised to find that hundreds of tests where set up and the event was in full swing. Kelvin had found a nice spot near the edge of the course. We all went off for a wander and a look at the setup, we had a look at the food tent had a coffee and some very nice cake!.

Friday night we had few beers and sat around talking about the next morning’s parkrun at Newbury and the plans for our teams over the next 24 hours.

 

Sleeping under the canvas for the first time in years was fun but nothing is quite like your own bed. Woke up early to pop over to Newbury for the parkrun. This was the second time we had done it I was looking to beat my time on this course. James and Kelvin took it easy but I had a fairly decent run and did a time of 22:43 for the record James did a 24:30.

After an exciting parkrun we headed back for the main event of the day. The rest of the team turned up over the course of the morning and set up camp. 10am was when the rain came and we had thunder and lightning it hammered it down! We all had a meeting about what the day had in store and the order of the team that we had randomly picked a few weeks before. We did have a 8 man team but our best runner Andy Carter had to pull out sadly because of injury.

Frimley Lodgers

James Ball

Rich Jackson

Alison Lennaghan

Kelvin Gower

Duncan Ball

Simon Harvey

Richard Boese

We also had 2^nd team that competed and camped with us

Frimley Lodgers 2

David Lenaghan

Amanda Critchell

Dave Peddle

Denis Devery

Brian Holden

David Mcintosh

Louise Parker

Louise Mcintosh

The rain stopped for the start of the race and you could feel the excitement in the air and there was a really buzz around the place. James was running the opening leg and we all went over to see him at start line and see off the hundreds of other competitors. The team had bets on how long the lap would take James, kelvin insisted that the course was fairly flat so when James came back he was a bit upset about how tough and how muddy it was  he completed his lap in 39:40 handing over to Rich Jackson for the second lap. Rich is the most competitive member of the team and was looking to go for a fast lap more importantly he wanted to go quicker than James his time of 38:58 was impressive despite the fact that the rain had hammered it down again and the course was deteriorating into a mud bath.

The team settled in to a routine of changeovers and my first lap came very quickly I set off at 4pm as I waited for my change over with kelvin I was feeling very excited. I set off through the start area and passed our campsite giving our team a shout and a wave. The course started on a nice tarmac path up hill to a stony path for the first 1km. When you got to the top of the hill the course descended to very muddy path and was undulating as I passed the 3km mark the track got muddier and hillier by 4km you headed though a very tough densely wooded section very tight and rutted and very tricky you certainly had to be very careful and watch your footing. By 5km I could see what James was talking about it was very technical track and the mud and hills where not helping lots of twists and turns and it was very off road. Around the 5km mark the organizers had put a drink stop at a log cabin you could also pick up an energy bar if you wanted very cool. After this you headed up another hill that was turning very muddy even after only 5 hours. At 6.5km you headed downhill and this was quite steep and once you negotiated that you had a flat tarmac section down towards the start area and the tented village. Once you got to the field the course snaked around the solo tents up and down a few times before the start/finish straight and my change over to Simon. Quite a lap and conditions were not the best and the course was no way flat James was right!!

Over the course of the next few hours we sat around the tents chatting and talking tactics. The team board was being updated with details on who was running next and our individual times for each of our laps. Early evening saw the heavens open again it tipped it down. The tented village was a bog but it was worth the walk for the coffee and cake. As my second lap came around I was looking forward to bearing the conditions I set off at 8:30 and carried a torch it was just getting to twilight so I could see where I could going. Also knew what the course now so I was not as tricky but the mud

was a different matter it was getting very difficult to get up some of the hilly sections. My 2^nd lap was 39:57 was a bit quicker than my first so I was pleased. 

Back at the camp in the dark the team was upbeat despite the conditions with tails of epic laps and the deteriorating course. Andy who was supposed to have been running in the team but was unable to because of an injury was starting up the BBQ for the team that was much appreciated I can tell you.

We were now getting towards the hardcore part of the race the night section! We had plans for every swap over making sure people had a jacket and drink and when it was raining a towel. So I walked over to get the handover from Kelvin ready for my 2am night lap. I was pretty wired for it and set off into the night looking forward to the challenge. The course was well lit with glow sticks and taped off so you never got lost. The hardest parts were the downhill sections very treacherous and you really had to watch you didn’t turn your ankle. My 3^rd lap was a very slow 51 mins but given how hard it felt I was not too disappointed. 

When I got back to camp I got my head down for a few hours was thinking in my head that I only had 1 lap left but that would depend on how quick the rest of the team was.. I was woken by Alison for my 4^th lap I was setting off at 7:30 am. We had a dry night and the track had turned from slushy mud to more sticky mud I am still not sure what’s worse. I decided that I was going to enjoy this lap and I set off talking to a few fellow runners and encouraging people that were really struggling. The final couple of km I was really enjoying the atmosphere and as I crossed the line to hand over to Simon I felt exhausted but satisfied that I done my part for the team.

Over the next few hours the team completed their lap, James, Rich, Alison and Kelvin completed a 5^th lap!! It looked like I may do a 5^th lap but in the end it was 15 mins to short. As Kelvin come in we decided to run the last 100 meters as a team. 

What an amazing end to a brilliant and epic weekend it really did feel like we have accomplished something as a team.Endure24 is a great event and as the team packed up on Sunday we all reflected on what an experience it was. I’m sure it took us all a week to wash away the mud.

For the record James did the best lap of 38:42 ran 5 laps.

Hackney Half Marathon 5#in14

It’s been a month since the excellent Bracknell Half Marathon. May\June have been a busy months with quite a few 10kms and other events completed.  

Hackney half is a brand new event and it was quite a morning! We woke up early to travel up to London and it was an epic trip just to get to the event. The weather forecast was for dry hot conditions and this was worrying because we had not run in the heat for a while. We had a quite a walk to Hackney Marshes from the tube and we made the bag drop with only 10 minutes to spare. We lined up with 10,000 other runners in the sun and began our run though the roads of Hackney & Stratford for number 5#14.

Both me and James set off at a steady pace in the opening miles and tried to run to the conditions. The streets where packed with supporters and we began with a nice 2 miles through tree lined and shaded roads. Our 14#14 shirts where again getting shout outs from the crowd. After 5 miles I was feeling the heat and James was looking quite strong it was important to take on water and they had those pouches that where tricky to get into I ended up spraying the person next to me with mine.

The 10km marker is always a good indication as to how you are running and we both passed it together in 50:26 probably a bit too quick as the heat was already taking its toll on me. As we approached 8 mile we had a conversation about getting to the Lucozade stop and then re-grouping. Well when I got to that point I was really hurting and James after taking on liquid was looking like he could go on with the pace. From then on I was in catch up James was getting away from me and I was struggling to keep up.

The 10 mile point the course turned into the Olympic park area this should have been the best part of the run but with the sun beating down James out of sight it was not fun at all. The course was very loopy in the last 3 miles and I was very disconcerting to run back and forth around an unshaded undulating and uninspiring part of the Olympic park.

I was hoping that James was struggling because I was on\off walking for the last few miles and really had to dig out the last mile and it seemed to go on forever. This felt like the hottest conditions i had run in and as i turned into the finishing straight i knew James had again had the better of me. I found him in a heap on the floor and we had a long post run chat about the heat and the walking and the last 3 miles!! It was decided that it was probably the hardest half so far this year and we both had a disappointing run. But under the conditions and with the last 3 miles being very challenging i guess we will live to run another day!! Next run will be the Eudure24 I expect that will be even more of a hardcore challenge!!

James 1:52:26 

Duncan 1:55:40

2014 Running Schedule 14#14 plus other runs!

Duncan’s 2014 Running Schedule

March

2^nd Reading Half Marathon 1:55.24

9^th Surrey Half Marathon 1:57:19

16^th Fleet Half Marathon 1:55:07

April

18^th Maidenhead 10 Miles 1:20:15

27^th Bracknell Half Marathon 1:44:39
May

4^th Frimley Hospital 10km 44:43 PB

24^th Westminster Mile 5:51 PB

25^th Bupa London 10km 59:43

June

4^th Yateley 10km Series 44:59

15^th Polesden Lacey 10km 49:46
22^nd Run Hackney Half Marathon 1:55:40

29^th Endure 24 5 Mile team event

July

2^nd Yateley 10km Series 48:05

13^th New Forest 10 Miles 1:25:54

27^th Thunder Run 10km team event

August 

6^th Yateley 10km Series 48:52

17^th Burnham Beaches Half Marathon 1:57:21

September

7^th Maidenhead Half Marathon 1:52:07

21^st Reigate Half Marathon 1:57:31

October

5^th Bournemouth Half Marathon1:56:04

12^th Henley Half Marathon 1:50:59

November

2^nd New York City Marathon  4:47:32
16^th Gosport Half Marathon 2:02:00