It's about time that we had a bit of "Marathon A Month Madness" and what's better than a marathon? Well, an ultra of course. The same pain and suffering as a marathon but with a bit extra thrown in for free!
This weeks efforts had been a long time in the making and I'd been looking forward to this for a while. I'd first heard about (and entered) The Serpent Trail 50Km way back in 2019. Unfortunately, 2019 had turned into a bit of a flop for me on the running front when I got injured, resulting in no running between June and the end of September. Not to worry though, I'd just defer my entry to 2020 and run it then. Wrong! Obviously the Coronavirus kerfuffle put a stop to everything in 2020 and we were given the option to either cancel or re-defer to 2021. Having already deferred my entry once, another year didn't make much difference, and if I didn't run this, I'd just have to find something else to do, so defer away. And here we are, 2 years later and I've finally made it to the start line. I told you I'd been looking forward to this one! The Serpent Trail itself runs for 106Km through the South Downs National Park, starting in Haslemere, before taking a winding, circuitous route, through some lovely open heathland and wooded areas to finish in Petersfield and would in my opinion make a great weekends walking. It crosses paths with the main train line into London in a couple of places, so it's got great transport links, it's pretty flat, the grounds sandy so drains quite well (except for a couple of places) and it's well signposted. What's not to like about that? For me, todays efforts were only going to cover the second half of the trail (although there was a 100Km running at the same time utilising the whole length, maybe that's one for next year?). So having parked up and registered at Petersfield, it was a case of "all aboard" for the short bus ride to the start at Bedham (just to the East of Petworth).
Typically, having watched the weather forecast all week, and thought I'd got away with it when I woke up to a dry morning, the heavens opened just a we lined up for the start. Oh well, at least I wasn't going to be the only one getting wet today, and at least the rain was still warm, not a winters freeze your brains out type of cold, which makes it really miserable.
For the first time in what seems like forever, todays start was also the first mass start that I've participated in since the Coronavirus restrictions were introduced back in 2020, and as we all stood in the rain, listening to the final briefings, whilst making those last minute preparations; watch on, shoes tied, best just check, keys safely stowed, check your shoes again, come on get on with it, the excitement was palpable. I'd missed this. Yes, the staggered starts and other measures have allowed us to keep running and kept everyone safe, but there's something special about the atmosphere and sense of nervous excitement that makes a normal start special.
Briefing completed, shoes tied for the 20th time, and on the stroke of 10:00 we're off. As always, off at a pace that's no where near sustainable for 10km let alone the 50 that's still to come! The initial fast pace soon has the desired effect though, spreading everyone out, allowing runners to find their natural position and rhythm, and within the first couple of miles I've settled into a steady pace which should, hopefully be sustainable.
Running through the damp woods in the first few miles (or should that be soaking as it's still raining heavily), feeling the soft sandy soil beneath my feet and listening to the rain dripping through the summer tree canopy, I'm in my element. I'm catching occasional glimpses of the runner in front through the trees, so navigating's easy, (provided their going the right way too) and I can't hear anyone behind me, so I must have pulled out a bit of a gap. As far as I'm concerned that's a nice position to be in, no one breathing down your neck and safe in the knowledge that your on track, a chance to relax a bit and take in the wonders around you. By the time the first checkpoint arrives the rains stopped and despite being incredibly humid and wet underfoot (maybe road shoes wasn't the best idea) I'm going well. A quick dib of the tracking device to show that I've been here, and straight through. I've deliberately chosen to start with extra water in my pack today, both to ensure I've got enough to see me through and to try and limit the time spent at checkpoints. As with the Audax lark, it's at checkpoints that time seems to disappear, If you spend 2 minutes filling up bottles and faffing around, that takes some catching back up when your running. Straight through the first 2 checkpoints then, each time leaving before the person who was in front of me, slowly gaining places, through good planning and reducing the stops. I'd originally planned on carrying enough food and water to get me to the end, but the high humidity is taking it's toll, and by the time I reach the 3rd checkpoint I've got through the 2 litres I'd started with. A quick pause to fill up my camelback and the obligatory bit of banter with the lovely people manning the checkpoint and I'm off again. Feet soaking wet from an earlier boggy patch, legs itching like crazy from wading through a patch of bracken, intermingled with nettles, which had overgrown the path, top and shorts soaked through, rain earlier and now sweat from the high humidity, but still having fun!
And then, as I reach the 10 Km to go point, legs tiring and muscles aching from the effort already expended, the biggest morale booster ever. Well, I say biggest morale booster ever, for me it certainly was, I'm guessing that not everyone would have felt the same way though.
As I round a bend in the road I come across the start of the 10 km race, running straight into the back of the pack as they set off. I've already got 40Km in my legs, but my pace is still way faster than a lot of the 10K runners and the morale booster of being able to cut through the back of the pack is unbelievable. When 2 minutes before I was starting to suffer and wonder how I was going to maintain my pace, now I'm on cloud nine and it's easy. Eye up the person in front and chase them down, a few words of encouragement as I go past and on to the next one. As I said, an unbelievable morale boost for me, probably not so good if your running the 10K, pushing to the best of your efforts and being overtaken by someone who's already been going for 3.5 hours and 25 or so miles. I'm taking every advantage I can get today though and if that means demoralising a few 10k runners then so be it. The final miles slowly tick down as I continue to catch and pass the 10k guys, Marathon, 27,28,29,30 and we're into the outskirts of Petersfield. The distance on my watch is creeping slowly towards the magic 31 miles and I can hear the sound of the finish through the trees. Keep pushing, round one last corner and up one last short slope, past one final runner on the finish straight and across the line. Stop my watch, dib the tracking dibber for one last time and breath. Get some more fluids on board and force a sandwich down, eating's the last thing I feel like doing after the mornings efforts, but previous experience shows that it's the first step towards feeling vaguely human again.
How did I get on then? Well, my time of 4:24:45 was good enough for 21st place from the 307 starters (302 finishers) and 5th in my age category and I've got to admit that I'm happy with that. Looking at the results, this years field was extremely competitive compared to previous years. The previous course record set in 2018 was just over 4:10, and if I'd run the same time in 2019 it would have got me second place.
This year though, the first 15 runners came in under the course record and the winning time was a staggering 3:15:58. There's not much I can say to that except Chapeau and add as a postscript that whatever time I came in at, I had a whale of a time and I can't wait for 2022!
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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