As now seems traditional, the weather wasn't looking too promising for the weekend. After what seems like an endless bout of storms, the bad news was there was another one it's way. And the good news I hear you ask? Well this one's exotic; Coming all the way from Spain to ruin the weekend, I give you storm Jorge! With one eye on the weather and a planned date for Sunday's running of the Steyning Stinger, I thought I could kill a few birds with one stone, fitting in the run, a visit to "The Old Cheese" and a bit of cycling all in one go. So to that end, I restocked the van, aired the sleeping bag's out, packed a few extra layers and my waterproofs and set off after tea on Friday night for the short drive down to Steyning and a quiet little spot for an early night. As predicted Saturday morning dawned wet, and when I say wet, I mean it had thrown it down all night and was still throwing it down as it got light. I briefly considered a change of plan, shelving the bike for a bit of extra time in bed, until the little voice inside my head started rabbiting on about not being made of sugar, being bored and generally being a pain in the backside. Out of bed then, waterproofs on, brew in flask, and off into the rain and gloom. Sometimes I really wish that little voice would just shut up and let me be! Anyway, I had what should be a nice little route planned, so I might as well make the most of it, and what else would I be doing if I wasn’t riding my bike in the rain? So, up from Steyning to cut around the bottom of Haywards heath, before heading towards Ardingly, where things get a bit hillier and more interesting, before looping around to head back via Handcross and Lower Beeding. Sounds like fun, and I’ll always jump at the chance to explore a bit more of the Sussex countryside. By the time I got up towards Ardingly the rain had stopped, the gloom lifted and things were looking up. A flat run out, an hour or so of short sharp climbs around Ardingly, and an easy run back, saw me back at the van in time for a dry set of clothes and a tasty bowl of soup for lunch, before getting ready for a short sprint down to the "Old Cheese's" for an afternoon of tea and chatting. With a total of just over 60 miles for the day, I spent the evening tucked up snug in the van, listening to storm Jorge do it's best to wipe us all off the face of the earth, wondering what tomorrow would bring? The weather forecast didn't look good, but surely it couldn't be much worse than last years running of the Stinger when Storm whatever it was called tried the same trick, could it? Something seemed wrong when the alarm went off at early O’clock Sunday morning. I lay still, listening intently for a few seconds but I couldn't hear it, maybe I'd gone deaf in the night? No, I could hear the alarm so that wasn't the case, it could mean only one thing. The wind had died away, and it wasn't raining. Well that's a turn up for the books! By the time I stepped out of the van, the sun was shining, and all was right with the world, it looks like storm Jorge blew itself out in the night. Yipeee! I’d had a couple of updates in the week from the organisers, informing us that things were going to be wet and muddy out on the course and they weren’t exaggerating. Almost as if they planned it this way “The Stinger” has an unusual start, where instead of the normal line up and leg it like a bunch of lunatics, it’s all very relaxed. Come and sign in, get your number, wander over to the start and when your ready off you go. I’ve never seen it done anywhere else but it’s brilliant, no crowding, no standing around getting cold and everyone’s nicely spread out. Instead of all running for the same bit of small muddy path there’s plenty of space for everyone. And a good job too, as straight from the off the ground was totally waterlogged, with a good couple of inches of standing water laying on the surface, trying in vain to drain away. Not to worry though, I’m sure wet feet never killed anyone (apart from all those soldiers in the trenches) so off I went, across the sodden fields heading for Washington and the first of the big climbs up onto the South Downs proper. Having run this before I had a pretty good idea of what was to come, so tried to keep the pace down from the start, “slow and steady wins the day” and all that, but soon found myself overtaking lots of runners that had set off earlier than I had. That’s the only minor issue with the staggered start, you’ve got no one to pace against, so it’s all down to you. Normally in a mass start you know roughly where you want to be and the pace you can hold, so you position yourself accordingly. Once all the crazy’s that think they can run a 2 hour marathon but have never even run a half have been dropped and the pace settles down, you know you’re doing OK as your running with the same group. No such advantage at Steyning though, it’s all down to you to set and hold your own pace. Out towards Washington things got proper muddy and we had a few spots of rain, but that’s all it was, (well OK it rained quite hard for 5 minutes, but not enough to dampen my spirits) and as we came out of the woods the first big climb loomed ahead.
No problems here today though, run what you can and then swing the old arms and keep on walking as fast as you can. When it get’s steep it’s as fast to walk as it is to run and far more efficient, so as long as your moving forward everything’s good. Once up on the top, the wind was pretty fierce in the exposed areas, but compared to last year, when you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, the views were as spectacular as they always are, and more than made up for a bit of wind. No time to stand around admiring the view today though, there’s a job to be done! It wouldn’t pay to twist an ankle whilst admiring the view and not looking where you’re going, so concentrate on the task in hand and catch a glimpse when you can. Back across the A24 and another steep climb to get back up to Chanctonbury Ring, before turning off on the loop towards Cissbury Ring and the half way point. There’s a couple of miles of steady down hill here to get your breath back before you have to gain all the height back again and start the final loop around Steep down. By the time the bottom of Steep down comes around the legs are starting to complain a bit, but keep on going, there’s only another 5 or 6 miles to go and the last 2 are downhill. Not that that helps much by this stage, but if it tricks the mind into keeping going it’s a nice diversionary tactic. One final slog back up to Chanctonbury Ring and then it’s all over bar the shouting, just the downhill to go. A glance at my watch shows I’m a bit slower than last year but if I keep pushing, I should be able to get under 4 hours. Down the steep side towards Steyning I can feel my calves twinging with cramp, but I’m not stopping now. Allegedly, the downhills are supposed to be easier, but they never are, not when you’ve been going uphill for nearly 4 hours. I drop the pace a bit to stop the legs cramping but keep an eye on the time and push on where I can, before finally sprinting back through the waterlogged field and under the finish banner. Home in 3:58:13 for 29th place from the 221 marathon starters (7th in my age category). 10 minutes slower than last year, but a time I’m happy with none the less. Considering this was my 3rd Marathon in 5 weeks, the course was a lot muddier and wetter than 2019 and I thought it was a good idea to cycle 60 miles the day before instead of having a rest day, I certainly can’t complain about that! And the best bit of the whole escapade, not only did it not rain, but those amazing people at Steyning Running club put on a complimentary fry up for all the runners. Exactly what you need to wrap up a great day out!
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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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