October 2010 - Ultrarunning World

Solo Events
minutes later. Five minutes passed
with me inside and Andy outside
regularly shouting through the door
to make sure I was OK – he did this
because I made all the helpers aware
that I am likely to collapse if I stop
moving for any length of time.
The hottest part of the day was over now
but as the heat disappeared it had taken
all my energy reserves with it. By this
time the carefully prepared nutrition
plan had gone out of the window too and
I was only taking solid food at irregular
intervals (mainly grapes too as they were
extremely easy to chew and swallow).
Andy carefully guided me along
to Upper Gravenhurst where Huw
was due to meet us again for a third
stint on car duty. Andy would be
running with me from that point. I
was quite pleased about this because
I knew he had an uncanny ability
to motivate me to keep moving and
perhaps even pick up the pace a bit.
Photo by Steve Tracey
An hour or so
later though my
worst nightmare
happened – I lost
consciousness
while changing my
shoes and socks.
Bedford. At this point Andy suggested
I need some protein and peanuts would
be a good idea, I thought about it for
a while as I suspected that peanuts
would be difficult to swallow. In the
end though I knew I that getting some
protein on board was very important so
the peanuts appeared and, with plenty
of liquid, I managed to eat a handful.
With the housing estate duly negotiated
the next task was the roadworks at the
end of the new bypass. New roads,
new roundabouts, very confusing but
we managed and then headed towards
Ampthill. Ahead I could see a very
long hill climbing into the distance. Not
steep, just long. I put my head down
and with Sam in tow plodded away and
over the course of the next 50 minutes
or so managed to make my way almost
to the top. The strange thing was that
almost at the top Andy mentioned that
Derek and Sam had finished their stint
at transporting the food, drink and kit
and had handed over to him. Soon after
this, without Sam pushing me, I lost my
impetus and slowed to a walk again.
Into Ampthill and I needed the toilet
again. Amazingly we came across one
almost on the roadside less than two
This is how I remember it. The soles
of my feet were hurting very badly so
I decided I needed to change my shoes
and socks. I sat down while Andy
and Huw got to work (there’s no way I
could’ve done it by myself – and they
knew that). After a minute or so I said
to Huw something like “I feel ill, I’m
going to pass out”. The next thing I
know I’m barely awake but laid on my
back on the grass with my feet in the air
having my calves massaged by Andy.
I slowly came round and then, very
carefully, my helpers lifted my to my feet
and supported me while encouraging
me to walk around the village green
Ultrarunning World| October 2010 11