Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

EVENT REPORTRACE TO THE STONEShigh 20’s so I certainly wasn’t too bothered aboutgetting too cold en-route but as part of themandatory kit you had to take a warm top (I packedmy Skins) and a waterproof jacket (Berghauswaterproof smock).completely saturated me (and found my chafed bits#ouch!) but it was such a relief to cool down, Iremember my pace picked up dramatically againand I was running with a big smile on my faceduring the whole downpour.Besides knowing Susie Chan, I hadn’t met the rest ofmy team mates so it was great to meet them allbriefly before the race started. I managed a teamshot of us all, except for Sorrell who had alreadymade her way to the start line to start from thefront. She meant business which was apparent withher brilliant No.1 female overall finish! What a speeddemon! I also wanted to mean business so Imanaged to squeeze my way through to near thefront alongside Julia Donovan (who I’d met inMarathon Des Sables and she had gone on to be 5thfemale there) and Michelle Bowen (female winnerof Apocalypse 100).I started off strong as not long after the start it wassingle track for a small section which would havereally frustrated me had I been further back. For thefirst hour of the race I stuck to my plan and ran myown race not worrying about anyone coming pastme as I knew I could pick them off later. By the20-30km mark this strategy started to pay off as Ipassed about 20 runners.55km in the legs started to feel a bit heavy, stillfeeling strong but the pace was starting to drop offand it was getting pretty hot. It was a muggy,suffocating heat with thunder rolling in thedistance but no rain! Pit stop 6 seemed to takeforever and it was the only leg where I actually ranout of water, I even started asking walkingspectators how far the next pit stop was as I wasgetting desperate. Thankfully I found it in time anddidn’t dehydrate and then the rain finally camedown. It bucketed down with rain and hail thatI was still doing well taking on my gels though thebars weren’t going down as well and for the lasthour before 80km had not taken anything. The bodywas starting to hurt after 80km, legs were tired, feetwere sore and my chest had started to tighten up.Just after 80km I forced down another energy gel,but no sooner had I swallowed the gel that it camestraight back up! First time I have vomited during arun, but can it count as a vomit when it was literallythe gel coming back up, nothing else. My mantra forthe last 20km was ‘Pain is temporary, it may last aminute, or an hour, or a day, or a year. Buteventually it will subside and something else willtake its place. If I quit, however, it will last forever’.To be fair I just repeated the pain is temporarysegment, it was too long!The last part of the route, high up on the Ridgewaywas absolutely stunning. I made sure I lookedaround and tried to soak it all in as this is one of thereasons I run. Most of the route was picturesqueand I really enjoyed the different types of terrainand views we were blessed with along the way but Idid start to wonder where these bloody stoneswere! Cruelly we had to double back past the turnoff for the finish line to go and visit the stones, runthrough them and then come back for the finalfinish. I was on a go slow by now and actually raninto fellow tweep Jamie Woods who was outsupporting, but with the finish line in sight Isprinted (well at least it felt like I did) through theline hardly believing what a great time I hadachieved.36 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://