Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

EVENT REPORT NORTH DOWNS WAY 100supporters next to the Aid Station tent. I paused totop up my bottles, grab a handful of snacks andthen walked on whilst eating this food beforesettling back into a run. I was running and chattingwith fellow club runner Wendy Shaw and a fewother guys as we enjoyed the route towards AidStation 3 and Box Hill.After arriving at a busy road and heading throughan underpass we arrived at the Hawaiian themedaid station. I had covered the first 25 miles in justover four hours, the calf was holding up and I wasfeeling pretty good about the race at that point intime.the challenge for the Grand Slam is not just aboutyour ability to cover a 100 mile distance on foot(and deal with the conditions on the day) but alsoto be fit and injury free for each race during theyear.The NDW100 was the race I was hoping to just get itover and done with. However, I didn’t want to startthe race feeling sorry for myself and when you’re onthe start line there’s no excuses. We arrived atFarnham and went through the usual efficient kitcheck and registration process and said hello to afew people. Despite not wanting to feel sorry formyself, I mentioned my dodgy calf muscle to thefirst three people I spoke to before the race… idiot.I started off mid-pack as we headed off from thestart position out of Farnham. The first few hundredyards were just spent ‘feeling out’ the calf, I couldfeel a dull ache with every step but it wasn’t painfulor stopping me running and the ache did seem toease off a little as the muscles in the leg warmed up.A few hundred yards later and I arrived at thestepping stones at the bottom of Box Hill and spiedStuart March ahead grabbing some pictures and Ibounded across the steps before nearly ignoring hishigh-five (sorry) and then continued on up thesteps ahead. It was fair to say that the steps wereno-where near as bad as I remembered as the PicnicMarathon and after a bit of a stagger and push upthese it was all over and the path leveled out givingyou a lovely view of the surrounding area.We carried on along more undulating pathwayswhich my calf could definitely feel both going upand down and headed through some more forestedpathways towards Reigate Hill. I had to stop aroundhere for a ‘comfort break’ before carrying ontowards the next Aid Station where the volunteerswere on hand to top up my supplies.The first Aid Station was at Puttenhamapproximately 7 miles into the race and I grabbed afew snacks from the table and walked for a little toeat before picking up an easy pace. The NorthDowns route continued along a number of lanes,pathways and wooded areas which seemed to twistand turn quite a bit, it was all fairly flat at themoment and all very pleasant.The second Aid Station was on top of a short hill atNewlands Corner where there was a small crowd of61 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://