Mission Accomplished!

Event 1 of 5
Yesterday I completed the longest and toughest competitive running event I've attempted so far (I've only ever done 1x 10K road race, officially). 20K (approx 12.5 miles) is quite a long way but yesterday was a different challenge altogether. I knew it was off-road. I expected hills and was prepared for some of them being steep.

The race consisted of 3 events in 1: 10K, 20K and 30K races. The clues were there. It was called Mid-Summer Madness and it was organised by a company called Go Beyond Ultra whose strapline is 'Human Endurance Defined'... That should have served as a warning!

10 laps of 2K each. Forget undulating, this was steep gulleys and and old railway embankments thrown in for good measure to the point where many inclines were just too steep to run up. The 'easy' elements of the course were clearly used by mountain bikers, given the number of ruts in the ground. About the only flat, proper path is pictured above...

As early as the first lap I was wondering what I'd let myself in for. Within a couple of minutes of starting there were a couple of heavy fallers. My turn was to come on lap three. Note to self... Don't lose concentration on a steep descent with loose gravel and earth underfoot!

By lap three I was feeling the pace but had joined up with a 'buddy' who informed me that the previous year he'd dropped out of the 20K and so this time around had entered for 10K only. Not exactly what I needed to hear that this point! We chatted and drove each other on for 3 laps until he finished then it was 5 laps on my own.

Strangely, it took me 5 laps to learn how to run some of the trickier parts of the course, having never experienced anything like it before. All of a sudden I seemed to find my pace and was feeling better about the world.

By the end of lap six I was aware that my troublesome left knee was starting to ache. Not a good sign. At the start of lap eight I was in genuine discomfort and the difficult terrain was taking it's toll. This, combined with the temperature starting to creep up and the lack of fuel except water and jelly babies, meant I was getting very tired and I was occasionally light-headed.

On the final lap, knee pain aside, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. There were several times during the race when I'd have liked to have stopped and I thought by the end I'd collapse and maybe have a little cry! I had people waiting for me at the finish line and there was no way I wasn't going to make it to the end.

And make it to the end I did in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 28 seconds. Not a bad effort for a first attempt!

So thanks for your support, it's always much appreciated. If anyone would like to start the ball rolling, I'm raising money for 3 very worthy charities through these 5 events. See here for details.