Race Reports

This was my first attempt at ultra running, and whilst a 24 hour running challenge was maybe a little over ambitious, I liked the set up of the challenge- it was a little over a 6.5 mile loop, which you completed as many times as possible.  As I had no idea how far I could actually run I thought this concept was a good idea, as I could stop whenever I needed (no pressure of going point to point) and also could pick up food/drink as I passed through the checkpoint each time. 

So I guess I best give you some background before I talk about the race itself.  I hadn't trained any longer than 26.2 miles, and had only done 2 marathons this year.  I was meant to do another 2 marathons in 2 days in early May but got an IT band injury in my hip whilst running the Brighton Marathon, so had hardly done any running since (mostly just biking).  I had also been asked by several friends and family members to get an ECG test to check my heart was ok and I wasn't in danger of dropping dead at any second, so I got one with my nurse.   The test results were not given to me until the Thursday, 2 days before my race, when the doctor (who had the worst bedside manner I've ever come across) rang me at work and told me that the results were inconclusive and she thought I had a 'Long QT'... when I asked what this was she told me to Google it (really!!) which nearly gave me a heart attack in itself when I looked... oh yeah, it's that condition that causes people to drop dead at any second...great (ironic really as you're not meant to shock people who have that condition!).  She would not give me any further details of my results (she had referred them to a cardiologist but results could take weeks) we finished the phone call with her saying 'I wouldn't run for 24 hours without some conclusive results' and then the final caring words of 'I don't see why people can't just do things in moderation'... Charming!  To cut a long story short I ended up getting an appointment the same night with a cardiologist at the Nuffield in Brighton (hello overdraft), a second ECG, and being told that I was ok to run... phew!!  My long QT is at the top end of the 'normal' range so all is good.  I must admit it was a massive wake up call in the few hours that I had to wait to go to the Nuffield that I realised how quickly everything could be taken away from you... I literally don't know what I would have done if I'd been told I couldn't do any of my crazy sporting antics anymore.  I hope I never take what I'm able to do forgranted again.

Race day- the race started at 1pm on the Saturday, and 34 of us set off.  The course was beautiful, a mixture of mainly farm tracks between fields (if you had hay fever or allergic to rapeseed you would have been screwed!) and a couple of roads.  Whilst some of the ground was uneven it was a very flat course so you could get into a nice rhythm.  My tactic was to keep a steady 11 min/mile pace, and walk through the checkpoint to eat and drink.  This went well and I had a couple of runners to speak to that were running the same pace.  I ran the first marathon in 4.58... way too fast Jade!  Although I had kept my pace I hadn't been walking for long enough through the check point.  I decided at this point that I should just keep running at this pace until I could run no more.  I should mention at this point that my hip started hurting at only 6 miles in, I was worried this was going to cause an issue but with some ibuprofen and the seemingly magical Cliff Shot Bloxs that I always use in races (no, unfortunately I'm not being sponsored by them!) the pain disappeared, and after the first marathon I had no aches and pains at all... this was not to last, I knew that, so I just enjoyed every moment of running and was in quiet wonderment and awe that my little legs kept going.  I think I got to around 40 miles when it got too dark and I had to run with my headtorch.  I'll be honest I'm a complete wimp in the dark, and was pretty scared about this prospect (it really was very dark in the countryside) but apart from the bullfrogs it was really peaceful and calming running in the dark. 

Every so often I could see a headtorch bobbing along in the distance, and I knew I wasn't alone.  I carried on running until 46 miles and then my legs starting to complain, as always my quads were starting to scream at me.  Dinner was served at HQ, so I ate some veggie soup, potatoes and pasta and set off again on a run/walk strategy to cover 53 miles.  All in all just under 12 hours, I was very pleased with myself.  The only problem was as soon as I stopped my legs seized up.  I knew I had to rest, so I somehow got myself in to the boot of my car (back seats already folded down) and slept fitfully (damn cramp) for about 3 hrs.  I woke up and was surprised that my legs felt a bit better, as I opened the car boot I was humbled to see one of the guys (who ended up being the winner) running past to start another loop.  I also felt massively guilty for sleeping and scorned myself for not just pushing through the night.  I had a quick breakfast and set off again with a crazy ironman shuffle going on, it was a pointless and energy zapping exercise, and realised walking was just as fast.  My knee started to become very painful with a shooting pain and cracking/clicks every time I put my foot down, I had to look at the bigger picture and the rest of the race season so I called it a day with just another 7 miles under my belt that morning.  Total distance covered- 60 miles.

Do I feel like I could go further in the future- most definitely.  But for a first attempt I am very pleased that I did my best.  I'm fully aware that had I just walked for 24 hrs then I would have covered a bigger distance, but that was not what my challenge was about, and I certainly wouldn't have felt happy doing that.   I wanted to run as far as I could, and running until you drop is more my motto.   I was more pleased with getting a double marathon under my belt than walking until the cows come home.  But I have learnt that I am clearly no good at pacing myself!  Would I do an ultra again, absolutely!  Phil Couch (I'm sure it was you Phil) told me a quote last year before my ironman from T.S. Elliot that says 'Only those who will risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go' and that has certainly stuck with me.

I shall stop my waffling now (gold stars to anyone who has made it this far, you're nearly at the end!) but I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for your brilliant support, encouragement and kind words before, during and after the race, and of course the donations to the BHF who I ran to raise money for.

Jade Overy

I am running in memory of my Grandad, Jock who died in June 2011 after suffering from heart conditions for several years.  He was very active and a keen runner, running many half marathons, and only stopped on doctors orders in his seventies due to his heart condition.  His favourite past time was walking his dogs around the local country parks.  I know he is very proud of all my achievements to date, and I wanted to dedicate this challenge to him.  This challenge would only have been made better if he was here to see me do it.

So the challenge itself... The event starts on the 19th May at 1pm and I will be running as many laps of a 6.55 mile loop as possible in 24 hours.  I am hoping to run at least a minimum of 50 miles, and hope to be capable of more on the day... but you have my promise that no matter what I will do my very best!  There will be an area at the race HQ where I can rest/eat as and when I feel necessary, but the rest of my time will be spent running.

The British Heart Foundation save thousands of lives every year thanks to their ground-breaking research and innovative health initiatives.  They rely on the generosity of people like you to help them to continue their vital work.

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As usual there were a couple of pantomime horses at the front which must have taken at least 2-3 minutes of every ones times as the runners attempted to get past and skidded on the manure, another PB slips away in the first few minutes.

There was a strange orange lady running that looked like she had drunk some special Orange fizzy drink from Willy Wonkers chocolate factory, expanded in strange places and changed colour

Jade (who was not orange) lavished in the sun shine, it was a beautiful day, and she really enjoyed 'racing' a fast course. 

Steve Mac also had a great race and felt very comfortable all the way round until about mile 10 when allegedly Saturdays bike ride came back to pay a visit, a quick stretch (he did not say where) and by mile 11 it was all ok again.

Jade set off steadily increasing her pace and surprised herself when she smashed her previous best time (that was previously well over 2 hours!) and even managed a negative split

Steve was running in his new MSTC running vest and  appeared to be missing 2 nipples at the end and has customised his vest with red go faster streaks

Well done to Andy who was quite surprised at his result with a stupendous 1.21.53 and third in his age group he says that despite being 53, it just goes to show that by laying off the alcohol, abstaining from sex and only eating fruit, it really can turn a man from being a cart horse plodder, who in previous years has only achieved a PB of 1:39, into a testosterone crazed athlete capable of dramatically improving his performance by 18 minutes.

Colin tried to hide from all the MSTC runners to save being taken down in the final minutes fortunately Steve Mac did not spot him but Martin did a sterling effort to chase him to the line crossing  just a few places behind. Colin would have gone faster but slipped on Steve's nipples (not for the first time) as they rolled across the road in search of the orange lady (in a kind of cathodic way)

The general consensus from the throng of disgruntled sweaty athletes moaning as as they crossed the line is that ½ mile was added on to the course (700m by my and others Garmins), which meant most had run slower than they thought they should have. The organisers have amended the race results to try and reflect this but not correctly and most agree that the calculations are wrong and additional time should be taken off the final results.

Colin (in his very boring nerdy way) believes that at least 3min 40secs should have been deducted from his original time as he was running an average of just under 7.20min miles, where only 2m 20 was deducted, so he is going to take of an additional 1:20 it all helps so all should give themselves a proper adjusted time by deducting half of a one mile pace from the original time.

Jim and Martin would benefit from the Colin rule of taking of extra time time to give exceptional PBs as will Helen who did a stonking PB, Jade, Jean and Steve also PB'd which were most deserved with Jim doing  a spectacular 1.25.01 which should be amended to sub 1.25 and Martin about 1.36

Steve Mac smashed his PB by nearly 7 mins to show that level pacing and steady Heart Rate really do work and for the first time felt like he could have carried on for a few more miles. If there was a prize for the biggest PB smash then maybe Steve and Jade are in the running.

Jade reckons it is a great course, great day, fun atmosphere and great results all round, terrible organisation but won't dwell on any negatives, no  bumping into the boobtastic Miss Price so an all round good day!

And a big cheer for the support from MSTC spectators inc Claire and Tim who have had their loyalty cards stamped - five more spectator sightings and they get a big sweaty club hug.

After a very short millisecond Andy honourably fessed up that he was not a turbo charged whippet capable of creaming the opposition and smashing younger club runners into the middle of next week, he was ill on the day and one of Steve Macs new pace makers had taken his place. Although if its there in print it's hard for the 'race time denialist' to argue as Colin knows with his 2.03 London Triathlon certificate which takes pride of place on his wall.

So it was all a bit Pee Bee City on the seafront with about eight noted and sorry if your PB has not been mentioned especially as they may be more PB's with the statutory Colin adjustment

 Authors: Colin and various others

The Results: A top class international field produced a marathon winning time of 2:08 with 21 runners doing 2:18 or less. Any one of those would have won the Brighton marathon. The top 50 runners were finished by 2:45 and they were virtually all from Ethiopia , Kenya and Morocco. Jim Graham was the 98^th man (the 4^th British male runner) by finishing in 3:11, just a few seconds outside of PB.

The half-marathon race started 30 minutes before the marathon and the winning time was a sensational 1:01:59. Helen Graham was the 359^th woman home in 2:17 (including time spent in a mid-race comfort break) which is MSTC best half-marathon time of the year (so far). 

The web-sites and results on the internet are mostly in French, so it is a bit tricky to work it all out. Race numbers went to around 7,000 but that seemed to combine half-marathon and marathon. Therefore, the event is tiny compared to London Marathon and about half the size of Brighton Marathon. There appear to have been fewer than 700 marathon finishers with the majority of runners doing the half-marathon.

The experience: The easyjet flights and transfers from Gatwick to the superb hotel "les Jardins de la Koutoubia" were a doddle (www.lesjardinsdelakoutoubia.com).

We chose to organise the trip and race entry ourselves rather than use one of the marathon tour companies. As a result we paid the same in total but got a much better hotel that was just half a mile walking distance from the race start/finish. Collecting race numbers the day before from the expo was easy and great fun as it coincided with a kids race that day.

Marrakech is a culture shock (in a good way) for a couple from Hassocks. A cross between "Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Arc" and "Carry on Follow that Camel". Shouldn't have been such a culture shock because Carry-on-Follow-that-Camel was filmed on Littlehampton beach. Like Littlehampton, Marrakech feels like it hasn't changed much for centuries (except the horse-drawn carts in Marrakech have rubber tyres now). There was plenty of exhaust fumes from 2-stroke mopeds to remind one this is the 21^st century.

Following the race we had a swim in the hotel pool then a nice wander in the Marrakech Souk (markets a few hundred yards from the hotel). Within minutes we had got live snakes wrapped around our necks and were being demanded to pay money for the privilege. Mayhem. It was frantic and amazing doing a little shopping for souvenirs.

The race was different with no energy drinks but just bottled water at irregular intervals (carry your own bottle I suggest). No energy gels but oranges, dates, figs and raisins on offer. The middle of the marathon had a 5-mile section with no feed stations and running through busy city roads competing with traffic and pedestrians. It is actually possible to get lost even though the runner in front is just a few metres away. The road closures get a bit less well enforced once the elite runners have gone through (I'd have had those Ethiopian Olympic Team runners otherwise..honest). However, the course is flat and has no annoying hairpins or switch backs so definite PB potential. The temperature was a pleasant 13-15 degrees during the race plus there was some shade from palm-trees and the ancient city walls.

The final race of the season brought out 8 hardy athletes for a bitterly cold race on the coast. Good preparation does not prevent all problems however and Rob was fighting off a sore throat, whilst Steve was recovering from a gastric flu bug which hit just 8 days before the race, leaving him unable to eat for 4 days. Medical advice suggests it is not good to race in those circumstances. What do those doctors know anyway?

Most race organisers understand the 'smell of fear' concept. For those who don't I would not suggest going near any nearby toilets just before a race. This race was the exception, there were virtually no toilets. In fact it turned out there were more massage ladies available after the race than toilets beforehand. That didn't stop Kev, who was into the ladies like a shot when the opportunity arose, barging desperate women out of the way to shed a few pounds before the start. The rest of us looked elsewhere and found a toilet block, but the cold water feed had frozen so there was no flush! Did we give up and look elsewhere - NO - stack it high, flush later! I can only imagine how bad it got.

The race got underway at 9.30, with the air temperature still below zero. The course is about as pancake flat as it is possible to be, but for all that this was a tough race. One third of the course was pavement or tarmac, one third was gravel tracks which were not too bad apart from the puddles, and the other third was downright cross country. It was those sections which made it hard. There was mud, narrow slippery wet paths, rock strewn paths, shingle beach sections, and grass and large puddles. You could get back up to speed on the good bits only to have another strength sapping section to knock you right back. In addition there were no marshals except at the (very good) feed stations. When you are tired it is too easy just to follow the person in front, and whilst it was generally easy to follow the course there were odd sections where it was easy to go wrong. I don't think any of us got round without errors. Jim certainly went wrong about 4 miles from the finish, and there was one section where the entire field went wrong. A steep path on this section finished at a river edge with a 4 metre drop into the water. I wasn't expecting it and had to pull up sharply to avoid going over the edge. The race times illustrated how challenging it actually was. Only 8 people finished under 3 hours.

Jim, Steve and Kev stayed together for about 4 miles but then Jim pushed up the pace and dropped the others. By the half way mark he had a good minute advantage over Steve, who was as far ahead of Kev. Rob decided to pace Rachel round because of his bug and Emma was taking the race at a sensible pace whilst Kay and Julienne were going along steadily.

The views and terrain of this race were quite amazing and I can quite understand why it was voted in the Top 10 of 'must do' marathons in the UK. There were marinas and harbours, marshlands and parklands, rivers and estuaries as well as the seafront views. However when it comes to the second half it becomes apparent that most of the view is a patch of ground just a few feet ahead of you as the fatigue starts to set in, pain starts to intrude and the real challenge of marathon running hits home.

Jim was probably the only one who wasn't feeling it too badly. He always looked strong and powered through to finish 29^th just under 3h15m. Steve did get Jim back in his sights at about 22 miles, but then an old problem with his right knee suddenly triggered. It was like turning a switch from running strongly to being in severe pain and virtually being unable to put the right foot to the floor. This led to a comical running action of lightly stepping on the right foot and doing an exaggerated left stride to try to keep the pace up. It worked after a fashion but cost him 30 seconds a mile. Frustratingly it cost him a few places, including the second lady who was being dragged round by what appeared to be a husky! He was still delighted with 38^th place and a 3h17m finish, and can only imagine what he could have done without the bug during the previous week.

It turned out Kev had dropped back for a reason. He has done 3 marathons this year and was very well prepared and fit. Sometimes however you just know it is not going to be your day, and this was such an occasion. He realised he was struggling and sensibly backed off in the second half to finish in just under 3h34m, still a very respectable time.

Rob and Rachel continued running together for most of the way, although Rob did find the cold weather and constant reminders of water a bit too much for his bladder, resulting in him stopping three times! Rachel however was running superbly and was on target to be way under her PB. Similar to me though, she suddenly hit problems at about 22 miles and from then on was really struggling. Nevertheless she remained a full 5 minutes inside her PB at the finish for an excellent time just under 3h46m. Rob, gentleman that he is(!) did manage to get a time 3 seconds faster, although clearly he didn't really get out of the comfort zone all the way round, and he even included his comfort breaks. They even managed to befriend an odd bloke called Dave!

Emma was running a steady pace and thought she might be able to break 4hrs. Her PB is 3h51m but it was 10 years ago so sub 4 would have been quite a feat. Like Rachel and Steve she also ran into problems late on and really suffered. She even went through a phase of wondering if she would finish at all but soldiered on for a 4h11m finish. As a training race for her true goal of the Brighton Marathon in April though, this was an excellent performance.

Kay got into trouble with a stitch relatively early. Clearly that makes proper running almost impossible so she had to resort to power walking and jogging. Husband Steve was trying to support her by riding round the route on his mountain bike, but wandered off somewhere towards Chichester and had to return to base to wait for her there. She finished, still smiling and cheerful, in 5h25m, probably looking in better shape than the rest of us.

Julienne had her usual steady pace. I did feel quite sorry for Darren at the finish, waiting in the freezing cold. On a positive note he always knew how she was doing because of the stream of text updates. She finished in 5h48m which I have huge respect for because it is an awful long time to be out there working hard.

Once we had finished most of us had a massage from the 'Pompey Pummellers' - I have to say it was the most painful post-race massage I have ever had, and easily the most effective one. She found every knot - although it felt like it was all knot with a bit of leg underneath. The difference it makes is staggering. The next day you can walk virtually normally - incredible!

Special praise must go to Tim and Claire who came to support, and stood out in the cold along with Darren and Steve Mac. However painful it is doing this sort of race I always prefer to be taking part rather than watching, if only for that sense of relief and achievement at the finish.

Men WINNER 2h51m29s

Jim Graham 3.14.48 13.39% 10points

Steve Alden 3.17.07 14.94 9

Kevin James 3.33.59 24.78 8

Rob Hoodless 3.45.50 31.69 7

Women WINNER 3h00m54s

Rachel Baker 3.45.53 24.87 10points

Emma Goodhead 4.11.03 38.78 9

Kay McMenamin 5.25.15 79.79 8

Julienne Stuart-Colwill 5.48.12 92.48 7

Author: Steve Alden