LDWA Herts Stroller 53
11th/12th August 2012

Race Photos

 

Unofficial Results

Noel Jones 12.27.00

 

It was a bit of a last minute decision to enter this event – I was looking for something to do last weekend and this came up in the search. A quick email to the organiser and yes, I could have a late entry place. Friday night I downloaded the course onto my Garmin but I couldn’t find the route instructions. Luckily the first person I bumped into on Saturday said he had a spare set. The backpack was fully loaded as it was almost certain to be dark before I finished so there was spare kit in addition to the GPS unit which was not needed but can be very useful in those “where the heck am I” moments. With the water that weighed in at about 5lbs.

 

My race plan was to try and average 12 minutes per mile which would bring me in at around 11 hours. I always struggle with race plans since inclination it so set off at my natural pace and I had to consciously make an effort to slow down while everyone else ran past me. The early hills around Barton-le-Clay reduced my pace considerably too! Soon after starting it became clear that the heat was going to play a major factor. For the first half the sun was out and there was little breeze. The fields seemed to radiate heat and I was overheating despite drinking a large water bottle between each checkpoint. At 23 miles I had to take quote a long break at the checkpoint to cool down. On the way out I doused my head with water and wondered why I’d left it so long.

 

The other factor in the race were the nettles, though to be fair there were only a couple of overgrown paths. My philosophy is to run through them – the adrenaline soon sorts out the stings – but I did curse a bit. As the afternoon drew on a breeze picked up but it was still warm. My feet were aching and I started to fade. Emergency action was taken when I spotted a Co-Op up the road from where we were crossing. Nurofen washed down with a bottle of Coke picked me up considerably. Soon after we ran along a stream with families wading in it and I was seriously tempted to join them.

 

I’d passed the walkers that started an hour earlier than me and I was also passing a fair number of runners. With about 12 miles left I got the bit between my teeth and started pushing for the finish. At the last checkpoint I again had to take a fairly long break, which of course meant that the people I’d passed since the last checkpoint came past me again! Fresh socks and a couple more tablets put some life back into the feet. It was also time to put the head torch on, the past 6 miles would be run in the dark. I was really glad now to have the course on my Garmin as I was finding it very hard to follow the instructions while concentrating on my footing. This was probably the bit I enjoyed most as I’d found a good pace and the miles ticked down nicely to the finish.

 

53 miles (possibly a bit more!) in 12 hours 27 minutes. Surprisingly close to plan and a pleasing result all things considered. I finished at about 10:30pm. I was mindful that the finish was open until 8am. I think everyone will have had a great day out however long it took.

 

Noel.

Home : Race Results : Runners Pages