Tis was the night before the TR250, when Brian Finley who had volunteered for the TR250 picked me up from my home and drove me to our B&B at reading, he had one the hire vans for the event, after checking in, we popped over to ‘The Bull’ at Streatley for a couple beers and a catch up with some of the runners and volunteers. It was good to see some of the legends there chilling out and having a good chin wag, it helped me relax a bit and get my mind ready.
My plan was to run 25 mins followed by fast walking pace 5 mins, and try to keep this going up to Yiewsley CP, then drop it down to a 20/10 to Neither Heyford and then to a 15/15 to the finish, however things didn’t quite go to plan as you’ll find out later…
Leading up to the TR250 I asked Lindley Chambers of Challenge Running Ltd if he could create me a three monthly bespoke training plan. We had a chat on the phone discussing my requirements etc, I informed him that I wanted to reduce weekly mileage and concentrate on quality runs (when training for the GUCR I was running up to 100 mile weeks). I provided all my Strava and Movescount data to him for review, and within a few weeks I had my firsts months plan which included Intervals, hill work, tempo runs and a weekly long run (later I would do some back to back long runs). I was slightly worried I wasn’t doing enough mileage however after a few weeks training I started to notice that I was feeling stronger and after the longer runs felt I had more energy. The months went by and I stuck to the training plans. I had signed up to a 35 mile ultra ‘The Shires and Spires’ so this was ideal way to test out my kit and pacing, the order of the day was 25 min run/5 min walk at a 9:30 – 10:00 pace. The test worked a very well and I felt more confidence going into TR250 than I had before, so it was well worth signing up for this race. The highest weekly mileage during my three months on the bespoke plan was up to 70 miles, which was great and gave me recovery time, I felt ready.
Now I’ve tried to remember what I can, some of the locations might be slightly wrong but here goes!
Goring on Thames – Hurley
Lindley gave a last talk and cracked a few jokes, then I realised I was quite near the front, so I moved back a bit; I wasn’t planning on racing, just running at a slow pace. I know that people can get a bit excited at the beginning and head off way too fast, so I wanted to avoid that temptation.
The countdown began, and then suddenly we were off!
Very quickly there was a breakaway group ahead of the main pack, but I stuck with my plan of 25/5 running at a 10:30 pace. I thought to myself that the pace of the breakaway group was way too quick but that is their choice, there’s a long way to go and let’s see who survives to the end.
I got chatting to Paul Mason for a little while on this leg, it was good to catch up with him after his great run on the GUCR, he was feeling great and eventually he was leading me and disappeared, that’s fine; no doubt I’ll see him some other time during the race…
Passing through Henley regatta was a bit surreal, lots of toffs about in their finest, quaffing champagne and stuffing their faces, then me running through the crowds stinking of sweat and looking worse for wear great fun!
I did have to stop in a pub on the way at Henley; the kind chap behind the bar filled my water bottles with ice and water, lovely!
Before long I had arrived at Hurley, I felt comfortable at the pace I was running, the 25/5 was working a treat, any niggles I had previously didn’t seem to be bothering me so now time to fuel up and resupply.
Hurley – Chertsey
After a good feed and a drink, quick chat with Lindley, telling me I’m doing well and to take it easy, and some help of Brian (making sure I eat!) I set off again, back to 25/5 still around the same pace of 10:30. The miles ticked over and I was still comfortable.
The next checkpoint was a change of clothes and into night gear. Around 5 miles from the CP I caught up to Paul Mason, he seemed to be in a little trouble, and was complaining about conserving his water as he was using it up too quickly. He had slowed a lot but he was still moving. I stuck to my race plan and kept going and after not too long I had left him behind. I reached the CP ditched my day kit and into night. Dan Connors popped over and said hello, helped me with my drop bags. Brian also ensured I had some hot food in me which was good. As I was chilling and psyching myself to get going, Paul Mason arrived and subsequently collapsed!
Unfortunately he looked like he was in a bad way, delirious and throwing up. Lindley and Maxine quickly moved in to help him; I was quite worried for him as he was a mate, but I knew he was in expert hands, so I made my way off but secretly hoping it was a blip for him and he’d be back in the race. Later I heard the Paul had to be shipped off to hospital (by two ambulances apparently!) where he was kept in overnight for observation, his race over. Thankfully he was ok after a night’s stay; he’d picked up a virus so needed to rest.
Chertsey – Yiewsley
This was the first night section, I knew was going to be tough, generally I don’t seem to do to badly without sleep, well for one night at least so I knew I’d be ok, however I’d heard about a dodgy section of the path that can sometimes have some undesirables about. I’d worry about it when I reached that part, for me now was just to keep the 25/5 going, I’d dropped the pace to around 11:00. This section I didn’t really see many people, I caught up Ellen Cottom and quickly said hello, she seemed to be a little suffering and not really up for talking, so I kept pushing on. This section was a bit trickier to navigate, a few bridges to cross and having to work out how to get onto the Grand Union Canal near Syon Park.
Around 01:30 am I reached a small stretch of the path in a built up area, I think it was around Staines, I suspected this was the dodgy part and I was right. I passed a small gang on a park bench smoking dope (I could smell it) but they didn’t really notice me, however some other guy was playing a guitar and singing some nonsense, he did notice me and started singing about my head torch! I was pretty much ready for anything as the atmosphere felt a bit tense, I can generally handle myself being an ex-boxer and black belt in Aikido. Luckily nobody bothered me, even though a bike gang cycled past me as well.
Sadly a chap about one hour after me was mugged along that stretch, beaten up and robbed of pretty much everything; I didn’t catch his name and hope he has recovered from his ordeal. Such a shame for him that his race ended this way.
Ellen mentioned to me later in the race that some of the cyclists started following her, even stopping when she did. Ellen being a tough cookie turned around and had some stern words (and I think threatened them with something 😉 ) something along the lines of ‘Do you want some of this! Come on!’ they soon scarpered off!
Passing Hampton Court Palace in the early hours of the morning was odd, I’ve not been to Hampton Court for about 20 years, amazing history and to pass the gardens and the historical buildings was nice and no tourists!
Soon after I reached a section along a road where I felt I’d slightly gone wrong, I gave Brian a call and asked him to check where I was, he got Dan Connors to call me back, and luckily I’d only gone wrong by one street, so no big deal, before I knew it I was a at Syon Park. Now I’d heard that the gates were open all the time, but do I risk it?! No chance! I’m not heading all the way back if they are locked, so I just took the road around the park, a little longer but worth it and before long I was on the Grand Union Canal!
I noticed a hot spot on my foot, so I stopped at some park bench and taped it up, feet had been coping quite well, just a small heal blister on both sides. I found this stretch of the canal long, I just wanted to see Bulls Bridge as a mental boost, but it just never seemed to turn up, I was feeling a little down but daylight was starting to appear and soon the bridge arrived, not long now until Yiewsley CP!
Yiewsley CP eventually arrived and was quite a sparse location. The CP staff gave me some hot food of Beans and Sausages, a cup of sweet tea and sorted my bottles. I changed into my day gear and headed off. I didn’t need any sleep and just wanted to keep moving, I was hoping at Rickmansworth to meet my wife and have a coffee in a café there (I live in Rickmansworth).
Yiewsley – Berkhampstead
I was still moving quite well, but starting to notice something wasn’t quite right with both my feet, they were feeling a little bruised but I just put this down to the pounding on the rough paths.
I reached Rickmansworth around 07:30, it was too early for my wife as she had to sort the kids for school, and too early for the café in the Aquadrome to be open as well, no big deal I’d would have been nice to see her but that’s the way it is, keep plodding on!
I was really starting to notice my feet now, getting really painful, making me walk longer and having to sit down occasionally, Berkhampstead was now feeling a very long way off, mentally it was getting to me and I started to have doubts about whether I’d actually finish the race.
Somehow I managed to get to Berkhampstead, I was in a bit of a state I was pretty sure that I would not complete the race and thinking of pulling out. Maxine was at the CP and I asked her to take a look at my feet. My right foot was quite badly swollen at the front and top of the foot, I started to tell Maxing I’d have to pull out of the race, but she was calm and said she would bandage up my foot and suggested that I could walk to the next CP as I had plenty of time in the bag. I still had my doubts but her words, first aid and a change of trainers was enough to make me change my mind, I made the decision to keep going but walking most of the next section.
Berkhampstead – Milton Keynes
Away I walked, along the way I was passed by a couple of runners one being Ellen, it was nice that she spent a few minutes talking with me and she was telling me about the night before where she scared off the cyclists. She was walking too but at quite a fast pace that I could not really keep up with her, so she disappeared eventually, so a long old stretch on my own walking. My foot pain was easing; it seemed that the bandaging Maxine applied had started to reduce the swelling. I managed the odd run here and there.
Sleep deprivation was affecting me a little now, I’d not had any hallucinations at all so far, and until about 100 meters ahead of me I could see a black and white sheep dog jump into the overgrowth by the side of the canal and it looked like he jumped onto a canal boat. It was broad daylight at this stage, so when I reached the part where the dog had jumped, there was nothing there! The first and only hallucination I had during the whole race.
There was a stage where you reach a bridge and cross to the other side, on the maps the distance between bridges seemed quite close, however in reality they are quite far apart! This affected me quite a bit and I started getting a bit angry, ‘where the f**k was this bridge, should be there now according to the map’ Just another part of the fun of the race I guess by the organisers to make us suffer! But I think the real reason is they had to shrink maps to fit them on the A4 paper.
Leighton Buzzard Tesco’s was a welcome site; I wanted a sandwich, a pint of milk and to top up my bottles with something other than water. So I popped in bought the stuff and sat on a fence to demolish the sandwich and milk. A couple of minutes later out popped Javed Bhatti from Tesco, who had also stocked up with food and drink as well. He checked I was ok and he was off walking, eating as he went.
Soon I was on my way again, feeling quite good, so I started to run as much as possible, it wasn’t long before I caught up with Javed, it was nice to have some company and have a chat and getting to know a legend, very nice man and gave me some good advice about races I was thinking of entering. I decided to try to keep with him for a long as possible; it was a run/fast walk combination, just keep moving. Not long after it started to get dark so head torches on, he remembered the stretch to Milton Keynes, longer than what is actually on the map so it seemed. Just before we reached Milton Keynes I started to flag and dropped back, he reached the CP first and I wasn’t far behind. At this CP I decided to take a 45 minute sleep however it was a bit rough as it’s under a road bridge but I managed it ok.
I felt good after the sleep, and more sweet tea and food in me, bottles and food stocked up, and into my night gear and soon off again.
Milton Keynes – Nether Heyford
There were a few of us who left around the same time from Milton Keynes and there was some yo-yoing going on. I’d also pass the odd person having a snooze or a rest, and then they would pass me when I’d take a breather, it pretty much went on like that for most of the night time section. By morning I was alone again, I reached Navigation Inn and just past there I took a 20 minute sleep by the side of the canal.
My left foot was starting to get painful, same problem as my right foot, swelling front and top of the foot, it was seriously hampering me and making me walk and stop quite a lot. I once again thought this could be it; I’d have to pull out at the next CP.
Going over the Blisworth Tunnel was tough as well, the road section was so long and fast cars passing, I reached the turn off at the road leading back to the canal, sat down and put my head beneath my knees, and slept a few minutes. Another runner came up to me and checked I was ok, and gave me some positive encouragement. I told him I was ok, so he went off, I didn’t hang around long and soon carried on. My mind was playing bad games with me at this point, wanting to pull out of the race.
It was a long hard slog pretty much having to walk most of it, I knew time was leaking away, there is no way I’d be able to walk the whole rest of the race, I’d never make it.
Nether Heyford – Fenny Compton
Nether Heyford was a good sight being as it’s in a church hall, my plan was to get 3hrs sleep, but due to my walking I’d lost a lot of time, Russ who had been helping at most of the CP’s as his girlfriend Sandra was running the race informed me that due to the cut off, I could only afford 1.5hrs!
To be honest I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to continue with my left foot issue so I grabbed my sleeping bag and decided to worry about it after I’d had a sleep, I was out like a light!
It was a quick sleep, but refreshing, when I got up who did I see but Paul Mason! He’d decided to pop along and help at the CP’s, was great to see he was ok. I had a wash, change of clothes and asked Maxing to check my left foot. Once again she bandaged it and gave me words of reassurance. Paul made sure I had plenty of food and a cup of tea, and I started to feel good again. He pointed me and another chap in the right direction to head and we walked off up the road until we reached the canal. I can’t remember the chaps name but we got chatting for a little while along the canal, but I was feeling good and needed to make up time, I decided to try to do a 25/5 again said my goodbyes and off I went.
I felt good; I kept this going for three hours! Passed a few other runners along the way, I even popped into a small shop and had an ice lolly, heaven!
Soon I reached Braunston tunnel, I was slowing a bit now so walked up the hill side, my next target was to get to Braunston Marina, where on my recce’s there was a nice canal boat café, that I wanted to get a slice of cake and a large glass of milk!
After reaching Braunston Marina, I found the café canal boat but it was closed! Still I topped up my bottles at a water point and carried on, the next phase would be on the Oxford canal. I knew that this path was potentially overgrown, narrow and rutted in places and would be hard going on my swollen feet.
Upon reaching the Oxford canal it was as I thought, overgrown and the path awful, my feet would suffer badly, however I was more concerned about having a large bottle/glass of milk! I was gagging for a drink of milk! I knew there was a shop later at a place called the Folly by Napton Bottom Lock, but I wasn’t sure it’d be open. Once again this played mind games with me; the canal is BORING and just went on and on. It seemed to take ages to reach the Folly shop, luckily when I arrived they were still open, I grabbed a litre of milk and a couple of toffee crisp chocolate bars and had a quick chat with the owners. They shortly closed the place so I arrived just in the nick of time. I sat outside and demolished the milk and chocolate, the leftover milk I put in my bottle to drink on the way. It was a good boost for me and got me through to the next CP.
Along the way I came across Karen Hathaway, unfortunately her knee had given up and she was walking very slowly, it was unlikely that she would be carrying on at the next CP. I said my goodbyes and carried on.
I came across some drunken blokes having a barbecue, they offered me a burger and beer, I was so tempted but also aware of time and it was getting dark. I need to get moving and try to make the CP ASAP also it started to rain, so on with my jacket, but didn’t bother with legs which left me with wet trainers.
I arrived at the CP, where I was greeted by Russ and Maxine. I mentioned that Karen was in a bad way with her knee, so they decided to call her and I believe the picked her up at a point along the way. I crashed out for about 1 hr, in the same tent as Ian who I’d met the evening before and had yo-yoed with a few times, very nice guy and I heard it was his longest ultra – he’d only done a 100k before!
I knew in the next tent was Javed, I could hear him groaning in pain whilst sleeping, I wondered if he would be ok, it seemed later that he decided that he couldn’t go on from this point and sadly pulled out of the race.
After waking and getting a good feed, putting full waterproofs on, I noticed John Parsonage, I’d seen him at some of the CP’s previously, he’d been having trouble with his feet as well, deep blisters. I got chatting to him and suggested that we stick together and try to push each other through until the end. I was so happy when he accepted this offer, so off we went. Also Ian started with us, but soon ran ahead as he just seemed so strong (It was the last time I saw him until the end).
Fenny Compton – Lower Heyford
It was hard going during the night section, it was raining quite heavily at times, and it was cold, we both kept each other going taking turns leading, stopping occasionally for a rest and walking, running when we could. It was good to see daylight appear and the rain started to ease off. It was still cold but we decided to get 20 minutes sleep on the side of the canal. I didn’t feel great after this sleep but still better than nothing. Eventually when we reached Banbury John mentioned that he wanted to pop into a café and get a coffee, I had to mention to him that it was 5am in the morning so quite possible that there wouldn’t be any open at that time!
The sun eventually came out, and it was getting hot. I had a long sleeve thermal base layer on and no cap, only a running beanie. We were still a way off from the CP at Lower Heyford and I was cooking in the sun so I had to do something to protect my face from the heat and potential sun burn. I found a very large leaf along the side of the canal and used that as an umbrella! Crude but worked!
Myself and John were aware that we’d lost quite a bit of time as we both had to walk for very long stretches along the way, we had to make up time and started to do long slow running. I started to sleep walk/run, and John had to shout at me at one stage as he noticed me weaving left to right.
At some stage not too far from the next CP another chap caught us up, he had quite a large back pack on but was moving quite well, he overtook us and said something about making the cut off in time! This seemed to spur me and John on, worrying that we’d be late, so we managed to get some longer runs in (very slow). We arrived at Lower Heyford with enough time left, just a little panic!
Lower Heyford – Abingdon
It was always so good to reach a CP, at every one of them the volunteers looked after us so well. They were a huge part of this race, giving their precious time for us, and this CP didn’t disappoint. I can’t remember the chap’s name, but he sat with me, made sure I ate plenty, had a few cups of tea and sorted out my gear for me, I changed into a t-shirt and cap after my cooking from the sun. It was also good to chat and just to take my mind off the next stages.
I could see John also getting attention, I think they were sorting his feet and he looked to be having a good feed as well. No sleep at this CP and we didn’t hang around long, knowing that we were nearing the end, reach the next CP and it was only 18 miles left.
It was also good to know that this section we would get off the Oxford canal and get back onto the Thames Path, another little boost.
I can’t remember exactly where along the way it was but we met John’s sister, brother-in-law and their children. John was slightly overwhelmed when he met them but it was lovely to see and no doubt helped him to push on further and they took a picture of us.
Eventually at some stage we also caught up to Sandra Hopkins, she had also met up with a friend who had come out to cheer her on, we ran with her for a little while. She didn’t want to run but boy she could walk really fast, my little legs were struggling to keep up with her! Eventually she had to rest so me and John pushed on a bit longer, some running but mostly walking.
When we reached ISIS lock, there was some chap sitting alongside it who stopped us and wanted to have a chat, he mentioned to us about the winner who had passed this way a day or so before, so was a little bemused that we were so far behind! Still nice guy and made us have a giggle.
The switch over to the Thames was good, just a mental booster to know it was pretty straight forward from there on, however we reached a part where there was a bridge which looked to be onto an island, we both could not fathom that it was the correct way, so took another well-worn path into some fields, that seemed to be heading in the correct direction. Bad decision, we went through a few fields and onto a dirt road, with no sign of the river. John noticed some fishermen by a small lake and asked them for directions, though they were Polish and didn’t really speak very good English so a waste of time. I carried on further and noticed a cut through and we tried that, luckily for us it led back onto the Thames Path.
Darkness descended onto us and before long we reached some wooded areas along the path, however the path just seemed to go on and on, we could hear music in the distance and you could also see lights but we could just never seem to get off the path and out of the woods! We wanted the foot bridge to cross which led to Abingdon which seemed to be forever out of reach. As I was moving along slowly though the never ending path, somehow I seemed to lose John! I stopped, sat down and waited, hoping he wasn’t far behind, about five minutes passed and still nowhere! I shouted out and luckily he heard me and caught back up, I think he was doing something with his phone and I hadn’t noticed.
Finally we reached the foot bridge and Abingdon.
Abingdon – Goring on Thames
John and I had already decided to get sleep first for 1.5hrs, then food and change of gear after the sleep. So straight away I just dropped my race vest, grabbed my sleeping bag and crashed out. I think John did the same, I didn’t hang about to find out!
Before I knew it I was getting woken up, 1.5hrs already over, but now it was the last stage, I had a couple of pot noodles in my drop bags, so asked the CP staff to make them up for me and John. Also had a few cups of sweet tea. Whilst waiting, the chap with the backpacks was getting his feet sorted, he was suffering bad blisters but still seemed in good spirits, he left the CP pretty quick after that. Myself, Sandra and John were the only ones left and it made sense to stick together now until the finish, we were all exhausted and if you have seen the video, you can see the three of us hobbling out of the CP, pretty funny!
We left the CP with about 40 minutes to the cut off, so we knew we had to make up some time and we actually managed to run for a while (I thought it was fast, but I was corrected by Lindley, it was bloody slow!). During this running stage we somehow managed to catch up the chap with the back pack and overtook him, he seemed to be going through a bad patch, however later he did overtake us again and we didn’t see him anymore until the finish.
Daylight arrived and all three of us were feeling very tired, a decision was made to sleep for 15 minutes. John thought that Sandra had set their phone alarm, and Sandra thought John had but none of them did! I just happened to make a mental note of the time we went to sleep for some reason, and whilst asleep I started to roll a little towards the river as the ground was uneven! This woke me with a startle and I just happened to check my watch, we’d been asleep for 25 minutes! I shouted for the others to wake, we were lucky to not oversleep and possible race over!
It was also pretty cold in the morning, but soon the sun came out. We were hoping to grab a breakfast somewhere during some of the section where you pass through some villages. We found one place, but the manager was a bit funny and told us the food was made to order, we didn’t want to use up precious time and to be honest the manager was a bit of a dick, so we just left, hoping to find somewhere else open. Unfortunately nowhere was.
Along this stretch we came across some other runners, asking us about the race and congratulating us, some lovely people.
When we came across the Thames Path sign – 2.5 miles to Streatley, we knew then that we had loads of time in the bag, we could just have a leisurely stroll now, we’d finish, nothing else to worry about!
It was very emotional for us when we came upon the sign; we gave each other hugs and pre-finish congratulations!
Carrying on we met up with Paul Mason and his girlfriend along the way, they took some pictures and gave us some words of encouragement, and not long after we could see the bridge and the finish!
We’d been told it is mandatory to run over the bridge but it’s a bloody long bridge! So we’d made the decision to walk most of it and run the last 25 metres or so, it was awesome knowing we’d done it and being cheered by other runners and supporters, we ran to the finish hand in hand and being joint last!
Lindley gave us our medals, ladies first then me and John, it was really special and boy weighs heavy on tired legs!
What a finish, what a phenomenal race and an honour to run and finish it with two lovely awesome people who I’ll never forgot for the rest of my life.
Thanks go to Lindley for organising a flawless race, I have very little idea about the logistics and preparation beforehand and I’m sure you had some sleepless nights getting everything ready.
Special thanks to Maxine, you saved my race, not once but twice! Bandaging my feed and the kind comforting words of motivation and reassurance which got me back into the game.
Brian thanks for picking me up and taking me home, love you (special joke between us)!
All the volunteers, you make the race, taking up your time, feeding us, sorting out our gear, listening to our gripes, making sure we get out of the CP on time and many other stuff, you’re are superhero’s!
And finally all the runners who attempted this race, brilliant if you finished, top running. If you didn’t finish you still attempted it and you deserve the upmost respect.
Mike Ultra Blog 