South Downs 100

This year has been interesting running wise. I haven't run as much this year as I did this time last year. Maybe that's a good thing, who knows. This year I ran Country to Capital - 45 mile race , which I have run the last 3 years and had a p.b every year, including this year with a time of 6.43. Then I have run 3 x Half marathons and a marathon, my aim was to break 3 hours but due to lack of training and illness I never got round to it. I wanted to run another 100 to get back into it so I thought I would try one of James' 100s on home soil. So I entered the South Downs 100, leading up to the race - training didn't go to plan but these things happen. In the week leading up to the race I was thinking how am I going to do this, having not run a marathon for 8 weeks, my last 100 nearly over a year ago and my biggest training week of 52 miles over the last 8 weeks. I thought I have entered this so I am going to give it a go anyway. On Thursday night I caught a train to St Albans with Al who works alongside James on Centurion, we stayed at James', had a curry and chilled out. Friday, we got up and drove down to St Albans and set a few things up in the sports ground at Winchester where the race started. James did a race briefing at 7pm around the course, I must say James is very switched on ( I wouldn't say this to his face ;))he ran the course about a month ago..in the race briefing he pretty much gave you a description of the whole course through memory for about 40 mins, you do not get many race directors giving you this sort of information pre race. After the race briefing I sat around with a few people talking about the races we have run, some people were running their first 100 and were a little nervous.You do meet some great people at 100 mile races, it's not about a race, it's about helping each other finish and achieving their individual goals. When you're running a 100 miles you literally want to start the race ASAP in the week leading up to it so it's just a waiting game. Friday night we all camped in the sports ground, I hardly got any sleep and was very uncomfortable. It rained a lot during the night, I woke up and my phone was soaked and wasn't working, you needed to carry a phone in this race just in case anything went wrong, I managed to dry it and sort of get it working. We had the mandatory race briefing at 5.30 am. I met up with Luke Carmichael who I had run part of the Thames Trot 50 with in 2011 and I started the race with him and another guy called Phil, they were both running their first 100. Luke using the South Downs 100 as a training run for UTMB at the end of August. We started off with a lap around the sports ground and then out onto the South Downs, it was drizzling but okay, we started off at 10 min mile pace which was where I wanted to be. I believe the secret to running a 100 or any race is to conserve energy and start off slow. So I ran with Luke and Phil for the first 20 miles and then nature called for me so they went on, was great running with them, we were chatting about life, running experiences, etc. I then carried on and couldn't see them in the distance so thought they must have gone off. The South downs is very undulating. After a heavy downpour at the start of the race for 10 mins, the sun seemed to come out and started to get very hot, I was rehydrating, taking electrolytes and gels,etc. At about mile 38 - 6 hours in I was starting to feel terrible and a lot of negative thoughts were in my mind, I was thinking of pulling out. I got to the next check point at mile 42, had some water and food. I wanted to pull but you couldn't pull at that station - the guys, Ed a guy I used to work with and another guy gave me some words of encouragement and said run to the next aid station and see how you feel. The next aid station was at 50 miles, so another 8. I ran onto 50 and started to feel good again, I also thought I can do this, I have done this before and if I dropped out I would feel terrible. I believe in a 100 miler once you're over 50 it helps you massively mentally as you're on a count down. I ran with various people, chatting, getting through the miles. At Mile 41 I was in 52nd position, I ended up finishing tied 11th so over took quite a of people in the last 50. Some of the climbs on this race were amazing, mile climbs here and there which really take it of you.Total elevation for this race is 12,500 ft so it's not the flattest of 100s!I ran the last 20 miles with a guy called Ewan and Graham who was pacing Ewan and being a great navigator. Ewan was running his first 100 so was doing great, we ran the last 20 in the dark through the South Downs, Graham and Ewan were a massive help. We finished the race at Eastbourne Athletic track, was great to see Charlie (My Bro) and Claire at the finish!made me feel great. Ewan and I finished in 21.33, tied 11th. I am writing this now, a bit tired but feel great and definitely have the 100 mile bug again, need to get another one booked in now. I would definitely recommend this race to people - Great course, amazing scenery,organisation was superb, briefing, aid stations were 2nd to none and a great bunch of people.