I shall begin with three apologies: one – for the ridiculous length this race report is bound to run to. Two – for the fact that I am writing this without the aid of my little yellow bible which I seem to have lost, and not all the results are on the web yet, so I am not going to remember exactly who did which stage. I might just make it up as I go along! Three – I saw much more of some people than others, so sorry if you don’t get a mention (or you do!).
I spent Friday evening doing two very important pre-GBR jobs: 1. packing my stuff from two lists into two bags (I was determined everything was going to be on the right bus at the right time!) and making flapjacks.
I woke up on Saturday most unimpressed by the sunshine and clear blue skies – not what was required! However it was not nearly as hot as last year thankfully. Got to Hampton Court to find two buses, odd and even, and two teams, all was good. Could this be the year everything was going to go well?! The Golden Joggers were rather subdued this year in giant blonde wigs and fluorescent legwarmers, and there were a few running nuns about. All the usual GBR crew. My personal support team came to wish good luck, Sharon sprinted from Bushy Park to get there in time!
We went to watch the start and cheered Colin and Chris C off on the way to Staines. The even bus headed straight there as well to drop off Sue and Jar. Nearly the entire crew of the bus needed the loo all ready! Sue was feeling a little nervous but had a good run, as did Jar.
We didn’t have time to watch the start as we had some marshaling to do at Runnymede. We pooled our knowledge of the Magna Carta (poor) and I discovered the first thing I’d forgotten that I’d told people to bring – National Trust card. However Phil had listened to my advice and brought his so we saved ourselves £3 in the car park.
Our task was to get the runners across the very busy road and give them water. We were super- efficient – Sandra pointing the way, Tom and I stopping traffic, Phil and Mark handing out water and Iain collecting cups. All the drivers decided to be in a good mood so it went very well.
Next stop was Little Marlow, with a coffee and loo stop in Big Marlow on the way. There seemed to be plenty of time for this, and then suddenly there wasn’t and Mark and I, who were due to run next, started to get twitchy. So takeaways all round!
I was scared about this run, due to it being graded 10 out of 10 for difficulty. According to team captain Jo, I had specifically asked to run it, I don’t really remember that….! However I was well prepared with water, jelly babies… oh and I had done quite a lot of training too. Soon we were off and even sooner the entire field disappeared from sight before we’d made it to the first corner. All apart from a a lady from West 4. She ran along ahead of me but started to walk within the first two miles. We played hare and tortoise for a bit and then I got ahead on a hill and that was the last I saw of her. So this hill, it was very big and went up to Handy Cross. (at the top were my parents handing out water and support). It was also the first of many. I ran up all the hills on page one of the map, and walked them on page two. I even had to walk down one hill, it was so steep! The route was absolutely beautiful and so well marked that even someone stupid like me couldn’t possibly get lost. I went down country lanes (not to mention up them), through forests, past a National Trust property, along the motorway (well, next to it) and who knows where else. I felt like I’d been gone for days!
The last mile or so was hard work but overall I enjoyed the run and it wasn’t as hard as I feared. Moral of the story – face your fears! (And you too can jun the 10 club. Jo, Jar, Marie and I were thinking of getting tattoos. GBR 10. Not really).
Because I ran so incredibly slowly, the odd bus had already zoomed off to it’s hot date in St Albans, but all was well because Helen and Martin collected Mark and I in the car. (Mark had a great run and came 5th). I realised the second thing I’d forgotten – wet wipes. Luckily Mark remembered them. We got to Stage 7 with seconds to spare to see the start, but we struggled to break into the required jog to get from the car park to the start in time to give Vicci and Kate a shout. I then missed the finish of stage 6 due to being selfishly more interested in getting changed and eating some food.(All of which was on the right bus!) Sorry stage 6 runners.
Next stop Dobbs Weir, which seemed to be the first time I’d actually stopped all day! We arrived with loads of time to spare so looked at the results, chatted and generally lolled around for a bit. Helen and Wiebke set off, and for the first time things went slightly wrong. Nothing drastic, but some major map/arrow/marshaling malfunctioning caused several runners to go astray, apparently running up to 6 extra miles in some cases. Ah well, it made me feel better about getting lost on this stage last year!
We picked up Phil and Tom who both ran well, headed to Toot Hill to drop off Jo and Andy, and then went straight off to find our marshaling spot. We had this down to a fine art by now – road, pointing, water, yellow bibs etc, and even added jelly babies into the mix. A Serpie man came zooming along at top speed, accompanied by Pete Kennedy on his bike. That’s nice we thought, he’s got a lead bike. The n we noticed Pete appeared to be maniacally throwing sawdust over his shoulder as he furiously cycled through the undergrowth trying to keep up with this elite athlete! It turned out that he was course marking, and this Serpie guy was so fast that Pete couldn’t keep ahead of him on his bike! We were also most impressed by the Frontrunner who grabbed three jelly babies at high speed and didn’t drop one!
Finally we were able to go to the pub for some much needed food, drinks and chats about the day. We were all knackered so it wasn’t too long before we headed for the B and B, an interesting journey that seemed to go from A to B via X, Y and Z. We eventually arrived to be greeted by not one but three big fat chavtastic weddings. However the noise did not infiltrate and most people had a decent sleep. Iain had an extra little journey down a country lane to accost a woman in a dressing gown, but that’s another story…
So, (if you’re still with me, well done), on to Sunday. Nice early start to discover it was absolutely pissing down with rain. However it soon blew over and the wind turned out to be a much bigger weather issue. I was on the even bus again so headed back to Blackmore, where we found Marie (cold) and Colin (full of cold). This was also the point that I noticed Iain’s Ranelagh vest was clearly a bit last minute just like his place in the team. On the back was written – display copy only – do not remove. Oops! We made some complicated lift arrangements with some Stragglers and some 26.2ers and Colin and Iain set off. Then it was marshaling time again. I don’t remember ever doing so much marshaling at GBR before – was there more than usual this year? I certainly appreciated them on my stages. This one was by the windmill in Mountnessing. All was well when the runners passed us, but later many of the leaders, including Colin, went horribly wrong and got rather lost.
Our next stop was Thames Chase where we found a very nice visitor centre with possibly the best cafe of the whole weekend. Jo and I had a lovely bowl of porridge, which was my 3rd breakfast of five that morning. I was too busy eating it to see Kate and Mike finish. Sorry! I was up for eggs on toast for my next breakfast but time was ticking and we had to get to Lullingstone Park, where we found Jar. I was just glad to get out of the bus and away from Mike’s socks. Not such a good cafe so I just had a piece of toast. (Interestingly, Mark, who ran the same stage as me, consumed nothing all morning except for a bottle of lucozade. He finished 23 minutes ahead of me. Is there a lesson to be learned here?!)
We were marshaling again on this stage, can you believe it? And only two miles in so had to find it quickly. Unfortunately it was not easy to find. We followed a horse round and round the village of Shoreham, Mark did some fantastic 3 point turns and eventually we found our spot… sadly it was 10 minutes after all the runners had gone past. We felt really bad about it but thankfully it was not a danger point, and it wasn’t too hot so hopefully no one was too desperate for water after only two miles. Sorry stage 16 people. If that was the biggest thing to go wrong all weekend we decided we could live with it.
Next stop was Merstham where it started to rain again. I had a little snooze in the bus and waited for the rain to stop, which it did just before the start. Mark and I then got told off for not signing in early enough. Oops.
We set off up a hill, that made a change – not. However, I think I was not the only one with tired legs, as this time I could actually see other runners around me! There were two Dulwich Park Runners behind me at the start and I soon passed a West 4 lady, a nun and a few others, and caught up with a Golden Jogger. We ran together for a few miles, not only was he a fantastic pacer and map reader, but he also opened a gate for me that I could not figure out. So I felt a bit mean when I dropped him on the final hill, but by that point I just wanted to get to the end. It was a lovely run with great scenery and I ran up all the hills this time! The best thing about running from Merstham was that I missed out Tatsfield which was the scene of all the bad news last year. I had a fantastic reception from my fan club on Box Hill, who had had a bit of a nightmare getting runners and marshals to the right places at the right times. But had got it all sorted in the end.
Next on the list was Ripley, the end was nigh. But we could not relax yet as this was Vicci’s leg, and Vicci’s day two track record is not good! Andy was also running from here and decided flat coke was his pre-race nutrition of choice. We all agreed this was a good choice, recommended by ultra runners and doctors, but then he went to the shop unsupervised and came out with Irn – Bru. I don’t think anyone would recommend that!
Andy and Vicci set off on stage 21 and the odd bus headed for the finish. I don’t think I’ve ever got there so early before. But it wasn’t long before the runners started arriving, led by a Serpie man of course. Chris O and Chris C both finished strongly, and we heard that Andy and Vicci had both finished with all arms and legs still attached. We had done it – both teams safely round the entire course. I think that is a huge achievement regardless of finishing places or times. (Although I must mention that Marie won her stage on Saturday and set a vet course record both days). Most of the team, plus several supporters, gradually arrived and we had a quick drink but decided to save the celebrations for a future date. We were exhausted. Another fantastic GBR weekend was over. Kate summed it up beautifully I think, and I hope she doesn’t mind me misquoting her – who knew how much fun two really hard runs and two days in a minibus could be?!
