So it was time for a new adventure and new territory at the Adidas TR24 Thunder Run for myself and a great team of fellow runners I had been kindly invited to join for the weekend at Catton Park near Lichfield in Derbyshire.
Running discussion board member Martin had invited fellow Southport runner David Marsh and myself to join his team for the TR24 Thunder Run as part of a team of 7 runners for the 24hr event which is run over a 10k (6.2 mile) multi terrain course in the lovely countryside of Derbyshire . I snapped up the offer as I had been trying to get a team into the event myself but failed as it was extremely popular this year and all the team entries sold out in hours, much to a lot of people's disappointment.
The event is held over several days and we were provided with a well organized schedule ( see above ) and you could arrive at the provided camping area for runners on the Friday from lunchtime, in preparation for the 24hrs of running from 12 noon on Saturday to 12 noon on Sunday. The camping is all included in the cost of the team entry fee and is an absolute bargain when you work out what you get for your money.
Typical cost was £35-£40 per team member if a team of 8 for example, and you get your entry to the race itself, free camping and facilities, your event t-shirt and winners medal, and obviously several actual laps of the course as part of the event.
Friday 25th July 2014.
As ever Mr Marsh was designated driver for the trip down as I don't drive and Mr M is a very generous and helpful person and is happy to help a fellow runner in need of transport.
I had borrowed a tent and sleeping bag for myself of another helpful friend Simon ( thanks Simon by the way). So I was all prepared and ready to go at Lunchtime on the Saturday and sat outside my flat looking like I was going to go on holiday for a week as I swear I had packed everything but the kitchen sink :)
On time as ever Mr M arrived, and in the bags went and we were off on the road heading for Uttoxeter first of all to meet up with team leader Martin and and his wife Debs and their fellow club runner Mike at a Starbucks so we could get to the camp at the same time.
Needless the say the motorways were pretty crap and had several delays and problems from previous accidents from the day before, and we had to leave the motorway to avoid a 5 junction delay!
Luckily the sat nav seemed to be the sensible option and we were delayed a couple of hours at a guess but so were our other team mates so it was not a problem and the meet up at Starbucks went to plan and after a light refreshment we were of to the campsite as we followed our illustrious leader who had done the event before so knew where we were going ( insert suitable `only kidding` comment here).
So after a little 8-10 mile of optional extra scenery care of our leader who lost GPS whilst on a conference call? we arrived on site at roughly 5.30pm and straight into a nice little slot quite near to all the amenities and in particular not too far from the loo's, but just far enough away that you couldn't smell them,bonus.
So now was the fun part, unpacking and erecting our tents, always good for a laugh.
Mr M had borrowed a pop up tent literally, 5 mins and it was ready, although it looked like it was a midgets pop up tent to me, I would just about of got my stuff in it if I'd been using one and I would of had to sleep alongside it.
My borrowed tent on the other hand was actually big enough to fit me in twice thankfully, but the instructions were about as clear as an alleged English taught foreigner working in an outsourced Indian call centre for ( I was going to say BT, but I'd better not eh Mr M) lets say Barclays.
I attempted to put up the outer tent leaving what I thought was the ground sheet on the floor to one side ready for later, only to discover that after pegging it in loosely the tent poles had nowhere to go and in fact the groundsheet was an inner tent and I should of pegged that down first and put the poles in that first lol.
Eventually it was complete and all my kit and bags thrown inside and it was let's go for a wander time around camp.
I was very impressed with the on site selection, we had various caterers and food stalls, first aid point, massage tent, sportswear suppliers, energy drink suppliers, shower blocks, toilets etc..etc.. we were indeed very well catered for the weekend ( see menu below ).
We collected our free Adidas TR24 Thunder Run event t-shirts and then our timing chips and numbers etc and headed back to our camp.
We were already 5 in number by this time as myself and David as mentioned earlier had met up with Martin, Debs and Mike at Uttoxeter Starbucks.
But we still had another 2 members to meet and they arrived a couple of hours after us, and they were a pleasure to meet. They were both from down South, or least Cathy was as she had driven up from London and had picked up Alice along the way at some stage.
Introductions over and it was have a wander around camp time again to kill some more time and to carb load a little etc.I was having a bite to eat with David when I spotted our fellow running friend Bex and a few others and after a few hello's etc we wandered off to see the camp that some of our other fellow friends and runners where staying at.
This particular camp of running friends seemed to consist of Penny Lane Striders runners ( Eamonn,Rachael, Jo and husband,Lyndon and a few from Liverpool Running Club Adam and Gillian in particular, and they had inflatable couches and hammocks and a campfire and all sorts. Including a bottle of Jagermeister doing the rounds of the camp as several people were partaking in Jager Bombs of all things lol...
Saturday 26th July 2014
So here it was race day, a whole 24 hours of running around a 10k multi terrain loop over fields, through woodlands, down hilly paths, up hilly paths, through more woodlands, up more hilly paths lol...you get my drift.
Breakfast time came and went and team tactics and race run order instructions had been drilled into us all by our leader Martin and we were all ready and raring to go as far as I could tell.it was particular hot though and the temp was increasingly becoming a worry for me in particular as I struggle to run efficiently in heat and I had kindly been invited to start the race as first runner for our team at 12 noon....mad dogs and Englishmen and all that was about to ring true as we all stood there in the blazing sun.
Final race details given by the marshals and a nice little speech by the guy who organized the whole event who thanked everyone for making it what it is, and then we were off....
Off I went on lap one into unknown territory not knowing what the hell lay ahead other than 10k of hard work.Down a field we went and then a sharp turn up a single track path through woodlands, and already a lot us were walking it lol...
We continued on up the hill and then down hill for a bit and then off down a track through more woods and back towards camp and actually through some of the camp as we were cheered by fellow runners and campers alike ( fantastic ).
Off we went out and along tracks by fields and up some more little hills and more woods etc, and a pattern was emerging i.e. woodlands, hills, fields and not in any particular order so you had no idea what pace to run at and how much effort to give it as you didn't know what lay ahead, not if like me you hadn't done it before anyway, and certainly as this was lap one.
It was now becoming apparent that it was bl**dy hot and I was struggling and now actually feeling a little light headed and dizzy at times.This was a worry as you are not really supposed to carry on running if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, but I couldn't afford to stop and decided to adapt by walking up hills and in certain wooded bits using the shade as an excuse to walk a little more to try and cool down and lose the lightheaded feeling.
It seemed to work and I was extremely thankful to see the one and only water station at the 5k mark.this station had ice cold sponges available to help cool you by putting it on your head and neck.I took this chance to drink a few cups of water and pour one over my head and stand there with a cold sponge for at least 3-4 minutes.This did cost me time but it was that or pass out and that was not an option for me.
The 8k marker appeared after a long section through woodlands and this was now a more relaxing final 2k in to the finish as it only involved one little hill and and nice little run in to the start/finish line to hand over our team baton to non other than team leader Martin.
I did my first lap in what I at the time considered a disappointing 57mins and 16secs but then again with the time spent recovering from the heat and trying to walk hills etc it was a pretty decent effort I feel.
Our team continued on through the day handing over one to another and we pulled off decent lap times everyone of us, and we recorded our time on a sheet back at camp so we could work out what time to meet our fellow runner at the start/finish line ready for the next lap.
This became a fun point at times especially when stories about other team members at previous events not being at the changeover point allegedly on time or waiting for team mates were jokingly referred to. The comment " I was tying my shoe laces when you ran past" excuse seemed to come up a few times :)
The day went on and plenty of food and water etc was consumed after each lap in an attempt to prep our bodies for the next lap, and in my case I had an average of 6-8 hours between laps. My second lap was originally planned for 11pm a whole 11 hours after my first but Mike picked up a calf niggle and needed to rest it for a while after a massage failed to ease it sufficiently for his run.So a quick change of rota as such and I was now out for lap 2 at around 8pm.Question was how hot was it still?
I had spent the afternoon sat in the shade and lying next to our cars as the midday run had seriously overcooked my head and I was doing my best to stave off sunstroke symptoms, but I had felt better as time passed and was confident it would go well on lap 2.
Off I went on lap 2 after having the baton handed over to me by Deb's who did a cracking job on her first lap, and off into the countryside and woodlands I went again.I was now familiar with the route and the map that we had been shown started to make sense now as we now knew what the elevation was on the one dimensional map :)
The difference in this lap was amazing as I knew what was coming so could slow on uphills and run faster on flats knowing exactly how far I had to go to the next uphill section etc so I could pace myself perfectly.The heat was not as bad either, although it was still hot I could control my temperature better and didn't have to make any unneeded stops or walks to cool down like on lap 1.
I finished this lap with a sprint and a smile as I flew in over the line to hand over to Cathy and I managed a respectable 54mins 29secs :)
Back to camp I went with a smile on my face feeling content that I now had a respectable time under my belt and my legs still felt good so I was confident I could repeat the performance.A few encouraging well dones from my team mates and it was rest time as my next run was not due until roughly 3.30am/4am and in the dark.....
Sunday 27th July 2014
The team continued on with good times on into the dark and at midnight I went off for another load of pasta bolognaise and a coffee to keep me going in prep for the night run, eating food all day and drinking coffee had never been so enjoyable.
I also used this time to watch a few team mates come in or go out as I saw David go out and Martin come in.I also saw Alice who was looking a little bemused as she thought she had lost her chip somewhere after going to the showers etc and was a little concerned.She eventually decided it was probably and hopefully in her tent somewhere and would look on her return.I returned back to my tent later to find a delightful blue balloon attached to my tent with a light in it, and a message to tell me she had found her chip :)
Surely enough 3.30am arrived and I was due down at the start/finish area ready to take the baton changeover from??...oh hell, I had a complete memory loss as to the name of my team mate I was to take the baton off ( sorry Cathy )..one hour earlier I had been clearly talking about who was running in what order before and after me in the night and now I couldn't even remember what happened 5 mins earlier as the tiredness had clearly affected my brain more than I realized.
The worst thing was it was now dark and I couldn't rely on my team mate seeing me in the changeover area, and I admitted to the girl next to me that I had clearly forgotten my team mates name and didn't know how I was going to get her attention, the girl admitted she had had the same problem and wasn't helped by the fact that now it was night and most of us were having naps in our tents prior to getting to the start/finish area and we were not familiar with what our team mates had gone running in clothing wise so couldn't even try to recognize their clothes.
Cathy ran in over the line and looked into the crowd just past me and I couldn't be sure it was her or not as she was in all black and with her hair back, I luckily spotted her number and noticed it was only a couple of numbers away from mine so it had to be her, I mentioned this to the girl next to me who I had explained my predicament to earlier and we both called out "hello" in Cathy's direction, and thankfully she spotted me, within 10 secs or so of crossing the line the handover was complete and off I went into the dark with a tiny head torch strapped to my head......
This was now my lap 3 and running in the dark with a head torch was new to me and felt weird. The hardest thing was gauging your speed as you cannot see how fast you are speeding down the course like you can with tarmac etc as it doesn't work the same on grass and head torches don't really enable you to see colours properly.I could see 6 ft in front of me though and that was enough for me to run safely, I thought so anyway lol.
Onwards I ran into the dark and it was freaky running down 2-3 feet wide paths through woodlands and not having someone running in front or behind you that you could see most of the time.We all had head torches but on twisty turns etc you couldn't always see others ahead.
It was becoming an increasingly fun run and I wasn't tired at all and my breathing and fitness was improving as my runs went on.After a couple of misplaced foot placements into holes I didn't see, my feet seemed to naturally find a safe landing and propel me onwards without a care in the world, this seemed to help me overall as I spent less time looking at were I was placing my feet and I just ran.
I had initially lost time at the start of this lap as I precariously worked my way around the first 4k or so but as I approached the 5k and the water station for the first time I didn't need to stop to pick up a drink and ran on into the long section in the woodlands stripping of my running tops as I went as it was surprisingly still warm on the night runs.
The wooded section was extremely difficult as it was a jungle of tree roots and the path only a couple of feet wide in parts but I survived and my ankles came out unscathed and untwisted and I managed to run in the last 2k at speed and up the last hill and onto a sprint finish back at the start/finish area to hand over to??.......oh b*lls, not again!!
Yet again the mental tiredness had struck and I had an idea it was Martin I was handing over to but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to stand there shouting questionably Martin?? Martin?? lol. Unfortunately Martin didn't see me cross the line and didn't see me walking up and down in front of everyone looking for my mysterious team mate ( it has been jokingly suggested he was tying his shoelace at the time ).
After several wanders up and down and walking behind the line of changeover people trying to see if I recognized anyone Martin turned around just as I was passing him, so it was hand over time and after giving him my head torch he was off.
I went to the timing tent to see my time as I had failed to start my Garmin in the dark correctly and was happy to find I had only lost one minute running in the dark and I came in a respectable 55mins 31secs :)
Back to my tent to pick up my towel etc and I had a quick shower and then got my head down for a little cat nap, it would soon be decision time on whether I wanted to do a 4th and final untimed and unchipped lap alongside David on his 4th lap in another 5 hours or so. At this moment in time I felt like sleeping til the race was over.
Daylight arrived and after a groggy cat nap I got up but had no appetite whatsoever and I had failed to eat straight after my previous run to refuel, this would soon become a big error.
It was getting hot again and the predicted cooler weather had not particularly arrived either and the tent was stifling again so I sat outside and chatted with the others who were mostly up as well now.I wasn't the only one showing signs of tiredness now either and I don't think anyone had really eaten sufficiently in the early hours.The team had continued to run well through the night and morning though and our times all stayed consistent, so well done to all the team :)
The stories of the baton change errors were now coming out again and the little digs at Martin were going in about previous thunder runs etc which were lighthearted and funny, especially as I had added to them last night lol.
I managed to get a banana down me and prior to my last lap a mini Mars as I set of to the start/finish area to accompany David on his final and 4th lap and indeed my final and 4th lap also but mine was unchipped and an unofficial extra lap for me as there was not time for a recorded 4th lap, so running alongside a team mate for support was a crafty but legal way to get an extra lap in.
This would soon turn out to be a big mistake because as I started out on the 4th lap my knee started to pain a bit and feel awkward and David was having serious ankle pain and was taking it slower than I expected but we had plenty of time and this was a casual last lap anyway as we planned a roughly one hour lap.
A convenient system took over for the rest of our lap as I would run on at a slow pace but faster than David and then I'd stop in the shade and wait for him to catch up and then I'd run on again.This worked well and kept the pace reasonable, although I soon discovered my mistake on not eating enough prior to my run or indeed eating a meal after my last run.I now had serious stomach rumblings and my stomach was clearly telling me the tanks empty so fill me up or your going nowhere! and sure enough 3k into the run and my legs started to show serious signs of no energy at all especially after the hilly bits.
I seriously considered quitting and stepping off the course as I didn't need to be on it and I wanted to go back to camp and eat something, and I know my legs well enough to know that there really wasn't another hard 7k in them with no energy left.My problem was though that I wasn't 100% sure David's ankle wouldn't get worse and we still had the nightmare wooded tree root minefield and what if it got worse and he couldn't get back to the finish?
I agreed to stay for another couple of k at least and plodded on trying to distract my mind from feeling like I was running on empty, I mean come on it's only 7k.
We continued on and the little breaks I had while running ahead and waiting for David to catch up helped me recover enough to get through the rest and after a little walk enjoying the scenery at the 8k mark we jogged on for the final 2k and even overtook several in our knackered and injured state.the support on course near the camps was fantastic and in particular at the final bit of a hill in the last half a kilometre and it helped spur me on up the hill many a time.
David and myself crossed the line together 11 minutes later than we originally planned but at least we got around to hand over the baton for the final time to Martin and Alice in 1hr 11mins.
So that was it 12noon ticked by and all our team mates were in, and we had completed a respectable 24 10k laps in 24 hours between seven of us, and we came 96th out of 228 teams of 8, so a very respectable result,( see results link below ) well done all again teamies :)
http://www.tr24.co.uk/full.html We were `Gazelles are we`.
It was medal collection time now and we queued to hand over our chips and receive our well earned bling for the event.
Along with the t-shirt it was a nice little haul of goodies for a cracking event and exceptional value for money at roughly £35-£40 per head for the whole weekend event. It has got to be the best value event I have ever been to if you consider the free camping and facilities element.I would highly recommend it to anyone but be warned it is extremely hard to get a team in.
So thank you to all, a big Thank You to Martin for inviting me into his team, and a big Thank You to Alice, Cathy, Debs, David and Mike for having me as a team mate, and thanks for the memories as they say...see you all again next year hopefully :))) xx
from left to right again: Debs, David, Myself, Martin, Alice, Mike and Cathy.
Photo credits to robcrayton for several pictures of the event, see his full selection at
http://www.robcrayton.co.uk/tr2414.htm and also to Martin Connell for his.Also to the Thunder Run Facebook page for several of there as well, and Thank you for keeping us informed in the lead up to the event and providing us with menus, schedules etc..etc..
Thanks again all...
