pickupthepacepaul

On Saturday, 17th June 2023, I set out to complete the Centaur 100 mile ultra. This was the second 100-mile event I aimed to complete after completing Thames Path 100 last year (see review here). The aim was not only to complete the 100 miles, but to get a sub 24 hour. However, things did not go to plan. There are so many variables, which I will go through below, but the main thing is my heart wasn’t in it. The event organiser at Phoenix catered for everyone, with so many options: a P24 (1 mile every hour for 24 hours), half marathon, marathon, 50 miles, 100 miles. This is both great, but also provided the ultimate reason to stop. If 100 miles was the only option, I could have, and would have carried on. I stopped when I still felt fine, but at half way, I wasn’t confident about how I would feel at the finish, so I took the “easy” option, and stopped at 50 miles. I am disappointed, but I know 50 miles is fantastic, and if this was the event I had entered, it would have been great.

The Vampire 50 miles was the 20th marathon (plus) event I completed in 2023, as I aim to complete 26 marathons in 52 weeks for Cancer Research. I may not have completed the planned 100 miles, but  almost 2 marathons, which count as 1 for the 100 marathon club. This was my 12th ultra and 135th marathon for the 100 marathon club.

The course at Denbies Wine Estate was designed as a 1 mile lap, making it perfect for making a camp and not having to carry everything with you. I set up a simple picnic blanket with a cool bag with frozen water bottles and some fanta and Savoury items. I also had some spare clothes. I thought I had gone over the top until I saw others arrive with tents and everything except the kitchen sink.

The course was basically flat, although there was one incline which became the walking section pretty quickly, which was followed by a downhill section that had a bit of shade. This section was nice.

We started at 08:00 hours, and already it was hot and humid. We were lucky that there was cloud cover for most of the day, but it was so humid and warm, which made it a tough day, and I was sweating so much. It has been about 6 weeks since my last marathon. However, I completed Ride London (see review here) a couple of weeks ago. The long 100-mile bike ride uses muscles differently, and immediately when I started, I knew I wasn’t well recovered, and it was already feeling a bit of a struggle.

I set off at between a 9 – 10 min mile, I was keeping it steady and making sure I didn’t push too hard. It mostly felt comfortable, and for the first 25 miles, I felt like I was on for around 20 hours, which is what I was hoping for. It was hot, but I made sure I was drinking a lot and trying to replace all the fluids I was losing through sweat. I took out some frozen bottles of water to thaw in the sun and had a few bonus ice lollies to help control my body temperature.

I spent a lot of laps running with different people, sometimes slowing down to spend some time with people. Other times, I held a more consistent pace with others as they passed me. It was strange running with half marathoners and marathoners at the start, all of whom were running slightly faster, and then there were the P24 hour runners who came charging out at pace every hour on the hour.

My family arrived for a picnic when I was around 32 miles, and I then adjusted my pace, spending time running and walking with my family for a few laps. Altogether, my son actually did 5 miles, and at one point, he wanted to do a fast lap. He disappeared very quickly and overtook everyone as he ran off.

Whilst I was running laps with my family, I was very hot. I tried not to show it, but the heat was having an impact on me, and despite trying to keep eating, I did not have an appetite, and I was struggling to eat anything. I drank lots of sugary drinks to give me a boost, but this didn’t really help.

I think the hardest challenge for me was the mental challenge. Running is great for being alone with your thoughts, which can be fantastic. However, if you have a lot on your mind or are struggling, then endurance running and mile laps can be hard mentally. I was struggling mentally, and everything was working against me. I had rubbish just going through my head that weighed on me. I had also been wanting to run a sub 24, and although when I stopped, I was ahead of schedule. From mile 32, I was consistently running 14 – 15 min miles. I had worked it out that I could just finish in 24 hours if I held this pace, maybe closer to 25 hours, but this was reliant on me staying at this pace.

I know my body. People were talking about the night section and if it cooled, being able to pick up the pace. However, I know that once I slowed down, I wasn’t going to be able to pick up the pace. It was also the night section that I really struggled with last time. So approaching 50 miles, I had a decision to make. I was still running at a consistent pace, and I felt OK. But I was struggling to eat and knew I was on the edge of heat stroke. I had the cinema booked with the family for 11:50 the next day, and plans to have a nice fathers day together. Fathers Day is not just about the dad. It is a family day, and this is important to me, not to ruin it for the family. I knew I could get a medal and official finish at 50 miles, but then that is just halfway. I had confidence that I could finish, but realistically, I didn’t have confidence I could hit my 24-hour target. I thought it was unrealistic that I wouldn’t slow down again, and I thought if I did, I could make our plans too tight and ruin everything we had planned. Lots of ifs and maybes, but I didn’t want to run another 30 or 40 miles and realise I should have stopped.

I said goodbye to my family at 45 miles as they went home, and I was still struggling to make a decision. I ran the next 5 miles well and still consistently. But I couldn’t even stomach the idea of food, and was feeling a little sick. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to stop. I struggled because I had booked the 100 miles, and this is what I intended, but as I said, if I had booked the 50 miles, I would have been happy. I was very confident I could have got another 20 miles done by midnight, which would have gotten me to 70 miles. However, with the dark and tiredness, I worried about what the next 30 miles would take from me. So I decided to make the 50 miles my finish line.

I actually sped up on the last mile and felt pretty good (until I sat down, at which time it was game over). The irony is, if I was aiming for 50 miles, I would have completed it at least an hour quicker. I stopped when I still had energy and could have kept going, but I stopped before it was too late, and didn’t see the point of running more miles, with the possibility of the 50 mile medal still being the same award. My official chip time was 10:59:53.

So I gave my wife a call and I’m very lucky she came to pick me up. So I had a rest on my picnic blanket whilst I waited. I definitely made the right decision. We had fish and chips, and I spent time with my family. We also had a nice bottle of wine that we purchased at Denbies. I stopped, and I got my appetite back. My body ached over night, I couldn’t sleep because I felt restless, and it was so hot. I think about how I would have felt to keep going through the night and how my body would be after this. Whilst I get ready to take the kids to the cinema, I wonder if I would have missed this and how I would have felt today. It wasn’t my day, but there was the option for a different event, which I loved.

This is the first time I have ever not completed the race I started. In reality, if there was no other option I would have carried on, I would have finished, and who knows, maybe I could have carried on at the same pace. If we didn’t have plans, then maybe this would have made a difference. But I didn’t feel great, I was tired when I started, I didn’t feel mentally strong, and it was hot, but most of all, there was another choice. I had the option to stop at 50 miles, so I took it. It was a great event, and I’m proud of what I achieved. Thanks to Rik for a great event.