Thursday 24^th September

I drove down to the event campsite at Hayle near St Ives and joined the 210 others there. I was allocated to a caravan sharing with a chap called Dan. Dan it turned out is a Royal Marine. His training has consisted of doing 20 miles running a day in 2 hours 20mins!!! Unsurprisingly he was one of the top 3 runners till he pulled something on the last day.

Went to bed at 10

Friday 25^th Sept. Up at 7am for breakfast. Didnt need to get up this early, only the walkers did who had their briefing at 8am. Great. Porridge and toast. Had to force it down.

Running gear on, backpack packed (water, waterproofs, survival gear & food) and mandatory safety kit check. Then a safety and route briefing, the short version is; Cornwall is beautiful, but rocky with a few small hills.

The Run. Traffic jams delayed our arrival at the start point at TREVOSE HEAD (Due West from BODMIN) , where there was a mad rush to have a wee. This running phenomenon is especially funny for tourists when there is no cover anywhere. Boys line up on the cliffs, girls climb a little higher up the hill

The Figures by my Garmin 24.7 miles, 4.48 hours, 11.41 pace, 4034 ft up 4136 ft down. Finished 32nd

It didn’t start well. My heart monitor strap fell off during the first couple of miles and I didn’t even notice. (I was lucky another runner handed it in and I got it back at breakfast next day) This bit of the coast is what I would call mixed terrain. Nice clear paths, beaches and steps. My problem was that I ate a cheese and pickle roll at checkpoint 1 a bit too fast, and thus it wanted to come out equally in a hurry. This point of no return occurred luckily near a cafe in Newquay, where I had a blissful 5 mins relief. Unfortunately it meant I lost the people I was trying to hang on to (2 girls from up north who just pace these events perfectly and i would love just once to keep up with (no chance..they finished 12 and 13 overall) . Eventually I caught up with a couple of lads, one who had done 6 day marathons in the Amazon and the MDS (Marathon Des Sarbles).and let them pull me round for the rest of the day. I also tripped..this re awakens your numbing senses very quickly. You have to concentrate on the ground at all times, its very rocky. After ploughing through lovely sand dunes (not) we got to the final bit; Perran Beach. Its flat and firm, I enjoyed this bit and ran well, catching and overtaking at least 5 people before the line. Yes!

Evening. Meal at 1830 and a small beer nd bed at 9 - tired.

Saturday

The Figures by my Garmin 24.08 miles, 4hr 46min, 11.53 pace, up 4177 ft, down 4104 ft Position 24th

Short ride to our start. Legs OK, but quads a bit tight. The route was a lot more exposed and rocky, with some wonderful flights of steps (similar to the beast at Corfe Castle). I hate steps. Do you run down them, or at the side where its lose rock and slippy grass? Just watch the fell runners skip lightly over it all at a great speed with no problems. Then try and follow! Remember what goes down must come up.

Today’s mistake was to be too ambitious - perhaps should have kept back a bit more for the last bit. I ran really well for the first half, then on the 3^rd leg my energy started to desert me. Because of my eating problem the previous day, I avoided the rolls, and later discovered all I ate was two half of power bar and a bit of banana. Not enough. You must eat regularly to keep energy up, and use the check points to rest for several mins...dont rush through, you pay later.

At the last check point at Godrevy Point, I had a rest, tea and a banana (it was green so couldn’t open it easily or eat much). We then had to run across 5 miles of sand at St Ives bay and through Hayle Town to the camp site finish. I thought I would run well on the sand like yesterday. WRONG. Too big and heavy. I Kept finding soft energy sapping sand. Didnt seem to matter where I ran (in the sea etc) However 2 runners did come past me running all the way so it was possible. At the end of the beach we climbed some rocks back on to the path, and foolishly I took a wrong turn. This allowed 3 blokes to overtake me. Arggghhh. Luckily I caught them up, and got ahead of them on the road section.

This was horrid as it was open, flat, and I knew 3 people were right behind me. I was determined to keep in front. The finish was up a hill road into the camp and up hill to the line. Joy oh joy. In a car its not to bad but running at the end of a marathon its steep, and as Im running up it looking a knackered mess, some lady in a car tries to stop and talk to me!!!! At the last left turn an even steeper hill, I kicked hard to dissuade them behind from trying a sprint. It worked, despite feeling sick and giddy, I got out of sight, looked round and no one there so had a short walk and tumble over line where I lay for 10 mins recovering.

Had to get 2 blisters lanced as they were pressurising my nails. I wasn’t the worst.

In bed by 8 knackered.

Sunday.

The Figures by my Garmin 28.37 miles, 7hrs 8min, 15.06 pace (first half 13.45 2^nd 16.26 )up 6663 down 6592 My position 35^th for the day. Overall 29^th !

Up at 8. Lots of food and water. Saw medic, lanced blister again and then wrapped them up in black electrical tape.

From St Ives it is very difficult barren, rocky terrain, but of outstanding natural beauty. The weather was great. As it turns out I didn’t do too bad. Ate well. Sat down at checkpoints, drank plenty. Got overtaken by a few people today, and in end hung on to batman and robin (half my age) for most of way round.

First checkpoint took over 2 hrs to get to (12miles)

Second CP The eagles nest on top of rocks with best view in cornwall at Porthmoina cove. (PICTURE) Here lack of space meant we queued for a drink and spread out to sit down for 5 mins, then away went batman and robbin, with me following. I caught and overtook them just before next CP at Cape cornwall, with its lovely view and lighthouse.

Past this point it just gets even harder. You are tired, just want to get to the end and now have to start climbing (again). I got caught by Mark, a triathlete I d run with at various points on previous days. He went past, clearly stronger on the climbing (after a bad day before) and I hung on. He couldn’t drop me so in end we completed the course together through Sennen cove (where the royal marines do climbing and carrying sandbags on our route) few undulations and to Lands end. A Pasty, trophy, bus and home knackered. Overall position 29^th out of 210 entrants. Not bad.