This update comes as a trilogy as I think it works better that way. So here’s part 1.
Over the weekend of the 10th and 11th June I helped as a volunteer at the Centurion Running South Downs 100 which goes from Winchester to Eastbourne. On the Friday morning I had been Daddytaxi and taken my son to Gatwick airport for a 6am flight, which meant leaving about 2am. I didn’t bother going to bed and when I got back I tried getting some sleep but one of the neighbours decided that Friday was DIY day. So after failing to get any rest I headed off to Winchester, well the Matterly Bowl to be precise.
It’s a fantastic location from which to start a race. It was a hot afternoon as we set up Race HQ in preparation for 350 runners. It was so hot the labels peeled off the toilets. God knows how hot it was inside them!
The evening was spent parking cars so the keen entrants could register early. After some pizza it was off to bed as it was a 3am alarm call on Saturday (yes, another short night). I was on car parking duty for the morning too (I blame my co-worker for the interesting arrangement towards the end!). After the race started I headed off home to have a shower, and then went over to Southease Youth Hostel, at mile 84 on the race route.
It was a sorching hot day, and the car thermometer registered 31 degrees. I did not envy the runners at all!
We set up the aid station, which is in a open sided barn next to the Youth Hostel. The hot weather impacted on the race, which meant we had a two hour gap between the anticipated race time and reality.
Eventually the runners started trickling in, and we dealt with their requests for drinks and food while giving them a pat on the back, or hugs, or a kick up the backside if needed. The race had suffered a huge drop out rate during the day, so when the sun went down the remaining runners (with only a couple of exceptions) made it to the finish. Working on an aid station gives you a great buzz from helping the runners on to their goal – sometimes you make the difference between a buckle (which you get for 100 miles) and a DNF.
Our aid station stint was from 4pm on Saturday through to 7am on Sunday. So that was another night without much sleep – and I paid the price on Monday. In spite of trying to sleep on Sunday night my body clock was so out of whack I took Monday off to catch up and get some kip.