50 miles/ 81km 10,000ft/3050m ascent – official (52 miles/83.5km 10568ft/3221m actual)
The third out of the quartet of 50 milers I was aiming for this year, and I was concerned. Not nervous with anticipation but concerned. I’ve raced Wendover Woods before and knew what awaited me: Hills. Lots of hills. And steep ones at that. Nearly twice the ascent of the South Downs Way 50, but Centurion Running were taking pity on us poor runners and allowing an extra two hours to complete the race. The problem was that I’d injured my calf earlier in the year and in order to actually let it heal, had taken time off running. So I was starting the race uninjured, but definitely undertrained.
Wendover Woods is on the northern edge of the Chilterns, near Aylesbury. Centurion Running have created a 16-kilometre loop within an area of about 4 square kilometres.
There are two checkpoints/aid stations – the main start/finish field (“trig-point field”) and Hale Lane at 9km (5.5 miles). There are also named sections on the loop:
The Gruffalo, Crossroads Loop, Powerline, Go Ape, Root Canal, Hale Lane, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, The Snake, Hill Fort Loop, Gnarking Around, Railing in the Years and Nettle Alley.
I have added my own one to this list. For the first time, as you approach Hale Lane aid station you realise that you are only at 5.5km (3 miles) and not 9km. So, at about 5 metres away, you have to perform a sharp right turn to go on a 3.5km (2.5 mile) loop to get to the aid station from the opposite direction. This 90 degree turn I have christened the “Corner of Crushing Disappointment”.
In spite of my worries over the race, I had a plan: walk the hills, run the downhills, and drink as much as possible. Get the first loop done in 2 and a half hours, and try to repeat that if possible to put a buffer in place for later.
The race had a three hour cut-off for each lap, so you had to start the next lap within that limit (so lap 3 within 6 hours, lap 4 within 9 and lap 5 within 12 hours) or be timed out. I hoped that by lap 3 I would have enough of a buffer that even if the wheels fell off I would be able to walk it in.
Once again my fuelling strategy was Tailwind and jelly babies. My reliance on my dopamine meds, and my body’s reluctance to process them if there was a hint of protein in my stomach (as my body had an order of preference) meant it was liquid calories all the way. This is so cruel because Centurion Running’s aid stations are superb and I feel so guilty for spurning their offering and just taking water to top up the powder in my bottles. I did have the odd cup of coke, and later some squash in my drink bottles to combat the dehydration.
The weather forecast was hot, with the potential for thunderstorms. I packed a third bottle in my running pack, just in case. The race is usually held in November in cooler conditions. However, for this year, Centurion were holding several races over the same weekend in July. The 100 miler (eek, 6000 metres of ascent!) was starting on Friday at 10am with 30 hardy souls toeing the line, and then the 50 miler starting on Saturday at 9.30, 50km night race beginning 10pm that evening, and then a 10 miler and kids races on the Sunday morning. There was camping and a “running village” with food stalls, speakers and exhibitors. Frustratingly, the speakers were doing their presentations while we would be out on the 50 miler.
As we made our way to the start line there were several rumbles of thunder, just what I wanted in a race where I would be using running poles! When the race started I made sure I was near the back of the pack, and set my pace to “pootle”. As we meandered through the trees and after we passed the Gruffalo there was a steep track uphill where two girls supported us all race, clapping all the time – it must have been a long day!
Having run the loops several times before, I was ticking off the main points as well as working out where to get the poles ready for the steep hills. I was also keeping an eye on the clock so I could work out when to take my meds, which would be every three hours. As this was also the time limit for each lap, I would be able to tell how my pacing was working out as hopefully each lap I would be further along the course before taking them. The temperature was climbing, and without a good breeze, several of the ascents were stifling – especially “Go Ape” where we went up a really steep hill while people climbed in the trees above us on cables and harnesses.
After the Hale Lane checkpoint there is a long slope uphill which gives you plenty of time to finish cups of coke before starting on the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (which I assume get its name because less than 50 metre away are runners coming back the other way having completed another loopy part of the course).
We also passed a few of the 100 mile runners and shouted our support. It had been scorching on Friday so it was a superhuman effort to still be out there. We were also aware that come night-time we would be overtaken by the 50km runners.
Lap 1 was completed in 2:21:37 which was ahead of schedule and gave me a nice buffer. It was also deceptive as the aid station is after the timing mat, so the lap wasn’t quite finished as I needed to top up my bottles and also had a loo stop. Travelling back from Barcelona the previous afternoon and then driving to the race in the evening hadn’t helped my digestion.
It rained on lap 2 which was refreshing at first but then became quite heavy. There was no point in putting my coat on, otherwise I would have become a boil in the bag mess.
Lap 2 was completed in 2:42:26 which meant the buffer was nearly an hour and considering the loo stop I was happy with the pace. I had mentally resigned laps 3 and 4 as the “junk laps” and would try to keep them to three hours each.
Lap 3 was completed in 2:58:43
When I finished lap 3 I took my headtorch out of my dropbag as I didn’t fancy avoiding the tree roots across the paths (especially along “Root Canal”) in the dusk. The temperature had been going up all day and I was drenched in sweat. I’d changed my t-shirt for a running vest and at the aid stations had poured water over my head. The trig point field aid station had some ice, so I stuffed some down my vest and put some in the buff on my wrist.
Lap 4 was completed in 2:57:57
I’d been bumping into one of my friends at each aid station but Ray, another “slammer” (who had crewed Alfriston on the South Downs 100 with me a few weeks ago) had been leaving ahead of me. I was catching him up in the dark, and knew he was nearby when, as he was halfway up The Snake, turned to face away from the hill and shouted
“I HATE THIS FUCKING HILL!”
I now struggled to catch him as I was giggling so much. On the last lap Ray left Hale Lane just ahead of me, but as we got to the start of the “Boulevard” he spectacularly threw up. I paused to check he was ok, and he said it was just a gel that had disagreed with him. It looked like something from the exorcist so no idea what gel it was!
As I finished The Snake for the last time, another runner asked me to get their glasses case out. It was Shelagh who was also going for the slam. Her torch was not as bright as mine and her knee was playing up a bit so I decided that we had loads of time to trundle in together. As we ticked off the last few features, Ray shot passed us – so he’d obviously recovered from the side-effects of his gel, and in his words “I just want to get this done”.
Lap 5 completed in 3:16:13.
Total time 14:16:16.
71st out of 88 finishers (over 110 started).