Oops I did it again…
To be more specific, I’m going to do it again. Run a hundred mile race, that is. Only this time there’s going to be four of them between May and October 2025. Although the symptoms are getting worse (typing this is a nightmare and so sloooow!) I can still run (more of a jog/walk) so thought I had better try while I can.
Centurion Running host the four races (details in the fundraising link pinned at the top) on the Thames Path, North Downs Way, South Downs Way, and a mix of the Thames Path and the Ridgeway for the last race in October.
I need to do more exercise to slow the progression, so hopefully the training this winter will have a double benefit of helping my symptoms and make each race less painful (don’t quote me on that!)
Time flies by…
Ooops, it’s been a while since my last post, so this is a bit of a catch up. While making plans, filming for CureParkinsons, helping out at Centurion Races on the Thames Path, North Downs Way and South Downs Way, I finally decided to see my doctor about my headaches which have been getting worse. After agreeing I had high blood pressure (and starting to treat that as the headacge meds said deal with that first), the doctor said I’m anaemic which explains why I’m so bloody tired lately. It’s bad enough with the fatigue that Parkinson’s brings let alone anaemia on top. Now I’m waiting for more blood tests so we can work out how to treat that.
Yay, Parkinson’s and anaemia. Anything else?
The first weekend in May was spent mainly in the picturesque village of Clifton Hampden, on the Thames just downstream of Abingdon. We were on a Centurion Running aid station at the village hall about 88 miles into the Thames Path 100. As the hall is slightly away from the river we also had to have someone on the bridge pointing runners into the village and back onto the path to make sure everyone didn’t cut the route (or go the wrong way when returning to the river!). The aid station was open all night so it’s a long shift but luckily we get the Bank Holiday to recover.
A couple of weeks later I was back helping again at the North Downs Way 50. From marshalling the carpark entrance before the start, to crowd control at the finish it was another beautiful day spent in great company.
The beginning of June was spent being interviewed for CureParkinson’s as part of a film for raising awareness. Due to the pet-filled complications of our house we de-camped to mother-in-laws and then to a local field so I could be filmed running. Hopefully my contribution will be of some use.
The following Friday to Sunday was another stint supporting Centurion Running. It was a long session with only a short break Saturday night so I think I’m going to have to pace myself better in future! It was another glorious weekend, starting with marshalling at the Matterley Bowl near Winchester on Friday, helping at the aid station at Queen ELizabeth Country Park (22.6 miles in) and then crewing the aid station at Southease Youth Hostel (mile 84).
At the beginning of July I ws invited to the local Parkinson’s support group in Cosham to give them a talk about my running adventures. I didn’t spot anyone falling asleep so hopefully it went down well. There was a good discussion afterwards about taking extra medication for exercise so I hope I don’t cause any overdose issues – it is a bit of trial and error when judging the medication levels and timing.
In amongst all the excitement I had been getting massive FOMO watching runners taking part so I’ve signed up for the Thames Path 100 for next year. I would be training for it right now, but have pulled my calf (twice!) so I’m working on that before getting back on the trails. Having completed the 50 mile slam last year I was trying to work out what next, so the next step is obvously the 100 mile slam. So in 2026 I’ll be doing four 100 milers: Thames Path, North Downs Way, South Downs Way and The Autumn 100. Should keep me out of mischief while fighting the progression of the disease. Hopefully without the added bonus of anaemia.
Wow! What an adventure!
Just a short post to update you about the race.
Mud, floods, some sun, mostly night pretty much sums it up.
I finished in 89 hours 3 minutes 13 seconds in 50th place (out of 56 finishers).
The full race report is here: https://puckfarkinsons.uk/winter-downs-200-centurion-running/
The fundraising has reached over £2200! The link to that is here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/
7 days to go!
Eek!
In a week’s time I should hopefully be 40 miles (65 kilometres) into the Winter Downs 200. I’m doing it because it is likely to be the last long race that my brain lets me attempt as the Parkinson’s Disease progresses.
I’m fundraising at the same time and the link is here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/
My race crew has been prepped and I am really grateful for their support. Without them this race would be another level of difficulty, even with Parkinson’s. They have given up their holidays to give me the best chance of completing the 206 miles (it’s a trail race, you always get bonus miles!). My cunning plan is to go slow and steady which means they will be spending a lot of time hanging around in the cold and rain waiting for my smiling face to rock up.
My race number is 101 and the live link is here: https://live.centurionrunning.com/WD200-2023/. It’ll be easy to spot me on the map – I’ll be the one at the back!
Nice out…
A week of lows and highs
It’s the halfway point between my races – 44 days since the Chiltern Wonderland, and 44 days until the Winter Downs 200. The planning has intensified, with lots of map work and the timing spreadsheet is becoming a thing of beauty with night and day coloured sections. However, I am always aware of the saying “no battle plan ever survives the first encounter with the enemy” so the idea is to enjoy the journey and adapt as necessary!
The week started with a bit of a downer – but one that has played on my mind for a while. The common statement about Parkinson’s is that “you don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with it”. To simplify, your life expectancy doesn’t shrink but you die from the other ailments that Parkinson’s brings. Yay, what a bonus that is.
However, when you follow the social media groups, something doesn’t ring quite true about the situation, and a new report in nature.com shows that the younger you are, the shorter your life expectancy. (Link to the report is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41531-023-00588-9). For someone aged 55 who would normally expect, on average, to live another 25 years this is shortened to 14 years with PD. Happy Days, but to repeat myself, the plan is to enjoy the journey and adapt as necessary!
Making the most of what’s left, it was another recce of the Winter Downs 200 (fundraising link: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/) with Budgie and Steve, who are part of my support crew. We travelled the southern half of the Vanguard Way, which links the North Downs and South Downs Way.
It was a wet day, and the amount of rain that has fallen recently became clear when we came across several flooded sections, and had to wade thigh deep at a couple of points. Hopefully we will get a dry spell of weather in the lead up to the race.
We did have a laugh as we splashed along which helped raise the spirits, and encountered some unexpected wildlife as a pig had escaped from its field. We also rescued two sheep who were trapped in a bramble hedge.
The route was twisty and definitely needs me to be on the top of my map reading game to avoid wasting time and unnecessary miles for the legs.
Facebook reminded me that 10 years ago I was taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon in the Cheviots, splashing around in muddy puddles. Some things don’t change…
50 days!
(scratching around for a blogpost title of a potted catchup of the past week…)
Having had a banging headache all day this is a bit later than planned (and probably sounds a bit jaded). I did try going into the office but trying to look at a screen was too painful, even with sunglasses. Consequently I haven’t taken enough meds today and typing this is…challenging. (Apologies for the typos). [update: it’s really frustrating with the tremor causing multiple duplications both of letters and deletions. The original title was 51 days…]
It’s been an interesting week. I went for a long run on Friday 13th, in the knowledge that the weather would be biblical, and it lived up to expectations. The run turned into a walk, with the footpath churned into a chalk stream and so slippery that anything faster than a plod left me skating like Bambi. Having fallen over on the last three runs I had no desire to add to that total. Eventually the rain stopped and the stars came out. I tried taking a video during the rain but the phone didn’t want to know! I did get to share some of the path with a badger as it headed into the woods at Kingley Vale.
I ran on the Friday because I was due my covid and flu jab on Saturday and I left the weekend training free just in case of a reaction. Good move, as with a jab in each arm, they got more painful as the hours progressed and also left me feeling flattened. I dragged myself down into Portsmouth on Sunday morning for the Great South Run. I was stationed at a spot near the charities corner (and their sound systems), Power Up Station (and its sound system) and the Batala drummers. It wasn’t quiet!
It was a lovely sunny morning for a run, and it was fun marshalling the lemmings (sorry, locals) as they tried to cross the road, sometimes when there was actually a gap between runners. It was also great to catch up with some friends who were helping out too.
The rest of the week was spent trying to fight off the effects of the jabs at work, and on Saturday was a trip to the Centurion Running shop for the final bits of kit for the long run in December (fundraising link here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/). The shop is excellent, and I made the most of the free tea, coffee and homemade flapjack!
After a 4 hour round trip (thanks to the A3/M25 roadworks) it was off for a run as I needed to get the legs moving again and keep practicing with the race gear to reduce time spent faffing, such as with putting on overtrousers etc. whilst wrangling the rucksack.
The rain had left the tracks near me a little damp…
The run to QE and back turned into a bit of an upper body workout too, with a large tree across the path meaning that I had to do some climbing.
Sunday was a quick bimble with Willow around QE, and a chat with Budgie over coffee and cake about our recce of the southern section of the Vanguard way this weekend. That just leaves the section at the start between Juniper Hall and the North Downs Way to check over as some reports say the route is a bit “vague”!
Owen Delany has produced another classic “map” for Centurion Running – to give you an idea of the route:
68 DAYS TO GO!
Winter Downs 200. 13th – 17th December
The time is flying by and the race is in just over two months. Eek! Last weekend was a run along the first half of the Vanguard Way, which links the North Downs Way and South Downs Way. Apart from run training, it was chance to explore that section of the route (which I’ve never been on before) and see what the terrain was like. It wasn’t flat, but definitely gentler hills than the Downs that it links.
It was also a warm and dry day – neither of which I expect in December! It was great to be running again with Budgie, my ever-reliable training partner. It’s been a long time since we’ve had chance to have a bimble together, and we definitely earned the ice-cream at Forest Row.
We’ll be doing the last part in a couple of weeks’ time so hopefully the weather stays fine (famous last words!)
Apart from challenging myself, I’m doing the 200 miles to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK and Cureparkinson’s, charities which care for those with the disease and also research into a cure. The link to the fundraising is here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/
Wendover Woods 50 miles
Part 3 – Easyjet don’t fail me now!
On Friday 7th July I’ll be leaving the WPC early to catch a flight back to Gatwick, trundle home and swap the car for the Campervan and then head off to Aylesbury to camp. Hopefully I’ll get a good night’s sleep as on Saturday I’ll be running (although more likely crawling) 50 miles through Wendover Woods for the third part of the “slam”. The fundraising is nearly at £1500 now, which is amazing!
The route is 5 loops of 10 miles and you can see from the picture how loopy it is. It’s also full of evil hills and the overall height gain is over 3200 metres (10500 feet in old money). It’s so evil we get an extra couple of hours to complete it – which means that the final cutoff will be at 00:30 on the Sunday morning.
The scale on the route profile slightly distorts the steepness – but it feels that bad when trying to run it! I’m hoping that the weather isn’t as hot as the SDW100 as the trees and hills will make it even worse with no breeze to cool us down. Hopefully I won’t bring the heat of Barcelona back with me!
Overcooked it – a post in three parts
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.
“Utter Madness”
Back in 2021 after I finished the South Downs Way 100 miler I decided to stick to shorter distances (if you classify 50 miles as short…). This was for several reasons: training time, disruption to the family, failing body (well, failing brain to be more precise), and the requirement to slightly exceed the recommended dose for the meds.
So on the 14th April when Centurion Running announced a new 200 mile circuit (of the North Downs Way, Vanguard Way, South Downs Way, Wayfarers Walk, St Swithuns Way and finishing back on the North Downs Way) I sent Caroline a screenshot with the caption “sleep is overrated” she replied “Utter Madness, but I’ll share the crewing”.
It goes against all my reasons for stopping the long races, but just the thought of plodding along in the middle of December through the dark, rain and mud (within the time limt of 96 hours) has me grinning like an idiot. As Caroline said, “why not”?
But it wasn’t just a case of signing on the dotted line. There are 100 places and each application had to be accompanied by details of running and multi-sport experience which was necessary (in the words of the organisers) to:
“… instill confidence in us as organisers of their ability to cover very long distances between check points on foot, self-navigating in what could be extremely difficult conditions including 16 hours of darkness in every 24”
Luckily I’ve got a Mountain Leader award and competed in mountain marathons (have a look at LAMMS and OMMS if you want to see what they involve) all over the UK and in all sorts of weather so I typed up my CV ready for the entries opening on 1st May.
When the race was released I messaged Budgie (my ever-reliable training partner, and ever-reliable nutter) with the details and his reply was “Lol, just seen that, I think you should give it a go!”. With endorsement like that, who was I to disagree? And then he agreed to crew for me (no small sacrifice). This was taking shape.
Then I messaged Paula (running rockstar) who is full of useful ideas and inspiration. She’s got enough on her plate but she volunteered to help crew too. So now I had a support team. Yay!
Roll on May 1st, and some frantic copy and paste into a one line box on the entry form, and some crossed fingers.
Cue Budgie repeatedly messaging me all day “Are you in?”
This means that the 50 milers are now training runs for December, and I’ll have to do some recce runs along the parts of the route that I’ve never visited as well as a bit of planning.
Roll on December.