Hi everyone and Welcome Along to the last ever Blog of the Run 103 Coastpath Challenge. *takes out a hanky to dry her eyes*
It has been fun to do this blog and a great record of what needs to be done to achieve a challenge of this size. I want to speak not of boring times and facts and figures during the run, it would bore me as much as you. But I would like to describe to you what it can do to a person in terms of changing one's life.
As well as my usual long drawn out blogging blurb we have a guest appearance from the super hardcore @JediRider with whom finishing this challenge would not have been possible. As we shared the challenge it's only fair that we share the last Blog.
I want to mention straight away the other Team Member who had his own amazing result, running the furthest he has ever done, Adam Woods. I feel bad as at about mile 20 the pain and issues going on in Adam's knee meant that he had to pull out. But he still remained on the team and came to the support stops and kept us amused. One word for you Adam 'Huh!' (private joke between the 3 of us!)
Before I get into the nitty gritty I also want to thank the following people, who, without their support we could have never done this epic adventure.
Keiley Dennis - the best friend a girl can have! Tasks were - Dog looking after, morale boosting, food/drink and lift stop support, lift back from Plymouth and secretly arranging for my Mum to come to Devon for the finish!
Ian Sedgbeer - Helped with lifts during training, dropped us off at the start, picked up a wounded Adam, brought us food and drink, waited in a dark car park with Adam that is well-known for dogging to give us food and night-time clothes! Came round after and showed the most amazing support. I have no idea how I am ever going to be able to re-pay Ian for his generosity and kindness. Never known anyone like it in my life.
Kris Pratt - Oh yeah, the 4am Man! I dont think I've ever wanted to meet anyone more at that time in the morning in my life. The promise of fresh coffee and a new person for us to talk to and share our night time adventures with. Kris also, after hearing about my ankle incident went to another point on the route to see if we were ok and went some of the route with us. Thanks Lesley for lending us your husband, he was awesome and another person that needs re-paying for his kindness.
The DTS/Ex DTS Support Crew - Andy Burton (my boss) hot pasties and beer at Kingswear and cycle support from Starcross! Jamie Beaulah (now ex DTS) cycle support from Starcross and sorting the rubber speedy boat to get us from Teignmouth to Shaldon and Chris Wride (DTS) cycle support from Starcross, and got attacked by a bramble on route! Thanks you guys, the cycle support at the start was really required with those windy roads at the start.
My Mum - for believing in me, supporting me, and cheekily arranging to meet us at the Hoe at the end and supplying us with the most amazing medals! I love you Mum x
Friday 27th May 2011 - work finished at 11.30am, shopping for bananas, pasties, water, first aid and drug supplies then home to prepare a hearty pasta meal for the Team and await their arrival.....so very excited at this point!
Just before 5pm I meet Tim off the train at Totnes. It's funny meeting someone off the train that you've never met before! But I knew him instantly! Off we went, sat in the garden and chilled with a cider! (yep, a nice healthy start to the challenge)
Adam arrives, more cider and merriment in the garden! It was amazing how well we all got on straight away, I had met up with Adam 4 times before but it was like we 3 had known each other for years. A very good start!
Wont bore you too much but it was a fun evening, we ate and drank well and went off to sleep #Waltons ;)
Tim: Arriving in Totnes and meeting Debbie for the first time was one of 'huge' excitement for me. We had been chatting via twitter and phone for months but I finally got to meet the person I was running 103 miles with. After the usual first words and introductions (hello, how are you, good to meet you at last etc) we immediately got chatting about plans for the following day and talked about the route, the support crew and how excited we both were of this massive challenge.
Adam arrived shortly after and the banter started while the cider flowed, we where all in such high spirits and couldn't wait for the following morning. There was a comedy moment when I decided to try out my head torch indoors - I looked ridiculous but it was funny and gave everyone a good laugh.
Saturday 28th May 2011 - The day I have been working towards, living, breathing, eating, sleeping for this event that had taken over my life. It was now! Oh my life! How very very exciting! (for those of you who know me you will know just what I was like!)
Packing, re-packing, re-packing again!
Ian, lift to Starcross, excitement, eeeeeking, 'Come on let's do it!'
Cycle support turned up, the clock struck 8am and they opened the public toilets on the seafront! haha, quick dash, back out again and off we went!
Tim: I remember thinking "how am I going to get all of that in my pack" and then remembered we had a support crew to carry our gear, doh!. A very sleepy head at 05:30!
A few cycling colleagues of Debbie's met us at the start who rode with us for a few miles before we hit the coast path proper. This was great because they gave us a proper send off at the start of our epic journey.
Great pace to start, perfect, not too fast but a good solid pace. We kept this pace all the way through, I have no idea how, but we did it :)
Cycle support left us at Teignmouth, lovely guy with a rubber speed boat took us over to Shaldon - want to mention him and say 'Thanks Dave' you gave us adventure #1 brilliant stuff!
Thoughts that go through your head when you're running can be bizarre! I experience a lot of this when running on my own, but 3 of us, all slightly high on the experience, the conversations were fantastic. I can honestly say that I have not giggled that much non-stop ever, it was a beautiful humour therapy and sorted out any doubts or issues I may have had and turned them all positive.
The fact is, doing something like an Ultra is not just about the training of the body, it's about the strength of mind. Determination, willpower, the need to succeed and conquer goals. For me the goal wasn't time, or even distance related. It was about doing the hardest thing in my life, it was about proving to myself that I am a strong person, that actually I can do amazing things if I put my mind and my heart into it. It was turning around any last doubts about my life and what I am here for and knowing that I can do some truely fantastic stuff and I will do more. Sorry if that sounds a bit deep, but running 4 marathons back to back can make you think about your life. It was a life-changing experience in the best possible way.
Tim: I totally agree with what Debbie has said there. I've only been running for 1 year 6 months (I literally stumbled upon it due to change of circumstance) but found I was very good at it. Last year I ran 4 so called 'ultra' distances which tested my mind & body to limits I never knew existed. The 100 miler was my next step and Debbie gave me the chance to try it.
Without doubt a life changing experience.
Adam had to leave us at about 20 miles. He suffered a very bad knee injury and there was no way that I was going to let him continue. There will be other chances to do epic stuff for Adam and I didnt want him completely ruining his knee.
Tim: It was sad to see Adam leave, he's a great lad and we had plenty of banter and laughs while he was with us but he was badly injured and we knew it so there was no other option for him. He will be back one day I'm sure.
Tim and I then carried on, we both were thinking and feeling the same way I think at this point, we picked up the pace a tiny bit, it was flat and all along the seafront, onwards we went to Brixham where we met Ian.
*Thanks to Derek who let me fill my bladder in his sink at Broadsands just after the Viaduct experience*
I changed into my trail shoes, ate a pasty and 2 bananas and off we went again!
Quick mention about the random band in Brixham by the harbour! Man and a woman both wearing really ill-fitting wigs singing some form of rock n roll! It tickled me so I took a photo of them ;)
Tim: So with Adam in safe hands with the support crew 'the run was on'. I remember having to quickly munch down a packet of Cheddars (as highly trained athletes do) because I could see in Debbie's eyes how much she wanted to get running again - I could hear her engine revving - we were off!
This was my first low of the run, as low as I can get anyway. I had indigestion, or some form of banana stuck in the wrong place syndrome? I coudnt run properly, I was worried I was holding us up but I felt so nauseous I had no idea what to do. We kept going but I really was uncomfortable. Tim kept me cheery, our conversations didn't stop the whole of the run and he kept my spirit high considering!
Then the burping started! Oh yeah some proper digesting was taking place, then, yep! All ok, still nauseous but nothing on what I had been feeling. *Note to self, chew bananas before swallowing!*
I wont bore you with terrain, if you've read my blog before you will know that Brixham to Kingswear is the hardest bit of the whole run but onwards we went, sorry, that should be onwards, upwards and downwards and sidewards!
Random guys peeing in farm trailers and beautiful views.
I have to add, at this point I am now smelling like a man! I borrowed Tim's deodorant at Brixham, doesn't men's stuff work well eh?
Kingswear - hot pasty and lovely hospitality stop at My bosses sisters house. We even had beer! Then, free ferry ride over to Dartmouth :)
Tim: Picture this - 2 filthy & sweaty 'ultra' runners turn up at one of the finest houses I've ever been in and get given beer & pasties. I still feel guilty about using that nice clean white towel that I carefully folded to not show the dirt - oops! ;)
Dartmouth to Strete, interesting lows we both felt at the same time. In hindsight I think it was beer related! But it didn't last long, we got out of the trees and onto a blowy field with the most beautiful view of the ocean and our fears and niggles blew out of us and away to sea.
The emotions and feelings on a run of this nature can change with the scenery, just as music can affect your mood, sad tune, sad feelings, throw on some Funky House and up you get!
It was the same with us out here, the open and blustery sections swept out the negativity and left you feeling fresh again.
Tim: One of the joys of this epic run was how well Debbie and I worked as a team, we barely knew each other but everything worked, everything clicked into place - very rare when tackling such a massive
We were approaching our 'Ian stop' and in good time too as it was really getting dark now, 10pm.
We changed into night time clothes, I leapt out of the trees like a Ninja, funny moment, you had to be there!
Kitted ourselves up in hats, gloves and head torches.
This was the moment I will never ever forget, the most excitable child-like feeling of going off into the dark, I cant describe in words and I know Tim was the same, we had these silly grins that said, 'Night time adventure' and we were off!
I loved the night-time the best of the whole route, I didn't want the night to end, it was comfortable and magical in every way.
Tim: I felt like a kid again - nuff said. I would recommend night running to everyone, its a whole new experience and totally magical.
It's at moments like the night-time section when you realise that all your planning and actually running the route means everything. To navigate in the extreme blackness of the coast at night has to be planned. There was a section we were running, bearing in mind we had no scenery to tell where we were, and I said 'Ooh, must get to Lannacombe soon' few steps on and the gate to Lannacombe beach was there. That's planning for ya ;)
There were so many ace night time moments, really treacherous rock climbs with the sea and a massive drop just inches away, the wind blowing cold rain over us, the wind so hard you couldn't even hear yourself, the rave, the lighthouse! It was all magical every single bit of it.
My favourite was the eyes! A whole load of sheep that we had woken up all staring at us, our head torches shining on these hundreds of pairs of eyes, it was hilarious and also a little bit spooky haha
Moving swiftly on, I turned my ankle over on a rock in the dark! Tim saw it happen from behind, I stood on one leg and we looked at each other in silence! Maybe if we didnt speak it would magically heal?
Slowly I moved my foot towards the floor and put my weight on it. It was the ankle I sprained in December too. It hurt, but not so much that we were going to stop but it was a massive scare for a second.
Tim: This was the only 'heart in mouth' part of the entire journey, I knew Debbie had hurt her ankle badly during a previous training run so it was such a relief she was ok. We where standing in such a dark & remote place and it makes me shivver to think what would have happened if it was bad sprain.
Kris was amazing when we got to him, it was still dark and the coffee was warm and sweet. We were starting to get tired, it was 4am caffeine was order of the day.
Trip round to Salcombe, my ankle was hurting but off we went again with a promise of seeing Kris at Bolberry.
To be honest I could go on forever on this blog, most have probably stopped reading by now, but I have to share this last bit with you.
The terrain we were on was the hardest you can find in the South Devon area. It wasn't just the inclines and declines it was the rocks and roots that we had to climb over and avoid.
The distance was long, the amount of time were were out there for, 25.5 hours, it is amazing. I can't believe that we did it even now. I go over and over all the sections of the route, I can even remember what we were talking or laughing about at each point.
Something like this can only be done if you are confident and trusting in yourself, but also in the people on the team you are with.
I dont know how it happened, things do happen for a reason, maybe my Dad is watching over me, who knows but I found myself the most reliable, trustworthy, inspiring, funny, hardcore running partner this weekend, and someone I consider a friend for life.
To meet someone for the first time on Friday and then experience the highs and lows of an Ultra without argument or annoyance and smile and laugh all the way through is something very special indeed. Tim, I could not have done this without you, and I certainly couldn't have done it as easily if you weren't the very special person you are, thank you so very very much.
Tim: This was my first ever 100 mile run, something I had planned to do this year but never thought I would run it in such style. Debbie's planning was spot on, we didnt get lost once, not even at night. We worked as a team, as friends, as buddies - we inspired each other. Despite the pain at the end we where both still laughing and joking at each other - such a rare and unexpected partnership :)
Last words from me has to go to the support crew who worked with us through the night. Without their help both Debbie and I would not have been able to complete this incredible achievement, they are as important as the runners.
And Debbie - you rock! :) x
And to finish it, the best surprise a little Debbie can have - her Mum at the finish line. Perfect, all of it perfect from start to finish, I have never had such a good weekend in my entire life.
Time to put this blog to bed. Dont worry, we have already started throwing around ideas of even more epic adventures, that's the new blog, will keep you posted........
#Waltons
