My coach Martin Fryer had helped me devise a strategy of 13/2 over the last 9 months and we had practiced running in Zone 2 to build efficiency and speed at a super low heart rate. 13/2 is 13 minutes of easy relaxed running at a relatively low heart rate (Zone 2) with 2 minutes of brisk walking to use for eating and shaking my legs out. 13/2 every 15 minutes would mean I would get a total of 8 minutes of walking every hour and as long as I hit 2.5kms distance every 15 minutes, this was all I needed to achieve my 10kms per hour minimum target and hit 240kms overall.
In training I had practiced my brisk walking and gradually become a much faster walker. From 6kms per hour walking pace to 7kms per hour to 8kms per hour (around 7 minutes per km walking pace).
Martin and I had also worked on my running power with plenty of 15 second hill sprints, Lydiard hill sessions, long hills, short hills, 2.4km half marathon efforts, 3 hour progressives and Zatopek intervals. I had speed, power, endurance and an absolute confidence in my coach and my 13/2 race strategy.
To reinforce this strategy, Martin gave me a 5% fade over the 24 hours. So my first 12 hours I would need to accumulate an extra 3kms or so (123kms ish at 12 hours) in order to give me the fade in the next 12 hours. My first two hours I would need to hit 10.5kms an hour, then 10.44, then 10.38 etc. Psychologically, I felt like my race was only going to get easier as the day progressed and this worked well for me. This is going to get easier the further I go.
The first few hours of the event were relatively uneventful. I settled into my race and nutrition strategies and soaked up the first few easy kms. It felt great to tick off a marathon and then 60kms feeling very comfortable.
My expert crew Chris Jackson, Anna-Lena Richardson and Jon Richardson got into a great rhythm with me. Anna kept the super positive energy going with lots of beautiful smiles, Chris offered encouraging wise words and fist bumps and Jon was reading my mind like an alien! Somehow Jon knew what I wanted before I asked for it!! I couldn’t have asked for a better crew. All three of these guys were exceptional and brought the exact energy I needed at precisely the right time. I was feeling very blessed to have these three exceptional individuals by my side.
So let’s jump to hour 11. I passed 100kms right on target at just under 10 hours and it felt great to get a PB for the 100km mark. My plan was initially to wait until 18 hours before hitting the caffeine but the tiredness arrived at 11 hours. Time for some caffeine.
My legs started to feel strong again. I felt I could kick things a bit. I increased my pace and hit 12 hours at 121kms slightly behind schedule but still faster than 240km pace so I was happy.
The rain began to fall slightly heavier than it already was and you would think this would be a disadvantage…but I’m a Pom from Romford in Essex. I have spent half my life running and training in rain. In fact, most of my PBs have come in rainy conditions.
As the rain fell and the night grew colder and darker, I felt stronger and stronger. This was most likely also due to the caffeine and not simply because of the rain. I had 4 days without coffee before race day to take maximum advantage of this caffeine kick and it had worked beautifully.
I managed to accrue a couple of extra kms over the next few hours and hit 100 miles in under 16 hours which felt fantastic. My fastest ever 100 miles.
I had set my Garmin to Ultratrac mode so the battery wouldn’t run out. This was great for battery life but unfortunately not very accurate for distances. Several people pulled out of the race during the night and as I moved up the field I was feeling happy but unsure if I was maintaining the correct pace. I had to trust my body that I wasn’t running too slow because my watch was showing all sorts of nonsense.
At around 20 hours (4am) I passed 200kms and I knew I could take my foot off the gas a little. Joasia was around 7/8 kms ahead of me still so I was unsure if I could catch her but I was happy to be first male. Maybe a little complacent? My crew told me I was gaining on Joasia but her lead felt unreachable and I had zero motivation to try catching such an awesome athlete. She looked too strong and too confident.
My brain unfortunately started to calculate ways I could slow down and the totals that I would be happy with.
After a toilet stop, I slowed to a walk. I didn’t have much left so I began to run some straights and curves. This is all I felt I had. Run the straight 100 metres. Walk the 100 metre curve. Run the straight…maybe this will keep me ahead?
22 hours into the race. I remembered the words of my coach – “Then in the last two hours you switch to your fast twitch muscles and you see what you’ve got.”
I switched engines and grabbed my AirPods. I want this! The caffeine kicked in. I ran through the rain to finish the way I wanted to.
239.5kms in first place and running strong and tall.
This race report feels incredibly self-indulgent so I apologise if it’s long winded, too detailed or a bit boring. I have written this more for myself than anyone else. I am very grateful for this perfect race. I know races like this don’t come along very often.
