Enigma Gold 30mile Ultra Marathon

The Enigma Gold was my chance to redeem myself from the Grim Reaper although it took a while to get the balls to do it!

I originally signed up for the 20 mile event knowing it would be reasonably comfortable, over a half marathon but nothing like pushing for 35-40 miles. Then as the cogs started turning in my head I convinced myself maybe the 30 would be better as at least I can finish an Ultra in 2012! Having been offered the chance to swap to the 30 I declined after a lot of thought as I was too scared to fail...again!

Two weeks to go until the event and I had run 20 miles in a training run on my own in 4 hours 11 minutes I did struggle though from mile 15 onwards but made it non the less and I started thinking that I should go for the 30 mile distance. This seemed unlikely as there were no spaces free and I couldn't help but feel disappointed mainly in myself for not having the balls to grab the chance when it initially arose. My disappointment didn't last long with Mr David Fox on the case a space became free and I was in for the 30 no going back!

As the event drew nearer I also gained a new pair of trainers Brooks Glycerines sounds ridiculous but running in them is as though they have tiny wings attached carrying me along and I was putting all faith in them on the day as I hadn't really broken them in but throwing them in the deep end with an ultra.

The night before Enigma Gold I had very little sleep thanks to my lovely cat. I woke at 5.30am feeling very nervous and could hardly get my breakfast down. Still the weather looked more promising than the Grim and off I set on the two hour journey to Milton Keynes. Upon arriving at the pub which was the headquarters for the race I met up with Ria whom I first met at Grim and I knew May would also be there, it was nice to have some familiar faces around as I had travelled up on my own  although Ria saying she would throw me in the lake if I didn't finish this time didn't sound much like fun. The scenery was just like Grimsthorpe with a big lake to run around and I couldn't get it out of my head this was my second chance!

The 30 mile runners set off first starting with a half lap of around 1.5 miles then eight laps of the lake at around 3.55 miles per lap. The 20 mile run started half an hour later which meant there were always runners passing you on the course which was nice as they were all very supportive, I did get lapped quite a lot by the fast runners but everyone of them told me how well I was doing and to keep going.

The first 10 miles flew by I don't remember much except trying to remember my way around the course from following May & Rias directions on the first full lap. Every time you came through the start/finish/checkpoint there would be a group of supporters and helpers including Dave Fox who organises the events and Karen the race director. You couldn't wish to meet nicer supportive people, although the event is nothing like the large road races with chip timing etc it was a lot more pleasurable and the banter and beers seemed to keep everyone going!

A few more laps of the lake and I found myself forgetting where on the course I was... sounds familiar?? I don't think running around lakes is good for my little brain! At mile 15 I was bang on 3 hours and half way through, I imagined what it would feel like to finish in 6 hours but knew I had no chance as I was starting to slow down a lot and hurt too... so a quick phone call to my mom was needed. A pep talk later and I was still going around the lake, at one point you go under an underpass and are literally 10 meters away from the underpass on the other side with lake in between. The amount of times I thought about swimming across rather than run the 1.5 miles out the way and back again was ridiculous but I'm no cheat and certainly no open water swimmer plus I didn't have my goggles.

At mile 20 I was back on the phone again and the usual rubbish was spouting out my mouth "Why do I do these things? I'm never doing this ever again. I'm sticking with half marathons" The usual I'm in the middle of something really good yet really challenging type blurbs. I did walk a complete lap of the lake as the back of my left knee started pulling and feeling quite weird. I thought well my aim is to finish in 7.5 hours and I was on course to do it so didn't push myself...lazy I know. Every time I went through the checkpoint I had Karen there spurring me on and when the 'school playground' bell was rang it was the start of my last lap... joy!

Only 3.55 miles to go, sounds so easy, as easy as thinking 3.55 miles in training would take me around 38 minutes whereas I was hobbling at 16 min mile pace. The song I sang to myself every time I started walking was Keep on Running - The Spencer Davis Group http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LVI1gDswg it seemed to work too and before I knew it I was 2 miles from finishing, 2 miles sounded so easy too but seemed to take forever until eventually I rounded the corner to the final straight. The tent for runners equipment had been taken down as everyone one else had finished, there was only me, Ria and May still to finish, the Grimsthorpe girls sticking together at the end.

 Karen came to join me and we ran the final 200 yards together I finished in 6 hours 50 minutes, and would you believe my feet were completely blister free!

 I had done it, I had finished an Ultra Marathon, yes I went further in the Grim but barely ran any of it where as this time I felt I had done it right and got my golden trainer trophy to prove it. The mad moment of saying I never want to do it again was forgotten pretty much an hour later and I'm already on the starting list for the Enigma Christmas Marathon on the 16th December and helping to marshall and support the runners on the 15th December Marathon.

One of the things I loved about Enigma Gold is how friendly everyone was and I made some new running companions too including Karen, Dave, Ruth, Dawn & Annabelle all of whom made me feel very welcome and I look forward to seeing again at future Enigma runs.