After a few emails between the team, a curry night out and a practice night run my team for The Joust 24 hour event were ready! The Knights Who Say Ni! We had team t shirts made especially for the event, we were a team of 8 consisting of myself, Jo, Kazzandra, Anna, James, Steve, Ben & Adam a mixed bag of runners and I was thankful we had escaped a weekend of camping with Mad Margaret.
We arrived on the Friday after work to set up camp. Each of us having smaller tents then Jo & Paul bringing their massive tent which would also double up as our HQ. After a good team effort of tent organizing we left the campsite around 8pm Friday night to pack for the weekends adventure.
The race was open to solo runners, pairs or team of 3-5 or 6-8 the concept is to run as many laps as you can from midday on the Saturday to midday Sunday. For the pairs and teams only 1 team member was allowed on the course at a time though we decided myself and Jo would run out night laps together but only one of us cross the finish line as we were scared. The laps consisted of a 5 mile route off road. We had devised our running order of fastest runners first and moving down the minute per miles, the theory behind this was so everyone would get a lap in the daytime so they could learn some of the route before nightfall. Steve had also worked his magic with a handy spreadsheet and had input our estimated times for day and night laps so we could keep a check on if anyone had gotten lost on the course (we were mainly thinking of night laps at this point).
Arriving again on the Saturday morning, a few of us had ran park run myself included we turned up to a buzzing atmosphere with people setting up camp or the ones who had got in early the friday night were chilling out around their camps waiting for the race briefing at 11am. As we made our way over it was apparent there was a lot of nervous tension in the camp. We were told that the course follows a 4.8 mile loop off road around private fields and grounds, there is a pub the Wagon Wheel half way around where you could either go into the beer garden for a drink, water I may add and give the marshall your race number to show you had got to the half way point or for the solo or competitive runners that didn't want to waste time you could just shout your number and keep running. A few things were mentioned about the signage on the route as no marshalls are present other than at the pub. At midday our first runner Ben was off! Hurtling across a field then down a very steep grassy hill. All we could do was wait around 39 minutes which was his estimated time and make sure James our next runner was at the start/finish tunnel for the exchange of a hand slap and away he would go. Within 36 minutes Ben was back and James was off, so Steve was now prepped ready to go out on James return. This was going to be fun! Especially trying to make sure everyone knew who was next and how long the runner before them would take and when to get to the change over point, it would be more fun at night when people were sleepy and you can't actually see who is running up to the finish as it's just a light bobbing around in the distance.
Whilst James was out on his lap Ben proceeded to tell everyone what was to come on the course, explaining the signs are sparse, there are multiple gates and styles to climb over, a graveyard and
an abandoned quarry to navigate. Me & Jo were getting worried, what had we got ourselves into? Our fears were about to get worse when we realised James hadn't finished his lap and he had been gone over 50 minutes, when his predicted time was 39-40 minutes. I found Steve at the change over point and a couple of other concerned looking runners waiting for their relevant running buddies to finish their laps. Something had clearly gone wrong when there was still no sign of James after an hour. Finally he came over the brow of the hill for the straight to the finish with a scowl on his face. He had ran over 7 miles rather than the 4.8 as he, along with other runners had took a wrong turn and got lost. At this point a few people went to the organizers and explained and some more high vis direction signs were put out on the course. Still myself and Jo were very nervous. I was pleased at this point that we had planned a few weeks in advance that we would run our night laps together but only one of us cross the finish line so it only classed as 1 lap for the team. It went more smoothly after James's lap with Steve and the rest completing their laps no problems but there was still talk of gates and graveyards. Finally around 3.20pm it was my turn I was full of nerves for the unknown, I like races on road where there are marshalls on every corner and water stations and lots of other runners to follow. I ran across the field with my estimated time of 50 minutes in mind then straight down the grassy steep descent - wow it was steep you had to put the brake on here. At the bottom it was a little right turn into a corn field where you had a mud/stone track to follow for quite a way then it was a left divert into a cows field, urgghhh it was horrible to run in, the ground had clearly been a bog at some point then a tractor and millions of cows stampeded over it then it dried to make an ankle twisting nightmare! I had to walk most of this field. Then I came to the first gate to navigate, a quick up and over and I was back on a nice stone track with a bit of an incline. I chatted to a solo female runner said hello and said well done, it was hot so I felt for her having to run all that way! I then came onto an actual road with houses and had a horrible feeling I was lost. I slowed down a lot and heard the sound of feet behind me, I looked around and it was another runner wearing a black pear top! Excellent I tagged along with a man who introduced himself to me as Niel, if it wasn't for Niel I would have missed the Wagon Wheel pub and drink of water and I 100% would have missed the little entry to the graveyard! So it was true there was a graveyard! After that I don't remember much of the course as I was gas bagging to Neil the whole way I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going or landmarks to help me out on the night laps. Big mistake! Niel it turns out was running as part of a pair with another man and they ended up winning the Male Pair category. I finished my first lap in 47 minutes which I was super pleased with. I met up with Jo at the end who was running after me and I told her all about the course of what I could remember. There were around 9 gates to climb and 3 stiles, the graveyard and the abandoned quarry were real, the majority was mud/stone track next to corn fields or just ankle breaking fields.
The rest of that day went without problems and by 8pm Ben had been to get everyone a pizza and we sat scoffing in the gazebo. Me & Jo were going out for our 1st night lap at 9.30pm. Jo had a super duper headtorch and I had two rubbish ones but together we would be ok. We were no longer nervous and infact excited to get going in the dark, it was quite difficult to get used to it as you could only really see where your feet were just about to go. The graveyard didn't phase us at night we just ran straight through and into the quarry. We ran through a succession of yellow metal gates that had to be closed before the next one opened. I had no idea where we were as couldn't remember doing any of this on my earlier day lap but Jo assured me this was the right way and the other odd runner we went past were going the same way. I can only imagine that Niel had held the gates open for me on the day lap hence I don't remember them at all. We thoroughly enjoyed our night lap and chatted and laughed all the way around. We had a few mishaps with Jo's head torch packing up so had to rely on my rubbish ones, and me climbing a gate only for it to swing open whilst I was still straddling it! Before we knew it we were back at camp and I diverted off and around the outside of the course to meet Jo at the finish so only her lap counted. We had ran it in 1 hour 10 minutes which we were happy with. We tagged Kazzandra for her night lap and went back to HQ and made sure we had woken up Ben who was running after Kazz, we had some more food and stayed up chatting. We worked out based on predicted and actual times that we would need to wake up around 2.30am to be prepped ready to run again for 3am. I got into my tent at gone middnight I made the decision to nap with my contact lenses in save going to the toilet block to put them back in to run with and I also climbed into bed in the clothes I was wearing, I just took my trainers off. Stinky!
No sooner did it feel I shut my eyes was Jo outside my tent "Sarah, Sarah we need to go and run!" Looking at my phone it was earlier than I expected as the faster runners had gained some ground so we were to head out on our 3am lap earlier. After 2 hours broken snooze I got out the tent put my trainers back on got my headtorch and away we went to the change over, it was pleasantly warmish which was a good thing, I was wearing a long sleeve thermal base layer and a short sleeve running top with capris. There was nothing more surreal than being stood at a large inflatable arch at 3am in the morning with a headtorch waiting to run 5 miles for fun! We were waiting for Adam to come back and I needed the loo, I didn't think Adam would be too long so I said I would just go on the course it was dark and secluded enough after all. But as Jo pointed out that will waste time so we should just go now really quickly. Turns out really quickly wasn't quick enough,
mid flow with my pants around my ankles (jo was by now washing her hands) I heard people yelling my name saying adam was back adam was back. Someone has to be there for the change over! Jo went dashing out with me following not too far behind trying to pull my trousers up to get a tag of Adam and we were off on our 3am jaunt around the countryside.
The second night lap was as much fun as the first and it only took us 4 minutes more considering we were tired and by now a bit achey I feel we did very well.
After having a drink and a chat and working out what time to wake up again I went to my tent at 5am. Mine and Jo's shared laps were over so I was running my next day lap at around 8am I was scoffing baby bells and drinking pepsi in my tent at 5am so knew it was going to be another 2 hour kip before my alarm went off. I had this time taken my contacts out but still slept in the same clothes I had been running in. I even took my makeup off. Waking up at 7am I felt like shite! Literally I thought there was no way I'd be up to much that day, my head was hurting ( I hadn't drank hardly anything and had bad sunburn) I bobbed my head out my tent, grooannnn it was so bright. urgghhh I felt rough. Everyone was at the gazebo, I made my way over, mumbled something like morning then proceeded to wobble into a camping chair. Darren said I was that pale I actually looked see through and maybe I shouldn't run (he later admitted to me that he has never seen anyone look so bad and he really didn't think I would be able to walk let alone run) I told everyone I would be fine after a wash and some food and I wanted to be updated on the evenings events whilst I had been asleep. Turns out Kazzandra had rolled her ankle in her night lap after mine around 4am so she wouldn't be able to run her last lap and Ben had some sort on injury though no one was quite sure what- even Ben himself wasn't open for discussion on the subject. Hazel who is a black pear jogger had come along to support us the whole weekend though she wasn't taking part she was just camping, drinking and enjoying the event. She offered to make me some fried eggs before my lap, I gladly accepted her offer and made my way to the shower and toilet blocks where I managed to freshen myself up enough that everyone looked very surprised upon my re entry to the gazebo at how much better I looked. (My secret was downing a bottle of water and putting some slap on!) Hazel presented me with my plate of fried eggs they were lovely just what I needed! I had a couple of pieces of chocolate then I was off to the change over point waiting for Adam to come back. I had made the decision if Kazzandra and Ben weren't going to get another lap in I may do an extra one and do 10 miles not 5 miles. I started off on my final (actual) lap and enjoyed it so much, the sun was blazing the sky was blue, I knew exactly where I was going and my footing was a lot more confident from doing 2 night laps I found in the day now I barely had to think about what I was doing. My second day lap took me the same amount of time as my first one the day before to say I'd had 2 x 2 hour sleeps and was hurting a bit I was pleased. I had managed to sneak in a sports massage the day before and thought I may as well get another one done before I went home for a donation (a fiver a go) it was cheap as chips. I finished my lap and hopped straight on the massage table whilst Jo went out for her final lap, Kazz made the decision to share the lap with her so I knew due to the injury it would be a slow lap but I was so pleased Kazz was going to get all of her running in. Ben wanted to see how many laps behind we were in the rankings and suddenly made his mind up that he would run the last lap...even though I had stated I would do this, the time was running down as all laps (that would count) had to be completed by midday, I was getting my laps done in 47-49 minutes. Jo came back at 11.15 am which was tight for me but I felt like another run so me and Ben set off and the fastest one would cross the line to take the glory. I knew before I set off it would be Ben but I still wanted to run a bit more, I enjoyed the day, the course, the scenery everything about it so I was happy to do 5 miles just for fun.
Before I even got to the half way point at the pub the landrover was coming around in front of me and they were taking the signs down in front of me! I was pushing 8.30 minute miles and knew I was fighting a losing battle. At the pub I asked if I could have a lift back as there was little point continuing if they were taking the signs down I still relied on these a little. I got in the back of the van and had flashbacks to the Grim but this time I didn't feel like a failure if anything I felt great and I knew Ben would get the lap in for us (which he did with 10 minutes to spare) I also got to share my journey back with Ian Radford who as a solo runner had ran 105 miles in the last 24 hours, he had asked the organizer in the van to call back to HQ and see if the solo male in second place had gone out for a final lap - If he had he was going to carry on to get the title - If not there was no point in him continueing the lap as he had already won. He had already won so I had company on the way back and what a pleasure to share running stories with him.
Whilst I had been gone on this mad little adventure the tent fairies (Hazel, Jo, Kazz, Steve and James) had been and taken down and packed away my tent! Bless them. After a bit of a wait around the presentation was made at around 12.30pm with each individual solo runner going up for their medals, then the pairs and teams.
All in all it was the most fun I've had at a race and already looking at booking another team of 8 for next years event. I ran over the course of the weekend park run (3 miles) then 4 and a half laps of 4.8 miles.
After a little countdown we were off running in the middle of the road of a business park with a slight incline I was off! Glancing at my watch at the top of the road I was running at 7.30 minute mile pace - too quick but I felt I would rather go out quicker and slow down to my desired pace than have to make time up later on. I was pleasantly surprised when we diverted from the main road and took to some nice pathways running around some lakes and woods, my ideal race so far. There were some nice downhill parts to gain some speed too. My first mile clocked in at 7:50! On track for a pb but I knew it would be ambitious to keep that pace going. I soon passed through my first lap and had Bens mom Sue clapping and cheering me on, this was going to be easy! I soon started feeling the pace I was running on the second lap the sun came out from no where and it was super hot. I made the decision to grab a bottle of water from the next lap although there were plenty of marshalls and signs on the course and water, I was going to grab and drink a few sips and drop at the start/finish to make it easier to clear the course after. My second mile came in at 8:35 and third mile at 8:28 so I was settling very nicely into my Plan A. I passed through my the lap point and this time Ben was cheering with his mom so I was pretty sure he had possible won the 5k. Lap three was quite hard my hamstring started hurting and I was trying to ignore it and push on. Mile 4 was ran in 8:45 and mile 5 in 9:06 I knew I had to keep pushing hard to get the 53 minutes time that I wanted. It was at the downhill points of the course where I gained my ground from this 9 minute mile I came through the lap point again and took a quick glance at the timex clock though it said exactly what my watch said I couldn't work the maths out for the last lap but Ben shouted something like you've only got to do this lap in less than 12 minutes you can do this. I struggled on with a sprint/limp I could feel I was dragging my leg a little, Mile 6 was ran in 8:38 so I was back on track, coming to the final climb which in the car on the way there felt flat but running it was a different matter, Ben had come down to meet me and was telling me I was going to make it, I remember moaning about my leg but knew I had to finish.
