Dunstable Downs 20 Mile Challenge and Abingdon Marathon

Continuing my preparation for the Abingdon Marathon I entered the Dunstable Downs 20 Mile Challenge on the basis that I needed to do some more long runs. This race was perfectly timed as my last long run before I began my taper. However, why I thought that a 20 mile off-road race with hills would be good training for an on-road flat marathon I’ll never know.

Between work and Freya (she still hasn’t worked out the nights are for sleeping) I’d not done as many long runs as I would have liked. I spent the two weeks prior to the Dunstable race in Kuala Lumpur. KL isn’t bad for running, with the 1.3km track through the park at the base of KLCC (the twin towers), but the humidity meant that I got back to the hotel looking like I’d jumped in the swimming pool. So after 2 weeks of non-stop hotel food (breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner) and then 14 hours sat on a plane I was looking forward to some light exercise!

The race was held on Sunday 28^th September which turned out to be one of those wonderful autumn days. It was still a bit misty for the start of the race as approx 120 lined all clutching our 2 pages of directions for the course. As this was a small event there were only 3 water stations and no marshals on the course. Bits of reflective tape had been attached to trees and fences, and arrows painted on the ground in appropriate places; however, these were not always obvious (and kind members of the public had been known to move them in the past).

As I was treating this as a training run, I set of at a fairly sedate pace which became even more sedate as the first half mile was uphill onto the Downs. Once onto the ridge the mist started to clear and settled into a steady pace. The scenery was perfect: blue sky and rolling hills. The ground was dry and beyond a couple of fields that had just been ploughed by farmers the route was easy going.

Unfortunately, my lack of long runs meant that my legs started to give up around mile 15. After crossing one of the ploughed fields I got cramp in my right hamstring. This meant the last 5 miles were a combination of walk/run as I tried to keep my legs going in the direction I wanted. In the end I finished in 89^th place with a time of 3:27:48.

My legs giving up on me made me a little concerned about my readiness for Abingdon but it was too late now! All I could hope for was that the training I’d done would be enough to get round.

Unlike Dunstable, I had 3 easy weeks before Abingdon with no travel and not too much running. I managed to avoid colds or any other bugs. So I was as ready as I could be given the training I’d done. I’d done my planning – pace, number of gels to take, how much fluid to take – so no excuses! The day was perfect too, light wind, cool and slightly overcast. I slept well, woke up early, had a good breakfast and set off in plenty of time.

While getting ready for the start I saw Jo Aves – she says Hi to everyone – it was also her first marathon.

At 9am we set off with a lap of the track at Abingdon before heading out onto the roads. Although the route wasn’t very scenic (unless you count Waitrose car park and an industrial estate) it did have the advantage of being very flat. The closest thing to a hill was a subway under the road towards the end. I stuck to my plan, settled in to my pace and let the miles pass by. I went through the half way point at approx 1:50 and through 20 miles at about 2:50. At about the 22 mile point the cramp struck again – not as bad as at Dunstable but enough to make me walk for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, breaking my rhythm at this point was bad news and the last 4 miles were very hard work.

I finished in 395^th place with a gun time of 3:56:25 and a chip time of 3:56:11.

For the next one I now know that I have to do a lot more long runs!