Endurance Life Sussex Ultra - one last race before the pandemic cuts in!
I thought long and hard before heading off for this. I was half expecting it to be cancelled at the last minute after the Covid19 pandemic announcement, but no; instead, they pulled all food from the aid stations, and supplied water only for the marathon and ultra competitors. Cleverly, they used watering cans, so they could top up runners' bottles without touching them, so there was minimal risk of cross-contamination.
I'd originally planned to take the train to Eastbourne and cab to the start, but decided that there was much more risk of picking it up by this route than by driving and running the race, so my final decision was to drive & race. Pity parking in Eastbourne is such a nightmare, really - both before and after the race I was half a mile from the hotel.
It was pretty rare that I was within a metre or two of anyone else, except just before the start; the rain came down pretty hard just before the ultra start, so the marquee was full of ultra runners ready to go & marathoners just registered and getting set. Maybe not today, but soon I think crowds like that are almost inevitably going to lead to infections, and it is no surprise at all that everything else I have planned for the near future has already been postponed. Frankly, if a few hundred quid lost on hotels and non-refundable places is the worst hit that I and those I love take, I'll consider us lucky, way things look now.
It's all positivity from here.
The plan for this was to bring it in inside 8 hours, to reassure myself that hitting the cutoffs for the NDW50 was realistic. Not really done enough hills in training, and my descending skills are still terrible anyway. Work to be done! Today, though, was as much climb and descent as the whole NDW50, so on that front, I'm reassured. I don't know when I'm going to run that now - it's been postponed to July 4th, a week before the LT 55k I also have a place in, and the day after the institute summer party where I run sound for the band, DJs & so on. Getting the part refund and trying for a place next year seems the best bet; it seems a shame not to get a 50 miler in this year as planned, but it gives me a bit more time to work on the technical side. During the last 10k, I was chatting to another runner who'd taken up trail running a year or so ago, and had recently been practicing steep descents to very good effect - she did in the end drop me by about thirty seconds in the last mile, but up till then I was outdoing her uphill, matching on the flat, and looking like I was going backwards on the downhills. (Alleged 10k. The ultra is the marathon route plus the 10k route for a total of 34.1 miles. That 10k is probably closer to 13k)
As far as the time goes, mission accomplished in 7:50:21 by my watch, though in the company of that race, I reckoned I was about 3 places off DFL. (The results say 91/101, more than an hour ahead of the final runner - better than the following guess,). I knew this going in from those previous results - 8 hours would have been 6th from last last year, 7:50 8th from last. To put that in context, at Beachy Head Marathon last year I was 805/2200 - these races do attract a relatively tough crowd, what with the ultra doing the 7 sisters twice where once is enough for BHM! The ultra cutoff at marathon distance was 6:45, and I came through that just inside 6 hours, so I don't feel I was keeping the organisers waiting any longer than they might have expected. Allowing for climb, this looks a little better than my time at Chiltern Ridge last year, but I felt much stronger at the end of this; there being only water at the checkpoints meant there was no temptation to linger, but I didn't really feel the need for breaks, either. I slowed up a little bit late on, more walking more often than lower top speed, and some of that was all those sisters and a gentle but very long climb which I'd probably have run more of earlier. (13:20-ish to marathon, 14:20 ish from marathon to the end). Hardly anybody left at the end, but everyone was really friendly and supportive.
I thought this was beautifully organised, and will quite likely do one of their events next year again. Great route too, though it would be nicer with a bit less mud and standing water! (I feel safe saying this now that BintMcSkint has had enough of mud). No detours as far as I know - BHM had minor detours last year at Alfreton and Litlington, but this race passes through both in different directions, so wouldn't have necessarily have needed any, so I can't say whether the water levels were worse. Challenging (though not as technical as the Lakeland Trails 55k, which explains why that took 3 hours longer for about 2km further) and good fun, with some great views of the cliffs and lighthouses along the way 🙂
The weather was patchy, quite wet at the start and windy throughout. Went from 3 layers down to 1, felt pretty warm at the end, but quickly realised as I cooled down that it was chilly; I really should have put my gloves back on to walk back to the car, they were numb for a long time.
The statistics that really matter:
Falling over count 1 - not mud, weirdly, but steep skiddy turf where the shoes could not quite keep a grip (saw one guy go over twice on a similar bit later, fine both times fortunately).
Wrong turns count 1: arrow looked as though it was pointing through a gate, actually the lane to the left of it. Someone called me back pretty quickly, and it was looking wrong anyway, no more markers and no single clear path.
I'd originally planned to take the train to Eastbourne and cab to the start, but decided that there was much more risk of picking it up by this route than by driving and running the race, so my final decision was to drive & race. Pity parking in Eastbourne is such a nightmare, really - both before and after the race I was half a mile from the hotel.
It was pretty rare that I was within a metre or two of anyone else, except just before the start; the rain came down pretty hard just before the ultra start, so the marquee was full of ultra runners ready to go & marathoners just registered and getting set. Maybe not today, but soon I think crowds like that are almost inevitably going to lead to infections, and it is no surprise at all that everything else I have planned for the near future has already been postponed. Frankly, if a few hundred quid lost on hotels and non-refundable places is the worst hit that I and those I love take, I'll consider us lucky, way things look now.
It's all positivity from here.
The plan for this was to bring it in inside 8 hours, to reassure myself that hitting the cutoffs for the NDW50 was realistic. Not really done enough hills in training, and my descending skills are still terrible anyway. Work to be done! Today, though, was as much climb and descent as the whole NDW50, so on that front, I'm reassured. I don't know when I'm going to run that now - it's been postponed to July 4th, a week before the LT 55k I also have a place in, and the day after the institute summer party where I run sound for the band, DJs & so on. Getting the part refund and trying for a place next year seems the best bet; it seems a shame not to get a 50 miler in this year as planned, but it gives me a bit more time to work on the technical side. During the last 10k, I was chatting to another runner who'd taken up trail running a year or so ago, and had recently been practicing steep descents to very good effect - she did in the end drop me by about thirty seconds in the last mile, but up till then I was outdoing her uphill, matching on the flat, and looking like I was going backwards on the downhills. (Alleged 10k. The ultra is the marathon route plus the 10k route for a total of 34.1 miles. That 10k is probably closer to 13k)
As far as the time goes, mission accomplished in 7:50:21 by my watch, though in the company of that race, I reckoned I was about 3 places off DFL. (The results say 91/101, more than an hour ahead of the final runner - better than the following guess,). I knew this going in from those previous results - 8 hours would have been 6th from last last year, 7:50 8th from last. To put that in context, at Beachy Head Marathon last year I was 805/2200 - these races do attract a relatively tough crowd, what with the ultra doing the 7 sisters twice where once is enough for BHM! The ultra cutoff at marathon distance was 6:45, and I came through that just inside 6 hours, so I don't feel I was keeping the organisers waiting any longer than they might have expected. Allowing for climb, this looks a little better than my time at Chiltern Ridge last year, but I felt much stronger at the end of this; there being only water at the checkpoints meant there was no temptation to linger, but I didn't really feel the need for breaks, either. I slowed up a little bit late on, more walking more often than lower top speed, and some of that was all those sisters and a gentle but very long climb which I'd probably have run more of earlier. (13:20-ish to marathon, 14:20 ish from marathon to the end). Hardly anybody left at the end, but everyone was really friendly and supportive.
I thought this was beautifully organised, and will quite likely do one of their events next year again. Great route too, though it would be nicer with a bit less mud and standing water! (I feel safe saying this now that BintMcSkint has had enough of mud). No detours as far as I know - BHM had minor detours last year at Alfreton and Litlington, but this race passes through both in different directions, so wouldn't have necessarily have needed any, so I can't say whether the water levels were worse. Challenging (though not as technical as the Lakeland Trails 55k, which explains why that took 3 hours longer for about 2km further) and good fun, with some great views of the cliffs and lighthouses along the way 🙂
The weather was patchy, quite wet at the start and windy throughout. Went from 3 layers down to 1, felt pretty warm at the end, but quickly realised as I cooled down that it was chilly; I really should have put my gloves back on to walk back to the car, they were numb for a long time.
The statistics that really matter:
Falling over count 1 - not mud, weirdly, but steep skiddy turf where the shoes could not quite keep a grip (saw one guy go over twice on a similar bit later, fine both times fortunately).
Wrong turns count 1: arrow looked as though it was pointing through a gate, actually the lane to the left of it. Someone called me back pretty quickly, and it was looking wrong anyway, no more markers and no single clear path.
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