The new kit I had was an ultra vest from Decathlon for under £30, which is superb quality and fit for the money and new shoes - Altra Phoenix 3.0. The shoes are really comfortable with a very wide toe, zero drop and well cushioned. They are meant to be trail shoes, but the grip isn't that deep, so reasonably dry trails would be right. I brought along waterproof trousers and a foil blanket just in case of injury and needing to walk slowly out to a checkpoint.
I was meant to do this run with a club-mate who's aiming for a huge ultra in Scotland (200+ miles!) but he pulled out, though without telling me. Fortunately there were two other people from my club also doing it and they invited me to go with them. Great for transport, but this couple (Dave and Katie) are very experienced ultra runners, so I felt I could be holding them back. I also have a bit of a glute injury that could turn into a proper pain in the arse later.
We arrived in Leatherhead in plenty of time to faff around with kit and drop bags and have a brief chat with McGoohan and Liebling. Start times were your choice between 7:30 and 8:30 with the proviso that if you turned up at Checkpoint 1 before it opened you would have to wait. We set off at 7:55 at a gentle trot with Dave navigating with the written route instructions and me checking with a GPS tracker.
Heading due south out of Leatherhead you are very quickly in to farm land and the gently climbing trails I had run before, so it was easy going until beyond 3 miles and the climb up to Ranmore Common on the NDW. Down the other side and past Westcott at 6 miles and we are into the Surrey Hills AONB. Weather cold and a little misty, but look up and there were patches of blue sky. Checkpoint 1 at 9.5 miles and there was a big crowd of people who had got there early. We arrived at 9:58 and it opened at 10:00, so I had time to scoff loads of biscuits and cake and get some squash while the crowds got scanned out and by 10:03 the queue had gone and we set off again.
I left the navigating to Dave as his skills at reading while running and not face-planting where much better than mine. I just managed to catch us a couple of times as we went a bit off route. It's not a competitive run though, so if we went a bit off course there were also other people around calling us back to the route. You do have to watch out you are not just following someone out for hike or jog that are nothing to do with the event. Dave told us about a friend of his doing an ultra in Devon that went close to his parent's house. He detoured off course to drop in and get a cuppa and 20 people followed him!
13 miles in and up past Holmbury Hill and Hurt Wood and the LDWA founders view point, Pitch Hill at 14 miles and Winterfold Wood at 17. I was coping reasonably well with the route as it wasn't muddy, we were walking alll the hills and the pace on the flat was a reasonable 10ish min/mile. Checkpoint 3 at about 20 miles was one I was looking forward to as they had tea - my favourite restorative pick me up beverage on a cold hilly run.
From 20 miles to 23 we were running across the valley from the NDW and knowing we had a big climb to come. I was struggling a bit with energy and this section was just not hilly enough to warrant a walk break, but having company really helped to keep the steady pace going. The sun had been out for a while and feeling it on my back with some heat seeping in also lifted me mentally. Just after 23 miles and the climb back up on to the NDW started - one I was actually looking forward to as I didn't have to run, and it was a good opportunity to eat and drink and enjoy the view.
The final checkpoint at 26 miles was reached with a slippy slightly muddy jog down the lane to the Tanners Hatch youth hostel - more tea, a bit more faffing with kit and then off we went. Four and a bit miles to go and I was thinking I could be on for a 30 mile PB, but wasn't sure about how hilly the route back was. While we were on trail I could keep up with Dave and Katie, managed to trot up the last hill before dropping back to the Leisure Centre we passed on the way out. Still daylight, feeling OK and picking the pace up as I could smell the finish line with only a tricky road crossing to negotiate.
Finished before 3pm in 7:03 at 30.5 miles, exactly what the route description claimed for distance. A PB by 9 minutes over what I had managed at Endure 24 last year (though I was kind of saving myself for another 45 miles on that day). Compare that to last year, same distance, similarly hilly but shitty weather and horrendously muddy - 9 hours 22 minutes - this year was an absolute joy. Oh, and you get to choose your new hips and knees for your post race goody bag!
