Thunder Run: What a difference a day makes! 24 little hours!!

A Letter to my Pre-Thunder Run Self

http://www.tr24.co.uk/index.html

Dear Bex,

Well now…that wasn’t so bad was it? All those panics? The feeling sick..the pre-race conversation with The Other Half:

ME: I can’t do it.

HIM: Babe, don’t be silly yes you can

ME: I can’t …how about you go there and pretend to be me..

HIM: Yeah, I somehow don’t think that will work..now just GO!

What about the packing and re-packing of your backpack 100 times over. Did you really think that once you’d packed and checked it once that your spare running socks/ running vests / giraffe onesie would miraculously unpack themselves and no longer be in your bag by the 9^th, 10^th ..47^th time of checking!

Now, arriving at Thunder Run…that was pretty uneventful…right?! Going in the wrong car park and having someone who you only just met park your car because you, ‘can’t really reverse well’..pretty good for you.

So onto night 1 at camp. Aren’t you pleased that you went down a night early? You know because if you hadn’t of done, you would still be unaware what a generator is. Nor would you know that there is no such thing as an airbed dryer..though I am sure that there is a potential market for such a thing! Whatsmore, had it not been for that first night at camp, you would still be walking around talking about the proverbial goose walking over people’s graves. You meant of course, a ghost. Ghost. Goose. Goose. Ghost. An easy mistake to make.
                                                            

Well that first night in the tent…I bet next year you won’t forget your winter woollies will you. Giraffe onesie or not..the tent was still colder than winter in the North Pole wasn’t it. Still at least you had your bunny eye mask to help shut out the light when the sun got out of bed..at 5.20 AM!!!!!!!! Still at least you got to share the tent with two SUPER CUTE labradoodles..Toz and Xabi!!

Okay so onto Day 1 of running..your first lap was at ..what was it 2.30PM? Yeah, that’s right..so I think getting completed kitted up for it over 3 hours early was COMPLETELY necessary and reasonable. After all, what with the 5 minute walk to the start, you OBVIOUSLY didn’t want to miss the hand over. The fact that the two people with laps preceding yours, actually thought you were running before them because you were ready so early is by the by.

Right LLLLLAPPPPPPPPPP 1…..and it was actually hotter than the sun..like literally. Because it was your first lap, you had NO idea what to expect. Waiting in the handover pen for Ciaran to come in (and helpfully he had dressed all in red so you would ‘recognise’ him!), you felt physically sick..would you have felt worse if you knew what to expect..most probably YES! Because that first lap was probably one of the toughest runs you have EVER EVER done. The heat was just the start! The notorious running world saying of ‘Just one more hill’ was actually true of this course..because the WHOLE thing felt like one GIANT hill. And just for the record, nobody had moved the KM signs so they were further away….but yes it did feel more like a marathon than a 10k! Anyway, don’t forget what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And that first 10k WILL have made you a stronger runner (never mind the fact that you cried all over Ciaran when you crossed the line). And don’t forget the views. And the tan. Every cloud etc..

Now if you were to do this event again next year ( I know at this point you swore blind NEVER AGAIN possibly to even laps 2 and 3!) would this be the most sensible way to do things: 1) Pull/ strain calf at about 4k…2) Finish lap and go to sports massage tent..(pretty sensible so far!) 3) Go to first aid (on recommendation of physio) for some ice (again sensible) 4) and this is where it starts to go wrong….instead of sitting sensibly with the ice on your leg and elevating it….wait in the queue for food for so long that the ice pack melts and is about as much use as an airbed dryer in the desert…though yes I admit the steak baguette with cheese WAS delish!!!

So next lap being almost 9 hours away and sleep being of course out of the question (what if you sleep through the start etc!), the obvious thing to do is call up the Running Family for a reunion at Camp ConJackMarsh! And thankfully Martin or as you so lovingly call him, Conny, came a whole lot more prepared than you had some ‘magic’ spray (more commonly known as ‘biofreeze’) and a massage machine to help fix your leg. And fix it it did. I think the hug from your big bro, David Marsh also helped! Though, they can pretty much fix ANYTHING.

You would have thought the time between Laps 1 and 2 might have dragged but what with all the faffing and panicking and getting reading 6 hours early, before you knew it you were once again waiting on the start for handover from Rob. Luminous pink shorts. Check. Luminous pink Do 1 Cancer top. Check. Pink head torch. Check (I am afraid the dog shaped one just wouldn’t cut it in the pitch dark. At 1 am. In the woods). (And by the way I am describing you and not Rob with the whole pink thing). 

Anyway the handover is obviously supposed to be as QUICK as possible, yet you still managed to have the following conversation with the afore mentioned (and most definitely NOT pink Rob)

ME: Rob is it awful?

ROB: No. It’s fine.

ME: Rob, I can’t do it.

ROB: Yes you can

ME: Come and run with me!!!

ROB: NO way

Cue Rob disappearing rapidly leaving me to Lap 2.

Lap 2..what can you say about Lap 2…only that it was one of the most AMAZING things you have EVER EVER done!!! The hills that seemed like Everest and Kilimanjaro combined at half two the day before, seemed at 1 AM like mere molehills. Was it cos there was no heat? Maybe? Was it cos you were concentrating so hard on shining the torch on the ground so you didn’t go headlong over a tree root that you each KM sign appeared to come up much quicker? Possibly? Was it cos at 1am you are normally dreaming away in the Land of Nod and not running through the woods with hundreds of other crazy people. Could be. Whatever the reason, I know you will never forget that lap! And I believe you are even considering a back to back night lap next year…

Now what does every self-respecting Thunder Runner do after a 1 AM lap….goes for a shower of course (smart move getting Karen to bring your bag down for hand over!) As showers, go it was pretty decent! Though next year, I would recommend you bring flip flops to put on your feet as woods+runners= mud on floor which unless you are a flamingo (i.e. able to stand on 1 leg for a great amount of time) meant that cleaning your feet was pretty hard!

Onto more food…and what could make this brillo pad night even more brillo (pads)..running into your brother David Marsh. Who would have thought being dressed in a giraffe onesie eating a jacket potato at 3am could now count as 1 of your top 10 memories of all time!

I know you didn’t expect to get much (if any sleep) that night but I think you managed maybe 3 hours (just like a school night then!) and then it was up and time to get ready for the third and final lap (only really two hours early this time- you’d got better!) The final lap, the lap of honour as Rob dubbed it. You chose your outfit carefully. ‘It’s a race not a fashion parade!’ as your mum would as but still it was important to you. This obviously meant wearing a vest that had some sort of tribute to your Daddy on it..so I think deciding on the Beating Bowel Cancer one with Sweep (gotta get that changed to your new running nickname of Field Mouse) and Love You Daddy Miss You xxx on the back was a good choice.

Hand over from Teresa went well (I know you hate ‘waiting’ on the start) and so you began your final lap…all the while thinking, ‘This is it..last time I ever have to do this..’ whether you thought of that as a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen! Anyway the heat was back on, though nowhere near as hot as the previous day. I know you felt like crying a few times around that lap. Runners really are the best:

‘Your dad would be so proud of you!’

‘Lots of love to your daddy’

‘You’re amazing’

‘Are you doing this for your Daddy..bless you.’

‘I love my daddy too’

While the people that uttered these words to you may well have forgot them by now, I know you will remember them forever. It is words and people like these that really do make all the difference and pull you over that proverbial – but feels oh so real wall.

So lap 3 of 3 (I know you plan to do 4 next year!) was admittedly tougher than you expected. For the 1^st 5k anyway. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Maybe it was those pesky hills. Still though, not has hard as lap 1. 5km in and things started to look up (and not just cos of the hill at Conti Climb!) Maybe it was the sponge filled with water.  Maybe it was Conny overtaking and taking a delightful photo at 8km. Maybe it was the crowds at the campsite. Maybe it was seeing Ciaran at 9km

CIARAN Bex..run up that hill by yourself, the crowds will be great for you.

ME Ciaran..I CAN’T run up that hill…

CROWD: Yes you can!

And you know what, you could and you did.

Final corner now and the finish that just sort of creeps up on you. What a noise! What a crowd! What a finish!

So that was Thunder Run. 24 hours.18 miles.  HARD miles at that.

(CIARAN: Bex, I didn’t tell you before but that (TR) is the hardest course I have EVER done.

NIC: Yeh we didn’t tell you because we knew you wouldn’t do it, if we did!)

 In the heat. In the dark. In the best company ANY runner could wish for.

THUNDER RUN 2015? BRING IT ON!!!