The North Downs Way in six days #NDW153

Mrs ran the Centurion Running North Downs Way 100 last weekend - a 100 mile race along the North Downs Way national trail starting from the Western end in Farnham in Surrey, and finishing near Boughton Lees in Kent where the path splits with a choice of two routes to go all the way to the Kent coast at Dover. She did very well - her race report is here.

I don't entirely recall when, but the discussion about going for a look at the full course a week or two before the race came up some time ago, and Mrs did a bit of homework about how many days it would take and where we might stay.

Then, one weekend in a hotel bar after enjoying a bit of parkrun tourism in Jersey we decided to commit, and booked all the accommodation for a six-day trip to cover all 153 miles on foot. The shortest day would be around 20 miles, and the longest well over 30.

We were travelling light - just a few kilograms each in a small pack each with essentials, a change of clothes, and very few luxuries.

Over the six days we ran, hiked, and walked a total of 272.9km (169.6 miles) in 47 hours (47:13:15 to be precise), and gained an impressive 5,755m (18,881') in height.

The official distance of the North Downs Way is 153 miles, we went a little further due to getting to B&B/hotels and one or two wrong turns!


Day 1, Farnham to Dorking
41.1km (25.5 miles) in 6:22:18 with 655 metres (2,149') of climbing

I was a bit nervous on day 1 - this was due to be far and away the biggest mileage week I'd ever attempted, with longer back to back running days. Plus it was hot. This combination my be why with barely 10km completed I felt weak and light-headed and barely able to run downhill, never mind on the flat. Mrs was really understanding, and we stopped for an early drink and took a walk for half an hour.

For the remainder of the day I gradually felt stronger, and was able to run at a good pace in the closing stages. I ached and was tired, but was pleased to get day one ticked off.

It's over there

The "before" shot

My view for the next six days

Poor horses :(

First of many fields to cross

Quite a bit of sand under-foot

We found a cheese and chilli festival!

Beautiful woodland

Found a deer

Denbies vineyard

Day 2, Dorking to Dunton Green
48.0km (29.8 miles) in 9:10:09 with 1,326m (4,350') of climbing

Woke up quite achy today and it took a while to get going. Nothing damaged or hurt, but I clearly had done some running yesterday. We started very easy with a 1km jog back to the North Downs Way, and the fun of the stepping stones followed by the never ending stairs of Box Hill.

The going was slow due to all the steep climbs, but we made steady progress. The second half of the day was faster. There was no repeat of yesterday's light-headedness, and I was pleased that once I'd warmed up there seemed to be no sore spots on my feet or elsewhere.

It took a long time to get through the day, the slow and hilly start definitely took its toll. We were tired when we finished, but we'd got through it in good spirits. We knew the first few days would be hard until we got into a routine.

Skipping across the stepping stones

Today's theme: steps

Impressive roots

Box Hill is all about the view from the top - lovely on a clear day

Steps go down as well as up (but are no easier)

First of many cows today

Mrs dealing with some foliage so it doesn't cause a problem in the NDW100 next week

Happy to be aliiiiiiive!

It's this way

Mrs found a friend

Woah there, Speedy McWifeFace!

We traversed many fields...

...and bridged many motorways...

...to make it to the Donnington Manor Best Western Inn!

Day 3, Dunton Green to Rochester
33.4km (20.8 miles) in 06:04:20 with 701m (2,300') of climbing

Happy that today was a shorter day, we set off in good spirits. We made good pace and I certainly felt like I was getting into the groove.

It was much easier to manage the transition from walking/hiking to jogging and back, and we were able to spend more time chatting. I was starting to settle into the rhythm of the days now - getting up and going was easier. We just had a cup of coffee and headed out - both of us preferring to run the morning before stopping for a good brunch.

Smiles all round - the path starts right next to the hotel

Sometimes you have to work really hard to take the wrong road

Lots of horses today

Here's another one

Seems legit

Wheeeeeeee! (recreating the Centurion cover page photo)

Any form of transport you like, including horse and cart

Lots of cows today too

More cows

Always feels like you're taking a direct route going across a field rather than round it

Mile marker

Racing the combine harvester

Managed not to get harvested

Day 4, Rochester to Boughton Lees
49.1km (30.5 miles) in 07:44:57 with 1,037m (3,402') of climbing

I felt fantastic today. No soreness or aches in my body, I got up, repacked the bag, drank my coffee and was raring to go. We ran a lot today, and I'm surprised to see how much climbing there was, it didn't feel like it. Clearly we were used to just getting on with it now!

Most of the day was runable, particularly after our half-way break time. We ran a half-marathon distance to the night's hotel in under 3 hours!

The beauty of the North Downs Way

Found a Battlestar Galactica launch tube

Petrol station food stop - you have to take the opportunities when they arise

Left a bit

We saw a lovely inquisitive calf...

...then Mum turned up...

...then we found a lot more cows...

...and then Dad found us and was unimpressed...

...and we decided to get the hell out of dodge, at pace

Tonight's digs, Eastwell Manor Hotel

Enjoying a well-earned pint on the terrace

Day 5, Boughton Lees to Dover
55.7km (34.6 miles) in 09:12:58 with 665m (2,182') of climbing

Shortly after starting today we reached the split in the path. Two routes to the coast, one long, one slightly longer. We planned to get the long route done today to have a slightly shorter last day left for tomorrow.

Today felt great, it was easy to pick up the pace on the flats and downs, and we hiked the ups comfortably. Yesterday and today really felt like we'd settled into a rhythm and could put in a big mileage like this every day.

The miles ticked past - it didn't feel like the longest day at all. There were quite a few fields to cross where there was nowhere to hide from the occasional patches of sun - but towards the end of the day it got quite a bit cooler and there were some short sharp showers with small pointy rain-drops in the wind.

We finished with a run through the outskirts of Dover, and stopped out watches when we got to the coast - as it happens our day finished exactly where the channel swim attempts start and the North Downs Way officially starts (or ends, depending which way round you're doing it).

The split point - all paths are the North Downs Way

Black Beauty?

Surprised sheep

"I think it's that way!"

We found the most beautiful village in the world, Chilham

Every property was perfect

The church yard was spectacular

Overgrown bit - much swearing from me at brambles and nettles (and then a bee stung me!)

Stopped at Canterbury for lunch

Pushing on, covering good ground on the longest day

Highly unfriendly pub

The start/finish line of the North Downs Way (or turn-around point for us)

Marker plate

Day 6, Dover to Boughton Lees
45.6km (28.3 miles) in 08:38:33 with 1,371 (4,498') of climbing

Today I paid for being cocky about feeling amazing for the last two days, like I could go on for many more days. Today it was hard. We started with a steep climb out of Dover, then up and down the coast to Folkestone. We were annoyed early on by a section of path that was closed (only we didn't know until we got there) so we had to double back and take a longer route.

The aim was to get back to Boughton Lees for 17:15 in order to get a cab to Ashford and pick up a hire car to get to parkrun on Saturday and then drive home afterwards. It was always going to be tight, and that made us a bit short tempered and led to the first sharp exchanges of the whole trip.

Eventually we turned in-land, but straight away started to struggle with the signage. We hadn't put a foot wrong on navigating for the last five days, but today seemed trickier. We weren't sure which side of a fence to be on, or which exit from a field to take. This led to our only two proper mistakes - we got stuck in a field, making an entire trip around its circumference, and then once we escaped and got back on track almost immediately went wrong again.

Added to this I was certainly feeling more tired today and made a few footing errors and slightly twisted ankles. We were losing time.

After pushing on for a few hours without breaks, trying to make the time target, we stopped at a pub. We were quite stressed about the time now, so I decided to defuse the situation by buying a couple of beers, cancelling the cab, and changing the car booking to tomorrow. It was more important that we finish together and in good spirits.

We sat at the pub for a couple of pints and relaxed in the sun. Much better.

With about 15km left we set off. The going was hard as we were both tired now (not to mention a couple of pints each!). Before long I started to get a pain on the front of my right foot and ankle - kind of the opposite of the achilles tendon. Quite quickly I was reduced to walking with occasional short jogs, and then for the last 5 or 6km I just had to walk.

We finished the day in good spirits, happy to have completed our biggest challenge yet.

Happy, and a bit weathered, to be setting off on the last day

Cross-channel swims start here!

I felt so good I ran up these steps (unwisely, today was longer than I expected)

Mrs tackling the steps

Mrs tackling yet more steps - today was just up, up, up to start

Instructed to enjoy the view...

...here's the view

We saw lots of perimeter defences today, remnants of wars past

Hello cows!

Hello cow!

Nice to run down the coast for a while

A moody sky, but the rain held off

Looking down onto the course used for the Samphire races

Coastal trail time again

Make sure you're following the right arrows

Clinging to the hillside

Folkstone international rail terminal

More cows because, well, more cows - right?

Mile marker

Pushing through another field

The majestic Tolsford Hill BT Tower radio transmitter

Stuck in the corner of a field - the path is on the other side of this mess

Heaven, by the name of Tiger Inn - stop, relax, calm down

"Look at the camera and go BLARGH!" (extra points if you remember that)

Beautiful in the late afternoon

Follow the arrow!

Impressive horns

More cows

Another beautiful view

Mrs found a donkey!

Back at the split near Boughton Lees - the end!

In closing...

...I'm over the moon with this week - I really didn't know if I'd make it or not, it's so much further than I've gone before. Oddly, I had no doubts Mrs would finish it - she ran even further than this a while ago and ran the whole Thames Path (184 miles!). My disaster scenarios always had me giving up and meeting Mrs at the end of each night, never her.

In this six days I covered beyond marathon distance on four of the days - something I've only ever done twice before (Croydon Ultra 50km and Chiltern Challenge Ultra 50km). It gave me a lot of confidence about future multi-day events, and cemented in my mind that I would certainly be taking on the Centurion Running Chiltern Wonderland 50 mile race in September.

Race report: XNRG Chiltern Challenge Ultra 50km

The fun started early today. Up at 5am to get fed and up and about for today's run. First up, the 5:58 tube to Edgware Road. Train info was broken at Wimbledon, two trains were in and ready to go. Sign said "Take the first train and change at Earl's Court". One train was unlabelled, one said Edgware Road. I sat on the Edgware Road train, hopefully. The other one pulled out.

Already 15 minutes behind schedule, I got to Edgware Road at 6:50 - ten minutes to panic jog to Marylebone for the 7:00 to Princes Risborough - start and finish of the race. I collapsed onto the train - 06:58, made it!

At 07:35 when the two following trains to Princes Risborough had left, they finally announced to my train (which had gone nowhere) that there had been a problem with one of the carriages - which was fixed! and then  problem with the radio - which was fixed! and then a problem I could hear over the sound of polite(ish) complaining from the passengers. Train was cancelled.

There were around a dozen runners on my train, so we filed over to the 07:48. Very late now. Thankfully we were met at the station by a nice person from XNRG who gave us a lift to the school - venue for race control.

Race briefing for the 9am starters

Just got there in time to dump my kit bag for later, and get outside for the race briefing. Before I knew it  - we were off.

This is a 50km race around the Chilterns - and whilst there are none of the Lake District style peaks and valleys, there's no shortage of ups and downs. We set off in a big group along a fairly narrow track, spirits were high and just like the start of every ultra, most people were going to fast. Unfortunately I probably was too - being swept along in the rush.

Thankfully we hit a climb soon and everyone slowed to a walk - and from then on there was enough room to run/jog/walk as each of us saw fit.

Aid stations were at roughly 10km intervals. The first came round in just over an hour, and I was feeling good. The second arrived another hour and a bit later, and I was still feeling good - even better after a square of marmite sandwich. More aid stations should have savoury foods! (what I really fancied was a square of cheese - having breakfasted on the train of a bag pork scratchings  but no chance of cheese!).

The third 10km section was a bit longer, with more walking. The nice thing about ultras is you can go at your own pace, it's all about getting to the end - the time is secondary (unless you're in it for the win). For this one, there was a walking option, with walkers starting at 8am, then the masses at 9am, and elites at 10am. During the third 10km section I was overtaken by the lead elite - he'd made an hour on me in just two and a half hours - wow!

The third aid station was particularly welcome as they had mini cocktail sausages - hurrah! Annoyingly, by now my feet were getting a bit sore and I decided to do some more walking. This section, from aid station three to four, was the longest in time, distance, and effort.

I'd been out to the area a couple of times to look at the route, but there were some big changes from the previous years, in particular here - so most of it was unfamiliar. Thankfully aid station four finally arrived, at 41.5km a little later than expected.

I stopped here for a few minutes, and had a little sit down too. My feet were quite painful on the heel - the lack of sleep over the previous week (very busy work week) had left me tired and not keeping good form - I'd fallen into a more heel-first step than I'm used to, and it was getting painful.

The final stretch followed, just 8.5km to go. I walked most of it, with some jogging when I felt like it. After averaging around 8km/hour for the first four hours I'd slowed down and knew I was going to miss my notional 6 hour target, but I knew I'd get to the end.

Nice touch - a print out of the race telemetry

I finally passed under the finishing gantry back at the school in 6:54 - slower than intended, but without any injuries. This is the furthest I've run without my old knee/ITB issue kicking in. For me, that's a winning day.

I was planning on a quick shower, but the nice people at XNRG were giving lifts back to the station, so I didn't - my apologies to anyone who was within 10 feet of me during my journey home.

Couldn't smile much more than this by the end!

Total time 06:54:25

107th out of 217 finishers, 81st male finisher
Time Start to CP1 (approx 10km) 01:08:21
Time CP1 to CP2 (approx 10km) 01:08:22
Time CP2 to CP3 (approx 10km) 01:12:58
Time CP3 to CP4 (approx 12km) 01:56:26
Time CP4 to Finish (approx 8km) 01:28:18

Full results are here

Thanks to Mrs for buying me a hoodie when she signed me up - super comfy, fits perfectly

Juneathon 2016 - week 5

Links: Week 1 (01-05) / Week 2 (06-12) / Week 3 (13-19) / Week 4 (20-26) / Week 5 (27-30)

Last year I completed Juneathon - a fun challenge for no reason whatsoever where participants run (or some other kind of exercise) and blog every day in June. I decided to do it again this year, but rather than blog every day for a month (which gets a bit tiresome, as you may remember from last year) I'll just do a weekly summary. Like last year I'm going to try and run every day, with a 5km minimum for it to "count".

Monday 27th June

Today I decided that as Mrs had a rest day and we didn't run our fast half marathon yesterday, I'd get a few minutes of faster running in the bank. A small local loop of roughly 2km with the plan of four laps - warm up, faster, faster still, then cool down.

4x 2km laps for 7.9km in 44 minutes

Worked out well; ran 12:43 to warm up and then 11:05 and 08:56, with a gentle 11:54 cool down. Job done for the day and never more than a mile from the front door.


Tuesday 28th June

Today was going to be a harder day - another one of those "up, up, up, and down again" days, but this time even steeper, and with the weather due to close in early on.

Happy McHappyFace

I drove up to Tilberthwaite car park for the start. All good trail runs have stairs and I'm not afraid of using the same ones multiple times.

Looks more like a jungle trek!

Today's route was a circuit, up from the Tilberthwaite car park, and round a loop that included the tightest contour lines of any of our runs yet.

Hello clouds!

The clouds rolled in, but it was manageable. Some light gloves (thanks Mrs) and my trusty Sailfish hat (thanks Mrs) and all was good.

This wasn't the steep bit

Now it's getting steep...

Head in the clouds (and rain) 

Achievement unlocked

On the way down the rain came in much harder, so I kept my phone safely inside a little plastic bag. Safe to say - it rained. A lot. We exchanged some mutual back-slappery for remembering to bring a complete change of clothes in the back of the car, and then drove home in order to go to the pub and drink beer and eat cheese.

Contour-tactic - when it takes 2:50 to cover just 9km

Holidays are fun! Two Juneathon days left; two much longer days, but not quite so hilly I hope.


Wednesday 29th June

I've been looking forward to running round Lake Windermere and felt it was a good way to finish off the month of running of Juneathon. However, the shortest circuit is 32 miles, and so it felt like a two-day job. Today was day one.

West side today, East side tomorrow

I ran from Ambleside down the West shore of the lake. There's a lot of private lake-front estates (and some tremendous houses) so it's not possible to run right by the lake all the way, however you can get a lot closer on this side than you can the other. Today's run was 25km and took 3:23, and all of it was in torrential rain. This wasn't a problem while I was running, but became a problem when I stopped and started getting cold. My waterproof shell layer isn't up to that level of defence, so I ended up soaked to the skin.

The "station" at Newby Bridge Halt

The route was fairly flat, and - apart from some overgrown pathways - it was good to do some longer periods of running again. I really enjoy the hiking and climbing and careful descending, but it's nice to run a bit.

Newby Bridge

I arrived with 45 minutes to wait for the next train so ambled across to the pub for a well-earned pint, where I sat damply in a chair.

The train that spends its life going from Haverthwaite to Lakeside via Newby Bridge, and back

The highlight, of course, was the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway followed by the Windermere Lake Cruises ferry back to Ambleside. The train only has three stops, and spends its life chugging to and fro. I picked it up at the middle of its three stops, Newby Bridge Halt, right at the Southern tip of the lake. One stop up to Lakeland and you can take the ferry to Ambleside, via Bowness-in-Windermere.

Interior

The train was a delight, chugging along slowly and tooting regularly. The interior was like trains I remember from my childhood - complete with leaning out of the window to open the doors.

Arrival at Lakeside

The rail and ferry timetables are well synchronised - just a 10 minute wait from train to Ferry.

Two boats run this route, Swan and Teal

Tomorrow will be a harder day - longer and hillier. Hopefully the weather will behave and it'll be drier, too.


Thursday 30th June

The last day of Juneathon 2016, and the longest yet. Today's run was down the West side of Windermere. It's much harder to stay by the shore line on this side. There are some beautiful lakeside properties with "grounds" and I assume they don't like sweaty visitors trampling all over them.

Today's route

The weather was far kinder today, and rain held off. There were some great views of Windermere as I climbed up through Skelghyll Wood.

Windermere in the sun, as seen from Skelghyll Wood

There were a few paths that had visible damage from recent flooding. One river had a bridge on its side and a fast moving stream to navigate. I wouldn't recommend the route unless you're confident on your feet.

Bridge collapsed on this side, and no bridge at all on the other side 

"Honey, yeah, there's another confused idiot in the driveway, we should really put a sign up" 

These cows were intimidatingly large - thankfully they stayed sat down 

Stop, Look, and Listen - Beware of trains!

I can't remember the last time I crossed a railway line on foot like this - and despite looking very carefully left and right, and then again, and walking across carefully - there was a little part of me that expected a mainline train to suddenly arrive at 150mph.

Beautiful garden - this picture does not do it justice

For those that make it safely across the railway line, there's a treat in store. This house on the other side has one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen. A stream runs through the middle, and the lawn and flower beds are immaculate. He was mowing his lawn as I passed by, we exchanged a cheery wave.

The pool boy hadn't been round in a while 

Soon I was off the beaten track again, and climbing up into the hills. Some of the paths were somewhat lesser-trodden - nowhere was this more true than in Blake Holme Plantation - a thick and lush forested area. My main path was almost invisible, and at one point I reached a fork where, despite the insistence of my map, there seemed to be absolutely no path at all.

I waded through this for a few minutes before realising it was a terrible idea, and turning back

I decided to cut my losses and take a route down the side of the hill back to the road. There was no way I was going to make it through the forest on paths like this. Even getting back to the road was a challenge - the path here was a stream, slippery, muddy, and cold!

Hello again! Toot toot!

With only a few kilometres left, I chose to run round to Newby Bridge not he road - there was no point in diving back into he forest. With serendipitous timing, I arrived at Newby Brdge Halt precisely as the train tooted its arrival. One minute later and I'd have had over an hour's wait.

No one expected the ferry ticket inspector to be Noddy Holder

Back on the Ferry, and back to Ambleside. Final run of Juneathon complete. 28km and a little over four and a half hours.

Tomorrow: Rest day!