Trailwalker (UK)

The gallant band of Marlborough ancients successfully completed the Trailwalker (UK) (100km and 6000 feet plus of climbing) event along the South Downs Way on Saturday.  Well, to tell the truth, it was actually Sunday by the time they finished in Brighton, but for most of the event it was Saturday.   Their time was 17h 40m, an hour or so longer than they hoped for, but over an hour quicker than the time taken by Cheney, Paterson, Griffiths and Joslin in 1998.

 

Conditions were near perfect.  Not too warm, but staying mild once it got dark, a westerly wind, just a touch of light rain, and a spell or two of warm sunshine.

 

This year Nick, Phil and Alan were fortunate enough to secure the services of an experienced guide, a sprightly silver haired gentleman called Tim, who just happened to have left his car at the finish the previous day, jogged a few miles with rucksack on back to check out the last part of the route, run to Brighton station to catch a train to Petersfield, and, after being fed by the Salvation Army, jogged another five miles to the start where he camped over night.  Running along with us, he regularly went ahead to check the route, chased after (and caught) other teams who had strayed from the official way so he could put them right, or just to greet the Gurkha soldiers marshalling the course in fluent Nepalese. At 47 miles he decided to enliven things by dancing around the checkpoint while the rest of the team sat and contemplated fifteen further miles of pain.   This man is not human!

The mere mortals in the team found it harder.  Alan started slowly, then slowed down, then got slower still.  Phil started strongly, but found the hills even tougher than on the Thames Path last year, and suffered for the last few miles.  Nick’s training (yes, he did do some) seemed to pay off, and he coped well with the distance, and although went through bad patches like the others (except Tim) he remained unusually cheerful throughout. Unlike Phil, and even more so Alan, who were both decidedly grumpy at times.  There were at least six very sore feet at the end of it all.

 

What made the day tolerable, actually enjoyable but for those few moments of despair, was the splendid support from Tertia, Jane, Margie, Ted, Sharman, and especially Nicola and Tim (Phil’s daughter and son-in-law).  They were always on hand with exactly the right combination of food, cups of tea, cold drinks, fresh clothes, comfy chairs, plasters, Vaseline, and above all encouragement.  Tertia had got up at 3.30 to drive Alan and Nick to the start, then mountain biked around and about during the morning turning up at the checkpoints to encourage the team.  Jane, Margie Ted and Sharman supported from Amberley to the finish, with Sharman joining the runners for over 15 miles in the evening.  But Tim and Nicola put in a full 24-hour day, supporting from start to finish.  Tim, Ted and Jane then drove back through the night, getting home at gone 4 a.m.

 

The team can’t thank the supporters enough.  Next year, Alan, Nick, Phil and Tim are looking forward to supporting this year’s supporters so that they can repay them in kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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