On Sunday was the Jog shop jog 20. A 20 mile race starting and finishing in Brighton but with most of the course on the South Downs. It's also the first time I've got up early for a race, with the alarm set for 6.15 to give me plenty of time for breakfast. I was taking a full three litres in my Camelbak as well as two gels to take at six and twelve miles. The weather was alright at the start, about 13 degrees Celsius and a light drizzle. Unfortunately up on the downs the rain was much heavier and a strong wind blew in off the sea. As such I spent most of this race drenched
The start itself was in the car park of ASDA, where about 200 of us gathered. Within a couple of hundred metres we travelled up a switchback ramp to the coast path on the top. This was not the best way to start a long race, and perhaps should have been a clue as to how things were going to go. I probably gained about 100m in height before the race had been going five minutes.
Despite the climbing start I still set off well ahead of target pace, carried along on a wave of enthusiasm as I so often am at the start of a race. Once we were up on the cliff top it was a nice easy track, and so I was bumping along around 7:15 pace though with short sections under 7 minutes per mile. Over time I got it under control, and slowly got passed by a couple of people.
The early section was fairly easy as we passed through the suburbs of Brighton, and then as the houses became rarer and we entered a farm complex the downs reared up ahead like a solid wall. Soon after this a right hander led onto the first climb of the race at about six miles. This one was relatively gentle at about 1 in 11 (according to Google maps), and I jogged all the way up, overtaking several people on the way.
The next couple of hills were harder, considerably steeper and with a lot less grip on the ground. I walked significant portions of these, but only slightly slower than those jogging up. It's a lot more energy efficient way to get up, especially as most of the effort from running on a steep gradient goes into moving your feet up rather than your body forward.
At the top of the second of these climbs was a volunteer handing out jelly babies. I had already taken my first gel by now, but the jelly baby was a nice change. Rather than eating it straight away I held it in my hand as a promise for going forwards. This also removes the outer floury coating that can gum my mouth up a bit. I have to admit that I could only resist it until half way down the next descent, but that was better than usual.
It was the descending that made up for the hard work of the hills, which only seems fair. Pelting down these with minimal effort was a great game most of the time, and I seemed to be pushing it further than most which usually earned me back a couple of places I tended to lose walking the hills. The only descent that I did hold back on was one of the last, when the usual grass was replaced by exposed chalk mixed into a paste by the rain and passing feet. This was especially difficult as I started next to another runner, and so had to dodge them as well as not fall on my face. Fortunately it was completed without incident.
After these tough sections I hit a long flat valley section, at about 11 miles. This allowed me to take the second gel, and actually pick up the pace quite a lot. I was surprised at how comfortable the sub-8 pace felt after 11 rolling miles with some aggressive climbs and it gave me some time to reflect and enjoy, rather than focussing on the challenge at hand as I had to for the section before it. I was especially pleased when one of the volunteers called me a front runner because I didn't take a jelly baby, though to be honest I didn't realise they were on offer.
This is a good opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of the volunteers. They're always appreciated at a race, but especially on days like today when conditions are terrible and the only thing to entertain them are runners and sheep on a hill top and an encouraging word makes a big difference.
After the nice section in the valley we hit the The Big W. This hill is nothing like the others, it's a really gentle gradient, probably five percent, but carries on for well over a mile and so slowly wears you down. I felt really comfortable at the start, but as it continued I started taking single paces of walking and then the walking sections got longer and the running sections shorter.
I was about 400m from the top and at about 14 and a half miles when I looked over my shoulder to find two runners near to overtaking me, and suddenly something in my head switched. I started to get angry with anything and everything I've ever had to deal with. Internally I was ranting and raving at myself and my failures and everyone who's ever pissed me off. This got me running again, and kept me going until 16 miles, though I can't say I really enjoyed it.
Suddenly there was a blur of motion, as I got rapidly overtaken by a guy in a red running vest. I have no idea where this guy came from, he wasn't one of the two who were behind me before, but it was enough to snap me out of my aggressive mood. I locked onto the back of him across one field, but couldn't maintain the pace he was putting down. Fortunately this was enough to get me over what I thought was the last hill, and onto a long flowing descent back into town.
This went great, and I figured I was onto the home straight and still with the possibility to get in under the three hour mark with a couple of eight minute miles. Then in front of me was a little kick hill. It couldn't have been more than 100m long, but the gradient was vicious and it completely broke my remaining spirit and literally brought me to my knees for a moment.
From here I jogged and walked my way home. I drove myself as much as I could but like mile 18 of the marathon I just couldn't find anything to push me on in a sustained way so while short distractions such as help from a stranger or an overtaking opponent could force me into a jog for another quarter mile but then I'd stop and walk again. Eventually I got in sight of the ramp we'd started off up, and with a pair of runners behind me who I'd battled with through the first half and thought I'd left far behind I finally forced myself into a finishing effort.
This has to be the hardest race I've ever done, including the marathon. While my mistakes made the marathon tough this was because of the conditions and the course, which I had no control over. What I thought would be a slightly hilly training run was actually a battle from the first hill on, broken up by some really enjoyable flat sections. I was really pleased to finish this, and it's provided great experience going forwards, but I also enjoyed the run itself throughout almost all of it.
Distance: 20 miles
Time (unofficial): 3 hours 4 minutes
Pace: 09:20 min/mile
Heart Rate: 175 bpm
Map: Here
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