Run > Cross Country

100MileRun's Cotswold 24 hour race

The event was held at the scenic Cirencester park over the weekend, with the runners and walkers starting off at midday on Saturday. The aim is to complete as many laps as you can (or want!) in 24 hours. The last lap counts if it started before midday Sunday and finished before 13:00. I threw in the towel at 11:35 because I was taking over an hour and a half to get round, so I wouldn't have made it back in time. Dragging my carcass round in the midday sun for no extra kudos somehow didn't appeal. My Fitbit thinks the lap was a bit less than the advertised 9km. Having made the trace by recording just the 1st lap (the Fitbit won't survive 24 hours with the GPS running) and copying it, any Fitbit errors will have been multiplied by 12†. My official distance is 108 km (67 miles).

PNRC had two teams there, so I joined Jo, Chris, Simon, Steve and Trevor (PNRC 5 - 3rd in category, well done guys and gal) and Ann E-R, Ann E, Karen, Kate, Laura H, Laura S, Pat and Ian (PNRC Dream Team 8) in a huddle of tents and gazebo right by the side of the race course. Not forgetting the Heroic Support Crew: Wendy​ and Dean. That meant that I could be super-efficient in refuelling stops. Or, rather, within easy reach of a chair to slump in.

Conditions underfoot were very good: firm, dry trails; short grass and a couple of km of tarmac. The

conditions overfoot were less than ideal. It was appallingly hot and humid with only occasionally any breeze to mitigate it. At least there were a few decent-sized patches of trees, which were much appreciated. There was also a water station out on the course, cunningly placed so that we visited it twice, at around 3.8km and 7km. Nevertheless, I was very grateful for my hydration vest and got through nearly a litre a lap, split between High 5 energy and electrolyte drink and plain water.

There were marshals out at the more important "you don't want to go wrong here" turnings and the course was, in any case, well marked with arrows and barrier tape. Getting lost didn't appear to be an option, though I did hear stories of one or two people who managed it.

One slightly irksome feature was a small number of people who thought it was clever to carry portable ghetto blasters, ruining the peace and quiet of the countryside with their very personal taste in what I suppose they call music¹. The drinks station marshal said I should have a word with Race Control when I wryly asked whether she had any earplugs. Apparently, quite a few people had complained. Anyway, I mentioned it to RC and wondered whether they should do something about it for next year.

The conditions (specifically, the burning heat) quickly made me realise that hoping to achieve a large mileage was unrealistic, so I reverted to Plan A², which was to do some laps and spend time enjoying it all. There wasn't really much choice: after 6 laps (nearly 34 miles) I took a couple of hours off - my legs were already starting to get really sore. The next couple of breaks were also an hour or two, and I even decided to grab an hour's sleep in the last one. It must have helped: I woke up feeling at least slightly more perky.

We were blessed with a really clear night that afforded some great star-watching opportunities. One spot in particular was nice: just coming out of the woods, you were faced with a very bright, extremely orange light in the sky that must have been Mars. Lots of the Usual Suspects (the Plough, Cassiopeia, etc) were easy to spot, too.

Ian accompanied me on my last lap, which was great: I could turn off and have a chat. The Race Director had said, in the pre-run briefing, that it was OK to run with someone else as long as they didn't go over the timing mats when it wasn't their lap. Cotswold 24 hours is a lot smaller than Endure24 and there aren't the narrow paths, so extra people floating around aren't a problem.

It was a lovely way to spend the weekend, if really rather hard work in the heat (and following all the other long runs over the last 8 weeks or so).

¹ there was apparently one playing classical music, which might have been better for me but still isn't what I'd want to hear

² I'd signed up thinking that I'd have to take it easy, given what I'd been doing not so long before. Somehow I got a bit distracted, thinking that the course was easier than Endure24 and must be a good one to do a ton on. Silly me.

Lap Times
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01:04:16
01:08:38
01:25:21
01:27:29
01:38:44
01:44:35
03:08:13
02:58:48
03:28:07
01:38:12
02:03:34
01:48:53