Since my last blog entry, entries for the 2015 MDS have opened and, four minutes later, closed again. I had registered my interest and was seriously considering it, I had only three reservations. The first wasn't really a reservation as such, I just knew it was a lot of money to spend again - however that sort of thing doesn't usually put me off and wasn't going to be a huge factor in the decision this time either. More important was whether or not I could put Sharon through the experience again. This was also less of a factor than I thought it might be, she was actually quite happy for me to do it again and said it was up to me - and no, it wasn't one of those 'it's up to you' with an unspoken 'but you know what choice you'd better make' on the end, she really was content for me to decide for myself. The thing that was really making me unsure was simply the great time I had and the great position I got on the 2014 MDS. I couldn't help feeling that if 2015 didn't go as well it might taint the memory of 2014.
However I had been feeling a bit aimless since the MDS and felt I should look for another challenge. As a result I started Googling desert ultras and found many tantalising prospects. The one that really seemed to fit in terms of duration, time of year and cost was the Ocean Floor Race. Despite its name it takes place in the Egyptian Western 'White' Desert. Apparently 200 million years ago this was under the sea, hence the title of the race. Apart from a different location it also has a quite different format to the MDS. The OFR is 160 miles and you have 96 hours to do it. That's it, you decide when to stop, eat, sleep, just be at the finish in 96 hours or less. Obviously there is slightly more to it than that, there are checkpoints roughly every 15 miles for a start. At each checkpoint you can get food and water, and leave a drop bag with any supplies, clothes etc. you may feel you are going to need. There will also probably be less than 40 people doing it!
I'm already making plans... Equipment-wise, everything MDS should be perfect with a bit of a revisit of the shoe-sock combination to try and avoid the skin-shearing problem I had before. I'll take all my own food but as I can have drop bags, granola doesn't need to figure highly in my meal plans, also as there is hot water at each check point my freeze dried meals won't need to sit in the sun. My biggest issue is race strategy, I want to be placed as highly as I can possibly achieve. I'm fairly sure that 72 hours and two sleeps should be a comfortable time-scale but can I do it with only one sleep and in around 48 hours? I don't know yet but my next challenge might help me decide...
So what is the next challenge? I hear you cry, well I don't but hopefully you are slightly interested to know. However before I get onto that I should tell you about my last challenge, the Southend Half Marathon. We entered this at fairly short notice mainly because Sharon quite fancied doing it and its an event we've not done before as it usually clashes with a Highland Dancing competition in Colchester. However this year the weekend was free, entry was very cheap and its only half an hour down the road...
...Not quite true - Southend is only half an hour down the road but this event was actually in Shoeburyness, which involves going through one of Britains premier displays of traffic lights and speed cameras that adorns the road from Southend to Shoebury. Add to that the inevitable parking bottleneck at the end and a 30 minute journey took around an hour and a quarter.
As a result we didn't have time to do very much other than make the obligatory toilet stop and find the start. The start seemed a little chaotic but did occur dead on 10 a.m. as promised and after taking a couple of minutes to actually cross the start I was off and running. The day was hot and sunny and not really one for PBs. However my half-marathon PB was from the Great North Run and as this was a significantly flatter course I had harboured hopes of a new PB. As I'd started a bit further back than I really wanted I spent most of the first half of the race overtaking people. It was really quite a social event. I saw Mark from Parkrun first, he'd done the Edinburgh marathon the week before and so was understandably taking it quite gently. A bit further up the road I passed the legendary Colin Barnes - one half of Racekit and the real 'Colin' on the 2014 MDS - I was 'the other Colin', especially if your name was Sue. Colin had recently completed the Grand Union Canal Race, an insane 145 mile non-stop run from Birmingham to London and was, even more understandably, also taking it easy.
The race consisted of two laps up and down the seafront. A few hundred yards before the turning point on lap one I caught up with the equally legendary Ian Brazier. Ian was suffering from a hamstring injury and I suspect shouldn't have been running at all but he's an ultra runner and so... Anyway the point is I passed three people that I would have probably finished firmly behind on any other day, which at least made me feel good. I also got to wave to Sharon as I headed back towards the start for the first time. She was going well in the heat and would finish in a very respectable 2 hours.
The race continued fairly uneventfully, a bit of waving as I saw Ian and Sharon a couple more times but otherwise just a very hot trot up and down the seafront. The course had a very generous supply of water stations, all of which I ignored in my quest for a PB. A not even slightly sensible strategy really but I reckoned that as I was very well hydrated at the start I could get away with it for an hour and a half. The water was also supplied in paper cups, I'd tried drinking from these at previous events and - unless I actually stopped - it usually resulted in choking and a quick wash but very little actual consumption of water.
At the 10 mile point I realised that the PB was on if I just pushed hard over the last 3.1 miles. 3.1 miles is a Park run so 21 minutes? Well, a bit longer after 10 miles but I still crossed the line in 1 hour, 34 minutes and 8 seconds, an improvement on my PB of 28 seconds, it almost made the sunburnt head and chafed nipple worthwhile!
Sadly one runner collapsed and died shortly after finishing. I don't know what the cause of death has been declared to be but he was a member of a local running club and was undoubtedly prepared and ready for the challenge, its just very sad and tragic when these sort of things happen.
Anyway if anyone is still interested this is where you hear about my next challenge, the Saffron Trail. I mentioned it in my last blog but I've now actually entered. I've also recced part of the route around Chelmsford and am reasonably certain I can at least run through my home town without getting lost. The event is 70 miles from Southend to Saffron Walden and starts at 6 'o' clock on a Saturday night. I'm expecting to be passing through Chelmsford at between midnight and two in the morning - running through the centre of Chelmsford in the early hours of a Sunday morning, what could possibly go wrong? Well here is where you will find out...
