I was looking forward to the final day of the Druid Challenge. I thought I would be looking forward to it after Day One, just because it then would be almost over but in fact my reasons for looking forward were much more positive.
The most important thing was it had stopped raining and was shaping up to be a really nice day. Also Day Three is in some ways the easiest day as it has no tricky navigation and a fairly good running surface for most of its length. The down sides are the slightly unpleasant road section around Wansborough Plain and the literally down side of the hill from Barbary Castle where we leave the Ridgeway to the finish. After 82+ miles a steep descent on tarmac does nothing to ease the legs!
Anyway, I was approaching Day Three in a very positive manner, I felt good and was determined to continue my tradition (started the year before) of running the whole of the stage, no walking up the hills for me today. We were taken back to our finish point from the previous day and observed a minutes silence for Remembrance Day before setting off for the last time.
The first 16.5 miles is a wide chalky path and very easy to follow. There are many and varied paths adjoining it, but its fairly hard to go wrong and - as I fancied an easy day rather than a hard one - I didn't. The first checkpoint was after 8 miles and I arrived feeling good so after a quick drink and a few nibbles I was off again.
The remaining 8.5 miles of the 16.5 to Checkpoint Two were also relatively straightforward. I say relatively because, for those that have never been along it, the characteristic surface of the Ridgeway is chalk. Some sections are more obviously chalk than others but the typical wide chalk path is what constitutes most of the first two sections of Day Three. Running on it is fine until it slopes downwards when it becomes a tricky balancing act - literally - between free-wheeling down the hill and being very aware of the wet chalk/wet leaves combination underfoot and trying to make sure verticality is maintained at all times. As I have hinted Day Three was going very well, slips and trips were avoided and base and apex were kept in the correct alignment at all times.
Directly after CP2 came the 'very DANGEROUS ROAD SECTION' as it said on the route card. It isn't a very major road but the traffic along it does move very fast. I don't usually like to use my blog to moan but there is room on the verge for a footway, it's a national trail which undoubtedly brings people to the area so why doesn't the council invest some money in a footpath? Anyway rant over, on with the run...
After the road section the news doesn't get much better as on leaving the road the path almost immediately starts to climb up to the top of Liddington Hill. However we are not at home to Mr. Walk today so I carry on running - albeit at little more than walking pace but I'm still running nonetheless. However there are no more major gradients until the drop into the valley of the River Og and CP3. A few miles before CP3 I was overtaken by Nathan. This is good as it's almost a mile later than the point he overtook me on Day Two. Obviously I'm never going to be able to actually race Nathan but its nice to have a bit of a benchmark for my progress. He is his usual friendly self and we pass with each of us enthusiastically congratulating the other.
After crossing the A346 its a climb out of the river valley back onto the ridge - Smeathe's Ridge in fact - to Barbary Castle. At Barbary Castle we say farewell to the Ridgeway and drop down a very steep hill for the final two miles along the road to the finish line at Overtown.
I crossed the finish line and collected my medal and congratulations from Neil, the race director, head of Extreme Energy and all-round top bloke. Then I looked at my watch - under five hours! 4 hours 54 minutes was the official time, over 35 minutes faster than 2013 and easily my fastest time all weekend. Sarah crossed the line a few minutes later to complete a good weekend for her too.
So what did I learn from the weekend? Well although I was disappointed at the time I think Day One did me good. To be honest this last year of running has generally gone well and so it was probably about time I was reminded that ultra-running has its lows as well as its high points and that actually I've been very lucky to have had mainly highs. It also reiterated what I always tell people, on any run it's not where you are at the start it's where you finish that counts. Although I finished a few places lower than last year I did take 46 minutes off my total time so overall I think it was a positive result. I also learned that perhaps three ultras and a marathon - 216.5 miles of competitive running - is perhaps too much in 6 weeks, although I was lucky enough to meet Robert Young - Marathon Man UK - who ran marathons 224 and 225 of his 367 marathons in 365 days challenge. Also Sir Ranulph Fiennes ran Day Two and he's 70 so perhaps I shouldn't try and use 'too many miles' as an excuse.
The least surprising thing about the weekend was that once again the event was superbly organised and all the Extreme Energy crew made me feel very welcome. Food, encouragement and a real happiness about the event seem to be standard for Neil and his team and so after thoroughly enjoying myself at Druids I'm looking forward to meeting them again at the end of January for the Pilgrim Challenge!
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