On previous days blogs this section of my blog has related events from the evening of the previous day. However this hotel was very nice, required no engineering and the window really did only open 15 centimetres. Also the bath was smooth and long enough to lay down in so there is little to report. So instead I will take the opportunity to explain how much difference all the support I was receiving meant to me - sorry, I will tell you about the running soon, honestly.
All the hotels had WiFi and I had my tablet so I was posting regular updates on Facebook about my progress and how I was feeling. It was great to get so many replies both from my regular FB friends and especially from the RFYL group. Many people take their motivation from those that tell them that they won't be able to do something. I'm fortunate in that very few people appear to believe I will do anything but succeed so I take my motivation from trying to live up to their expectations. I know that at some point I am going to DNF, and the world won't end, and everyone will be very nice about it. However I don't want people to have to be nice, I want to live up to what they expect from me and get the results they want. Obviously I do it mainly for me but other peoples words of encouragement and belief in me are a very powerful force when things are getting tough - as they were soon going to...
So far the bus timetable had been sufficiently accurate to ensure I caught all the buses in reasonably good time. Day Four was due to start at eight 'o' clock. The timetable said the bus was due to leave at seven. I had heard a couple of people suggest it would be earlier but as I heard nothing official I stuck with seven. This was why I checked out in plenty of time at 6:50 and watched the bus leave the car park as I left the hotel... Fortunately one of the race organisers instantly realised what was going on, grabbed my bag, shouted 'follow me!' and ran off to intercept the bus as it rounded the end of the car park. Hungarians (and other nationalities) are obviously much more tolerant than the British since as I got on the bus there was scarcely a comment - I can imagine how much (mostly) good-natured abuse I would have got had I done that at a race in the UK.
Today required no hopeless begging face as Ruth simply handed me a tissue without me even having to ask. Despite my best efforts we had arrived at the start in plenty of time, so much time in fact that I had time to give two interviews for Hungarian radio. Well, it was only one interview but the tape recorder failed on the first attempt so I had to do it twice. I've no idea if the interview was ever broadcast, or even why the interviewer thought that the views of one of the UK's least famous ultra runners would be of any interest to the average Hungarian, but it passed some time.
The start procedure was as Day Two and Day Three, however my legs were less stiff and so the start wasn't quite as embarrassing as Day Three. They were getting a bit sore however and I should probably have done what I said I was going to do and take it steadily. However the idea of getting four consecutive sub-four hour marathons was too tempting and so I set out at the same pace as the previous days. Today was the second longest at 49.6km and as always divided into three sections for the relay runners. There were eight checkpoints and the finish would see me back at the Magistern Hotel from where I had departed three days before.
I reached the first relay point with no dramas at the same sort of average pace as the previous days, taking a fraction over five and a half minutes to run each kilometre. The half marathon point arrived just after the fourth checkpoint in a few minutes under two hours. Everything was on schedule but I still wasn't confident I'd make four hours for the marathon as my legs were starting to get a bit sore. However I pushed on and even ran up the hill to the final relay point to try and keep the pace up. I don't know if this was the final straw or if it would have made any difference had I walked, but after a short stop for refreshment it quickly became apparent that my right leg was putting in a very formal complaint that was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. 'Difficult' became 'impossible' and I was reduced to a slow jog, then a walk and finally a hobble.
The last relay leg was 15km so I knew I had less than 10 miles to go - I may be prepared to race in metric but suffering is always measured in imperial units. There were two checkpoints before the end spaced at roughly 5km intervals so I told myself I just had to get through a parkrun to each. Three parkruns and I would be finished. I had over three hours to cut off and reckoned that if I couldn't do three parkruns in a hour each I didn't deserve a medal, sore leg or not. Had this been Day Three I would have baled out of the race as it was obvious my running time was over. I tried to do half a kilometre run, half a kilometre walk but could only manage 200 metres of running before I had to walk. However it was a nice day so I distracted myself by taking a few photos. I took a selfie of me in pain which is very disappointing as I just look the same as I do in every picture of me - miserable.
One of the less conventional fluids available at the checkpoints was 0% alcohol beer. Up until now I had avoided it as it just seemed too strange, however as any prospect of a decent time was well and truly over I decided to give it a go and psychologically it did give me a bit of a boost despite the absence of alcohol. The marathon point was reached a couple of kilometres after the penultimate checkpoint in 4 hours and 17 minutes. I did receive a lot of support from the cyclists accompanying the race and also from a slightly surprised Ruth as she passed me but whilst all offers of help and encouragement were gratefully received I knew there was nothing anyone could do for me from here, it was all about finding out if I really did have the necessary commitment to get to the finish at any cost or if I was just going to throw the towel in.
Fortunately as I was carrying a minimum of kit I had left all towels at the hotel, so the only option was to limp on. I was so pleased to get back to the very edge of the lake and onto the final path that would take me to the hotel. I was going to finish and bring back the medal for all those that believed in me. No matter how broken I am I feel there are certain obligations when finishing a race, the main one being to finish it running and acknowledge the support. I slowed down, regrouped, gritted my teeth and then ran the final 500 metres waving to the crowd and crossed the line to receive my medal. I wasn't quite as I envisaged it and I wasn't in the state I would have liked but that didn't matter for now, I had completed the 8th Lake Balaton Supermarathon.
After being directed around most of the hotel I eventually found my bag and returned to the same room as I'd been in for my first two nights in Hungary. I decided to skip the bath and just have a shower before going in search of food.
After food came wine, my first taste of Hungarian wine in Hungary, well, I was in the wine growing region so why not? My Belgian friends appeared in the bar so I joined them - and two Belgian gentlemen, Philippe and Patrick - see? I can remember the names of Belgian men too. Philippe has entered the 2016 Marathon Des Sables and Patrick was hoping to persuade his wife to let him go too. I showed them a few pictures from my MDS experience and gave Philippe my email address in case he wanted to ask any questions about my MDS experience. He was also one of the runners that had tried to get me to run with him while I was limping on the last stage so it was good to be able to give him something back. It was nice way to spend my last evening in Hungary and good to have made some new friends on the event.
So how do I view my Lake Balaton experience? From start to finish I've been terribly impressed with the organisation of the event. It was relaxed but efficient (even when I missed the bus), there are a few points that could be better, more buses to the hotels and a few signs at the end of each day pointing to said buses and bags would be good but they are very minor points. Overall it was a friendly, well organised event and one I would recommend to anyone. With singles, pairs, relay, half-supermarathon, half-marathon and marathon events over the four days there is something for everyone.
From a personal point of view how do I think I did? Overall not bad I guess. I went there with the intention of finishing in under 20 hours and 19 hours 12 minutes and 16 seconds I achieved that. Any satisfaction is however tempered with the knowledge that I lost at least 45 minutes in the last section due to my leg problem. Why did I have a leg problem and could I have prevented it? I've thought a lot about this and I don't know. Possibly I could have run slower but I was absolutely fit enough to run the speed I did so that would have been hard. In fact I think I was in the best shape I've ever been in, even better than I was for the MDS. More massage and stretching? Some would say so but there isn't any scientific evidence so I don't know? My shoes? I was wearing very cushioned trainers which I'd used a lot before but not for so many consecutive long runs. I think the most likely cause is simply that I haven't run so far over so many days on (predominantly) tarmac before and my legs just aren't used to that sort of stress - they are used to a lot of other sorts of stress but not that one.
Anyway the positives are that I finished and that my fitness in no way let me down, which gives me some hope for my 100 mile race, which is (not much) later this year. However by far the biggest positive was the support I had, RFYL, other friends and of course, as ever, Sharon, supported me every step of my journey round the lake. When I couldn't run any more I kept going by thinking of all that support and how much you all wanted me to do this thing so that not finishing simply didn't enter my head. I hope you all enjoyed the daily updates and were mildly entertained by my battles with baths and windows. The word 'inspirational' kept getting bandied around but really? I nearly fused a hotels electrics, trapped myself behind a door and missed a bus - all about par for the course with me and ultras I'm afraid. However if I inspire anyone to do anything I would like it to be to just find an event, whatever it is, that really appeals to you and for you to believe in yourself and just go and do it. You would all be surprised what you can do if you believe in yourself.
Right I'll stop here before I start taking myself too seriously! Thanks to those of you that supported me on this journey and thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my ramblings. Next stop, Richmond to Oxford - 100 miles in (hopefully) under 24 hours. Am I scared? No - I'm terrified!
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