Race to the Stones ended up being twenty months in the planning and one day in the running. This is what happened, along with some of the things I learnt, in case they can help others taking on an ultra for the first time.
Deciding to run an ultra
When I first took up mid-life crisis running back in 2015, I couldn’t see any appeal in running ultra distances. The challenge of running a 10k or a half-marathon just a little bit quicker than before seemed challenge enough. But bit by bit, my fascination with the world of ultra-running grew. It started with The Barkley Marathons documentary - a must-watch if you’re into running (or even if you’re not). This led me on to reading the Barkley finisher reports and following legends like John Kelly and Damian Hall as they do ridiculous things like setting FKT’s (fastest known times) on the Pennine Way and Coast to Coast path. Adharanand Finn’s excellent book, The Rise of the Ultra Runners, in which the author puts himself through the wringer time and again to report on a series of ever-crazier challenges, further piqued my interest.
At the same time, I was coming off the back of running under 3:30 at the Manchester Marathon, a personal target I’d missed a year before when running the hottest ever* London Marathon. My marathon PB of 3:28 is nothing to shout about (the good-for-age qualifying time is 3:10 for my age group) but the thing I love about running is that you can set your own challenges, regardless of your comparative level, and get a lot of satisfaction from achieving them. The idea of doing another long block of marathon training to attempt to shave a few minutes off 3:28 didn’t really appeal. Time for something new.
Choosing an ultra
As a first-timer, the Threshold Trail Series events stood out as a way to dip a toe in the ultra waters without falling off a French mountain or dying of thirst in the Sahara desert. Looking for the least-uncomfortable way to run an ultra might not fit with the mentality of the true ultra-nuts, seeking out their ‘pain caves’, but I have to admit that this was exactly my approach. The Race to the Stones worked well logistically for me, the scenery along the route looking stunning, and 100k just sounds more iconic than, say, 50 miles. So I entered the 2020 race, not knowing at the time that just like the Olympics, the Euros and pretty much everything else planned for that year, the race would be postponed. I filled the summer instead with The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee, running 1,000km in 71 days, at an average of 8.7 miles each day.
Training
When the official Race to the Stones training plans came out I was a little puzzled. The plan for those running straight through (you can also run 50km on the Saturday, camp overnight and then run the remaining 50km on Sunday) looked less demanding than some of the marathon plans I’d been following. I didn’t feel confident that this plan would prepare me for taking on 100km.
In the end, I found a plan that looked like it had the right balance of challenge and achievability. I chose the plan because it had five days of running and two rest days each week, which would make it manageable around work and other commitments. I also liked the idea of cut-back weeks, which prevent the body from being overloaded with excess mileage - a sure-fire way to get injured. And the peak training run of 50km would give me the confidence that I could at least make it half way without too many problems.
The plan I used is by Heather Hart, but with every runner being unique, it’s worth repeating Heather’s own disclaimer here: The following training plan is designed for educational purposes, and is not a prescribed training plan for any particular individual. While (Heather has) designed this training plan with safety in mind, you should understand that when participating in a 100K training program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this training plan you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, and assume all risk of injury to yourself. You should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting this or any other fitness program to determine if it is right for your needs. Heather Hart 100km Training Plan.
Kit
As training progressed and the weeks ticked by, I started to think about the head-spinning logistics of running an ultra. My approach to kit was to take the absolute minimum possible in order to cut back the amount of weight I was carrying. The Race to the Stones is a very well supported ultra with multiple pit stops, so it’s worth thinking carefully about what you actually need to be carrying. Each to their own, but some of the flat lays I saw looked like bags being packed for a six week hike through the Alps. Completing the race requires over 100,000 steps, so for every item you take with you, you’re asking your body to lift that thing 100,000 times - often while going uphill.
Having said that, it’s important not to get dehydrated, so I started looking into hydration vests. After some research, I bought the Salomon Agile 2 Unisex Hydration Vest 2L which comes with two soft, refillable pouches, each carrying 500ml of liquid. There’s a small section at the back into which you can slip a cap, spare contact lenses etc. and pockets on the front which I used for sunglasses and energy sachets.
From the moment the Salomon vest arrived, I made myself wear it on every training session, always leaving with both bottles full of liquid. One litre of water weighs one kilogram, so I needed to get used to running with this weight. It also took me a few sessions just to get used to the various straps and adjustment mechanisms. The Salomon Agile 2 worked great for me. It was comfortable and secure and carried everything I needed on the race day.
I ran in More Mile socks, which I find more comfortable than many more expensive brands and Nike Air Zoom Vomero shoes. I’m a massive fan of Nike Vomero shoes, having run over 4,000 miles in them, ranging from parkruns to marathons and now the Race to the Stones, without ever getting a single blister. Sure enough, they didn’t let me down on the Race the Stones. Even after the 100km battering, my feet were fine.
The main point here is that Nike Vomero are road shoes, not trail shoes. The Ridgeway is pretty hard underfoot for most of the race and I think running in trail shoes could be pretty uncomfortable. The run up to the 2021 race was actually quite wet, and there were a few muddy sections, but I had no trouble at all in my road shoes. As ever, only run in shoes you’ve trained in.
I listened to hours of podcasts and radio shows during my training using Betron wireless headphones. I love these headphones. They never get tangled, they put up with sweat, rain and being stuffed in the pocket of my shorts without breaking and the quality of the sound is incredible given the price. They’ve also proven way more reliable than other, more expensive brands I’ve tried.
Nutrition
This is the part of the race I got most wrong on the day. I started to introduce Tailwind sachets to my long training runs and it made a huge difference. I no longer had that ‘running on empty’ feeling that you get towards the end of a long run. The mistake I made was that I never really thought about exactly how much I was using to go particular distances, and I overloaded myself with Tailwind in the first half of the race which gave me intense stomach cramps. With hindsight I should have been more analytical about input of Tailwind versus output of mileage and then I could have replicated this through the first half of Race to the Stones. But if you haven’t used it before I would highly recommend ordering some Tailwind and seeing how you go with it in a few training sessions.
Sun & Insects
The 2021 race was very humid but there was (thankfully) a lot of cloud and it drizzled constantly through the first half of the race. There was very little sunshine all day, but I still made sure to plaster sun cream on at the start and replaced it at 57km. Despite the weather and the factor 50, I still had a bit of a sunburn glow at the end of the day. On a sunny day you’d need lots of suncream and to reapply it throughout the race or you’d fry. I’m pretty sure they had sun cream at the pit stops.
There was a lot of chat on the Facebook group about insects and the consensus seemed to be that Avon Skin So Soft is the thing to keep them away. In the event, I didn’t notice any insects all day and nothing bit me, so this wasn’t a problem. I suspect this might change from year to year, so if you’re prone to being eaten alive, insect repellant might be needed.
Crew
I was lucky to have my family turn out to crew for me. The Ranny Crew’s organisation and support made a huge difference to my race and also allowed me to be much more brutal with the items I started the race with. I’d arranged to meet the crew for the first time at 57km, which meant I had the double psychological boost of crossing halfway and then only having another 7km to cover before meeting my team. Three things in particular revived me: changing my socks, drinking tomato soup and cleaning my teeth with some minty chewing gum, which freshened up my mouth after all the sweet energy stuff I’d been consuming.
I prepared a checklist for them to use so they could take control and my tired brain wouldn’t have to think about what to do. In the event, it wasn’t quite the super-fast Formula 1 style stop I’d envisaged but the list was still really helpful.
Crew checklist: 1) Take off phone arm band and plug into portable phone charger. 2) Take off hydration vest. 3) Towel face. 4) Take off shoes and socks. 5) Towel feet. 6) Check feet and do any nail or feet repairs. 7) Put on new socks. 8) Put on shoes. 9) Apply suncream. 10) Apply Avon insect. 11) Apply vaseline. 12) Clean up hands with handwipes. 13) Drink tea/soup. Eat sandwich etc. 14) Decide if need warmer layer/jacket and put on if so. 15) Put hydration vest back on. 16) Restock vest/pockets with Tailwind and chewing gum. 17) Take Head Torch if think won’t beat sunset. 18) Put phone armband back on, still plugged into charger. 19) GO!
Tech
I ran with my Garmin Forerunner 35 which logged 84 of my kilometres before the battery was done for the day. You can of course buy watches that will last the course, but they’re expensive and seem to be packed with a ton of features I’d never use.
I also ran with my iPhone, with the Nike Run Club app logging my miles. I plugged my iPhone into a small, portable charger when I met my crew at 57km and ran with this portable charger until 70km when I met them again and handed it back. By this time my phone was fully recharged. This meant I got a complete record of the race on Nike Run Club.
To let my crew know where I was, I gave them access to my location on the Find My app. This worked perfectly, and they were able to track me throughout the race.
The Race
Start to Pitstop 1 (8.7km)
Setting off in the drizzle.
After all the months of training it was exciting to park my car on the farm field and see runners from the earlier start waves setting off across the fields at five second intervals. Only 100km to go…
I was in the 7.10am start wave and went through the chip timing mat at 7.12am. The first leg of the race is so short, at just 8.7km that I chose to run it without carrying any liquid with me. This made for a comedy start as the Tailwind sachets that normally sit snugly against the full bottles of my hydration vest flew out onto the grass after about 50 metres.
I settled into an easy pace of around 6 mins/km and having tapered down to the race had that dangerously invincible feeling of being able to run forever. We were soon onto a trail with trees either side and fields beyond and I felt mildly euphoric at being out at the start of such a long journey through the countryside. I made sure not to push the pace and had no problems with this first stage, arriving at the pit stop in approx 55 minutes. I filled my water bottles and got straight back out onto the course.
Pit stop 1 to Pit stop 2 (12.6km)
The ‘field of dreams’
This stage began by taking us up into a small wood, through a farm and on to the Field of Dreams, a feature of many a RTTS photograph. Not long after we were crossing a golf course. It was a comfortable, flat stage and was the only point in the race where I briefly found myself without any runners in sight ahead of me. The only danger on this stage was breaking an ankle in one of the badger holes carved out of the trail through the woods, but these were all well marked with warning signs. By the time you reach Pit stop 2 you’ve run a half-marathon. Everything was going to plan and I crossed the chip check point in 2 hours 20 minutes. Position in race = 296. Time for stage approx 1:25.
Pit stop 2 to Pit stop 3 (14.2km)
Along the river - the muddiest part of the course.
This was the stage where I made my biggest mistake of the race. Worried about running out of energy in the latter stages of the race, I went overboard on re-fueling. On top of more Tailwind in my water bottles, I took a pack of peanuts and an energy bar from the second pit stop and consumed all of this on the way to Pit stop 3. This turned out to be way more than my body could handle and although this didn’t affect me on this stage, I was to pay for it badly soon after.
I enjoyed this stage as it took us along the edge of the River Thames with swans, and at one point a rowing quad, cruising along with us. I was glad I’d set off in one of the earlier start waves as this was the dampest stage of the course and the trail was already churned up and sludgy; it must have been incredibly slippery for those coming through later on. We moved away from the river and onto a road through the pretty village of South Stoke with its country church and Perch & Pike pub. Many of the villagers had come out to support which was a real boost.
The first big climb came at the end of this stage. The trail wound up into the hills and the hill just dragged on - and on and on. It was too steep for running to make sense here, as the pace gained would not be worth the energy expended, so I walked up, watching my watch marking down my average pace with every passing minute. Finally we crested the hill and dropped down into Pit stop 3. I was feeling a lot less fresh now, but on the positive side one third of the race was behind me. Time for stage approx 1:52.
Pit stop 3 to Pit stop 4 (Basecamp and Halfway Point) (14.3km)
Type two fun.
This stage and the one to follow were by far the toughest of the race for me. My body didn’t like what I was doing to it. It was used to the running but not to trying to process so much Tailwind powder and snacks and my stomach started cramping. At first this was infrequent, but by the end of this stage I was struggling and at one point I was doubled over in a fair bit of pain. I held on to the piece of advice I’d heard John Kelly give to first time ultra-runners on a YouTube clip: “it doesn’t always get worse!”
This was a stage of big skies and uninterrupted views. Where earlier the trail had been bordered by trees and hedgerows, here the track cut straight through open fields.
I pressed on and eventually, the white tents of Basecamp loomed up on the hill. A welcome sight. I was halfway through the race and crossed the timing mat in 5:59. The time was fine for keeping me on track to finish in daylight but with no sign of the stomach cramps ending I was feeling pretty sorry for myself amidst the party atmosphere of the Base Camp.
My chip time for halfway was 5 hours 59 minutes. Position in race = 316 (-20 places on pitstop 2).
Pit stop 4 to Pit stop 5 (9.9km)
The countryside along the route is beautiful throughout the race.
Ignoring the food tent I set off again focusing on two reasons to be cheerful - not only was this a short stage with less than 10km to the next pit stop, but I’d planned to meet my crew at the 7km mark. 7km? That’s not much more than a parkrun. Easy.
It’s not as easy as it sounds when you’ve already run 50km, but I plodded on all the same. Through cow parsley hedgerows along a rutted track, then back out into open fields with stunning views off to each side.
My crew did a brilliant job of reviving me. The tomato soup in particular really helped, as did the change of socks and the minty chewing gum after the sweetness of the snacks and Tailwind. I could tell my sister was a little worried about me, not least because I was doubled over in pain at one point, but I reassured her I was OK as I knew there was nothing seriously wrong with me, I just needed my stomach to stop cramping.
When I’d spoken to my sister on the phone, I think I’d had in mind that this would be a Formula 1 style operation. I’d pictured us completing all the stages on my checklist in under five minutes with me then surging powerfully back onto the course. The reality was rather different as I sat slumped in a deckhair for the best part of half an hour eating sandwiches, before creaking back out onto the track.
I set off on the final 3km of the stage, complete with the mini charger recharging my iPhone, and was soon at Pit stop 5. With my pace slowing sharply, and at least 20 minutes of rest at my crew stop, this was a very slow stage. I don’t have chip timing for this stage but it may have taken me as long as 100 minutes to cover less than 10km.
However, it was at Pit stop 5 that my race took a huge turn for the better. I headed for the medical tent where I was given some magic pills. John Kelly was right - it doesn’t always get worse!
Time to complete stage approx 1:31
Pit stop 5 to Pit stop 6 (13.1km)
Pit Stop 5 was off a long, narrow track with runners passing close by as they headed in and out of the pitstop. I headed back out onto the course with a cup of tea feeling much more human - and cheerful - as the pills had an almost immediate effect. Stomach settled, I decided this was the moment to call on my pre-prepared music playlist. Powered up by an eclectic mix starting with Thin Lizzy’s ‘Whisky in the Jar’, Abba’s ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ and the Lemon Twigs ‘Hell On Wheels’ I felt good and was able to start running again. After 60km of running I felt almost euphoric and adding the music gave me that sensational feeling of the runner’s high. Taking advantage of a downhill section, my 65th kilometre turned out to be the fastest I’d run since the 31st km of the race.
Ultra-running involves lots of mental games, or, put another way, lying to yourself. Throughout the first half of the race I’d been telling myself that 70km was the finish point, because if I could get to 70km there was no way I wouldn’t finish. “You can easily walk 30km, so basically you’ve done it when you get to 70km…” By the end of this stage I’d be past that magic 70km marker, with the finish psychologically within reach.
The stage took us along a straight track with trees, tall hedgerows and cow parsley on either side. The scenery didn’t change much and so at times the track seemed never-ending. By now, every km was feeling hard won. The temperature rose slightly and I drained my hydration vest with several kilometres still to go to the next pit stop, so I was grateful to be offered water by a woman in a supporter car. Small things like this become magnified the longer the race goes on and this little bottle of cold water really revived me as I completed the stage.
Time to complete stage approx: 1:50
Official chip time for reaching Pit Stop 6 = 9 hours 51 minutes. Position in race = 388 (-72 places on halfway).
Pit stop 6 to Pit stop 7 (15.5km)
Greeting my parents - surprise additions to the support team.
This was the stop where I discovered the miraculous healing powers of flat Coke and cheese and onion crisps. The hit I got from the first gulp of Coke was so intense that I filled one of my hydration pouches with it. My stomach was no longer cramping, but I decided to play it safe and take a couple more pills, so I lost more time at the medical tent.
I walked out of the pit stop eating the crisps. They tasted incredible, as if they contained every vitamin, source of energy and type of body salt that I might have lost throughout the day. About 100m from the pit stop I considered turning back to grab another bag, but after 73km, the idea of doing a completely unnecessary extra 200 metres was unthinkable.
I headed back out onto the course. The stage began with us heading along the verge of a road, but very soon we were cutting back up onto the Ridgeway - up a long, steep hill. Halfway up this hill, I saw my support team, but this time I also spotted my parents, which was strange as they were not supposed to be there. I’ve read reports from more extreme ultra-runs, in which runners have hallucinated all sorts of things, from monsters to their children’s toys strewn all over the mountainside, but this was not a hallucination, it was a surprise addition to the support team. I hadn’t seen Mum and Dad in person for months because of the pandemic, so it was a great moment. They’d all been tracking me on the Find My app, and had been worrying about why I’d spent so long at the pit stop, so it was good to be able to tell them I was feeling in decent shape to complete the course.
This was the longest stage of the race and I was running in bursts now with a fair amount of walking in between. Where the course was open hillside there were markers to keep us on track. Run two markers, walk one marker, run two markers…
By this point I had run two marathons. As had everyone else on the course, which meant that lots of race stories were emerging. I got talking to a guy who had done the exact opposite to me - he’d taken on too few calories and had almost fainted at 50km. It’s hard to get the balance right. One of the things serious ultra-runners often stress is that a key part of performing well is dealing with the things that don’t go to plan.
Time to complete stage approx 2:26.
Pit stop 7 to FINISH (11.9km)
Timing my arrival at the Stones for a sunset photo opportunity.
Almost there. My crew gathered at Barbury Castle to give me another shout on to the finish. “Only two park runs to go,” my Dad shouted after me.
I did more walking than running on this stage. The terrain itself didn’t exactly encourage running - two deep rutted grooves between narrow grassy strips. The ground was curved and bumpy. There was very little properly flat ground to run on. Running was hard. Every bit of me was starting to ache.
Nonetheless, I was closing in on the finish and I knew I’d be done before dark. Even at walking pace, I knew that with every ten minutes that went by I was another km closer to the finish.
We left the rutted track and moved onto the road out to the Avebury stones. It was a relief to have flat ground underfoot and having walked much of the stage I was able to start jogging again.
I reached the stones at sunset and made the tour around them. It was hard to find the mental energy to take them in properly, but they do provide an epic backdrop to the finish. Except of course that they’re not quite the finish. To finish, you must leave the stones, head back down the road and turn into a field. The race finishes with a walk uphill through this field and then a 90 degree turn onto a long, straight run to the finish line. Obviously you want to finish a race like this running not walking, so I walked through the farmer’s field, conserving what little energy remained, and then when I hit the turn, I ran for home.
Time to complete stage approx 1:42
Official chip time at finish = 14 hours 17 minutes 16 seconds. 14:17:16
Finishing position = 392 (-4 places on pit stop 6).
Finishing position for age group = 116
100km. Done.
*always good to have an excuse