Thames Path Ultra 50, 17 February 2007

Thames Path Ultra 50, 17 February 2007

Hello all,

The Thames Path Ultra 50 replaced the cancelled

2007 Thames Meander (54  miles), which I ran

in 2006. Both are races that incorporate training

for Marathon des Sables competitors. Like the

 Thames Meander, the start of the Thames

Path Ultra 50 was on the banks of the river Thames

at Kings Meadow, Reading Berkshire, some 50

winding miles west of this year's finish line on

the steps of the Holiday Inn, Shepperton Surrey,

just a few miles south west of London.

Competitors and supporters could book into the

hotel for Friday and Saturday nights at preferential

rates, which my wife, Gill and I took advantage

of and which, in my  view, enhanced the whole

race experience. Especially so, as after I finished,

Gill and I sat in the warm hotel bar watching the

later  competitors hit the finish line. We did

 go outside now and again to clap and cheer though.

On the day, there were approximately 120 runners

 at the start line, some adding an international

flavour to the event. One guy in particular

travelled on race day from Belgium via the

international Eurostar train service and

travelled back to Belgium immediately after the

 race. He could only do this mind you because

he happened to finish first, which of course

helped him to make the train connections.

Can't help thinking that this has a certain

'conquering' feel about it, as the guy travelled

 a few hundred miles to another country, won the

 race and then went home again without as much

as a 'by your leave' or nod to the natives.

I'd like to do that!

The English weather prior to the race was... wet!

This meant that parts of the course would be under

 water and other parts would become churned up

into a sort of slick, sticky mud. This type of

mud has lots of slip when you tread on it, thus

 causing legs to slide out at awkward angles

and then it sticks to your shoes, becoming

 dinner plate sized and several inches thick.

 Heavy stuff man but great fun.

The race route follows the Thames Path as far as

 possible, only diverting away from the river

 where the path is closed for repairs or 

rich peoples gardens go down to the river instead.

 Along the way you see some beautiful houses

and lovely boats and there are great views too.

 Towns you pass along the way are: Henley

On Thames (famous for its Regatta), Marlow,

Maidenhead, Eton, Windsor (good view of Windsor 

Castle), Datchet, Staines and finally Shepperton,

 home of Shepperton

Film Studios. Runners also have to check in

 at 4 check points along the way to take on

 water/food and have their times recorded.

Back to the race. Just after 9AM, it was off

 on the 50 mile jolly  through mud and flood.

Because Gill was suffering from sudden heavy 

cold, there was a real threat that she would

 not complete the 50 miles and in the event

retired at 18.5 miles at CP2. Gill ran well

for the first 10 miles but died after leaving CP1.

She was still pleased with her effort though and

 was happy enough with the outcome. Having left

 Gill in safe hands at CP2, I was off and keen

to make up some time and move back up the field

 a little. Having wasted much time at check points

 last year, part of my race strategy was to avoid

becoming part of a group and to spend as little

 time as possible at each check point. This strategy

 worked well and resulted in a much improved

 finishing time of 11:12:40 and being placed

79th out of 110 finishers. 

Note: Last year I ran 54 miles in 13:44 but wasted

 a lot of time at check points because of the group

 thing. Had I run the same 54 miles 

this year, I would have finished in 12hrs. That's a

 time reduction of 1:44. I'm more than happy with

 that AND I could still shave some more 

time off.By the way, the Thames Path Ultra

50 winner finished in 6:18:30. No wonder he had

 time to catch the train home.

Cheers

Chris

PS Small world this ultrarunning. Got talking to a

 couple after the race who had run in the Himalayan

 100 October 2006 and who had met up with Sarah Booth

, a British gal' who I had run with in the 2006

Mongolian Sunrise to Sunset 100k.