A Good Plodder On-er

So, last blog I mentioned I was doing Pilgrim’s Challenge. I got the name wrong. Pilgrim’s Challenge (also a great event also by XNRG ) is in February on the North Downs day. The Druid is 83 miles over 3 days on the Ridgeway from Tring to Swindon.

My first Challenge was getting there. Of course I didn’t consider the logistics until the Monday before. The race starts on Friday morning and I didn’t finish work until 7pm Thursday. XNRG are good about collecting and dropping you off at stations and also will collect you from a hotel in Swindon to the start if you want to drive. I am trying to avoid driving to events but I would have had to get up very early on Friday before a long run to get the train on time so I made the decision to get a train to London on Thursday and stay in London Thursday and travel up to Tring Friday morning.

I got to the station on Thursday with 2 minutes to spare (plus 4 minutes because the train was late) and had an uneventful journey into London. I found the pub I was staying over at. I had to provide I.D which by some miracle I had remembered but I had put it at the bottom of my suitcase so to the amusement of all at the pub I spent some time arm deep, reminiscent of my large animal rectal examination days trying to retrieve it without spilling the whole contents of my suitcase over the whole bar area.

The room was sweet. It was a bit noisy with the station next door and the bar downstairs but it was very different from a cookie cutter corporate room. The biggest challenge was leaving as I had to navigate an outdoor spiral staircase to get out with my suitcase and camp bed.

I continued my trend of getting the train with 2 minutes to spare and arrived at Tring where XNRG crew were waiting to give me a life to registration.

XNRG are small events and have a loyal following of participants so there are a lot of familiar faces every time which I find reassuring. They use tags rather than disposable timing chips and encourage people to bring their own cups. There were a couple of women that I ended up sitting next to before it started and for some inexplicable reason I went on the main runners start not the early start for walkers and slow people. This made my extra night in London pointless as now with an 11am start I could have easily made the journey on Friday morning and avoided the expense of the stay in London.

We were bussed out to the start where we had a mini briefing (the main one was by video before the start). The crew are very positive, friendly and upbeat which makes for a lovely atmosphere. It is a lovely mix of first class athletes, first time ultra participants and run of the mill slow plodders like me and no-one is made to feel less than. The first day had the highest elevation and also because of the later start most of us finished in the dark. I had the route downloaded on my watch but still managed to go wrong a few times and also spent a fair amount of time standing and looking round wondering which way to go. There was one point I really picked up my speed. We went through a field of cows with some calves. We gave them a wide berth and all seemed fine but we noticed one cow walking purposely towards us that was ok until she broke into a trot and then was full on running at us. Our easy conversational pace picked up to full on sprint and we were all relieved when the last of us squeezed through the gate with her snorting at us. No idea why this cow in particular was not a fan as the rest of the herd were chill but I wasn’t going back in there to investigate! When we finished we were bussed back to a school hall where there were warm showers a good quality hot meal with a range of cakes for dessert. Much better quality than most race food. During the race there are a selection of the usual snacks and I had also bought a “Phoenix” flapjack from new company called Flaming Phoenix at the start. The founder/developer and sole employee of the company was there selling them and I ignored the usual never use something you haven’t trained with advice and decided to try them out. They are light, high calorie and protein, gluten free, vegan and made in the UK. They are a bit different and quite dry but melt quickly if you have a glug of water with them and are not sickly sweet like many products. I would have benefitted more from it if I had not lost it in one of my race vest pockets but on the plus side I had half left for day two. I have ordered some more and am definitely going to continue to use them.

Accommodation is a school sports hall. You can hire a camp bed but I couldn’t work out how (even after asking by email and having it explained). To be honest I think that is more of a me problem as others had successfully booked one but I had managed to bring mine from home and managed to get some sleep.

On the second and third days your start time is based on your previous times with the slowest going first (so obviously I was in the first group). Breakfast is provided and the buses leave at 6.30 am (for the early start) to where we finished day one. Day 2 was tougher as my legs were not happy with me. My right leg was really tight and a couple times my left leg gave out so I was very happy I had remembered my sticks or I would have fallen over. The route was easier with less elevation and a bit shorter at 27.2 miles. The checkpoint crews seemed especially positive on day 2 and were incredibly encouraging. Being a smaller event the people manning the rest stops are usually runners or have family members who are runners and just seem to know what you need. I managed not to get lost at all on day 2 and because of the early start arrived back at the hall mid afternoon. Similar to day one warm showers and good food but also we were individually given soup and bread on arrival which was very welcome. I had booked a sports massage which made my legs feel a lot better and was positive for day 3. I’m not sure what happened but I suddenly felt incredibly overwhelmed. I took my sleeping bag and went to a corridor to get away from the light, the noise and the people. A member of the crew saw me and asked if I was ok. It was difficult as I never know what to say. I feel a bit of a fraud saying I am autistic as even though it’s 3 years post diagnosis I have spent most of my life undiagnosed and just thinking I’m just being a bit pathetic. She offered me to go into a quiet room (a squash court) where I went for a while but I could see it was where she was sleeping and I was worried about taking over her space so after a while I went up to the room where we had had dinner as everyone had left. The crew were having a meeting next door and some of them came into the room afterwards and were being kind and were asking if I needed anything but it was nearly lights out and I felt a bit stupid and awkward so I went back to the hall which was darker and quieter and into my sleeping bag. It was a bit more of an unsettled night, including a trip to the men’s toilets (the toilet seemed to have a different layout which should have been a clue but the urinals gave it away).

The next morning I had plenty of time. I was awake nice and early and had breakfast but I don’t know how it happens that time just slips away and they were calling for the bus while I was trying to stuff the last things in my bag. I raced to the door where we were getting into the minibus to the start. The driver checked with us that we had remembered out timing chips (I had definitely got mine as I had spent 10 mins searching my bag for it while it was still on my wrist). We set off in the last minibus to the start when I suddenly got a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. I had my crocs on not my trainers. The trainers were all in one of the squash courts on tarpaulin to stop getting the hall muddy and in my haste I had forgotten. I could not do the race in crocs, I could not hide the fact I that I had crocs on once we got out of the bus so I was left with no choice but to admit it. I was so embarrassed as the minibus turned around and we went back to the school. I ran through to collect my trainers but in my haste I could not remember what room they were in. Everyone was kind and helped me, telling me not to run and it was ok. I was dreading getting back on the bus scared that I would get an angry reception for delaying everyone but fortunately everyone found it hilarious and I was immensely relieved.

We got to the start point and as usual the Race Director did a 1 min silence before we set off. It is a lovely location at dawn at the top of the Ridgeway a perfect spot for reflection, that is unless someone’s phone alarm doesn’t go off. I couldn’t find the pocket for what seemed forever to turn it off. I had turned off all my normal phone alarms but this is an extra one where I don’t even know where it is set and of course I had forgotten about it. I hope no-one felt there was any deliberate disrespect.

Day 3 was the best day. Lovely flat wide open trails, beautiful scenery (the weather was as all weekend a bit downcast but perfect underfoot with no rain and good temperatures for the time of year). My legs felt better after the massage and the route was easy navigation wise. The crews at the checkpoints were cheerful and encouraging as always and I had the added bonus of extra cheers for the fact I had the correct shoes on. The last downhill was perfect and I managed to sprint into the finish.

We were bussed to Swindon station on a high and this is where the day began to take a turn for the worse.

My phone was running low on battery. I had remembered several battery packs and a lead but unfortunately the lead I had brought was only compatible with a charging plug not the battery pack so I couldn’t charge it on the go. There was plenty of charge for the days but I didn’t want to buy my ticket online in case my phone didn’t last the journey. I went to the ticket machine and there were 2 options one via Trowbridge and another much more expensive option. I was not sure what the route via Trowbridge was but it seemed to be the obvious choice given the price discrepancy. I asked the guard who told me to go to Bristol Temple Meads. I knew this was a strange route but I also know that strange routes are often the norm especially on Sundays on the UK rail system. The train arrived and I managed to just squeeze on standing balancing by the door squashed between several people , a double buggy, my luggage and the door. At one point I had to get off and on again to let the double buggy off and nearly didn’t get back on because of people pushing me out the way. There was no way I could get near a plug to charge my phone. I got off at Bristol Temple Meads and had no idea what to do next. I went to the loo, partly because I was worried I would be stuck on another train with no opportunity to for hours and partly because 2 mins in a cubicle seemed a good place to escape. The toilets had a long queue, it was difficult getting though with my luggage and I came out more frazzled than I started. I was out on the busy concourse leading to all the platforms with loads of people rushing everywhere. I could not use my headphones as I usually would because of my phone battery situation and I just went into meltdown/shutdown. I was standing there for what seemed like forever with my hat pulled over my face, my fingers in my ears, my eyes closed dripping snot and tears. I very rarely cry at all especially in public so the whole thing was humiliating. I don’t know how long I was standing there, I seemed like forever but probably not more than half an hour. One member of public came over to ask if I was ok but I couldn’t really communicate. Very slowly I came out of myself. I bought a sandwich as I reasoned that I was likely to be more emotionally unstable given the distance I had run and needed to fuel. I went to a platform with no trains or people, found a waiting room with power points and plugged my phone in. I sat there for a while longer doing the 5 things you can see, 4 things you can here etc exercise and gradually got to a point that I could start to think about what to do next. There was an information screen showing the next train to a station close to where I needed to get to so I made my way to the platform. I realised at this point that the charging point was not working so I still had very little charge but I didn’t know when my next chance would be so I got on the train.

We all stood packed onto the train, I was in the cycle storage part next to the toilet . The train stood for a long time before going and water was dripping from the ceiling close to the light which was a bit disconcerting but it finally set off. Highlights on this journey were a guy standing next to me who must have seen I had no battery and offered his lead to charge my phone and the last 15 mins there was room on the floor to sit down.

It would have been another hour an a half with rail replacement busses but I had managed to message my husband who, like a night in shining armour, or at least in a white skoda collected me from the station and saved me from the final stage of the journey.

I would rate XNRG as always extremely highly as I would Flaming Phoenix but GWR trains get a 1 star rating and that is only because I did finally get home.