The Dorset Doddle 32 mile ultra

At the start with super speedy Paul and hard as nails Anna

The names of LDWA events often give you a clue about their severity: the Herts Hobble, the Stansted Stagger etc. The Dorset Doddle, on the other hand, is so euphemistically named that it raises suspicion from the start. This is 32 miles over the Jurassic coastline, from the Jubilee Clock in Weymouth to Swanage covering 10,000 feet of ascent. And it took me 8 hours and 44 minutes.

The route breaks you in gently, with a mile or so along the Weymouth promenade followed by several undulating miles. By mile 8, the hills started in earnest, proper coastal hills that drop down steeply almost to sea level only to rise straight back up again. On more than one occasion, I came round a corner to see the hill in front of me and thought "You have got to be having a laugh". I soon resorted to my How to Climb Hills Without Losing the Will to Live technique - count 10 steps 5 times before promising myself a break to catch my breath, then tell yourself not to be such a wuss and carry on. And repeat.

The scenery was simply stunning, going past King George III on his horse carved into the chalk hills and heading out of Weymouth, the wrong way, Lulworth Castle with its serried ranks of, um, tanks, beaches and coves, chalk cliffs and the coastline stretching into the distance. Lovely. You wouldn't think it were possible to get lost on this race, just keep the sea on your right, but there were a couple of tricky patches, at Lulworth (where admittedly I got distracted trying to buy food, any food, anything at all, god, I was hungry) and into Swanage. There seems to be a theme in races at the moment to do the last mile or so right through a busy town. Running along the beach in a bucket and spade town on a sunny Sunday afternoon with 31 miles and a lot of hills in your legs wasn't the best time to dodge grockles brandishing windbreaks.

I was absolutely done in on this race, haven't had jelly legs like that for a long time. I did realise the absurdity of telling myself "It's an ultra, not a marathon" after a while, but luckily LDWA events are great for taking it easy. You may be the slowest runner, but you'll never be last with all the walkers around so there's no time pressure (apart from the time of last train home). It turned into a very long day out in a beautiful bit of the country on a lovely warm day and some nice new people to chat to.

I really enjoyed this event. Sure, it was extremely hard work but I didn't mind the hills so much, I just think of them as strength training (and of the buns of steel!). There weren't even any patches of wondering what on earth I was doing in yet another ultra, perhaps the lack of time pressure helped there. I'm very happy to be fit and strong enough at last to be able to do a tough ultra at the last minute without breaking. That's got to be progress!


Looking back over Weymouth, this was an easy hill!

Salisbury 54321 marathon

I was looking forward to the 54321, last weekend was so dull with no marathon to run and I was missing some lovely views in a nice bit of countryside. I went up to Salisbury on Saturday afternoon, and spent all evening drinking far too much beer in the Haunch of Venison (complete with severed hand in the fireplace) with Dave and Mark who both did the 10 in 10 this year. Perfect preparation!

The weather today was fine and clear, and hot, and it was fairly dry underfoot with a lot of road stuff so trail shoes would have been a nightmare. The route itself is superb, taking in 5 rivers, 4 hills, 3 estates, 2 castles and 1 cathedral. The countryside ain't too bad either, with a particularly blissful descent at around the 6 mile mark through an avenue of beech trees. If I could run that kilometre 42 times in a row and call it a marathon, I would, it was idyllic. A bit later on is the stunning Longford Castle, right by the River Avon. It was like running through a Jane Austen film set. And at 15 miles is the Narnia set, a grove of ancient yew trees that date back to 11th century, apparently planted by the Normans for wood for their longbows. The route was laid out with string, adding a Theseus and the Minotaur element to it too. I wish I'd had a tour guide!

Before we started today, I knew I wanted to run my own race, taking it easy when I wanted to, pushing on when I felt good. I find running with one other person quite draining, you're thinking about them and their pace constantly and, while it's great to run alongside someone for 5 or 10 minutes having a chat, today I needed to run how I felt. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to express this very well to Dave who got very upset with me and shot off into the distance when I tried to say, sure, let's run together for a bit, but if you want to go on, feel free. I felt very bad about it, but it seemed to do some good, because he ended up with an off road PB. And he's still talking to me. I think.. It was great to bump into loads of familiar faces today, people from the Picnic, from Tanners, the District Double, those you see at every LDWA event, and several Fetchies.

Coming back to running how I felt, it worked perfectly today. The first 10 or so miles were largely on gentle inclines and easy footing, so it was easy to coast through these, conserving your energy for later on. From about 13 miles, the terrain got a bit more tricky, with a really unpleasant rutted grass track. I found that couple of miles quite tough, I felt full of energy but just couldn't make much progress. Quite a few people passed me between 13 and 18, but I wasn't too fussed, this wasn't about times or anything, it was a race to get back in the saddle, to make sure I enjoyed it and finished in good shape. By 19 miles, I was feeling great and when we hit tarmac, the legs suddenly woke up and asked why they weren't being used. Ok then, there's 8 miles to go (assuming a long course), it's not so risky stretching out at this stage, so it seemed like a nice idea to turn it into a progression run and see what they could handle. It was just a wonderful few miles, perfect, a gorgeous day in beautiful countryside, feeling great (feet are pretty bruised but that's no big deal) and picking off runners one at a time. I'm not sure of the splits but they were quick, about 8'30 - 9'00 per mile with a few seconds lost at the drinks stations and the few tricky bits of navigation in the final mile or two. The final time of 4 hours 41 minutes for 27 miles dead isn't so great, but I'm really happy with an extremely strong finish, and to have absolutely loved today.

I'm in!

Last week, I was selected to take part in the Brathay 10 in 10 challenge (from here on, fondly referred to as the TiT): 10 full 26.2 mile marathons in 10 days in aid of the Brathay Trust. We'll be running the same route each day around Lake Windermere and on the final day, we'll be joined by several hundred other runners in the big Brathay Windermere marathon. I ran it earlier this year and found that, predictably enough, it's beautiful, hilly and one that I doubt I'll tire of.

I followed the progress of the 2009 TiTs with a mix of admiration and jealousy - spending 10 days running in this superb scenery in the company of others who loved running just as much. Some of them battled through real injuries, with one ending up on crutches (though he didn't take them out for the marathons), and the physios did an incredible job at holding them all together. There was also a real mix of speeds, with Tango cruising through day after day to a world record time, and the back markers doing an equally impressive job, spending hours out there every day. I was seriously impressed and deeply envious.

Still, it took me a couple of months to decide to enter, since it's not an event to undertake lightly. The physical demands of 262 miles in 10 days will be considerable, and the mental strength will be just as important. This is my first year of multi-marathoning, last year I ran 7 and I'm hoping for 35 in 2009. Windermere was the second day of my first double - two marathons on consecutive days - and I found it as much a mental struggle as a physical one. While the first few miles were awkward with tired and stiff legs, you already felt like you were more than half way there, and by 20 miles I found a second wind and really enjoyed seeing how much I could push myself over the finish line. I've got a few more doubles lined up this year, and a couple of triples, all in the name of the TiT, but more because I can't see a great marathon pass me by without trying to get into it!

So training had already sort of started for the TiT, and if I ever wanted to do an event for charity, it would require a step up in the level of difficulty to justify people putting their hand in their pocket. The Brathay Trust might not be a big name charity, but it does particularly admirable work in developing young people. Plus, selfishly, this looks like a corker. It all added up so I sent off my application and my running CV, spent several nailbiting weeks waiting to hear from Scott at Brathay and finally was over the moon to be accepted. Just a small matter now of getting both my speed and endurance up......