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!