10 in 10 - make yourself comfortable!

I’m not sure quite where to start, it’s been an immense journey over the past 262 miles and 10 days and one I’ll never forget. You learn a lot about yourself in an event like this and there’s no escaping the raw guts of your character.

It only took a couple of days to realise the win and the world record were not within my reach. It may have seemed like hubris to go into the race with the outright declaration that I was going for it, but I honestly thought it was possible and in order to have any chance at all, I had to believe it and I had to get the people around me to believe it too. After running eyeballs out for 2 days and having pretty tough races I knew that I had to ease back. Anna was looking incredibly strong too. On day 3 it felt like I was getting my strength back, starting to enjoy the event and finally immerse myself in it. I’d been fighting it a little bit up to that point, but then I realised that I was going to have to associate with every mile and put all thought of finishing out of my head until the finish line was upon me. Every day became Day 1 from then, it was one day at a time and one mile at a time. In the event, I didn’t even get the sub 45 hours but I’ve reached the point where the completion is enough. For a few days I wondered if I should do another one, a day 11, but one of the things I have learned over the past 10 days is that this IS enough. I’m a massive over achiever (have you noticed??) and I always want to go one better. However, it is a very small and exclusive club to have run 10 marathons in 10 days and I am entirely satisfied and pleased with my achievement.

Our part of the deal is to go out there at 10.15 every day and do our very best to get round the 26.2 miles. The physios’ deal is to scrape us off the floor, patch us up and prepare us for the next day. They did this with professionalism, good humour and exceptional support, I honoured to count them as friends. Graham at The Body Rehab clinic sponsored the 10 in 10, providing huge amounts of man power, kit and expertise along with a wicked sense of humour and a healthy dose of smut – he was rubbing my legs down one day and got called away to supervise something. He invited Paul to take over and “jam your fingers in there”. Nice! One of the perks of this brutal event is having two strapping men working on your legs at once, you’d pay a fortune for that anywhere else! Katie was my personal therapist from the morning of Day 1 and led my treatment twice a day covering massage, stretching, icing, lasering and taping over up to 3 hours a day. She even got me in the ice bath a couple of times. She became my honorary second sister for the event and showed a supremely caring side on my bad day, day 7, encouraging me to eat and looking after me like a mother hen. I can’t thank her enough.

You have to get through the low points to appreciate the highs, and some of the lows were crushing. I never reached the point where I wanted to chuck the whole thing in and that surprised me, I fully anticipated wanting to give up at some point. Like Mike Stroud on his trans-Antarctic expedition, it would have had to be an injury to give me an excuse to pull out, but even in the worst moments, it never crossed my mind to bin it. I had two serious lows – the start of day 3 and the evening of day 7 going into day 8. On day 3, I was starting to feel very claustrophobic around the other runners, it’s an intense atmosphere and you’re surrounded by other people all the time. I desperately wanted some space, both away from each race and also while out running. Having had 16 miles a day for 2 days with someone right by me, I was feeling really crowded. Luckily I ran most of day 3 alone. You have to love running in your own company for this event, there’s no point going into it if you need someone around to keep you going. I love the freedom of covering mile after mile due to my own ability and will power, sure, it was brilliant to see support out on the route, but it was a rare chance to be by entirely by yourself.

The evening of day 7 and morning of day 8 I was totally burned out. I’d taken my eye off the ball a bit with the nutrition after day 6’s race and hadn’t eaten enough and crashed headlong into the biggest wall I’ve ever encountered. To hit the wall at 4 miles and to have to get through 22 more on pure obstinacy was my biggest test and I think the moment I’m proudest of, to have got through that. Still, even in that struggle, I never thought about pulling out. Yes, the prospect of 10 miles has never felt so long, but I knew I’d finish and it was then that I discovered just how committed Mac, the physios and my family were to getting me through it. It was harder after that race, I was so drained that anyone being nice to me or any small hurdle made the tears come and I couldn’t face lots of people. Katie and Phil were brilliant, and happily day 8 was infinitely better.

The last 6 miles of day 8 were one of my high points, I was laughing so hard with Jim that it was even hard to run because I was creased up laughing. We had a few very special miles passing and repassing each other, mooning, Jim being tailed by the police and stopping at Phil’s disco then with Mum and Catherine for sausage and chips. It was a huge and fabulous surprise when Patrick turned up and ran with me for a couple of miles, I wasn’t really expecting to see him at all, and even nicer of him to give up part of his day with his mum on day 9 to run a mile with me then. I’m glad he got to run the Windy marathon, it helps you appreciate the real challenge of 10 marathons in 10 days on this course when you’ve run it once. 10 Londons or 10 Parises it ain’t..

The amount of time that people have given up to support the event has been massively humbling and touching, people have given up their own holiday, taken unpaid leave, volunteered their time, spent a fortune in petrol and on supplies, made extremely generous donations to Brathay and have all round been superb. It makes you feel like a true celebrity or professional when people are selflessly there to get YOU round the course and you have to always remember to thank them and be grateful. There is never any excuse to be a prima donna, no matter how far you’ve run or how injured you are. I couldn’t have got through this without my sister, my mum, the rest of my family and The Body Rehab team.

I have to mention the other runners. Jim Choo Choo Meta was a Scottish legend, always ready with a smile, a joke and a moon, he was my absolute favourite and I love him to bits. Chris “Harry” Heaton got faster and faster by the day, he may have looked greyer than his mate’s Uncle Albert lying in his coffin on more than one occasion but he got his pacing right and was never anything less than charming. Ray “Ol’ Blue Eyes” O’Connor was another legend, a fellow drinker right the way through and, while he trounced me over days 3-10, I managed to beat him the first few days, enough for him to nickname me his bitch. Aly from the Valley Knowles and Shell Atkins were indefatigable in battling through agonising injuries, the struggles they’ve gone through are incomprehensible. Dave “Horror” Wintle quietly went about his blinding time, was amazingly modest and the team cutie. Phil “The” Love demonstrated that even a psychiatric nurse who works on a self harm clinic can be mental enough to take on this challenge, and overcame the crushing disappointment of having to pull out on day 5 to set up Phil’s disco in Bowness with a tuck shop of everything imaginable. And he ran day 10 through terrible pain too. Hero. Dave “Foxy Davy” Bayley provided airplane finishes, Anna an incredibly strong race and huge world record and I’m very very happy for her, she’s totally earned it, Adam “Tango” Holland smashed his own record and I still can’t comprehend how he can run that fast and provide a gravity defying leap over the finish line, and Steve “Iceman” Edwards was the father and guru of the team, always there with advice and demonstrating how to get it done, again and again and again. He promises not to run it for the 5th time, for now…..

I have to list a few of my favourite memories or I’d be here for pages.

- Coming up with Naomi’s 10 day boot camp bikini body plan for abs and glutes of steel: Greggs’ cheese and onion pasties, jam butties, chocolate milkshakes, chips and curry, and 26 miles of tough hills on road a day. I’ve got muscles I’ve never seen before and, apart from the dodgy tan lines, have never been in better shape. I just need to put a few pounds on now..

- The stunning scenery on the route, the quieter stretches on the outward leg, the magic half way tree and the view opening out at 15.8 miles.

- The cutest lambs imaginable at 9 miles, the rabbits and deer I spotted once or twice, the sheep on day 9 at mile 8 that had so much branch and undergrowth stuck to it that it was disguised as a bush and all the birdsong providing the backing music. I was as far from London as I could imagine.

- Starting the mooning trend. I’d gone a bit hysterical on day 6 and decided this was a good way to pick up team morale. It certainly worked on Jim.

- Becoming entirely comfortable with who you are, and allowing everyone else to see you just as you are too. It’s human nature to put on certain faces to suit certain situations, you have to push down or promote different sides to you depending on where you are and who you’re with. In something this demanding, you can’t keep that up. It’s entirely you with no dressing up and you have to learn to be comfortable with it. Being on camera looking my absolute worst has dealt with any shred of vanity I may have had, bad hair days and being on your best behaviour are forgotten, it’s pure undiluted you. It’s healthy to accept yourself.

Would I do it again? I loved the event, loved the people running and supporting it and have had an unforgettable experience. It’s a massive commitment in terms of time off work, training and sponsorship and I think that if I went back I’d want to improve my time and that would create pressure that detracts from the enjoyment. So, for the time being, I’m saying no. I know I’ll be insanely jealous of the guys running it next year though!

Finally out of lycra... L-R: me, Adam, Jim, Ray, Aly and Dave at the front