And it all starts here...

When you get one of those emails from Wayne which advertises an event, you know the ones, it’s normally something like a two hundred mile race along a mountain cliff with a horde of Vikings chasing you, you normally think “nah, I won’t bother”. Fortunately enough, shortly before the Edinburgh Marathon I agreed to take part in the Adidas Thunder Run 24. The last time Anthony Corbett encouraged me to do a race “out of my comfort zone” I ended up getting into fell running. So the prospect of getting into a team with the aim of running a relay for 24 hours seemed like a very good idea.

Thankfully it proved to be an excellent idea.

The premise behind the Thunder Run is simple: run as many laps of a 10k trail course as possible in 24 hours, either in teams of 1, 2, 3-5 or 6-8.

The event would naturally take us into the night and would involve running during the dark, many miles from the ambient light of civilisation so a certain degree of fitness, planning and madness was essential.

The Teams

The Quaker’s Running Club has a habit of entering too many runners into events and the Thunder Run was no exception. There was a team of 8 consisting of myself, Anthony Corbett, Nick Watson, Sarah Beadle, Diane Adkins, David Curtis and Mark and Wendy Colling; there was a mixed team of Annette Clarke and David Thompson; and there was one solo entry of Roy McDougall (we called him “Team Roy”). We were also accompanied by Suzie Curtis, who ended up being an unofficial member of Team Roy.

Planning and getting there, until Roy...

The event began long before we set off on Friday with a couple of planning meetings in the pub. Team Roy provided most of the kit, from tents to stoves, with Nick and Sarah bringing the odds and ends. We partnered up and arranged a travel plan. With a convoy of us setting of on the 160 mile journey on Friday it was a very odd experience. Normally my racing kit fits neatly inside a small holdall, however the prospect of running three to four separate 10k trail races required several changes of kit and supplies as well as needing to make sure that I was warm, comfortable and dry during the times when I wasn’t racing. So packing for the race was slightly more akin to a long weekend getaway, albeit more sweaty than the usual weekend break...

...We arrived at the campsite on Friday in plenty time and David, Suzie, Anthony and myself attempted to put seven tents up. Considering that we’re all educated professional people with a fairly decent amount of brains between us this proved to be quite the task, but after we figured out which poles went into which holes we were well on our way to constructing Quaker City. Our camp site looked impressive compared to the rag tag collection of tents and VW camper vans dotted around us and we had a great view of the penultimate kilometre of the course.

The night before the day after

The rest of the team arrived shortly after and we settled in for the night with a few energy drinks and salads before going to bed shortly after 9:30... of course that is what most of the more serious teams did. We, instead, had a curry and drank beer and wine until 1:30 in the morning before retiring to our tents.

Personally, I’m not one for roughing it. My bed is lovely and warm, my sheets and soft and cosy and the mattress isn’t made from rock hard ground – I like it like that. I was freezing and uncomfortable that first night and I wasn’t the most cheery bunny going to sleep. Apparently I snored so loud that people in the other tents heard it, I don’t think it was that bad though!
We awoke in the morning to find Roy had been up and done all the washing up – bonus! So we settled in for carbs and protein from a massive portion of scrambled eggs, toast and porridge with lashings of tea!

The place and the event

The camp site was extremely well resourced, it has portaloos and properly working and plumbed toilets; hot and powerful showers and a well resourced canteen. There was also a free/donation massage service and plenty of sports scientists offering advice of hydration and nutrition. The event was superbly organised from a comfort point of view and it was brilliant being able to get a decent meal (including a proper and reasonably priced steak sandwich) and a shower after each lap.

The race itself started at 2pm and the team drew up a running order, we all estimated our 10km times and we had a rota for knowing who needed to be where and when at the relay handover point. We snapped some photos and then got ready for running! Diane started us off and accompanied Roy around his first lap.

Team Roy: Half Man, Half Amazing

A quick aside about Roy this weekend, it’s been very inspiring being with Roy this weekend. He aimed to do 100km or 60 miles over 24 hours, ten laps. He took a couple of breaks inbetween his efforts and you’d never have known it, he never complained or moaned, he just got on with it – always smiling! He provided all the kit we cooked on, he provided the tents and also the expertise and good banter that helped all the weekend pass trouble free!

The Darkness and the course

After each lap the runner swapped the baton and went off on their laps, as I was our second to last runner, I had to sit and listen to the tales about the course as runners sweatily came back into the camp. I was chomping at the bit when my turn came. I was all set and ready, bouncing and pounced when Sarah came round the last corner and passed the baton to me. I set off like a rocket, with the commentator exclaiming that I couldn’t possibly keep my starting pace up for the entire race! He was right, but I waited until I got out of view of the crowds before slowing down to a steady pace. The course started on grass before taking you up to and through a winding forest path which climbed steadily for the first 1km before a long grassy descent into another forest.The race continued this pattern throughout with thrilling runs between and through trees and grassy climbs and descents.

It felt like I was 12 years old running through Narnia and the race passed extremely quickly from one location to another.
Compared to other 10km races I’ve done, particularly on road, this was a world apart. You could never switch off and settle into a normal running pattern! There was simply too many different terrains and directions to get bored and before I knew it I was rounding the corner for my final sprint finish.

On the way round the course I passed umpteen people of all different shapes and sizes and it just showed the variety of different abilities who came to run this race. It was not a race soley for super athlete and neither was it a long distance walk. We expressed the idea many times over the weekend how much we could imagine us fielding two Quaker teams next year. I ended up running three, ten kilometre races; a total of 18 miles; some which a lot of people have done or could work towards. Anyone who has done the Durham Dales Challenge for example could have taken part in this run!

After my first lap I settled in a caught a few hours sleep and kept myself hydrated and fuelled. As the night drew in the head torches became compulsory, as did a rotation of making tea in the main tent with us all keeping our spirits high recalling our tales of the course. Mark was the first runner on the course with the head lamp, he came back beaming!

My lap started at 3am, we were making superb progress! We had hoped that we’d average about an hour for each lap but with Quakers continually pulling out sub 60 minute efforts we were making up good time! Running  in the dark with only a small circle of light was challenging but very exciting at the same time, I struggled at first with depth perception and it took a little while getting used to looking up, down and pointing your head where you needed to me. However, it quickly became intuitive and I was hurtling along the paths and trees. I finished my second lap only 6 minutes slower than my first which was unusual for our team as a lot of our runners ran faster in the dark than they did during the day!

After another hot shower I retired to David Curtis’s camping chair which proved to be more comfortable than the ground. I managed another lap before Diane did a final victory lap with Anthony, David and Wendy.

In conclusion...

In total we managed 25 laps in 24 hours, a total of 250km or 150 miles - fantastic achievement! Suzie accompanied Roy around for many of his laps and managed to do 4 laps – the equivalent of a marathon! David Thompson and Annette Clark finished second in the mixed doubles team! And Team Roy achieved his target and did 10 laps in 24 hours. Overall the Quakers did themselves really proud and we can rightfully be very pleased with our efforts.

Overall the weekend was an amazing success, capped off with a superb goody bag containing a technical top, a decent medal, a thermal mug, energy gels, drink mixes, sweets and some shower gel! Well worth the entry fee! The amenities and facilities provided during the event were second to none and everything was clean and well placed. The camp was tidy, clean and quiet when it needed to be and the race route was one of the very best. I’d go as far to say that the event had the second best course I’ve had the pleasure of running (hard to top the Durham Dales). Much better than any road race I’ve ever done!
Next year, I’ll definitely be going back! I’d love to see more Quakers taking part and us fielding two teams. The whole event was simply superb and I’ve had an amazing weekend! This was what running is all about! The club members really gelled together, helping each other out and kept our spirits up! No Quaker was left behind! Brilliant Race! 10/10!