The Run Around #Treble12Challenge

Lets set the scene & put this challenge into perspective. In 2009 I smoked & drank too much, (to be honest I still do drink too much but we over look that one ;o) in 2009 I started training for what was to be the first of an on going list of personal challenges Hookway to Hookway, this was a challenge that got me hooked on cycling & made me realise I wanted to keep fit. With work & family commitments I was unable to keep my fitness levels up & due to the bad winter of 2011 I was unable to get out on the bike & train so, as well as turning my road bike into an indoor training bike which resides in pride of place in my living room (much to the annoyance of my very understanding wife), I took up running.

In January (2012) I attempted my 1st run, feeling too much like a new years resolution I found it hard, both physically & mentally. I struggled to run a mile without stopping. Fast forward a few months I had improved & was talked into running in my first 10K race by my friend Ian Man (aka Ian Bullass), fast forward to RELAYGB  in May (2012) where I ran 124 miles in 18 days, during which I ran my first ever Marathon. This was a MASSIVE personal achievement, never would I have thought on those dark, cold January mornings that in 5 months I could have done this, but I had.

With this in mind lets bring things up to the current date. As I write this its the 5th June, The Queens Jubilee & I'm nursing sore legs after completing a 12 hour run with some crazy Scottish guys in Edinburgh.

This was The Run Around, part 5 of Stuart Doyle's (@Stuart_Doyle) #Treble12Challenge, Stuart challenges himself once a month by putting himself through physically & mentally challenging events, each lasting 12 hours, with the end goal to put his body "Out of the Comfort Zone". I was privileged to be asked to be part of this crazy challenge a few months ago & always intended to only run parts of the challenge to keep Stuart company.

The night before I struggled to sleep, the last time I looked at the clock it was 11:00pm so 4 hours was the most sleep I could have got through the night, the alarm call at 3am brought pure dread. I climbed out of bed, put my running kit on, & prepared to leave the house. The Drive up to Edinburgh was hard, tired was an understatement, I just hoped the adrenalin of the run would pull me through. My spirits were lifted as the challenge came in sight.

I arrived at Holyrood Park which is situated at the base of Arthur's Seat at 7:15am, the first thing that sprung to my mind was that there were no toilets in sight! Stuart sent me a text to say he was on his way so I used this opportunity to ask where the local "amenities" were.

Apologies for the bad grammar, I'm blaming the tiredness  

en suite

After getting my bearings the first thing I noticed were runners, the area was full of runners, the 2nd set of runners I saw contained a runner wearing a RelayGB top, we had only ran through here a few weeks ago but what were the chances of that?!?!

Within a couple of minutes the @Jog4Hampden lads who I were to be running with had arrived. (in September they will be running from John O'Groats with a football to Hampden Park, 4 men, 1 ball, 300 miles. Mark Graham @markoG87, Andrew Milne @HungryPuelie, Stuart Doyle @Stuart_Doyle and Chris Strother @le_stroth11) Andrew came to the rescue with bog roll & a shovel, to be honest he came to the rescue quite a few times throughout the day, he had EVERYTHING in the boot of his car, he was proper boy scout material. The guys were a good bunch, we made our introductions & headed off around Arthur's Seat.

Chris Instantly took the lead, he was definitely the stronger runner 

Mark, Stuart, Andrew & Chris

This was a laid back run, the only rules were that we would aim to get as many laps of Arthur's Seat done in the 12 hours as possible. The first noticeable thing was how hard it was trying to run at a slow pace, this was uncomfortable from the start but we knew we could not bolt out of the starting blocks as we would soon tire. We agreed to start by going anti clockwise around Arthur's Seat for 3 laps, then mix it up by running clockwise for another 3. (Clockwise has a long but gentle up hill & a steep downhill whereas Anti Clockwise has obviously the reverse with a steep uphill & long steady downhill) this turned out to be a bad idea as the pounding of the steep down hill instantly caused pains in our knees. We soon reverted back to the anti clockwise route, each lap slowly drained our legs but we all were still running strong, spirits were high & kept high by friends of the lads who took it in turns to join us for a couple of laps.

We looped back to the car park every few miles to make pit stops (yes I said pit!) The pit stops included gear changes, water & gel refills & the occasional blister & toenail check.

Andrews feet had seen better days (School Boy Error #NewShoes)

As the laps got harder we were jeered on with the thought of finishing the 1st Marathon, I had previously ran my 1st ever marathon only weeks before but neither Stuart, Mark, Andrew or Chris had ever ran over 13 miles before today. Spirits were still high & the last lap of the marathon slowed as Mark started to get bad shooting pains in his hip, we put in 1 walking lap to fill up on food, pasta was my weapon of choice while Mark ripped lumps out of a cake as we all soldiered. Marks shooting pains carried on so he told us to run on, we said from the beginning that this was not a race & we were in this as a team, we motivated Mark and he started running again, this never lasted long though as his pain was getting worse. As we got onto the down hill part to the end of the lap Mark insisted we ran on to the car park, he had made his mind up that the Marathon end would also be the end of his part in the challenge. We ran on, it felt strange to be running without Mark & we joked about him sprinting past us at the last corner just to finish the marathon before us, literally within seconds of that Mark came sprinting around the corner as we hit the grassed area into the pit stop. "a couple more meters & I'd have beaten ya" he said. We all laughed & congratulated each other on completing the 1st marathon, a massive achievement for us all.

By 2pm we were 6hrs into the run & we had ran 32 miles, a PB for us all. Strangely enough these 6 hours flew compared to the next 6, the team was down to just 4 of us as Mark went home, we started to walk up a lot of the up hills, we had a figure of 2 marathons in our heads but due to this drop in pace we knew this would not be possible. We passed other runners again & again, they finished their runs & we carried on, humours parts were when people hurried us up, "Come on you can go faster than that!" was a common shout, upon stating we had been running from 8am their faces dropped, they dropped even further when after asking us why we were doing this Stuart replied "its just for fun, just for fun". The best had to be when we were overtaken by 2 elderly ladies on a hill who found the need to apologise to us while overtaking us.    

The views around Arthur's Seat were great, sea views, views out over the city, Lochs & obviously Arthur's Seat itself... Well they were great for the first 5 hours, around & around & around we ran, each time you started to notice a little more, an ice cream van, a bank of swans, a portable toilet (yes a bloody toilet, no need for the shovel after all) & a grass genital sculpture... Yes you read that correctly, after who knows how many times of running around we noticed a sculpture embedded into the freshly cut grass of a huge trouser snake. It certainly brought a few laughs on the following laps.

Andrew stopping for Ice Cream!!!!!!

People came to run with us & people went, one of these guys was Steve Murdoch (@Tentsmuir) a new found friend from RelayGB, Steve had taken valuable (& well earned) drinking time out of his day to come & cheer us on, by this point we thought we were on our own, all of Stuarts, Chris's & Andrews friends had been & gone. Steve brought not only a welcome friendly face but a nice boost to all of the team, Steve's story of the day can be read here:
Two short runs and a Stag Night (but not in that order!)

As the last lap came up we agreed to use this last hour to climb Arthur's Seat & end the challenge on top of the very thing we had been running around all bloody day. The climb was steep & hard on the legs, the first thing that sprung to mind was that The Wife would not be too comfortable up here.

We never spoke much on the climb up apart from the odd grumble or groan we never really made a sound until we hit the top. BANG ON 8:00pm, we were there!!! Boys We Have Done It!!!

Me, Andrew, Stuart, Chris

I was chuffed to bits at our accomplishment, slightly unsteady on the legs (mainly due to the fatigue but also the fear of heights I seemed to be suffering from, (I mean just look at how much I'm leaning into the plinth) we headed back down the other side of Arthur's Seat. The pain on my knees them was unbearable! The guys shot down the slope & had to wait at the bottom, although my feet & leg muscles seem to have held out well, my knees were shot. I limped down the downhill section of the last lap back into the car park, the champagne was popped & as the sun set behind us we all said our goodbyes. I got back in the car & headed back down south, this was a fantastic challenge with a great set of lads that I wish all the best for in their up & coming challenges.

The Long Way Down

My body felt great, surprisingly my knees were the only part of me that was hurting, every gear change caused pain in my left knee & I felt my legs stiffen as the driving miles clocked up. I drove 100 miles before my eyes started to close, the lack of sleep had caught up on me so after hitting the rumble strips for the 2nd time I pulled up & had an hours sleep.

I arrived home at 4am, I'd been out of the house since 3:15am the previous morning:

I had ran for 12hrs, covered 47miles, climbed 8770ft & drove 448miles, *cough* then thanks to a very understanding wife I fell straight into my bed. 

The next morning I was definitely "Out of my Comfort Zone" my legs were stiff even after an ice bath, the first challenge of the day was to put on my trainers, this really sums up the last month & what I have put my body through, not too shabby for a bloke who only started running 6 months ago.

I now have a week to rest my body & prepare for a weekend of races, I have the RunnersWorld TrailBlazer 10K at Clumber Park on Saturday & my family are coming to watch so this will be the 2nd time I can share my love for running with my girls, I will race then, weather permitting, we will have a picnic & a play. Then on Sunday we have the Goole River Bank challenge, a local 10mile race & Daughter#4 will be running in her 1st ever fun run too (Proud Dad face) so getting rested is a MUST!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings, its greatly appreciated. I have lots of time to plan my next challenge now as I'm grounded from big events for the foreseeable future, but please if you have any ideas for challenges don't hesitate to give me a shout... Did someone mention wanting to run an Ultra Run???? ;o) Watch This Space... Its safe to say running is a bug & have caught it.

Don't just take my word for this, check out Stuarts video he made from the run.

Martin