The come down from some epic adventures this year has hit me hard. On returning from the Eiger Trail I had 6 weeks before my next event (The Pirin ultra trail in Bulgaria). So I went looking to ‘fill the hole’. I found two events that were reasonably priced, logistically easy to get to by train, on weekends when I had nothing planned and would take me running in places I’d not run before. So I signed up for both. The first being the Big Pilgrimage…
The Big Pilgrimage is run by Big Feat Events. I’d not done one of their races before. There are different distances on offer, but I signed up to the 54k which started in Southampton and finishes at Fort Nelson just outside of Portchester.
The night before the race I stayed over in Southampton. I’d never been to Southampton before. What a shit hole. It makes Swansea look fancy! Glad I now know that I’ve never any need to go to Southampton! The next morning I made the short walk to the start line for 7am and arrived just as the buses were unloading runners who’d parked at the finish and taken the extra option of a bus to the start. Registration was rapid and we were handed our first sticker. Sticker? Yep, the niche thing about this race is that your race number has boxes and you collect stickers along the way to place on your race bib. Each sticker is at one of the points of interest along the route. I quite like that idea and it provides the information to go back and learn a little about where you’d run.
All stickered up we went to the start line, had our race instructions and then set off. The first few kilometres were all road as we made our way passed the ports for cruise ships and the Isle of Wight ferries and made our way out of Southampton. We crossed over the Itchen bridge (grabbing another sticker) and made our way to the coast.
As we reached the coast we had a short paved section before finally hitting the trails. Not long after two speedy marathon runners ran passed. Geeez they were quick (they started ten minutes after us). From here the trails weaved through woodlands passed Netley Abbey and Victoria park, where Royal Victoria Country Park chapel is, with more stickers added to the bib. A few more marathon runners passed (after a big gap from the front two!) as we passed through more woodlands and made our way back to the coastal path. Before long we were running along a shingle beach. That sapped the energy and tired the legs pretty quickly. It was refreshing though running alongside the water, hearing the calming sounds of the sea. Not many of my runs take me along coastal paths!
After another few kilometres we reached the first aid station at the river crossing. I’d been expecting and waiting this. Another feature of the race is that you need to cross the river on a boat. Oddly not that niche for me as I’ve had a boat crossing on my first 100 miler – the Tarawera 100 in New Zealand. I also had to get a boat across the fjords in Norway for the start of the Lofoten Arctic Triple. Still it was pretty fun. The organisers had hired the small pink ferries to ship runners across the river Hamble to the other side.
Once over it was more running along the coastal path. After a few kilometers there was a confusingly placed event marker. I followed another guy up what admittedly I too thought was the right path. As we started climbing a small hill though I sensed we’d gone wrong. There is very little elevation on the route (just 400m total) and pretty much all of it is in the second half, a quarter of the race elevation is in the last 2k to the finish! I checked my watch which confirmed my thoughts. I yelled after the other runner but he was lost in his music. I screamed so loud maybe 5 times and he still didn’t hear. Thankfully he eventually heard me. We made our way back down and stopped a few more runners who’d made the same mistake.
We were then back on shingle beaches for a while. I was leading with a small group of 3 or 4 behind me when there was another suspect marker. I chose the wrong path, but persisted as I could see on my watch that it ran parallel and there were points to rejoin not far ahead. I kept going, then, when I went to rejoin there was a photographer. He said a few others had made the same mistake. I carried on, now on the correct route but noticed I was alone. The others must have stuck to the other path which I could now see didn’t rejoin anywhere else and would turn off in a different direction.
I soon came out on a water stop at about a half marathon distance and the marshal directed me along a footpath. After a while I was catching some other runners when I realised it was all those who had been behind me. That path must have cut a shortcut on the corner I’d made along the actual route. We were now running alongside the marshes of Titchfield Haven and leaving the coast behind as we headed inland. The next few km to Titchfield Abbey was tough going. So flat and straight. I told myself to keep going to 30k then I can relax the pace a bit. At Titchfield was the next aid station then a few kms of road, crossing the M27 before back into some woodlands and fields for a few km. It all started to blur in my memories but I know I hit that 30km mark and stuck with it and didn’t let up on the pacing too much. I wasn’t feeling too bad, albeit all the running was starting to make my legs ache. I kept going and soon came across a marshal who directed me up a steep hill. Bless, so many people were trying to be helpful and warn of hills etc., but nothing on this route was actually a hill. This one was about 2m high and just a verge to join a footpath. Not long after the ‘hill’ the third aid station appeared. I was glad of some coke and watermelon. Here the ultra and marathon routes separated.
On the ultra route it got a little dull and much harder. We were on a flat footpath that was straight. It was where kilometers come to extend their life. Each km seemed to grow in length. On and on it went. It was exhausting. Thankfully despite a hot sunny day, this was all sheltered in the trees. I kept going though and I only took one short walking break but otherwise ran the whole 8km of the footpath section. When we left it, and had a short incline I was very pleased for the walk. I was now 40km in and ready to do a run/walk to the end. I was optimistic that the change in terrain would force this approach for me.
We were now heading back south towards the finish line. There were varying sections of narrow woodland footpaths. Overgrown sections. Open fields and recently ploughed fields. It helped a lot having the variation of terrain. I collected more stickers along the way and passed another water stop where I had a good chat with the volunteers about tattoos. The varying terrain continued and I walked regularly. Since starting the footpath of doom I’d been pretty isolated but I was enjoying the peace on my run. Before I knew it I arrived at the final aid station, on the side of a narrow road with a sole lady tending to our needs. She was lovely and so helpful. Two other runners then showed up and joined me. I stayed a bit longer here eating loads of orange slices as the two others sped on.
After leaving the aidstation it was back onto single track paths and fields as we made our way along the remaining 9km of the race. At one point we had a climb through a field that was actually an incline, it was really taking us uphill! I enjoyed that. We also crossed several fields with cows and electric fences. This part of the run was much more enjoyable (with the exception of the few km of road before the field with the incline). A steady walk/run was seeing me through at a decent average pace just above 6min/km.
As we reach Southwick I caught up with one of the runners who had passed me and another lady whom I had no idea where she came from. It completely threw me before I realised she was on the marathon and the routes had rejoined. After collecting the penultimate sticker the guy politely asked my age. He was wondering about age categories and hoping to podium in his category. Cheeky fucker though, as Nick would say “he’s three days older than God”. I thought he was much older than me and he was pleased to hear I was only 40 and that he could let me go without a fight.
We had about 2 km left now and one last ‘climb’. To be fair, this was a whopping 80m of elevation over a kilometre. I know, punishing. Once I reached it, it was nice to walk pretty much to the end. The climb was diagonal across a recently plough field so the terrain underfoot wasn’t exactly pleasant. After the climb there was a short few hundred metres of dry footpath to go. The tower at Fort Nelson came into view and then behind it the flags of the finish line. At the finish we got our last sticker ‘Fort Nelson’ and a very colourful medal.
I had a great time despite the race being somewhat flatter than I’m now more accustomed to (and enjoy). The flatness certainly made it tough going and my legs were aching afterwards (thankfully no wobbly walk though). The organisers were incredible and have put on a really excellent event. There were so many marshals throughout. I’ll definitely have to try some of their other events!
Run With Dai 