I like endurance races, I suspect I’ll never be a 9 stone skeletor that runs a 5k in 15 minutes but for many “normal” folks (as normal as you can be if you enjoy this stuff!) long distance racing brings in a number of factors that can act as great equalisers in the field.
The Thruscross 5 hour race on 27th October was one I’m going to mark down as not a great personal performance but a learning experience well worth the £15 entry fee. The aim of the race was simple, as many 5 mile laps of Thruscross reservoir in a maximum of 5 hours as possible. Your splits were monitored each time you came through and there was no going back out if you came in at 4:58, you had to have a reasonable shot at finishing your final lap if you went as long as 5 hours.
This was a tough cross country race in every respect though. Shot but punishingly steep climbs (and downhills) among tree roots and mud, a boggy moorland section that meant soggy shoes from mile 2 and a couple of good solid hard trail sections.
Having signed up looking for an ultra to get stuck into training for, I made two critical pre-race mistakes and one in-race mistake that ultimately led to me finishing up with 4 x 5 mile laps in just under 4 hours (3:56 total, I left my Garmin on by mistake).
Pre race mistakes
Everyone knows the “no new things on race day” rule. It’s there for a reason.
Mistake #1
While I didn’t try anything new on race day, for some reason I abandoned common sense and my eyes (and stomach) the night before made me have steak and mash instead of my usual pasta & pesto. Dinner was lovely but having a stomach rumbling and complaining 30 minutes into a potential 5 hours of running aint good.
In the end I managed about 1.25 laps and had to nip into a bush to errr .. squat. Life achievement of shitting during a race unlocked.
Mistake #2
I didn’t recce the course. Visiting wasn’t an option but I’d no idea what I was about to face and for some reason in my mind I’d anticipated a reservoir similar to a number of local ones here that consisted largely of hard packed, flat-ish trail. With that in mind I’d hoped to get into the 30-32 range and pace myself to run the full 5 hours.
Not a chance. It was perfectly clear after 3 miles of the first lap that 4 laps would be a decent outing and that the winner would probably make it out for a 5th but nobody was going to run 6. Turned out to be right there.
The in-race mistake
As I mentioned earlier, endurance runner brings in a number of other factors beyond pure athletic prowess. The main one is nutrition (and hydration). I got this badly wrong on the day and with my poor (but tasty) pre-race meal being a factor, I also made the decision not to run with a Camelbak (and therefore small regular sips of water and food) as I knew I’d be back at the start point every 5 miles where I’d planned to take a breather for a minute or two each lap and eat something from the aid station.
I’m still new to endurance racing and I think it’s fair to say still experimenting with foods and drinks I can get down during a long run and during Thruscross I just didn’t get enough food down early in the face preferring to only have a small amount of malt loaf at the turnaround on the first two laps by which point the damage had been done really.
Good start, faded badly
I’d actually been really happy with the time I’d built up on the first 3 laps, somewhere around 2 hours 45 mins for the first 15 miles and I felt I was well on course for 5 laps and although not at a winning pace, 5 laps would have (I think) been enough for 2nd or 3rd solo male.
However, the 4th lap I just fell apart. My stomach was all over the place, I had hiccups and I barely ran two of the five miles and limped into the turnaround in 3:56. Normally 1:05 would be plenty of time to cover another 5 miles even conservatively but I’d just done the last 5 in about 1:15 so with laps needing to be completed within the 5 hour cutoff, I saw no point trying to go out and called it a day just under 4 hours.
In the end, not my greatest run but I’ll certainly be back next year for a crack at that 5th lap. It was a really small race run by some very friendly folks and they were very welcoming. I’d trained for the miles and unfortunately let myself down with some less than ideal prep (also 10 days in Spain the week previous) and in-race nutrition strategy but you live and learn.
One to bookmark for next year though.
Mini gear review
I ran this race in my new Adidas Swoop (£30) and I’ve got to say I was impressed. They’re a tight fit and in the boggy conditions I nearly lost a shoe a couple of times (I think that would happen to any shoe though) they held up very well and seeing other competitors running in various Inov8’s and Salomon’s etc, plenty of folks were slipping around and a few fell. I didn’t fall once. Can’t say fairer than that.
The grip is aggressive and clears very quickly in deep mud. Water drained out reasonably well although I did blister on the ball of my right foot, it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable carrying on.
They are a narrow fit though and I’d say borderline on comfort for me so those who like a wider toe area won’t be suited to these.
For the price, I doubt you’ll find a better shoe for serious boggy and muddy trail running. You can also sling them in the washing machine with no worries, they didn’t come back to their shop brightness but you can’t have it all.