Dark Star Marathon

Sunday 26th January 2014, the inaugural Dark Star Marathon, 28.2 miles (yes 28.2). Entries capped at 60 making this a small and intimate affair with a local appeal. Only a few miles from home how could I resist.



Shoreham Sea Scout hut was easy to find, with ample free parking in the adjacent field. Hot drinks inside were being served at race HQ and I collected my number. All good so far. I met up with Tom whom I met at the Country 2 Capital, a good chance to get to know each other as it seems likely we will be sharing an 8 person tent in Morocco. All seemed fine up to this stage.



I should have known better really. Running on the south coast always guarantees wind of some sort and as I work close to the Adur I know it has recently been flooded and would be fairly muddy. The race organisers promised "a nice muddy run, fully laden aid stations and some nice warm food at the end ". In the days running up to the event Sussex Trail Events (who organised this) posted lots of pics on FB of the mud, check out this one, it was taken 2 days before when the bridge for the return journey was unaccessible …

It was cold at the start line and I just wanted to get going. As the countdown began, and being such a small event, no-one wanted to step forward to the start line. As the gun went off I was first … yes first. This was rediculous and not the plan. Tom ran with me and the winner passed us by almost immediately. "YOU'LL HAVE NO-ONE TO TALK TO", I shouted as he ran off but he didn't care. The rest of us settled into a rthymn and I found myself comfortably sitting in 5th at the front of a 5 man group for quite a few miles.

At about mile 4 the mud started. Mud … mud …. And more mud. My feet were calf deep in the stuff, I couldn't plant a foot without it slipping to the side and I can only describe it a kind of nordic skiing. It sapped my energy with every step, we hunted for a secure footing but it never came. What did come at mile 6 was the rain and it was of the spitting variety. Tom and I stopped and put on our jackets, now it really was starting to get grim. Conversation died somewhat and we pushed on chasing the rest of the group who had now passed us.

At about 10 miles were diverted away from the river, across messed up fields and eventually ended up passing through Partridge Green and finding the turnaround hidden under a railway bridge. It was somewhat disappointing that we didn't pass through the grounds of the Dark Star brewery which was within spitting distance but at this point I didn't really care. We headed back out and passed lots of runers heading for the half way point, we realised that we were still fairly close to the front so pushed on back to the river.

Then …….. WHAM. A full southerly gale force wind, right into our faces with driving rain too. Ahh shite. This was brutal. The mud was muddier, the rain was rainier and the wind was windier.

Luckily I wore a cap so the rain was out of my eyes when I kept my head down, Tom wasn't so lucky and he got beaten up big time. We both ran for all we were worth, eventually we got picked off by a guy in blue but that was ok as we managed to pass a few ourselves. I kept telling myself, "this is your patch, you know this route. Push on". I did just that and Tom and I seperated at Bramber. The last 4 miles were truly difficult but on retrospect a test of my character. Running past Shoreham Airport I knew there wasn't far to go and eventually I crossed the finish line. 2 ladies sat freezing in their jackets in the pouring rain with only a clip board to keep them company. Immediately I was freezing, my hands were shaking uncontrollably and my teeth chattered all by themselves. I tried to take shelter behind a bush as I waited for Tom, it was only right to wait for him as we did this together.

It was a local lad called Mark Sargeant who evetually won the Dark Start Marathon in 3:46:38 and I finished in 9th position in a time of 4:35:39. Tom finished only 2 minutes later in 4:37:31. To put this into perspective I ran Beachy Head Marathon 18 months ago in 3:46 which included 3500ft of elevation. Just shows how sapping the mud can be.

Following this race I was probably the coldest I have ever been and I think I was in the early stages of hypothermia. As I sat eating warm food and drinking hot tea at race HQ I watched another competitor who was wrapped in a blanket while trying to eat something. He was so cold he looked like he had Parkinsons. What did I learn on this day:

1) Don't underestimate the cold and maybe its time to get some new kit
2) Its all in the mind. Just keep pushing on and you'll get there in the end