Pilgrim Challenge, Day 2

Well I didn't sleep well in the gym but that was to be expected. There was a good breakfast put on and everyone was in good spirits. I had managed to dry out my trainers and brush off some of the mud with the newspaper I had brought which was a good idea on reflection.

The start was slightly earlier at 0800, I don't know if this was to get us finished earlier or as we'd be tired but it was good for me. Again the elites had an hour to wait before they could be off.

Again I lined up with Emma and Allie and it all felt very relaxed, that was apart from the huskies and other dogs who were doing the second leg with their owners. They were raring to get off and I couldn't decided if being pulled along would be a good thing or not.

Once the gun went off we were zig zagging back towards the downs trail over the mile or so of pavement. The dog owners must have been frustrated as nature called only yards from the start!!!

Initially I found myself drifting ahead of the girls as we began to find our stride. I waited for them on a couple of occasions but I think they were taking the start easy. Unbelievably after 33 miles the previous day I felt pretty good so I decided to head off at my own pace, see how I got on.




There was plenty of climbs this side of Surrey but with that came plenty of downs and I tried to open my legs up. The problem I seem to have with running is my glutes, they hurt!!! This ultimately leads to tight hamstrings but essentially  .... My .. Bum .... Hurts

I kept passing people at a pretty regular pace until I met up with Alistar (AJ), this was good as I was quick on the downs and he was quick on the climbs. We ended up staying together for three quarters of the race and it was great as I would have walked on a number of occasions if not for his encouragement and vice versa. Running really is one of those sports where (apart from the elite) people are in it together. There is lots of encouragement and on an ultra the battle is primarily with yourself.

The terrain and conditions were pretty much the same as the day before but the rain held off which was nice, the mud on the other hand was still very grim. I seem to have a love hate relationship with the mud, it's great training for the sand but very frustrating. I picked up an x-bionic effektor running top last night and that was doing a great job of regulating my body temperature which was nice.

Around 3 miles from the finish we came to a river crossing. On the way out we had wet feet, to cross it now would have meant a wet chest!!! A guy in a hoodie was pointing us down river in the direction of a diversion, the way he was smiling made us question his sincerity but upon seeing the river we knew it was true. Around an extra mile was added to the run overall.

AJ and I pushed on to the finish. We had been overtaken by the top elite long ago but when a few miles from home someone shouted that we were in 5th position we realised that we were first in the earlier group. This was the last bit of motivation we needed to finish and we crossed the line together with arms raise high.

A nice medal, t-shirt and a few goodies awaited. I chatted with the elite and forgot my place for a while but it wasn't long before the girls were home along with Rob Lenndon and Rory Coleman. I finished just a shade over 6 hours, cutting off more than 15 mins of the gentle run of yesterday while adding an extra mile.

Rob by the way is a speed demon. By his own volition he can't slow down even though Rory keeps telling him too. We are tent sharing in Morocco so it will be great to see how he gets along.

XNRG organised and put on a great even. I'd definitely consider doing this or one of their other events in the future. Maybe I'll see you there next year :-)