Guerlédan 58km - part 2

Now where was I ? Oh yes, half-way through the middle of a race having just caught the leading female runner. As a reasonably good male runner, one of my objectives in every race is to be ahead of the first female runner. I'm not particularly macho in my attitudes to women, but nothing beats the satisfaction of finishing ahead of the first woman in a race. And I felt this now, running along this flat section, having just crossed the dam at the far end of the lake and catching the female runner in front along the flat.

I ran alongside her (Karine Sanson), and gave her a few words of encouragement. I have to admit that I was pushing it a little here. I catch her up and then pretend that I'm as fresh as a daisy by talking to her and telling her she's doing well. She asked where the second woman was. I deduced that she was going through a tough patch at this point in the race, hence the looks behind her to see where her nearest opponent was. I reassured her by saying that I'd overtaken her a couple of kilometres ago and that she was suffering, which effectively had been the case. This had the desired effect and we ran together before I pulled ahead again.

My lead on her didn't last long as the road section beside the lake tapered out and we headed up hill back into the forest. She caught me up as I walked up the path. Obviously, I need not only to improve my running endurance but also my uphill walking speed as she wasn't the only runner / walker to overtake me up the hills. I followed a few metres behind her and then we hit the road again, but this time an uphill section that led to a junction at the top. At the top of the hill, François from the club was waiting and cheering runners on. He didn't recognise me at first (I must have been looking shattered already) but then he told me that the second feeding station was just a few hundred metres further on. This information and the spectators spurred on Karine and she sped up to 4:20 pace leaving me for dead. She didn't stop at the feeding station and ran straight through, something that I wasn't prepared to do, needing to refill the camelbak and eat some bananas. I added some coke to the camelbak, diluted with a little water. This mixed in with the orange then the artificial rasperry-flavoured energy drink that I'd taken on board at the first feeding station. Probably one of the most disgusting flavoured mixes ever devised, but at least it provided sugar and some instant energy.

I set off again, happy in the thought that I'd completed 33km and that there was only 25km to run. My 10km/h average pace had slipped slightly now as I'd gone through 20km in just over 2 hours and 30km in 3:05. As I ran past the campsite, some children called out to me that I was in 115 place. This seemed feasible as I'd been told 15km earlier that I was in 156 position. A top 100 place was still possible if I could keep it up now. Over the next few kilometres the trail descended back beside the lake and the path was relatively flat. As I'd been accustomed, I'd catch runners along these sections and this happened again as I passed Karine once more. This was it I told myself, she's not coming back at me now. Just keep it steady and you'll have a top 100 position and be in front of the first woman. A respectable race!

It just doesn't happen like that on a trail race and the outcomes are far from predictable. Up ahead, at the front of the race, 2 runners were battling it out with the winner from the previous 2 years being one of them. He apparently gave advice all of the way around to the younger runner about when to attack, when to hold back and when the crunch came, he just couldn't make the break this year. Not only did he fail to take the 1st place, he also lost 2nd place as the third runner came back in the last 6km to catch him and to relegate him to third position. I was unaware of all of this and it was far from my preoccupations. I was only interested in finishing and this was getting harder and harder. The trail may have been flat here, but the organisers through in a couple of other difficulties just to keep it interesting: too flat - go under an electric fence then; to flat - cross a field trampled by cows in the mud which has hardened; too flat - throw in another electric fence then.

The runners were well spread out by now and when you did catch a runner, he'd be alone or in groups of 2 at most. This was the case now, as we headed back into the forest on the north side of the lake and the sharp uphills and downhills had an impact on the fatigue and general exhaustion of the runners. I felt it too. The uphills were harder and harder and the downhills were just as hard as I had to pick my carefully through the trees and rocks. It was as I went down one such set of stairs, made out of old railway sleepers, that the guy behind me fell. Thump, I heard as he hit the step with the base of his back. I stopped and turned back to check if he was alright. Visibly shaken, he took a few minutes to stand up and I wondered how long it would take to get him to first aid. Another runner behind stopped too and we asked if he was able to continue. He jogged along at first so I took off and left him, focused only on finishing now. 15 minutes later, he ran past me and I wouldn't see him until the other side of the finish line. Tough breed these trailers !

I passed the third feeding station which was supposed to be water only. Somebody had been feeling generous though as I helped myself to some more banana and coke and water mix for the camelbak. I was told that I was 99th runner here and I was happy to be in line with my objective. I set off quickly, grabbing a couple of places while the other runners took longer on replenishing their supplies and their stomaches. Apathy struck though as I walked more and more hills, my legs and thighs too tired to make any effort. I thought only about the finish now and completing the race in under 6hours30. I calculated that I had to be running (/walking) 8 km/h to achieve this objective which meant every kilometre in 7:30 on average. Even this was hard as I saw more and more 8:XX on the Garmin for the splits.

Disaster struck at around 48km. I heard runners behind me and Karine passed with 2 guys in red Salomon outfits accompanying her. I tried to tag along but I couldn't keep up the pace on the uphills and even along the flat, the surfaces were so uneven that I didn't have any advantage. I was going up yet another hill, when a marshal spoke to me quietly, telling me that it should be a point of honour to finish in front of the first woman. As if I needed to be told - apparently I'm not alone in my way of thinking! The rest of the race from this point on became a blur as I was too tired to think properly, to focus or to run in a reasonable manner. I was happy to have some encouragement at 53km when Delphine, Jean-Claude and Michel cheered me on. I knew it wasn't far now as we'd arrived back on the first loop of the course from the previous day. Unfortunately, I also knew what that involved. It took me over 11:30 to complete a kilometre here now, the same stretch that I'd run 5 minutes faster the day before. I didn't care - I was going to finish and be able to rest.

And so that was it. I left the last downhill behind me and crossed the stream, struggling to get up the river bank on the far side. I crossed the line almost 2 minutes after Karine, and 9 places behind her. 105 position in a time of 6:27:02, so I lost a few places in the last few kilometres. I was cold, wet and tired and could only think about jumping in a shower despite the encouragement from Nick, Anne and Régis at the end. A quick shower and a change of clothes and I was back at the finishing line, under an umbrella this time. Gérald and Fred had finished; Gérald 18 minutes behind me and Fred 10 minutes behind him. Where was Laurence though ?

I was unable to call Laurence to find out how she was getting on as my Blackberry was also a victim of the race. Stuck in the side pocket of my rucksack, it had been immersed in water and now refused to function. How was she doing ? Laurence crossed the finishing line in 8:30 and was the first woman from the club. She was elated to have completed the distance and shed a few tears as she arrived.

So, the longest, furthest and hardest race that I've ever run. I set off steadily but still faded at the end of the race. The last 15km took me 2 hours to complete. With some more training, I'm sure that I could shave 30 minutes off this time which would put me into the first 50 runners. I finished 8th in the challenge over the 2 combined races and was pleased with this result. Even 30 minutes less would still not have got me onto the podium. The result was encouraging for both of us and we'll use this to set ourselves some bigger challenges for next year. There I'm sure that I'll beat the first woman....