Help for Heroes Challenge – Avebury to Stonehenge

On June 26^th, my Dad and I took part in the Help for Heroes Avebury to Stonehenge Challenge – 26 miles of walking through the Wiltshire countryside and Salisbury Plains to raise money for the charity. We headed over the night before and checked into our Travelodge. I managed to get a good night’s sleep, and was excited about the day ahead when the alarm went off at 5:20am! We headed to Larkhill and parked the car. There were loads of other walkers there waiting for the bus to take us to the start. On arrival, we donned our t-shirts, picked up our packed lunch, and headed off. It was 7:30am, it was warm but misty. We’d been warned it could end up being the hottest day of the year so far, so we had sun cream at the ready!

The first few miles took us through some beautiful, undulating Wiltshire countryside. Very different to the Scottish scenery I’ve become used to, but equally as stunning. We passed numerous poppy fields. We headed past the chalk horse and along the Kennett and Avon canal. The first water station was at 7 miles, and was well stocked with jelly babies, cereal bars and water. We carried on through varying terrain. The half way point was conveniently at lunch time, so we got some shade in a barn sitting on a haystack and refuelled. There was also a pub, so we popped in for a quick drink before carrying on up the hill. We were feeling the heat at this point and there was not much shade.

At around mile 15 we entered Salisbury Plains – army training ground. Not ordinarily open to the general public, it had been opened especially for us to cross. There was no shelter here at all, and the chalk road made for some hot and relentless conditions. We arrived at the next water station at mile 17. We noticed a few people tending to blisters and others starting to look weary. The support from the Help for Heroes staff along the way was great and we were all very well looked after.

It was to be another 4 miles to the next (and final) water station. Again, the path offered no shelter. By the time we arrived my Dad was feeling pretty tired and had developed some nasty blisters. We dressed them with compede but they were pretty bad. My Dad decided he would stop at this point. I felt so bad; perhaps we should have just left the blisters, rather than try and treat them. He told me to go on without him, but I didn’t like leaving him. He assured me he’d be ok, and so I set off for the last 5 miles alone. I felt sad to be continuing without him, and was battling in my head whether I’d done the right thing. I set off at a fast pace – I just wanted to be at the finish now! Two minutes later, my phone rings. It’s my Dad…. “Wait up…I’m behind you…I’m carrying on!” I turned around to see my Dad hobbling across Salisbury Plain…I welled up with pride! Within a few moments we were reunited and continued the last 5 miles to the end. It was tough, energy levels were on zero, but we made it. We crossed the finish line just over 10 hours later, with Stonehenge looming over us in the distance. We’d done it!! We were handed our medals and certificates. What a great challenge and fundraising event! We’ll definitely be back for another one next year!

Mile 26 - the end is in sight! from Jo Kirby on Vimeo.

Edinburgh Seven Hills

Yesterday was the Edinburgh Seven Hills Race. The idea of this race is to get to the top of all seven hills in Edinburgh in the correct order in the fastest time possible. There is no set route and there are no marshals. The only rule is you must run / walk between them, no bikes, buses, taxis allowed! The race starts at the top of Calton Hill…the order is then as follows: Castle Hill, Corstorphine, Craiglockart, Braid, Blackford, Arthur’s Seat and then back to the top of Calton Hill. I’d done this event a couple of years ago, but had taken part in ‘The Challenge’ which starts off half an hour before and is for those who don’t want to race it. This year, I went in for ‘The Race’, along with a few other CAACers. I was a bit unsure on how I would do fitness wise. I’d done a few reccies with the club, but I hadn’t done as many longer runs of late as I probably should. We set of at 10:15 and the mass of runners headed down Calton Hill and invaded North Bridge and the Royal Mile to head up to the Castle. It makes me smile when all the tourists stand in complete shock as a bunch of 200 odd runners stampede up the road. For once, runners are in the majority, and buses and cars have to stop in their tracks as we run up the road!

Getting to the top of the Royal Mile to the Castle is fairly easy – fresh legs, buzz of the start of the race etc… Then it’s off down through Princes Street Gardens. I noticed a few people heading off in the other direction, which perhaps might have been a better idea. I duly followed the mass heading down the middle of the gardens, sliding about in the mud, getting wet feet and getting stung by nettles. By the time I’d got to the path at the bottom I was a feeling a bit sore to say the least, but it was a good stretch now along the road to Corstorphine Hill, so I got into a rhythm. Neil and Susan were on their bikes and they picked me up in the West End. It was nice to have some support along this section.

I think I was in third at this point and, but heading up Corstorphine I was overtaken by a girl from Edinburgh AC and then back down Kaimes Road, a girl from Porty (the eventual 3^rd place woman) came flying past. I picked up the pace to try and claw them both back. I managed to catch up with Edi AC on Craiglockart, but perhaps pushed it a bit too hard, as by the time I got to the top (pulled up by cheers from Dean, Gillian and Chris O’Brien) I definitely had jelly legs! Another girl overtook me on the way to Braids and I was in need of some energy. Definitely learnt a lesson in this race – always carry energy gels! The short cut through the Hermitage to Blackford was very muddy and slippery. I didn’t actually see any other runners go this way, but I think it worked out quite well as I gained a bit of time on my fellow female competitors (although had very muddy hands as a consequence!). I was pleased to get to the top of Blackford, but then the realisation hits you of what is left when you look across to Arthur’s Seat towering in the distance. My energy levels were pretty low at this point as I trundled my way to Holyrood Park. As I approached Arthur’s Seat I went off to the right, but later regretted this, as I think this was a longer route up to the top. I was relieved to have a guy at the top punch the clip into my number as contemplated the descent. I don’t really remember which way I came down, I just looked for the safest route. As I got to the bottom my left calf cramped up. I’ve never had cramp during a race before and it wasn’t pleasant. I had to stop and stretch, it just got worse! I tried to keep moving – this didn’t help either. As I hopped down the path I spotted Neil, Susan and Dean. Unfortunately they saw me at a rather low point, I was in considerable pain. I stopped, took an energy gel and pushed on for the last bit. Fortunately I managed to shake off the cramp for the last bit and I followed the other runners up the last section to Calton Hill. I looked at my watch as I crossed the line. 2:17:22. I’d beaten my time by almost 20 minutes – very happy. I was 7^th woman overall which I was also pleased with. Perhaps next year with a bit more training I could push myself further up the field.

A traditional post race drink in the Guildford Arms with my fellow CAACers – a tough day, but always a lot of fun!

CAAC 5

Photo courtesy of Scott W, who was whizzing round the course on his new bike

It is that time of year again when Corstorphine host the CAAC 5 - 5 miles of undulating country lanes. Having marshalled the last couple of years, I thought I'd don the black and white vest and join a whole host of other CAACers for this years race. We were lucky to have a dry night having experienced some heavy showers earlier on in the day.

With an 'on your mark, set go' from Martin the field was off. I somehow got a swept along with the field and thought perhaps I'd gone off too fast with a 6:00 min first mile. My second was in 6:25...hmm, 12:25 for 2 miles (my PB round the Meadows for this distance is only 12:18!) Would I be suffering later on I wondered? Turns out, yes I would!! I tried to keep with Gillian and Derek as best I could. Gillian started to pull away and I could feel Derek starting to creep forward too. I seemed to gain on runners on the uphill sections, but failed at running fast downhill. With a mile and half to go there was one last hill, and it's safe to say my legs had turned to jelly. I tried as hard as I could to keep the pace going and was glad of the downhill section in the final stages. Thanks to a few cheers from the marshals and Susan on her bike, I made it round in a PB of 32mins. Pleased with the run, and the CAAC team spirit was great. Some great performances from the men! Not enough to scoop the team men and women's prizes away from HBT this year though...