Race Report: Cheltenham Circular Challenge 24/06/2012

I tried running this race once before...

Jason and Jo: All smiles at the first checkpoint

Sadly, having followed Gordon's pre race meal plan I didn't actually make it to the start line.

Gordon has long been an advocate of eating peanut butter before races and whilst I'll admit he didn't tell me to eat an entire jar, he also didn't tell me not to. The effect was as extreme as any food poisoning I've ever had and resulted in me having no recollection of the day at all.

This time round I avoided any new foods and thankfully found myself at the start line with Jo and Mik whilst also knowing what my name was.

Waterproofs on for a long wet slog to the top of this hill

You could start anytime you liked between 7am and 11am so by about 9:15 Mik had finished scouring the car boot sale for copies of Groundhog Day so we were primed and ready to go. We got about 400 metres before we were accosted by a local stills photographer who decided we were so photogenic he needed us to do a couple of run-byes for the local paper. 

Looking jaded after a steep climb through the woods. At least this bit was dry.

So, finally we got going, and very soon the sound of squelching underfoot gave us a clue as to the mud bath we would spend the next 26 miles trudging through.

About 10 miles into it we were joined by a fellow runner. The chap in question is a runner who hadn't run for 8 weeks following a knee injury but was still aiming to crack 12 marathons this year.

He stuck with us as we slipped and slid our way to the half way point. I was fed up by now. My legs were feeling unusually heavy and my heart just wasn't in it. Nevertheless we headed off from the halfway checkpoint and soon reached 14 miles.

Jo stopped to make some new friends at around mile 14

At this point our new friend announced his knee was starting to hurt and he was going to walk for a mile. Being my 'new' running buddy I said I'd walk with him. I'd love to say it was a Mr Treweeks, "never leave a man behind" moment, but it was wasn't. It was a "thank god for that, I can have a rest from having my sorry arse dragged round this god forsaken mud bath by Jo and Mik for a few minutes" moment.

I don't know what it is about me and random runners, but not for the first time, someone I had only just met decided to tell me about them having had a testicle removed. Now, I was already having enough of a struggle keeping a regular pace going, but living through the story of the loss of one of his prized possessions, from the moment he discovered the lump in the shower after a club run, the trip to the doctor, the biopsy, the diagnosis, the fact that his dad had the same 37 years before, the operation on December 23rd and the obvious discomfort he was in as Santa was emptying the contents of his sack, only resulted in my running gait becoming even more uncomfortable as my knees naturally ran slightly closer together in some sort of unspoken sympathy for his loss.

It was not comfortable.

I stuck with him until about 20 miles when I could cope no more and decided to go for the "leave a man behind" approach and catching him unawares I pushed on into the distance.

Jason finishing his 50th marathon!

The  mud, slipping and sliding continued until Cheltenham racecourse and the finish line finally came into view.

Jo and Mik were visibly relieved to see me approach as the last time they waited for me at the end of a race I arrived two hours after them having been tempted into the Wincle Brewery for free samples.

We received our medals, consumed some post race nutrition, washed some of the mud off and cheered our slightly unbalanced new friend in before heading to the cars and the journey home.

For more information, visit the Cheltenham Circular Challenge website.

Jason