After months of training, both physically and mentally, the day had finally arrived for my first ultra marathon, the Hundred Hills 50k, run by Centurion Running. I’ll be honest, trying to recall 50 kilometres of running is a difficult task. As you would hopefully understand, I wasn’t making my way around the course thinking about how I was going to recall my experience of this hill and that flat section. I’m not an influencer, and I wasn’t one of those trotting around with a GoPro attached to my chest. So the following is based on my memory of the day, recalled a few days later.
If you’ve not already done so, before reading on here, I would recommend that you have a quick read of my pre-race plans, which can be found here. It’s not a long read, and will give you detail on how I wanted this race to go. With that being said, strap in…
Pre-race
An early morning, a bagel and a PH1500 drink for breakfast, and a 90-minute drive was how my race day started. It was a glorious morning when I arrived at Stonor Park, the race hub of the HH50k. I popped my instant porridge on brew and headed over to registration, picked up my number and had a tracker attached to my bag. No kit check at registration. Any checks would be conducted out on course and/or at the finish.
Back to the car for my porridge and to finish getting ready and it started to rain. This was not in the forecast. Luckily, it didn’t last long, and we were back to blue skies within ten minutes. A final toilet stop took a lot longer than expected. The number of portaloos were limited, and the queue was expectedly long. Unfortunately, no porta-urinals for the gents, so just one long queue for the cubicles. As a result, I missed the race briefing and joined the back of the queue for the race start with just a few minutes to spare, shivering away in the low temperatures. I was starting further back than I’d like, but I wasn’t interested in jostling for position. Slow and steady to start…
Leg one: Stonor to Ibstone
Despite the cold start, I was aware that the first 5km were all uphill and so knew that I would soon warm up. Sure enough, many of those who had started in jackets and fleece’s were stopping on the side of the trail to take layers off just 800m in.
It was difficult to make any positional progress early on. It was quite a wide, open start, but it quickly narrowed into a trail just wide enough for a tractor (I found this out on the way back into Stonor later). As a result of starting further back in the pack, I was trotting along with the train as we began to progress up the hill. Again, no interest in jostling for position at this stage, just trying to avoid the sharp end of other runners’ running poles. I knew the field would spread out soon enough, particularly as the gradient increased.
Pre-race, I wasn’t sure how to tackle this first, long hill. Whether to trot/walk it or make good progress while the legs were fresh. In reality, it was more long and gradual than it was steep, although it did have a bit of a kick towards the end. I probably jogged the first 3-4km and then mixed a bit of jogging with some hiking for the final section. A 10th of the course done, along with a 10th of the elevation.
Once at the top, we had a couple of kilometres heading back down, the start of which was quite steep and slippery. I’m a cautious ascender but a confident descender. Starting out of position wasn’t an issue for the early ascent but, now heading downhill, I was getting a bit held up. There was a lady in front of me who was going very steady, being ultra-cautious not to trip or slip. She apologised for her steady footing, to which I replied by telling her to take her time. The last thing I wanted to do was to inadvertently pressure her into a fall. I kept my distance, walking behind her, biding my time until the trail widened and I skipped past and continued progress.
Fuelling had started well. I decided against setting an alert on my watch to tell me when to eat. I decided it would depend on what I was eating as to how often I needed to fuel. For example, whether I was eating Jelly Babies or gels, I might have a few sweets every 15 minutes, but a gel only every 30 minutes. The plan was to start at 45 minutes, and then fuel every 15-30 minutes from that point. I wanted to start with some of the solid fuelling first, progressing to the sports nutrition later on, in case my stomach started to play up. Food was going in and tasting good. So far, so good.
Another couple of significant climbs brought us into the first checkpoint. Despite my pre-race determination for a final toilet break, I was needing to go again already. A lot of people were branching off the trails to go to the toilet behind trees and bushes. I debated this but thought I would do the right thing and wait for the checkpoint. Especially as the course was still quite congested with people, and there were a lot of ladies around me. They didn’t need to see men weeing up trees.
Leg one: 10.75km, 330m of ascent, 1:10:48, pace of 6:33 /km, 173rd place.
Checkpoint one: Ibstone
I didn’t need anything from the checkpoint. I had my own fuel and I was happy with my current fluid levels. “Just a quick toilet stop and I’ll be on my way.” Not so quick. There were only two toilets at the school. Both were occupied and the queue was two deep. Still, I’m here now, and I didn’t want to go out on the trail so I waited. Just under 3 minutes were spent at the first checkpoint, all of which were waiting for, and going to, the toilet.
Leg two: Ibstone to Skirmett
Straight out of Ibstone is a nice, sharp downhill section. Aware that I had lost time in the checkpoint, I hit this first descent hard. I know 3 minutes in a checkpoint is not actually a lot of time but, by ‘lost’ I mean nothing gained. I wasn’t fuelling (maybe I should have while standing there), I wasn’t topping up water, I wasn’t taking a needed rest, I was simply stood waiting.
Anyway, I quickly shook that out of my system at the bottom of the descent and settled back into race pace. I had no idea of where I was placed in the field and, aside from having a loose target of finishing in the top-100, I wasn’t concerned and gave it no thought throughout the entire race. Even so, I made up several places as I bounded down the hill. Sometimes, I think slowing yourself down on a descent does more damage to your quads than just loosening up and letting gravity do it’s work. ‘Free speed’ as David Roche would say.
This next section was something of a rollercoaster. Despite levelling out, the descent from Ibstone continued, lasting almost a mile and a half before climbing again. And what a climb it was, I definitely hiked this one. What goes up, must come down and more progress made coming back down the hill. Another up and down followed before coming into the second checkpoint.
Fuelling was continuing to go reasonably well. After taking on my first bar after 45 minutes, another went in at 1:15, and I started on one of my Voom bars at 1:45. If you’re not familiar with Voom bars, they come in chunks, similar to a chocolate bar. There are four chunks in a bar, each one containing roughly 12 g of carbs. In training, I’ve taken an entire bar in one go and very quickly regretted it. Ever since, I take one chunk at a time and space out the consumption.
One chunk every 15 minutes was the plan in my head but, in hindsight, that’s only 45 g of carbs over the course of an hour. Yes, I was also sipping on PH30 carb and electrolyte drink at this point, but that still isn’t really adequate fuelling.
Leg two: 7.2km, 181m of ascent, 44:43, pace of 6:12 /km, 169th place.
Checkpoint two: Skirmett
I had a PH90 gel in my backpack, based on the ‘real food now, sports nutrition later’ master plan. However, given that Centurion are now stocking Precision Hydration products at their checkpoints, I thought I would try and pick up a few gels on my way round. You almost run through the middle of checkpoint two on the course. As I appeared from round the corner, several volunteers immediately asked if they could get me anything. I asked for a PH30 gel, one of the gents passed it to me, and on I went. 13 seconds spent at the checkpoint.
Leg three: Skirmett to Ibstone
Gel into the race vest, a thank you to the volunteers, and it was a right turn onto a short road section before beginning to climb again. Nothing too dramatic this time, but I still dropped to a walk. I was pretty pleased with how the last leg went and, although it was still early days, I was on course for my pre-race target of 5:30. In a lot of my training runs, I have found that I start off slowly, and then speed up as I get further into the run. This has not been intentional, but on several of my 20 mile+ runs, the final miles have been my fastest. I could feel the same happening here as I warmed into the race. Discipline was key though. We’re not halfway through yet. Don’t go too mad!
There was a short up and a short down, followed by a long, steady climb to get back into Stonor Park. This was the shortest leg, and we were almost at the third checkpoint already. Just a long, gradual downhill left and we would be back at the start / finish area, marginally under halfway.
It was getting quite congested on the trails again. Conscious that I was now more than two hours into the race and I still had two bottles on my chest with a considerable amount of fluid in, I started to make more of an effort to take on hydration. I decided that I was going to finish my PH30 drink before the next checkpoint and was going to top it up with more Precision, albeit just electrolyte mix and not carbs, at the checkpoint. To create a bit of space in the checkpoint, I wanted to get out of the way of the other runners around me so I could slot in with a bit of time with which to top up my bottles.
I pushed a bit. Nothing worth writing home about, but I rode the hill and made up a few places before settling when I saw a gap and rolled into the checkpoint.
During this section, as well as finishing my PH30 carb drink, I’d finished another two blocks of my first Voom bar. Not really enough, but it felt OK at the time and, in the moment at least, I was happy with how fuelling was going.
Leg three: 6km, 176m of ascent, 36:26, pace of 6:09 /km, 143rd place.
Checkpoint three: Stonor
The volunteers at the checkpoints are simply amazing. I had already taken my bottles out of my race vest, ready to top up. As I entered the marquee, a lady approached me with an outstretched arm and asked what I wanted in my bottle. “Precision please” and off she went to fill it up for me. I took my other bottle and filled it up with water.
Getting bottles back into a race vest, when there are items in the pockets underneath, can be a challenge. I popped one bottle down on one of the tables while I tried to slot the other into my vest. It fell off the table and a lady walked round from the other side of the table to pick it up and hand it back to me. “You don’t want to be bending down unnecessarily.” Thank you very much! I shook a small pot of crisps into my mouth and then exited the marquee and continued on my way. 1:40 spent on checkpoint admin.
Leg four: Ibstone to Hambledon
Adrenaline is high coming out of a checkpoint. I’m not sure why, yet. This is my first time really engaging with a checkpoint, so maybe I’ll figure it out as time goes on. Leaving the marquee and heading into the corner of the field for a short road section, the congested trails had really thinned out.
A nice bit of pace going on here. A combination of the checkpoint adrenaline surge and knowing that I was approaching halfway. However, a right turn off the road saw possibly the steepest ascent experienced yet. A nice 90m climb across around 400m. Of course, several ups and downs followed, although not as severe as those experienced in the first half. I’d overheard that the second loop was less hilly than the first. Checking back at the stats post-race, it was, but only by around 13m. The hills were less steep though, but that meant that they came and went more often. Far more rolling I would say.
I was keen to check my split at the halfway point, just to see how I was doing against my target. I usually run in miles and pace in minutes per mile, but I had switched everything over to kilometres for the race. First of all, so it would be easier to work out distance remaining. Secondly, to confuse myself a bit on pacing so that I didn’t start chasing pace in the early stages of the race. At 25km then, I wanted to see if I was under 2:45. I was, just, by about 30 seconds.
This next section was probably my favourite in the entire course. Because the hills weren’t as challenging, I was able to run some of them. Or at least, run parts of some of them. I felt like I was making a lot of progress in the field, passing others who were walking the hills. I’d spot a runner in the distance and, before long and without pushing too hard, I found myself passing them. I was a little concerned that I was pushing things a little too hard at this point. Should I be backing off on some of these hills? Taking things more cautiously and saving energy and legs for later? I decided to keep going while I felt good, and deal with the consequences later if needs be.
Fuelling was beginning to drop off. I’d now finished the final block of my Voom bar and had taken the gel that I picked up at Skirmett. A total of 42g of carbs during this section. I was drinking a lot more, but the fluids no longer contained any carbs. Just water on one side of my chest and electrolytes on the other. As a side note, I’ve always wondered what the difference is between Precision Hydration’s electrolyte drink mix (these ones) and their tablets (these). I usually take the tablets (because they’re cheaper) but the checkpoints were stocked with the sachet mixes. The drink I topped up with at the checkpoints had far more flavour than those I make up at home. It actually made me want to drink more. Maybe I’ll take a look at the sachets in future.
Leg four: 8.6km, 224m of ascent, 52:12, pace of 6:03 /km, 110th place.
Checkpoint four: Hambledon
A small pavilion in the corner of a cricket field, full of yet more people just itching to help. I popped inside to grab another PH30 gel and off I went. Just 21 seconds spent.
Leg five: Hambledon to Bix
By this point, my memory of the course becomes sketchy. I don’t think it has anything to do with my physical or mental condition, it’s just hard to recall the specific hills and terrain over such a long period. It all merges into one in my brain and it’s hard to decipher where certain sections are and at which points on the course certain memories are from.
The course is fantastic. Some really nice trails with a mix of challenging and entirely runnable terrain. Minimal amount of road, plenty of fields, 4×4 off-road tracks and wooded sections. I’ve not visited the Chilterns before but I would definitely visit in future, both for running and hiking.
I was still feeling OK. Maybe a little tired, but not completely spent. I wasn’t running on empty. The only trouble I was having was with sore feet. My shoes (Scarpa Spin ST) were fantastically grippy, but probably a little too small for longer distance events, where it’s common for feet to swell. From somewhere after halfway, my little toes were starting to become sore when travelling downhill, getting smashed into the front of my shoes with every step. I was having to resort to a semi-limp when going down steep sections, and wasn’t able to quite go as quickly as I would like. In truth, I don’t think I lost too much time over this, but it was an issue.
Rebecca and a few family members were tracking me as I was going. I could feel my mobile buzzing away in my back pocket throughout. Just before the next checkpoint was another pretty substantial hill. I decided to have a quick look while hiking up. Rebecca had text to say well done, and to state how proud she was of me. My family group chat was going off as they were messaging each other about my progress. I checked in with both. Just a quick “everything is going well, only 10k left.” Phone back in my pocket until the end.
Fuelling had now fallen off a cliff. I had my two peanut butter cookies shortly after the checkpoint. Although extremely tasty, they don’t offer much in the way of carbs, but I had packed them in case I was suffering from taste fatigue with all the sweet stuff in my bag as the race progressed. I was, and they offered a welcome break from sugar-after-sugar. Aside from that, the only other fuel that I took on during leg five was the PH30 gel that I picked up at the checkpoint.
Leg five: 8.8km, 231m of ascent, 55:55, pace of 6:21 /km, 95th place.
Checkpoint five: Bix
Ever-so-slightly off course and into a tiny school (it looked more like a village hall, but was a school apparently). Ready for some more Precision drink, I had bottle in hand, ready to hand to a volunteer. While he topped my bottle up for me, I popped inside to pick up another gel.
I had a quick look around the food options but decided I didn’t want a dodgy stomach during the last section through eating something ‘unknown.’ I did take some fruit gum-type sweets, and ate them slowly, one-by-one as I left and continued on my way. One dropped on the floor while I was trying to fit my water bottle back into my pack, which the volunteer again picked up for me and binned. I felt bad at how much of a diva I was being, allowing the volunteers to do so much for me. I am truly grateful! 1:16 stationary time.
Leg six: Bix to Stonor
This is it, the last leg. Less than 10k to go. But of course, still plenty of hills left.
I was still picking people off. Over the whole course, I could count on one hand the number of runners who had passed me (aside from during checkpoint stops), but I was moving through the field well. It got to the point now though where other runners were few and far between. For the first time, I had to have a few little checks to ensure I was still on course.
It was excellently marked, and it was very difficult to go wrong, but I just had a few ‘oh no’ moments where I couldn’t see a flag or a marker and questioned myself. Each time I was still on course though, so needn’t have worried.
There was one long hill remaining, which climbed in stages. I walked a bit, ran a bit, starting to feel a little nauseous. This had actually started a while back, but I was now wondering when I would be sick, rather than if. Thankfully, I wasn’t.
Following this ‘last’ hill was several shorter, less steep hills as we began to inch closer to the finish. The last 1.5km or so was the same as the first 1.5km. Not that I noticed. Everything looked different coming the other way and with less runners around. I couldn’t figure out how much further was left. According to my watch, I had 200m left to 50km, but I was clearly further away than that. I had to hop onto the high grass verge to allow a tractor coming the other way to pass. Nobody needed that extra jump at this stage in the race!
I came around the corner and hit the road. This is it, not far now, as I turned through the gates and back into Stonor Park. I followed a lady into the finish, slowly gaining on her from around a kilometer out, eventually finishing just four seconds behind. On another day, in another race, I would have searched for that bit extra to make up another place. That wasn’t for today though.
In that last section, the only fuelling I took on board was a gel. Even that, I had to force down in stages with a fear of it coming back up. Not a great day on the fuelling front.
Leg six: 9km, 216m of ascent, 57:49, pace of 6:24 /km, 88th place
Overall: 50.5km, 1,357m of ascent, 05:23:58, pace of 6:25 /km, 88th place.
Finish: Stonor
Body weary, I sat down on one of the chairs in the marquee and basked in my glory. I had exceeded my race target, proud to become an ultra runner. One of the volunteers brought me over a cup of coke and I just sat there for ten minutes or so, with other runners coming through the finish.
Free hot food and drink was on offer, but I was keen to get some clean clothes and extra layers on before sitting down for too long. I hobbled back to the car, got changed, and then hobbled back for a bowl of bean chilli and a cup of tea.
A triumphant drive home to an empty house, where I enjoyed a couple of beers, a pizza and ice cream. Thoroughly deserved in my opinion. A week off is now in order, before taking a look at what is next in store.
Overall, a cracking day, and I would definitely recommend this race, or anything run by Centurion Running.
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