Race to the Stones 100km – briefing from Mike Williams
When I started Couch to 5K, I never thought I’d do anything like this.
The night before, I went to collect my number and have a look around the course. It turned out to be well worth doing, because without it I probably would have been late the next morning.
For the day itself, I had Ollie Bundy as my crew. That proved incredibly useful. He had a car full of drinks and snacks and would leapfrog me along the course, making sure I had what I needed.
The first pit stop was really just a warm-up. I met Ollie straight afterwards, and it was good to have that first bit of support behind me.
The course itself had its challenges. There were a lot of dangerous roots, and I saw at least four people trip and fall. I nearly joined them myself more than once.
By the second pit stop, the heat was already becoming a serious problem. There was a long queue for water, and for the first time I dipped my hat into a bucket of water just to try to cool myself down. I grabbed some food and carried on.
I had now completed a half marathon, but there was still most of the day ahead of me.
This was also the first point where I started seeing people really struggling with the heat. People were suffering from heatstroke, passing out and vomiting. It was a stark reminder of just how difficult the conditions were becoming.
As I ran alongside the Thames, I found myself wanting nothing more than to jump straight into it. The temperature had reached around 34°C, and the heat was taking its toll.
At 50 km, I had planned to stop properly. The idea was to change my socks and T-shirt, eat a decent amount of food and reset myself for the second half.
I did none of that.
Instead, I just wanted to keep moving. I grabbed a few snacks, started walking while I ate them and carried on.
By pit stop five, I needed to get my foot taped up. More and more people were dropping out, and the effects of the heat were becoming impossible to ignore. The three minutes I spent sitting down at this checkpoint were the only three minutes I sat down all day.
The heat was brutal. The chalk paths reflected the sunlight, making the conditions feel even worse. My sunglasses weren’t large enough to completely shield my eyes from the glare, and I started experiencing the early symptoms of snow blindness.
At pit stop six, on the side of the road before the M4, I stopped for more food and drink. There were even more people struggling and sitting down around the checkpoint.
Between pit stops six and seven, Ollie joined me again. He walked with me for around four miles, giving me the support and motivation I needed to keep going.
Then came 80 km.
Only a half marathon left.
I thought back to the first half marathon I had ever done and remembered how big that challenge had seemed at the time. Now, with that same distance left after already covering 80 km, my mindset had completely changed.
I was pretty much there.
The final checkpoint was at the top of a hill at 88 km. More salted potatoes. Finally, some chocolate that hadn’t melted.
The sun was now directly in my eye line, making it difficult to see. But it was also starting to set on the horizon directly in front of me.
For the final 8 km, I put my torch on removed my hat and kept moving.
I was still power-walking past people who were doing a run-walk strategy. At that point, I wasn’t interested in stopping. I just wanted to finish.
Eventually, I could see the finish.
I got past it — only to realise I still had to get to the top of a hill to the Avebury Stone Circle, unfortunately by this time of the day it was to dark to see it.
So I summoned all the strength I could still muster and ran.
I then ran back down the other side and across a field with a completely random woman who had appeared alongside me. We ran down a lane together, and as the finish came into sight, I managed to turn the last stretch into a sprint.
And then it was over.
15 hours and 50 minutes.
7,401 calories burned, according to my watch — and probably around 1,000 eaten.
On the motorway home, we stopped at McDonald’s because I finally needed to eat something substantial.
The feeling was a mixture of relief, accomplishment and pain.
I got home at around 2:30 am, had a shower, and was finally in bed by 3:00 am.
Three hours later, I was back up.