The buff lightning run,
Saturday me & my dad were dropped of at eastnor (malvern) to pitch our tent ready for the following days 12hour Buff lightning run,
You would not believe how much stuff u can fit in a small car & we were only going to be there for a weekend!!!
Tent up,kit sorted and a lovely gentle run around the course with my Dad & our welsh buddy Carl Maus , to check out what we had let ourselves in for!
A lovely course with a great first 2k straight up hill ( good job i like hills) & mostly off road.
I was really looking forward to this event & this course looked like it would suit me down to the ground.
Bring it on!!
Sunday 25th March,
Race day.
Alarm clocks were set for a 4 a.m start to give me & my dad time to have some porridge before the race briefing at 5.30.
Kit on, food eaten , table set out , trackside for quick food & drink retrieval !
The race started At 6.am in pitch darkness , so we all needed our headtorches on for the 1st lap.
& we were off , i had decided to run the 1st few laps with my music on to concentrate & not got to fast, this worked perfectly and i got into a nice steady rythmn, which i kept going,
5 hours into the race & my support team turned up.
Unless you run a ultra u really dont realise how important support crews are, mine once again were superb, passing me sweets, drinks, my hat when it went really hot & they also kept me informed on how the other women were getting on.
They also give u a kick up the arse when u are knackered & i rememember my hubby Ben & sis Rosie telling me after my 9th lap to go on u still have time to reach your goal and get 10 laps in !! The exact words from Rosie were grab your hat and do another lap!!
At this point in the race i was 2nd female , not knowing how far the 1st female was in front i was determined to keep my 2nd place as i knew the 3rd place female was a strong runner(louise Clements),
So off i set , at this point there were not many runners left on the course, so i went for it ( well as much as anybody can after 50+ miles) & i didnt feel to bad ,determined not to be caught by Louise,
Its amazing how adrenline kicks in and after about 8 & 1/2 k of the last lap i looked in front and in the distance i good see a female who i reconised from her pink nike trainers & i knew i could catch her the runner was Brigid Browne who was in 1st place & she was walking , i really dont think she realised it was me when i past her , but i wasnt stopping & went for it , with shouts from my hubby , dad , sis , i knew i had won & i was loving every last step.
So i thank once again my amazing family for been the best support crew & my dad for been the best training partner & getting up at all hours for our training & not forgeting my mom for her famous secret recipe flapjacks which kept me & my dad going :)
my dad also had a great race & completed 7 laps .
The race was sponsored by Buff www.buffwear.co.uk & the prizes were brilliant , this was a great organised race by Patrick & his team ( the guys behind the 24hr Thunder run) & i would recomend this race to everyone.
