So for once I'm writing my blog early mainly so I don't forget anything from the awesome weekend at Belvoir Leicestershire,
The first thing you notice when you arrive at this event is the stunning location and there are not many races where you have this awesome sight in view .
We arrived quite late on the Friday evening but luckily for us we had a great spot saved for us by our awesome friends & fellow Team Buff athlete Duane ( aka Buffjedimaster ) & Lorraine aka (super support crew)
It's fun putting tents up in the pitch black in a field of cow pats lol but we did and we got organised quite quickly ,
Our little area was now taken over by Buff® & it was looking good.
Next morning we woke quite early to sort out our very important food & drink area for the race , and I can say we were without a doubt well prepared , we were not going hungry !!
So who was in our crazy gang of solo 24hour runners !!
All of us been looked after by Lorraine ( Duane's wife ) .
When I put crazy gang I mean my extended family , we all look after each other & it's so nice to have brilliant friends with the same interests that you can help & support & most importantly have a good laugh with , we certainly keep each other entertained .
Us lot before the 12 o'clock midday start.The Race.
So what was my plan for my 5th 24 hour race ? I didn't really have one , as since my last 24 hour race in June I've had a on going shin injury ,a big thank you to www.rocktape.net for sorting me out with some Gb rocktape it was amazing and it stayed on the whole 24hours .
I've also had a nasty cough ( sorry for keeping you awake in the tent Kath with my coughing Friday night ) so I really had no pressure on me at all although I had a aim of how many laps I wanted to do 😉. (Yes I know I'm competitive )
The course is made up of 10k laps & there was a lot more Tarmac road sections than I expected , the first hill was at about 3k on road & was very gradual with a horrible leg sapping hill at 6k on grass which certainly slowed everyone down.
So this is how my race went :-)
I always start my ultra races listening to music to get my head in the right place and to concentrate on the first few hours and to relax , at the last 3 24 hour races I have worn a iPod but the battery life and the weather has killed 3 now , so I was lucky to be brought this awesome sony waterproof headphone mp3 and it kept me sane for the first 7 hours of the race .
I can highly recomend them and they are so comfortable but not to loud so you can still hear people or traffic around you.
Back to the race .
The race started at 12 midday on the Saturday & looking back I went a little bit to quick for the first 7 / 8 hours of the race but I was feeling good & sometimes you just have to go with it , for the first time in a 24hour race I was racing in my ultimate direction race vest so I didn't have to stop very often and I always had my drink & some food in it , I'm sure it looked like I was eating all the time but I find eating little bits often keeps my energy levels topped up and it certainly worked for me.
I have to comment on how good the 5k drink station was & the volunteers on here were awesome nothing was too much trouble & every lap they would fill my bottle up and have some cool goodies for you to eat , I have never done a ultra where they had a mini sweetie box with retro sweets in , to some this may not sound like much but to me it was brilliant & I couldn't wait to reach 5 k each lap , I was also told by the lads on it towards the end of the 24hr that I was cool and hardcore as no one else would eat this 
Yes you guessed it I had popping candy and blooming loved it , so Laura and Johny please keep this in for next years race, I'm sure some of the other runners wondered what the hell was going on when I was coming up behind them while eating this lol !! Let me point out I was taking this race serious but you can still enjoy your running and have a good laugh as you go.
Back to my race ,
I was really looking forward to the night stage as it's so peacful , so I took of my mp3 player ( this was for safety too ) & I put on some warmer Buff gear and headed off with my head torch on I was feeling a bit sick & I hoped this would pass quickly so I slowed down a bit & luckily after a 10 min sit down & a hot drink prepared by my brilliant support Lorraine I started to feel better,
The rain started quite early in the evening and thank god it didn't last to long as I got so cold really quickly & the next lap around I put on my omm waterproof jacket & my Buff balaclava .
This really kept me warm & snug & I'm really pleased that I packed it.
Please check out www.buffwear.co.uk
I must admit I felt the temperature change a shock to the system & I found it mentally quite tough running on my own in the dark , with just seeing the odd flash of a head torch now and then.
I think it was about 2am when I met up with Kath & David & it was brilliant to have some company for a couple of laps & we kept each other amused with silly stories & if anyone thought they were hallucinationing or going mad you were not when you heard someone who could of easily been mistaken for Terry Wogan yes David was doing his impersonations as we were running & I've never laughed so much in the early hours.
By 5 am I was literally falling asleep while running & I made the decision & so did David to have a 45min to a 1 hour power nap, this did the trick and when we awoke the next lap was so much easier & a hell of a lot faster.
It was lovely having someone else to run with & I was so proud with how David was doing as before this race the longest distance he had ever run was a marathon & he never moaned once and was loving every min of it with a smile on his face.
A true super ultra runner , who has the will power & strength to push & keep going when the going gets tough.
We continued running together until we met up with my dad on my 15th lap.
Luckily for me I got around the lap in time to get one more in & with a quick grab of chia charge drink & a original power cookie in hand I went out on my last lap. (Number 16.)
My last lap was very enjoyable & I got a nice pace going considering I had been running for 23 hours,
I was chuffed to bits with my 160k ok it's not my best for a 24hour race but I can honestly say it was the most enjoyable one with the added bonus of been on the podium ( I kept my 3rd place ) yes I am highly competitive but I feel the most important aspect of running is to enjoy it and that I did.
So how did the rest of my awesome Team Buff uk friends & family do.
Duane Aka Buffjedimaster did brilliant running 17 laps (170 k)
David Aka Smiler had the most impressive race to run 15 laps (150k) up until this weekend the furthest he had run was marathon distance. A awesome ultra runner in the making & we were all very proud of him.
Kath Buffy doddy did 14 laps (140k) to finish 4 and did great , ( next time both of us on the podium Kath )
And my dad buff daddy did 10 laps (100k) he ran brilliant considering he had a dodgy stomach Saturday morning.
A big thank you goes out to Lorraine for been our support at the race & she did an awesome job of looking after us all the whole 24hours.
A big thank you also to Buff® for there continued support & help it's much appreciated and it's a honour to run in the Team Buff uk kit. www.buffwear.co.uk
I brought moo & Duane brought squiggle they are now our good luck charms and part of our team , I ran with moo & Duane carried squiggle. These now come with us on our ultra adventures & so far they have worked well .
