Harrier Smashes Race to the Stones

Race to the Stones

Do an Ultra, Graham, you’ll love it!

…they weren’t wrong. Could have done with it being about 10 degrees cooler, but what an awesome day. Started off in Lewknor at about 17°C, determined to get the bulk of the distance behind me before the day’s peak heat.

Decided I’d take no chances and stay as long as I needed to at each pitstop, dunking my hat in water, and topping up my flasks with electrolytes / sugary drinks before setting off again.

Saw Daisy & my parents at Goring for a sock & t-shirt change, then met Jon on the climb out of Streatly, who joined until Wantage. Jon’s collection of ice, ice lollies, and *dreadful* jokes kept my mind off the heat as the temperature and terrain climbed. Hugely grateful for the tips on posture and reminders to keep eating – especially grateful for the ice!

Stopped for 25mins at the halfway point to cool down in the shade and get as many calories into my body as possible while trying not to think about how close I was to home. Once my eyeballs had stopped sweating, i cracked on for 5k before seeing Daisy & my parents for another sock & t-shirt change. Kevin was on standby with an ice lolly, a telephoto lens a beaming grin.

Met Amie at the top of Gramps Hill, and she joined through Sparsholt Firs (where we saw Jon for more ice & ice lollies!), all the way to White Horse Hill, where we saw Daisy. Amie left me with some running poles, which were perfect for taking some of the weight off my already battered knees.

Hey, only 37km to go, and only 20km until seeing Daisy & my parents again. These were probably the most gruelling kilometres. I’d taken my eye off the ball, and while I was drinking A LOT, my calorie intake had dropped right off. Trying to cram crisps and haribo into a full, sloshing stomach was getting me nowhere, but Rennies saw me through! A little sit at the next pitstop (71km), and some ******* delicious watermelon, and I felt like I might be able to take a few more steps. I’m not entirely sure what happened for the next couple of hours, but soon enough I rounded a corner to hear my name being cheered on, and not a second too soon. Daisy had packs of food, which didn’t touch the side. I had no idea just how hungry I’d got. Managed to keep going to the other side of the village (~84km), and I knew I’d have one last family check-in and one last pitstop before the finish line. At this point, the sheer bloody-mindedness had set in, and absolutely nothing was going to keep me from the finish line.

Some tears, some swearing, and a hell of a lot of haribo reminded my legs that they could actually do a bit more than shuffle along. Plus, the temperature had dropped towards the mid-20s, which was nice.

A beautiful sunset and the faint twinkling lights of the finish line provided the last little kick I needed: legs moving, poles pushing, eyes fixed on the horizon.

Annoyingly, the route takes you past the finish line, around a cone in the centre of the Avebury stones (Race to the Cones, anyone? 👀), but my watch was telling me the big 100 was rapidly approaching.

I heard a run-fluencer behind me telling his followers he was going to overtake “this last person before the finish”… I had other plans. Managed to push every last ounce of strength into my legs and CROSSED THE LINE.

100km? Completed it.

Couldn’t have done it without the truly fantastic support – thank you so very much!