Beyond Limits: The Cotswold Challenge and the Soul of Ultra-Marathons

Imagine conquering what you thought was your most demanding race, only to be blindsided by an even more relentless beast. That's exactly what happened to me with Race to the Tower – a 53-mile ultra-marathon through the undulating Cotswold Way. In this candid episode, I pull back the curtain on the raw and unvarnished truth of this epic endurance test. I compare it to my previous ultra challenges, like the Race to the Stones, and confess why, despite being shorter in distance, this one left me grappling with my every limit.

As I recount the trials of the terrain, from Gloucestershire to the majestic Broadway Tower, I also share my astonishment at the overwhelming number of applicants for this year's London Marathon and the contrasting experience of running the Manchester Marathon. This is more than just a story of physical feats; it's a tale of mental fortitude and the unyielding spirit of a marathoner. Whether you're a veteran runner or just lacing up, join me for a mix of inspiration, grit, and the inside scoop on these legendary races.

Thanks for listening. Keep on running.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

The race is on. The race is on. So let's get straight into this episode of 30 years of running marathons and in this episode I'm going to tell you about my toughest ever race, and it wasn't the furthest ever run, but it was the most brutal. But before we begin, I just want to comment on something. London Marathon has just been run and it's been a brilliant race, as always, fully supported, all sorts of runners running it First timers, experienced runners, charity runners I mean it's one of the most fantastic marathons in the world. But to get into it is so tough and if you listen to my previous episodes, you know I've only ever ran it once and I was lucky. It was the first marathon I ever did. Anyway, I just heard that for this year's ballot, over 800,000 people applied. It's the most people that ever applied for London Marathon and bear in mind you're looking at like only 50,000 getting in. So the chances of getting in. You know I'm not very hopeful, but you know that's because the race is so popular all over the world and it's going to get sold out like that. But even that surprised me 800 000 people. Anyway, I'm not holding my breath on this one.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Anyway, back to my toughest ever race. It's back in 2022 and it's a race called race to the tower and it's run by the same people who organize a race called race to the stones, which I'd done the year before and that was my first ultra and that was 100k or approximately 60 miles, and it well, I mean to say it was tough, as an understatement. Um, I really did struggle with it, but I was so proud that I managed to achieve it and, as I say it was, it was the toughest thing I've ever done. But little did I know that Race to the Tower the following year, in 2022, would be even tougher Because, based on distance, it shouldn't have been. Race to the Tower is actually 53 miles approximately, ok, but Race to the Stones is 100k or approximately 60 miles. Ok, I mean 53 miles, ok, still a long distance. It's still a double marathon. But I'm thinking, if I've, you know, if you've done the distance that is further, then surely you know this is going to be easier. But of course, I didn't take into effect, obviously, the elevation.

Speaker 1: 2:23

Now, race to the Tower is actually run in the uk. It's along a place called the cotswold way, southwest of england, and the cotswold way is a very hilly place, okay, the cotswold way goes for approximately just over 100 miles, so you're not running the whole of it, but you're running from a place called bird in the hand farm and it goes from. So you're not running the whole of it, but you're running from a place called Bird in the Hand Farm and it goes from. So you're running from the county of Gloucestershire to Worcestershire, ok, and you start off, as I say, in this place called White's Hill, bird Hill Farm, and you run to it's quite a touristy place the iconic Broadway Tower, which is a 65 foot high tower which just looks over the whole of the landscape. So the route takes you past many famous landmarks. So, for example, you go around the outskirts of Cheltenham, and Cheltenham is obviously where they held the Cheltenham Racing Festival. So Cheltenham Gold Cup's held there and festivals at cheltenham gold cups held there. You run past cooper's hill, which is famous for its cheese rolling event, where people from all over the world, funny enough, chases ball of cheese down this steep hill. Now, luckily we weren't running up or down this hill, we were just passing it, so that was fine. Um, so it goes from various different terrains and just it's just the elevation alone I didn't realize how steep the elevation was going to be. But you know, I'll put it into contrast, into the training that I did, because it wasn't the only race that I ran that year.

Speaker 1: 3:55

Um, I did my traditional, which because I've been getting into London Marathon. I've been running the Manchester Marathon in April, which you still get about 20,000 people. It's up in the north of England and it's far easier to get into. Normally you can get into Manchester Marathon. A lot of people who can't get to London Marathon will run Manchester Marathon. So that's what I did. I've been running it for the past few years and it's a great event. I go up there, stay for a few days. Sometimes friends are running it with me. It's a really, really flat course.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Unfortunately, this particular year I mean I was aiming for about three hours 45 minutes, which you know is a fast time unfortunately I had really bad leg pain and I really struggled towards the latter stages and I was setting my sights on. Well, if I can get under four hours, you know that that's still a good time, but I could see that slipping away from me and the last mile, as always in all these races, went on forever I still did in four hours four minutes. So you know a lot of people would be pleased with that time. So you know it wasn't wasn't too bad in the end and that was in April. Then in May I did the Bracknell half marathon race, which I've also run before, and I recovered from my injury really well, from the pain to my legs which I think had something to do with my shoes. I actually ran Bracknell half in an hour and 43 minutes, which you know based on the time of the Manchester Marathon. You know my pace was a lot quicker. This is just under eight minute mile per pace, seven minutes 56 seconds. So it was a lot quicker relatively to what I was running the Manchester Marathon. So I'd fully recovered from my injury now and you know I was really hopeful for Race to the Tower. So two weeks later, after the Bracknell Half, I then did an 18-mile run and I did 14 times up Gerrard's Cross Hill Now I mentioned Gerrard's Cross Hill before in my training in previous episodes and it's a third of a mile up this steep hill into Gerrard's Cross Hill. Now I mentioned Gerrard's Cross Hill before in my training in previous episodes and it's a third of a mile up this steep hill into Gerrard's Cross and as soon as you start on it it's steep. As soon as you start going, I mean, it just gets steeper and steeper. You're running alongside of the road and it's a bit sort of traily and that. So it's quite nice from that point of view not running on hard road, but you know, just to go up it once you struggle and I always struggle up the first time I go up it and from my house to the start of the hill is 4.4 miles. So even when I finish I've still got four miles to get back and it's not all flat. So it's really tough. It's really good for hill work, because I've not been doing any sprint work. So this, this hill work, you know, prepares me, and I was doing it because I was hoping it prepared me for races at Tower, because I knew the elevation. Obviously I didn't realize how bad the elevation would be, but I knew it was going to be bad. So 14 times up there and this is in relation you'll see the difference between what I was training at and the actual race itself. So 14 miles up Gerrard's cross hill, my total elevation was 2533 feet. Okay, now compare that. Okay, compare that. And this is how you can't be prepared enough. The actual race of the tally elevation recorded on my strava once I've done the race was 8000, okay, 8176 feet, and the most I'd done is 2,533 feet. But you know where I live. It's very difficult to duplicate the countryside, hills of the Cotswolds. There's no way I could get the hills there and, funny enough, when I was, because I took the car up and stayed in a hotel when I was driving I'd never been to the Cotswolds before. It's a beautiful part of the UK before. It's a beautiful part of the uk. Um, really, quite how can I say? It's very much what you imagine the picture box, you know the postcard type of an english village. You can imagine thatched cottages, little villages, english pubs, um, set out in the countryside, rolling. You know the green pastures of england. It's just beautiful and it's really old, ancient english villages and countryside, what you typically think of being england. So it's a beautiful place, quite an expensive place to live because obviously a lot of, a lot of people want to live in. It's such a beautiful area of the country but, as I said, when I was driving in there I could see all these hills and I'm thinking, you know this cotswold way is at the side of the road. I'm going to be running up and down those hills. Nothing prepared me for how hilly it was. I mean, you know this, this was no sort of you know, netherlands or amsterdam flat, you know. I mean we do have parts of the country here that are flat, for example like norfolk broads, that. But no, no, this certainly wasn't that. So compared to 2,533 feet, compared to 8,176 feet, there's a lot of difference. But obviously I didn't realize at the time, till I'd run the race, what the elevation would be so dramatic. So anyway, a few weeks later I ran a marathon, I ran a full marathon, and I did that in four hours 15 minutes. So that was 9 minute, 48 second pace. So that wasn't bad because I was literally running a marathon on my own around along the canal. So I'm running 26 miles on my own. I'm not running with other people, and it's very difficult to get a really fast pace and to keep motivated. To do 4 hours 15, which was only 11 minutes outside my Manchester marathon time, I was really pleased with. And then, three weeks before race to the tower, I decided to do one big race. So it's recommended by experts. Probably you don't need to do more. If it's a, it's 53 miles, I probably don't need to do more than 31 miles, because you do any more on your own like that, you've got more chance of injury. It's not going to give you any great benefit. So maybe 31 to 37 miles. I think before races stones I did like 37 miles was my longest. Anyway, I decided to do approximately 31 miles because I didn't want to, you know, push myself anymore and I did it three weeks before. So three weeks before the race gives me enough chance for my body to recover. But bear in mind where I would be running would be along the canal, so it'd be really flat compared to what I would be doing. But at least I'll get the distance in. It was a lovely route, so I'd run on the canal up towards denham lakes and then there'd be some main road that I'd run along as well, but obviously no hills. So it would be completely different. But you know to run 30 miles on 31 miles on your own, that's over a marathon distance. So you know that that'd be good and I ran it in five hours, 20. So it's like 10 minutes, 20 pace. Now if I could keep that up all the way through Race to the Tower. I'd be really happy but, as you'll see later on, there was no way I was going to keep up that pace. I mean Race to the Tower, you can do it, for example, in two days. So you can do literally, you know, more or less, a marathon one day, a marathon the next day, similar to races stones, and they provide you with campsites and you know, so you, that you've got the campsite there, which are already pitched up tents and they've got like a bar and they've got the refreshments and everything and that. Or, like me, if you're really mad, you just go through it, you know, straight through. Or you can walk it straight through, you can walk it over two days. There's all different types of abilities and that, and also see later on, I was practically walking it anyway. I. I really didn't realize how tough it would be. Um, just say, you know, I did that 31 miles in five hours, 20, 10 minute, 20 pace. So that that was really good, that was a good time. Now, if I could get that all the way through races tower, I'd be really happy. Unfortunately didn't quite turn out like that. So, as I say, I, I drove up there the night before, stayed in a place called Chipping Camden, so not far um from the finish, and I wanted, I wanted to be near, uh, the finish. So, um, what I did was I got they provide shuttle buses or shuttle coaches to the start. So I had to get up really early because I I think the first shuttle went about an hour four or five o'clock, something really really you know, early in the morning. So I remember I think I got up about 3, 30 I think. I left the hotel about four o'clock and it was, it was still dark and it was eerily quiet in the hotel. And I'm running out there to the car and I go to open the car and suddenly I can't find my car keys and they're not in my pockets. And I'm like, and of course then I start to panic, and you don't want this on race day. So I retrace my steps back looking around for the keys and there is a receptionist there and I tell him. I said, you know, I'm just looking for my keys. You haven't seen them. He said no, anyway, I walked back upstairs and there they were, on one of the steps. Thankfully they must have just slipped out. My pocket, says me, I'm already panicking before the start. Anyway, I get in the car and it's dark and I don't really know the country roads, so I'm trying to follow the directions to this farm and that, and I find it it's pitch black. Luckily I've got stewards there and they direct me into this field and I haven't got a clue where I'm going. Anyway, you park up and literally where the buses go, it's literally just a few yards away from where you can't park the car. But I'm thinking to myself how am I going to know where my car is when I'm, you know, when I come back at the finish and I'm disorientated, and how am I going to be able to find the car? So I'm thinking well, by the time I come back, it's going to be least of my worries. All right, by the time we get on the shuttle bus, it starts to get a bit light and we get on this shuttle. So we're queuing up for the shuttle bus. It starts to get a bit light and we get on this bus and, as I said in my previous episode when I was going to race this day, it's very much. It's very quiet, very sombre on the bus going to the start. It's like we're going to the gallows because people are thinking about the race in hand. And as the bus comes up and bear in mind, we're going down these country roads, this big, big coach, these drive-overs, can get it through these narrow lanes. And I remember seeing Broadway Tower, this massive tower, in the daylight. Little did I know it'd be the last time I would see it in the daylight. That's another story. But this massive tower just protruding out of the countryside, out of the hills, and it was massive and I was looking at it and I took a photograph of it actually and I did post to my friends. I said, well, I mean hopefully I'll see this again later today, but you know I'm not holding my breath. And they said, no, you've got to think positive. And a friend of mine actually gave me a temporary tattoo and it was a temporary tattoo of races tower and it actually showed the elevation. It was a temporary tattoo of the elevation of the course and I'm looking at it, I'm thinking, if that is the elevation, I'm really gonna struggle. So we passed this broadway tower and I'm thinking, well, I hope I'm gonna see you later. And I said I was hoping to, you know, still see it in daytime unfortunately didn't quite turn out that way and I remember the coach trip just taking forever and sometimes the coach driver would struggle because we're going down these narrow country lanes. You have to wait for cars to come up and I'm thinking, oh, thankfully I'm not driving it because I haven't got through some of the lanes, but it was just how long it took to get the coach from the finish to the start. And I'm thinking we're gonna have to run back all this way. And, as I said in my previous podcast episode for race to the stone, it's like basically, they're saying well, if you want to see your car again, you're gonna have to run all the way back to collect it. And this is how I felt. I thought this, this is crazy. And you're looking at elevation and you feel the elevations coach goes up and down, thinking this, this is just crazy. You know why am I doing it all in one day? And I get to the start and you know pre-nerves are panicking and you know I'm just thinking to myself what have I let myself in for? So I'm looking at the time I've got to start and I'm stripping down, trying to keep hydrated. I've got my, my trail pack. That I'm, that I'm going to be wearing and I'm just trying to remain calm and focused. And obviously everybody around me is, you know, feeling the same. They might not trying to show it, but all feeling the same. And I remember lining up. This time we're all together because back when I did race to the stones, it was social distancing so we were let off. You know, one at a time we're impaired. At this time we're on the line together and we set off and yeah, it was. Uh, I really didn't know what I was letting myself in for. And the, the first mile I did. I remember the first mile I did something in like 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 20, I think. The first mile was I was expecting to do that a bit quicker. In fact that'd be my fastest ever mile, because the undulation, I mean it was just crazy. I mean the hills, it was tough. I mean I went from like 10 minutes for the first mile I was going down to 15 minutes, 16 minutes, it was just because the elevation, I mean I wasn't really having any injury to speak of, I was struggling on the elevation. The hills, it was just constant hills, maybe not sort of such one big hill, but just constant hills. And you know I stopped at every pit stop. I stopped at the first pit stop and I didn't want to stop too long, so I had a drink and a sandwich and then I carried on again and I didn't sit down because I was worried if I sat down I'd never get back up again. I didn't sit down because I was worried if I sat down I'd never get back up again. And some of the pit stops you'd have to go way off course to get back in again, but some of them you literally had to go off to go to the checkpoint to come back in again. And I remember getting to 13 miles. And it's funny because the course went from real countryside. It went from where you complete no man's land didn't see anybody to where you were coming onto main roads and I think it was about the 13 mile point and we were running up and it was on tarmac and we had to turn around and go back up again. And yeah, I, I remember coming up. I went to turn the point. I don't know whether it's my running style, because obviously in the past I've had injuries to my knee, I've had a big cyst or meniscus, and maybe I looked funny, I didn't feel too bad, but it really knocked my confidence when I'd run the run and say, oh, that guy's absolutely broken. And I didn't realise until I turned you know, turned around the corner past him. He was actually talking about me and that is not. And I didn't realize until I turned you know, turned around the corner past him. He was actually talking about me and that is not something I wanted to hear. You know, I was 13 miles in. You know, I still had another 40 miles to go and he felt I was already broken. I didn't feel particularly broken. Ok, I wasn't going the fastest, but I didn't feel broken. But by him saying that, it really knocked my confidence. And then, of of course, my mindset then is completely transformed from being positive to thinking about the trouble I have had with my knees, the torn meniscus which had years ago, which I never thought I'd be able to run again, the bake assists, and I'm thinking should I really be doing this? Maybe this elevation is too much, because already in those first 13 miles the elevation would be more than race to the stones anyway. I tried to ignore him and I I just kept going. I went past him and I just kept going him, and then we came onto this really big hill and it was literally along the main road and a lot of runners were walking and it literally did get you to just start walking. You couldn't. It just went up and up and up and then it turned and then it went up again and you were having to walk it. I had to walk it and this is really what cost you time, not just being in the pit stops but these walking sections. So for some of our minute miles were going down, you know, to 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes, which obviously included the pit stops, because the time doesn't stop just because you're in the pit stops. But you know the time, the times are really going down. I mean, I'm just just looking at my records here. I mean, you know, you know we're going down to 35 minutes, even 40 minutes per mile, because some of the sections you really had to walk and it was, you know. And then, just as I'd get into the halfway point, because some, some sections you're running a lot of times with people, other times you're not and I got into a nice rhythm after that 13 miles and I got to 20 miles and I started running again and there were sections you know where you could get into group. I was in a good rhythm, I was crossing these fields and I was on my own and it was coming up to the halfway point I think it was 25 miles and we were told always to follow the arrows. So there'll be these red arrows and as there was nobody in front of me, nobody behind me, I literally had to find the route for myself. So I was following these red arrows and they were saying if you don't see a red arrow for a while, then you've gone the wrong way. Anyway, I couldn't. I was coming across this field and I couldn't see any way to go across the field. So I couldn't see an exit across the field. So I assumed there was this gate. I assumed it was down to the left. So I went down to the left, went through this gate and it was lovely. I was just running all the way down this steep hill. I thought this is really relaxed and I've been going for quite a while and I hadn't seen an arrow and I'm thinking, oh no, don't tell me I've gone the right, I can't have gone the wrong way. But then, as I said, if you haven't seen an arrow, a red arrow, for a while, then you have gone the wrong way. So I thought I'd better go back up. So I was still running at this point that the hill wasn't too too steep for me not to run. So I was running back up this steep hill. But I'm expending all this energy and I'm thinking I really don't need this. But then when I got to the top of the hill and I saw these runners running past me, I breathed a sigh of relief because even though I'd made a mistake and I probably added it was almost a mile I added on. I knew I was back on the right track. I should have gone straight across the field, not left. And considering I'd already run races, stoned and was fine, I'm thinking, jason, you absolute idiot and that's all you need, you know after you run 25 miles. So I carry on, follow the run in front of me and it's literally just just a mile. Um to the, to the halfway mark. And the trouble is the halfway mark. It's great because you've got the halfway distance, but then you're very tempted to stay there because you have to run through the archway to record your time and you come through there and you can smell the cooked food. You know, you can see that there's a bar there, there's refreshments. Runners have stopped because you know they're doing it over two days. The tents are there and it's very much like a glastronomy atmosphere and you're thinking, oh, I could say I could stay here. And I did stop just to pick up refreshments. But I was, and and some food as well, but I was very wary that you know, I've got to carry on and it's very, it's very depressing because literally, you are so tempted and you have to ignore the devil and you just have to carry on. And it's such a big site where the halfway mark is, so you leave it and you're just going off to the left there and you're just going off in the distance and there was nobody in front of me. There was just this, this pathway, and I made sure I was going the right direction this time and I was. But I went, I went down this pathway on my own and I walked to start within a bit of a canton and I started running. And it was just me, on my own through these fields. I'm thinking, oh, wow, I've got over. You know, another 26 miles, another marathon to run, and you know I could have done without running that extra mile. But there you go anyway. So I carried on and I was on my own for a while, for a while, get my teeth in on my own for a while, and there were some great highlights. Um, I remember we ran past, uh, cooper's hill, uh, which is great, which is where they do the cheese rolling, where people from all over the world come and literally chase down a ball of cheese down a hill. Luckily, we didn't have to run up the hill, just ran beside it. And I remember literally being on top of the well, we come up this elevation and you look down to left and all you could see was Cheltenham. And I was running with this guy and he had the walking sticks and he was going to, he was going at a good pace even though the walking sticks, and he'd run this race many times before. And he said to me so if you look to the left, that's Cheltenham. And he said if you look down there, there's Cheltenham race course. And there in distance was Cheltenham race course, where the whole, obviously the world famous Cheltenham racing festival, which you got the Cheltenham gold cup and this. This was great. You know I was, I was getting to see the tourist sites, so and it was, I mean it looked just like you know, a little speck of dust. It was so far down in the distance, but I mean that's how high up we were and it really was heavenly. We were so high up in the sky. It was beautiful, beautiful, and we ran past there and then we ran through fields where literally there were just horses roaming free, sheep running free. I remember running through this one field and obviously the sheep had been at it, because one of the I didn't get lost this time, I will say that but one of the arrows you could see it thrown to one side, the sheep had been attacking, it had been eating it, and it literally wasn't there, but luckily, you know, it wasn't the main one. So it was an arrow that had been in the middle of the field, but I knew I had to keep going across the field, so it wasn't a problem. I soon saw another one, but it made me laugh and then and then I was coming around this. Once I got through the field I took up this really steep I'm talking. It wasn't very far, but really steep, like it's like a prepopis, how can I put it? I can't get my teeth in Prepopis, I can't I can't find the word for it Basically a steep edge cliff and I was having to climb up it. I said it's a run next to me. I said this is more like rock climbing. You know, it's not exactly running. So, even though this was a running event you know people do run it and I signed up for running it. I soon learned that, very much like after I did my first event, race to the Stones, that you can't run it all, and even less so than Race to the Stones. This was even more so about walking and that's why a lot of my mile times were, you know, 30 minutes, 20 minutes. This was a case of just conquering the distance, but I had to remind myself, you know, to enjoy the moment I was in and there were some really, really peaceful moments and you know I I'm not the most adventurous of people. So, as I say, a lot of time you're running with other runners, but then there was a time when I was running through these narrow under bushes pathways and it's pitch black. It now got pitch black and I was expecting to finish this in the daytime, but no, there was no way that was going to happen. And I remember running in the pitch black and you're running in these narrow, muddy pathways and bushes are covering you and all you've got to guide you are these little I forget what they're called the little light things that hang down from the trees, that they've hung up for you to see. So little light sticks, that's it. Light sticks is the word. And they're hanging down from trees the purple ones, red ones and I just had to follow them up because it was only me. I was out in the middle of nowhere and I looked up at the sky and I've never seen the sky so clear. You could see all the stars and all I could think about was my late nan up there in heaven looking down on me. And I've never felt so close to my nan. I never felt it never. It's a different, difficult feeling to describe, but I never felt so close to my nan, to to heaven. It was just. It was so, so peaceful. And you know, I still remember that moment now and if I could bottle it, it was just. You know, whether you're religious or not, it was very spirituality, it was just. You know, you found peace, peace, it was just, you could hear the silence. It was just beautiful, beautiful, and I was just thinking of my nan at this point in time and I wasn't, I wasn't scared of being lost. All I could think was you know, now will guide me through, along with, obviously, these little light sticks which I was hoping for. So I came to this section and and then I was running to I think it was a cornfield and I couldn't see anybody behind me. I had my lights on now, obviously, but I couldn't see. You know, I was just following the track in front of me and I couldn't see any arrows now. So, once again, I was worried about getting lost. I was looking behind me, just hoping to see the lights of someone in the distance. You know that I was on the right track and then I did see these lights and I sort of slowed myself down because I hoping they'll catch up with me. And they did catch up with me. I was three or four runners and I totally said to them I'm glad you're here, because I was thinking I was going the wrong way. Um, and this is what happened in these races when you're a long stretch and you don't see anybody for a while, you wonder if you're on the the right track. But thankfully I was. And then you go from this beautiful peace and quiet of the wilderness to, even though it was late at night, to the bright lights I say bright lights, but of the high street. And I pelled up with this one guy and we were walking by now, um, because it was. It was that the, this event had really drained us and we decided to walk through the high street and there was the lights of the shops, obviously the shops that were now closed, but there were lights on in there, lights of the pubs. You could hear the pubs, you could see just the lights of civilisation. And we were walking through the high street. We weren't far from the finish now, and it was nice to be in a bit of civilisation, actually, because you know we'd gone through through the course. You go through many villages where people are there to support you because they know what's going on Beautiful houses. You pass beautiful villages. I say you've gone through the rural sections where you're completely out in the middle of nowhere, on your own, where you you've got this peace and quiet. Then you're with runners and you're not with runners. You're up and down. I remember running up and down through the fields and that, with runners, um, and you chat and you just, it's just the bonding experience, because you're all in this together and time is irrelevant, you're just trying to get through the course. So we're walking through this high street. And then we got to the high street and then we had to turn up and it was only a few miles to go and we were both looking at our watches and even the guy I was running with, he had got lost part way along the route as well, so his timing was out as well, but he was saying the same thing as me these miles seem to be all because he was working in mars too. These miles seem to be a heck of a long, longer than we expected. And then we had to turn and then we we came, turned into the field and then we started running a bit and it was complete pitch black in the field. We could see the arrows, we could see we're on the right way, but it was going up again. So back we were going uphill again through this field and eventually, you know, he just started to go off in front of me. I couldn't keep up with him, you know. I said my goodbyes, I said I'll see him later. So he was going up these hills and that, and you have to go through these kissing gates. And these kissing gates were all the way along the course and obviously you have to stop and open them. And I forget how many kissing gates there were along this course. Something crazy, was it about a hundred? Something ridiculous, the amount of kissing gates you had to open. And so, even coming into this field, we had to open the kissing gate, go up and up this field. So I let him go off and then once again, I was on my own and it was like a two, two sections of field, what three to one section? Another kissing gate again. And he was off by now and it's pitch black. I'm thinking I'm dying to go to the toilet, but just spend a penny around the corner. There's nobody around, no one behind there couldn't see any lights. I quickly spent a penny and then I had to go all the way up and, from what I gathered, this was like the final, final hill. I really struggled but I thought come on, jason, this is the last, last leg. And I'm getting up there because I was counting the kissing gates as I'm going along, I'm thinking I'm sure the next one's going to be last kissing gate, and I was on my own now he had long gone in front of me and I get up there and I get to this kissing gate and I, like I stopped to walk through this kisser gate, close the kisser gate. As I come around the corner, I get just the most unbelievable surprise, the most spectacular sight I'd ever seen. From the darkness of the field I get this spectacular sight of this tower, which is the Broadway Tower, and in some ways it was better, even better, seeing it in the dark than it would have been in daylight. It was all lit up, this beautiful, beautiful tower, and it just protruded out and it just, it, just. You know, oh, it was just amazing and for me it was a recognition. I've made it. I knew I hadn't quite made it, but I could hear civilization and I'm like come on, now you've got to run, because round the corner that's where the finish line is going to be. So as I come up through the kissing gate, I just marvel at this tower and the tower spurs me to get a move on. It gives me that extra boost. So I'm running around the corner and I can hear civilization. And I can hear civilization, I can see, I can sense the finish line. So I'm like right now put on a sprint finish because there's going to be cameras there at the end. There's no one in front of me, no one behind me. Go for it, you're there. And I just literally sprinted around the corner and I could see the cameraman behind the finish line and I just sprinted across the line arms aloft, so I could get this lovely photograph, which is still after the day, of me crossing the line. And I get through the line and you know, I just collapse at the end. I just, you know, I've got my hands on my legs and I'm like that's it. Obviously, I stopped the watch as soon as I can and all I remember was the guy saying was there wasn't many people around. The guy was just saying to me OK, get your bags. Oh, if you want hot meals and drinks, is over there in the tent. And I was like that's it, what do I do now? And I hadn't bothered to put a sweatshirt on or anything, and by now it was late at night. It was quite cold, but but you know, I just wanted a good, good picture of me, my running number on and in my t-shirt crossing line. But I started to get really cold quite quickly and I wasn't sure what to do first, whether to get some food, whether to go to the bag drop to get my stuff to warm up. I mean, it wasn't many people around and you know I I looked at my watch and it'd taken me 17 hours 47 minutes. I mean, I never thought it's going to take me that long. It took me longer than races of stones, which I think I did. What was that in what? 15 hours, something like that, or 16 hours. And this was a shorter distance, but it was just the elevation, it was just crazy. So the marquee was just the tent where the food and refreshments were. I thought I'd just walk into there and the first person I met was the runner who had been running the last mile or so with up the hill, who'd left me for dust. The first thing he said to me was he said that last mile is longer than a mile, isn't it? And I looked at my watch and I'm thinking, yeah, that last mile, I said to him. I said, yeah, you're right, definitely that last mile is longer than a mile. He was already sat down eating. So I I went and got some pasture and I sat down and, uh, he'd been there for a little while, but, yeah, he said to me that last mile is definitely longer than a mile, and I couldn't agree more with him. So I just literally sat there with my medal on. I took a few selfies, as you do, and I was starting to get really cold, but I think I had a cup of coffee and I ate my pasta and you're in that sort of sense, because you've been going all day, you really don't know what to do. It was night. It was nice to see a fellow runner I'd been running with and he was sitting there enjoying his meal. I think he had family and friends there with him and there was me and I was just sat on my own. But I was just, I was just like so relieved to have finished it taking me far longer than I expected. And I walked out into the dead of night and I'm thinking right, bag drop, go and get my, my bag. And I got my bag and I'd already purchased in anticipation a nice hoodie that they do a race to the tower hoodie, and boy did I need it. I was getting so cold now. So I put my tracksuit bomb on, took my hoodie on, took again a photograph of that with the medal, with my hoodie, and, yeah, I was just. I was just so relieved and I thought, well, look, this was early hours of the morning now. I thought, well, there's that, there's no rush, make sure I'm fully refreshed before I even try and find the car. And I managed to find the car. Okay, it was just at the field, uh, next to the finish line, um, but I made sure I was. I was fully refreshed. You know that I could make the 15 minute car drive back to the hotel and, just like racing stones, I got back to the hotel. I was such a, uh, a runner's high when I got back to the hotel. I was such a runner's high when I got back to the hotel. There was literally nobody around at the hotel and I just went back to my room. I think I, as always, do a nice cold bath, but I couldn't really sleep. And I remember next day when I had my breakfast, I was walking, okay, and there was a few runners who stayed in the hotel as well, so you could always see the runners who had done the event because they were really really struggling like I was and I think that was pointed out to me once or twice but I wasn't struggling as bad as some of them once or twice, but I wasn't struggling as bad as some of them. And, funny enough, a friend of mine who lived locally, she had actually, uh, run races a tower and I think she did something crazy like 14 hours, a lot quicker than me. But she said to me, she said, oh, I'm just down the road, we ought to meet up. So she and her husband, she came over to my hotel and we celebrate with a few drinks and she had a race to the tower hoodie on as well and I think she's run all three of the series. She's run race to the stones, race to the tower, race to the king, and if you run all three you get a special hoodie. So I've now run two of the series race to the stones and race to the tower. And I and I say race to the tower with 8,176 feet elevation is by far the toughest, wasn't as far, but it was by far the toughest. But you know, the scenery was absolutely beautiful. And I said to my friend, I said you live in the most beautiful part of the world, absolutely scenic, said yes, we're very lucky to live where we do. But you know she found it tough as well. But I think, as I say, I think she did about 14 hours a terrific time, and she finished it in daylight. So she saw the tower in daylight, but some ways, because I've always seen the tower in daylight before I went. Sometimes I think to myself I'm glad I saw it in the darkness, I'm glad I experienced that, that peaceful time, that navigating through the dark with the light sticks, that, that beautiful night sky, the. You know the tranquility of being out there in the darkness and then seeing the tower all lit up. So you go from that peaceful, pitch blackness to the, that, the prize that you're waiting for, which is the broadway tower, you know you've made it home. You saw it in the daylight, the beginning of the day. You saw it at night time, at the end of the day. And I, you know, a few years ago I never thought I could run an ultra marathon. I thought, you know, my nan always used to say you know, a marathon was tough and it is 26 miles. What you'd think of me running a double marathon in a day and, yes, I would like to have done it fast. Of course I would have done it and people have done it fast. Of course I would have done it and people have done it fast a lot, my friend. But you know, some people did it over two days and I was so relieved that next day my friend and I could sit and relax because we knew there were still people out there on the trail running it or even walking it. But it's not about the time. You know the fact that I've achieved, and that's two ultra marathons I've done now and Now that's two ultra marathons I've done now and I've always said that the marathon is my favourite race. In some ways I'm getting more and more keen on running these ultra marathons, partly because there really is no pressure on you. You know, it doesn't matter what ability you are, you can run them. And if you had injuries before, like me, I mean I was, you know, when that guy at 13 miles said that guy's broken, because I must have looked like I was really struggling and maybe that's just my running style. But you know, I've had these injuries torn meniscus in my knee and bacosis. But I try to keep going when I can, because you know there might be a day comes when I can't do these races. But I think everybody's got the ability inside them to run these. I'm not saying it's your first race, but you know, you work your way up. You work your way up from the park runs to the 10Ks, to the half marathons, to the marathon and running these trail races completely, as I found out, completely different from running a marathon. You're not doing so much more running, you have to walk, but then you're enjoying the journey. It's not all about the destination and you've got the camaraderie of others and I'll say, it's not all about the time, it's just finishing it. And I look back now and in fact I remember the, the final pit stop, the final pit stop, um, there was a uh. One of the volunteers said to me, said, would you like a cup of tea? And it's like it's very rarely I'll get someone make me a cup of tea. So I said okay, and I I made the dreadful mistake of sitting down because I hadn't sat down the other pit stops, and I sat down and I had this, this cup of tea, and I think I had a sandwich and a banana just to fuel myself up for the last stretch. I think think a bag of crisps as well, salt in the crisps, just to, to you know, stop me from getting cramps. And yeah, I just, it was only five miles to go. So I thought it was only five miles to go. It's not far to go. So I thought, you know, have my tea, have my sandwich, crisps, and that I get up to go and I'm staggering to get even out the pit stop area and the official is really concerned. You know the volunteer saying to me are you all right, are you going to make it? And I'm thinking to myself there is no way you're going to stop me now. It's only five miles. I say only five miles. Five miles on a trail race is tough, especially on this sort of race. But I'm thinking I'll come all this way if I have to cruelty and I will. But I really struggled out of that pit stop and he was probably really concerned for me. But I thought no one's pulling me back and I made sure I got out there as quickly as I could because I didn't want him pulling me back. I didn't want them thinking I couldn't do it. I didn't want them thinking he's going to injure himself, come back. So I managed to clear out of his way as quickly as I could, out of the distance, out of his sight, and once I got going I was fine. I kept going and, as I said, I met up with runners and that last run I met up with and I struggled through but you know, only five miles to go, I was going to do it. Boy was I going to do it. And you know, these races are more about the mindset and, yeah, I absolutely love doing these trail runs. Now, obviously, at the moment I've been injured. So I was supposed to be running race to the king, which is one of the the races in the series this year, but unfortunately I've not done the training to be able to do that. Um, at the moment I've suffered a slight injury because I did a, a park run a couple of weeks ago and it's my fastest ever park run, but unfortunately I fell over just on the final stretch. It's my local park, I know well and ironically, I was wearing my trail shoes, which you know figure that one out, and it wasn't even wet and I slipped on the final bend. But, runners being who they are, straight away they stopped and they said you know, are you okay? But of course I just I just sort of bounced and got straight back up again. As soon as they realized I was going to keep on running, they started sprinting off as well because they they thought, crikey, he means business and I do when I'm that close, was on the final bend and I did my fastest ever park run for the year. I think it's 26 minutes, uh, 18, and my previous one was 26, 45, and I just picked a woman at the line and she'd been a woman who stopped for me and she said to me she said you're okay, said that probably cost you a couple of seconds. I said I know, but I was quite happy because I still done my fastest part run and I was fine. A couple of days later I did three miles but then afterwards I think, um, maybe it was the adrenaline that kept me going got a bit of a pain in my right leg and the knee, which is obviously the knee where I've had the tourmeniscus and the bacosis. So I'm taking it easy at the moment, but I've got no marathons lined up at the moment. I've got a few 10Ks lined up and I'd like to get back to doing part runs again, but hopefully, touch wood, things will be okay. But yeah, going back to race to the tower, it's something I believe anybody can do. You work you out to it, you have the right mindset and it's beautiful because you see beautiful parts of the countryside. You've got the camaraderie of runners and that's why I love running more than anything. It's the camaraderie of the runners, like when I said when I ran that park, when I fell over, people are always quick to help you and as soon as you get up again, they're very competitive with you. But no, runners are great. It doesn't matter what ability you are. Runners will always help you out because we're all in the same boat, and even more so when you do these uh, gigantic, uh, trail runs. But yeah, race to the tower, it was my toughest ever race. It probably won't be my toughest ever, I'm I'm sure in the future I'm going to be doing races that will push me even further to my limits, but that's a good thing about running you're always pushing your own limits. It's not about what anybody else can do, it's about what you can do. I hope for many more years to come I will be continuing to push, my, push my limits, and that's the great thing about running. You know it doesn't matter. You know what level you are. You can always, you know, push yourself to the max, and that that is literally why I love running. And I'm not holding my breath for London Marathon next year, because I think, with 800,000 people applying, I've got very slim chance, obviously, of getting in. You've got to be in it to win it. But you know it's not the end of the world. You know, if you've entered the London Marathon, don't worry about if you don't get in, because there are many other great races out there and that's the great thing about running. There's so many fantastic races out there you can do. London marathon is not the be all and end all. Okay, it's probably one of the greatest races in the world and I've been lucky to do it once. But there are many other races you can do that will give you that same wonderful experience. So don't be disheartened if you don't get into london. Look at other races. There are other races you can do and you'll get into london one day, I'm sure. But just look at other races, because there are other races, um, you can do. So we'll see what happens as regards the london marathon, I think they let you know. I don't know, is it in a few weeks? I don't know the exact dates, but yeah, I think they send you an email so soon. Find out. So I'm not holding my breath, but there are plenty of other marathons that that you can do and that I probably will do. So that's next year anyway. For this year I've got plenty more races coming up, which I'll tell you about in future episodes, but I'll leave it there for now and I look forward to speaking to you on the next episode of 30 years of running marathons. Thank you.