Chase Half Marathon 14th October 2018
I donāt get out much.
Iām not a shut in or anything, itās just that when you have two youngish kids and your wife works shifts social engagements tend to involve kids parties, Beaver and Cub drop offs and parents evenings. With that in mind, when Mrs.S and I were invited to our friends 40th birthday party we quickly arranged to dump the kids on their grandparents and put the date in our diary. About two weeks before we realised weād also booked to run the Chase Half. There was no way we were going to pass up a night out so after a late night, great food, too many beers and an AMAZING band we found ourselves parked in a wet and muddy field in the Dorset Village of Sixpenny Handley.
It was raining, it was cold, my head was hurting and I was filling the car with some incredibly beery smelling farts. We collected our race numbers and sheltered in the village hall waiting for the race briefing. Iāve been running White Star Running races for about a year now and they have a reputation for being one of the friendliest, most supportive race companies youād ever want to run with. Waiting for the start I met a few friends Iāve been lucky enough to meet at WSR races. Kate, who ran with me at the Summer sessions back in August (and got me through to the finish of the race after I bonked at 22 miles and started vomiting). And Mike who I also met at the summer sessions. These guys are proper ultrarunners and had both completed the Chase Marathon the day before which came in at over 30 miles!
We said hello to a few other Lonely Goats in the hall before heading out into the rain for the start of the race. I was quite glad to get out because I was seriously gassy and there were too many people around to start tooting.
The start went off great, in true WSR style every single one of us missed the first turn. We had gone less than a Kilometre when one of the race admin trucks flew past, stopped the lead runner and turned us all around. I was giggling as weād suddenly gone from being at the back of the pack to being pretty close to the front. It only lasted about 30 seconds though, as the faster runners behind us closed the gap and we headed onto the first part of the course.
Mrs.S and I donāt usually run races together. Various health reasons mean itās difficult for her to maintain fitness but she actually does a better job at this than she realises. Unfortunately, a late night beforehand was never going to play in our favour! The first 5 miles of the race were pretty much uphill and miles 2 to 3 were pretty steep. Lots of trail Touretteās began to issue from the Mrs and I realised it was going to be a long day. Her particular condition means she can find it twice as hard to perform a physical activity than an otherwise healthy person and I frequently remind myself this when I run. Knowing that this is twice as hard for her really helps to bring my own issues into context. When I think āThis is shitā I need to remember it goes double for her and I have to admire her determination and pure bloody minded stubbornness.
We reached the first aid station just before the four mile mark. WSR aid stations are awesome. If you usually run roads youād probably just get a water stop but here we got water, squash, pick and mix sweets, cake and cocktail sausages. After gorging we headed back out.
The Chase is an out and back race. Basically once you hit the halfway point you are going back almost the way you came. We started seeing runners around the 5-6 mile mark and did our best to stay right out of their way. These guys were so quick! I think it was at about this point my beery, long duration farting must have stopped. This probably upset Mrs.S as she could no longer complain about it. At mile 6 we turned off the main drag and started the outer loop back. This was mainly downhill and quite technical for about a mile. We really were going slow but our trail shoes are pretty darn grippy so we were actually able to move faster on the down and were able to catch up to the people whoād been quite far ahead. We both really enjoyed this down slope, itās amazing the difference a good pair of trail shoes can make.
At the bottom of the hill we turned left towards the Village of Berwick St John. I paused for a pic here as this is where we bought our Viszla (Rila the TwatDog) from.
We were well and truly in a valley now and mile 8-9 we began the steep climb back up the hill. This hill was a real pisser! Long and steep but it could have been a lot worse. As we reached a junction we were met by a load of runners coming back at us. Theyād taken a wrong turn and gone god knows how far before realizing and turning back. Bloody glad we met them as we were about to head down the same track! After a very long and sweary climb we reached the top and moved along the ridge top to the Lovestation. A WSR Lovestation is basically an aid station but with booze and they had some bloody amazing Cranbourne Chase cider. While we were waiting we learned that a runner had collapsed at mile one and had needed CPR and and ambulance. Heād been given CPR by two lovely ladies, one named Carolyn who had continued afterwards and was grateful to learn he was alive and safe in Poole hospital. Itās interesting to note. Our missing the first turn was a mistake but if the runner who had collapsed hadnāt been caught up in it he wouldnāt have been on the road and so close to the medical team when it happened. That mistake could well have been a contributing factor to his survival. That, the quick thinking of the two ladies who stopped and the fantastic organisation of the whole WSR team who really do pile on the first aid cover. Iām glad this guy is well and Iām so grateful us runners are so well looked after. The organisation by the Race Director (Andy) and the team meant that they were able to calmly and quickly deal with the situation. Fantastic work by the race sweepers, the medical team and everyone who supported the incident.Ā
We started chatting to Carolyn as we ran back to the finish and it really made the time and miles fly by. She was a very nice lady and both Mrs.S and I enjoyed her company. Weāve met some great people at trail races and to hear her account of what had happened, her reactions and we both realised we were speaking to someone really special.Ā
The race finished with a half mile or so around a field then back through the car park to the finish. I clocked the distance as 15miles which is about standard for a WSR Trail Half!Ā
In summary, a great and well supported race full of weather (it rained a lot!) and some pretty cheeky hills. If time and future injury allows i might have a stab at the full next year!
Next Race is Dark Moors 10k and Dark Moors Half in November. Better find some batteries for my headtorch.....