I ran the Ridgeway challenge in 2011 and really enjoyed it, so finding a gap in my schedule I thought I’d run it again.
The Ridgeway is an ancient path running from near Tring to Avebury over a distance of 87 miles. The challenge covers a distance of 85 miles and just turns off at the end into Avebury, the nearest settlement to the end. The route is well marked and virtually traffic free. The organisation of the run by the Trail Running Association is relaxed and informal and the run attracts over 100 entrants each year.
For this run I was incredibly disorganised. I arrived at registration just 15 minutes before the start of the run in the middle of a torrential rain storm, I walked to the start in the wrong shoes and had to run back and change and in the first section I couldn’t find my inhaler and wheezed my way around before discovering it just where it was supposed to be. I didn’t consider myself to be in peak form.
When the start came the rain had stopped and the sun came out. The majority of the pack set out at an easy pace gradually spreading out as we moved further from the start. Apart from another short shower the weather was quite pleasant as we headed to the first checkpoint. At this checkpoint I started to sort myself out, found my inhaler and set off again.
Now the running settled into a steady rhythm and I found myself with other runners maintaining a similar pace. Chatting helped to pass the time and as we reached the 2nd checkpoint thunder and lightning started, but fortunately no significant rain. As we closed in on the checkpoint there was an enormous boom from a lightning strike fairly nearby that really gave me a shock and I though of this as a real end of the world run.
This next section passed quite quickly as we headed more-or-less straight on with a main road to traverse. Up a steep hill and into checkpoint 3. After this checkpoint the track carried on for a while before turning to hills again with a final big climb towards checkpoint 4.
From this point on things started to go seriously wrong for me. Heading out from checkpoint 4 with some varied terrain of woodland trails, hills and ploughed fields I crossed a road and missed the Ridgeway sign. A short trot across the golf course and some map checking revealed the error of my ways and I doubled back to find the rather obvious route. This only cost a small amount of time and I was still looking good to reach checkpoint 5 at Goring in less than 8 hours. Unfortunately there was a nagging tightness in my left hamstring which increase during an easy and long downhill section toward the River Thames. Eventually I stopped and tried to stretch out the hamstring but each time I tried to run again it was painful after just a few paces.
I started to walk in the hope that my hamstring would loosen up and this gave me time to consider my options. In just 3 weeks time I was going to attempt to run the Thames Path so I didn’t want to get a serious injury and gradually I came to the decision that I would drop out when I reached Goring. It was extremely frustrating to see other runners catch up with me and run on, it was nice of everyone to ask how I was but my mood deteriorated. By the time I reached Goring it was again raining heavily which matched my black mood completely.
This was my first DNF in any race and was a difficult decision to make but I did get a comfortable nights sleep in my own bed.