Before I forget!

Sometimes the days just fly by and then I suddenly remember I haven't written about something so whilst I've got a few moments here's the latest!

Marathon 168, The Darnley Challenge

I nearly didn't go to this as it was so soon after we lost our dear Tilly cat but I made myself get out there as it was just 6 days after the London marathon and I knew it would be a good test of my foot/knee. I had intended to trot round with some chums but I wasn't feeling very chatty and so kept myself to myself.

I wore a crepe bandage on my knee to give it a bit extra support and as the weather had been changeable I wore a long-sleeved top under my vest just in case it got chilly. Well, it most certainly did get chilly - when we started off it was bright but not too hot.

It was a lapped event of 13.1 miles with a cut-off of 8 hours to do as many or few laps as you liked. There was a 50k option which I was considering but changed my mind - you'll see why later!

We started at the Cyclopark at Gravesend then headed across part of Jeskyns country park, through Cobham towards the Darnley Mausoleum then a loop around part of the Ranscombe Nature Reserve before heading back towards the Cyclopark. 

Here's some of the Jeskyns section:

Gary (left) and Nick who's appeared on here many times as he's smashing Guinness World Records with his amazing running schedule - I think he's now upped his own record to 281 50ks in a year

On leaving Jeskyns we headed along Cobham High Street which was a bit chaotic as there was a food fare taking place and the traffic was nose to tail. I managed to snap this beautiful Wisteria whilst the traffic on that side of the road was held up.

Then it was over to Ranscombe and past the Darnley Masuoleum - look at that lovely blue sky. It was a mixture of trail, rutted tracks and bare ground through crop fields.

Heading back to base camp at the end of the first lap I was starting to get too hot so took off my long-sleeved top but thankfully I kept it with me!

You can see the sky looks somewhat darker in the photo above and by the time I'd reached the Darnley Mausoleum for the 2nd time this is what happened - great big hailstones so heavy it looked as if it was snowing!

So I put my top back on along with my buff and gloves! Then the sun came out again and melted it all but I wasn't going to take my top off and this proved to be the right decision as we had a further 4 hail showers before I got back to base camp and decided that 2 laps was quite enough thank you very much.

A typical path through Ranscombe with rough flints as trip potential

I wore my blue Dementia Revolution tee shirt

I managed to get back to base camp just before the last round of rain/hail came!

Someone had tipped all this rubbish at the side of the road. Why not just be responsible and take it to a regulated rubbish tip rather than spoiling the countryside?

So that was marathon 168 completed in 5:39:21 so just 10 minutes slower than London on a much more demanding course and without any nonsense from my knee (thank goodness).

The next day I went out on a recce of part of the route we'll be taking for the 1066 100 mile event in July 'cos I knew there were going to be issues with waymarking/rightsofway/crops/overgrown paths and I certainly wasn't wrong! I'd already reported lots of stiles/signs to the Rights of Way Team at our local council but I know how long it can take to get them sorted out (it took 8 years after being reported before one in our village was repaired and there were many more!).

First a pathway in our village which is always completely overgrown and impassable by Summer!

Nick's massive field is planted with wheat which will be really tall by then so we need to work out the best route through it (following tractor route is always good)

Then there's the issue of getting from the tree on the left to that gap of light in the trees without damaging the crop or having to traipse all the way round the edges.....

.....whereupon you reach this stile without a footplate and it's too high to just step over - already reported several years ago by me and several local residents.......

.....but the main issue is the motorbike scrambling track which was constructed several years ago. The footpath goes to the right of a pond where those trees are but you cannot get out at the other end as it's been fenced off............

....and now they've taken the track around the other side of it too.............

.........and put up this strange fencing arrangement which takes you away from the designated footpath!!! Thankfully I know which way to go but others will find it very confusing.

Having navigated my way to the main road the written instruction told me to pass over a stile 100 metres ahead. Half a mile later I came across the stile which has seen better days and will be obscured and made difficult to climb over because of brambles and nettles in Summer:

Brambles and a flimsy stile but at least there's a way marking sign

Yep, that was easy to spot - NOT!

At one point I lost sight of any waymarking and ended up going through a stable yard (at which I knew there'd been a dispute as they'd blocked a footpath) to bring myself back onto a lane so I could head off to collect the newspaper from the village shop.

The sight of the ewes with their sweet lambs helped lift my spirits.

So that little outing was only 6.5 miles and took a long time. As soon as I got home I emailed the Race Director and told him about some of the issues as I knew they hadn't finalised the route. He told me they would be doing this final section on 18th May and that they've already had to re-route several sections and would do the same again if necessary. 

The other thing I learned was that the route is actually 103 miles which makes the 30 hour cut-off very tight for our little group of 3 runners. Having chatted with my lovely chums we've all agreed that although we'd love to get the beautiful buckle and an official finishing time we would treat it as another adventure in our running journey even if we are timed-out.

I now feel so much happier about it.

Having had my morning coffee and read the paper I settled down to darning Mike's favourite cardigan which was very soothing.

Which reminds me, I've finally finished the Weel Riggit jumper too and just need to block it - pity I won't get to wear it for some time now though as it's very warm!