Rat Race Run Britannia - Afterjog
Afterjog
Its now November, the wind is wuthering in the depths (Rutland doesn't have heights) and the garden furniture has been put away to hibernate for the winter. So, looking back, what happened in June again?
Run Britannia started with Andy's idea, and the realisation that we had an opportunity to do something very special. We had no idea whether we could do it, as we had never tried anything like this before - there is a massive difference between a 1 or 2 day ultramarathon and going on for five weeks. One of the more reassuring parts of day 1 was conversations with the rest of the gang that suggested that pretty much everyone was in the same position!
One question I regularly got asked after we were back home again, usually with a slight smirk, was "did you enjoy it?". There were amazing moments - the Cornish coast, the Quantock hills, up into the Black Mountains, the West Highland Way and the raw Highlands of Scotland would spring immediately to mind. Completing the first and the last days together with Andy, plus a number of other whole days and sections - we fought the rain and wind of the Lake District hills together and won. There was massive camaraderie with a bunch of people we'd mostly never met before, and who we hope to stay in touch with and maybe meet up on future events. There was also a wonderful feeling of simplicity - we were disconnected from the normal world, away from work and home life, and all we had to do was put one foot in front of another. A lot.
Did I enjoy every minute? Of course not, and I doubt anyone did. The days were unrelenting - the distances didn't look massive, but it was a rare day when you weren't out there for 10 hours, and many were longer. Once you started to slow down and run less, and the blisters took hold, the days took longer, and there was less time to turn yourself round in the evening. I was lucky in that I had few actual joint and muscle problems, probably helped by regular full-body gym work for a couple of years before the event (thanks Sarah my PT!). I rashed up in week 1, and my feet blistered badly in week 2 (and it was a while before I learnt how to best tape them to get the most out of them) - and during the last week a combination of four weeks of pounding and the fact that both my pairs of shoes were wearing out meant that even when walking it was hurting on any sort of rough surface. Rough surfaces are an area in which the Scottish Highlands specialises!
I had moments where I certainly wondered why I was doing this - chilled down in the rain and fog of High Street in the Lake District, where I got my extra layers on far too late. And lunchtime at the end of week 4, when for a cumulative number of reasons I'd just had enough. And yes, I didn't make the whole distance (only 8 of the party did, and my admiration goes out to all of them). Technically, I'm two days and half an afternoon short. I always said before the event that I was sure that there would be some gaps, and I'd like to complete them afterwards - I probably still will, but it doesn't help that the days I missed (day 4 of week 2 and day 6 of week 3) were by all reports extremely boring road days, which isn't encouraging me to get back out there!
But I was pleased with being able to hit the only target I'd set myself in advance, which was to complete week 1, and I will long remember the support of being cheered over the line at the Clifton Suspension Bridge. I'm pleased that I managed to get back in the saddle after being ill at the end of week 3 and complete week 4 and 5 in their entirety, including the whole of the West Highland Way. I hope I was able to encourage some of the gang at different times when they were struggling, and I know that they encouraged me.
It was an amazing experience - a genuine once in a lifetime expedition to look back on. To see the whole country from one end to the other - the transitions as you moved north, and the wild extremes - running down the streets dodging shoppers in St.Helens one week, and three weeks later in the Highlands being aware that apart from a few like-minded Ratracers there probably wasn't a human being within 5 miles in any direction. I'd love to have seen Dunkery Beacon on Exmoor and High Street in the Lakes without the rain and fog, and will definitely go back and do so at some point.
So thank you. Thank you to the Rat Race team, both the core team and all the volunteers, for setting the whole thing up, being there for us in good days and bad, and allowing this amazing experience to happen. Thank you to the rest of the gang - the Run Britannia team of 2025 - for moments uncountable, for a word when a word was needed and quiet camaraderie when it wasn't. Thank you to Andy, for putting up with the grouchy moments and being there in the glorious ones. Its no small thing to be able to do a trip like this as a husband and wife.
And thank you to anyone who wished us well in advance, read the blogs, supported us on social media or put up with our stories (probably repeated) on our return.
A note on the whole diary
The Run Britannia diary here was done as a blog, written as we went along (although sometimes several days behind, and not always in the order of days). I didn't want to change that, as I wanted to keep the raw reaction to the days ad not smooth it out by rewriting it. I've been back through to fix obvious typos (I'm sure at least one reader will spot some I've missed - and you know who you are!). I've oriented photos correctly if required, and added the links that allow you to move from one day to the next, as Blogspot seems a little random in how it displays days on the main view. But I've rewritten no more than that - so apologies for bad grammar, inconsistencies and anything else anyone spots. Hopefully, it still reads as it was meant to read - a diary of the daily experience of an amazing event.
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