Slugging it out: The Stansted Slog 2008

I thought I'd give the Stansted Slog a go as a pleasant alternative to the usual Sunday run, although as most of it is run on trails that we run every Sunday anyway it wasn't really that much of a change. I really should have taken a camera with me, but if you want an idea of the look and feel of the race then my Sunday Run post is pretty much it (in fact Stansted House is the backdrop of the first photo).

This was only the 3rd running of the event, which surprised me somewhat as it seemed to be one of those traditional events that everyone does and I'd yet to attempt. Maybe that's an indication of the quality of the organisation provided by Pompey Joggers. Certainly you'd be hard pushed to find a better venue, starting and finishing as it does in front of Stansted House. The toilets are also the best I've come across at an event, being the stone floored stable-block toilets used by visitors to the house. Good toilet facilities are always a great asset for any race - I'm not kidding here! It makes a big difference.

The weather couldn't have been better. It was rather cool in the shade but you soon warmed up in the unbroken sunshine. It was perfect running weather: all that sunshine and no overheating! The conditions underfoot too were perfect - hardly any mud and good firm footing.

I can't imagine why anyone would want to avoid any of the glorious hills of the South Downs, but for those wanting a slightly flatter shorter route there was the 8-mile Stansted Slug as an alternative to the 13-mile Slog.

At 10:30am precisely we set off and immediately I was running on familiar trails, albeit on a route parallel to our more usual path through Stansted Forest. There's something magical in running through woods on a bright sunny day as the light flickers and picks out fleeting features on the forest floor. It all seems somehow a heightened reality - who needs drugs when you have all this?

My aims for the day were to have a nice training run: a progression run where I start out slowly and pick up my pace throughout the race to hit half marathon pace at the end. I'd intended to stay with Diana for more than just the first mile, but as we ran through the trees I couldn't help start to pick up places one by one and I left her behind. It was also a relief to get past the big smelly brute ahead of me (some enormous guy, not Diana, I should point out). How can someone smell that bad only 1 mile into a race?

On we slogged past the beautiful Idsworth Church, this time approached from the opposite direction to our usual Sunday route. The setting of the church is amazing - right out on its own among the fields. Such is the lack of surfaced access to it, that a wooden bridge has been built at the foot of the hill, to keep the congregation's Sunday finery out of the mud that naturally forms in the hollow during the winter.

I'd been warned about the big hill we were about to climb, but in the description of how bad it was I'd assumed it was the near vertical climb further up the valley. In fact we were about to climb the hill I've done many times before: steep but runnable - it just goes on a bit. We got a small respite half way up and then continued to climb the now shallower gradient up on to the ridge. I'd commented to a fellow runner that I was relieved we hadn't gone up the steep bit. I now listened in amusement how my tale was being relayed back down the field "She reckons this is the easy bit and she's glad we haven't gone up the steep part!" "What??!".

As we got to the top of the ridge the runner ahead of me stumbled and nearly went over on his ankle. He commented that this was the last place to turn an ankle, being so inaccessible. I replied that if he was lucky "we might be in Air Ambulance territory". As I spoke those words I immediately heard the familiar low rumble of a helicopter behind me and I shouted "Wow, that was quick service". It wasn't as familiar a rumble as I thought though, as to my surprise I turned to see a Lancaster Bomber fly low over our heads. I later realised it was on its way to the Goodwood motor racing circuit for their revival meeting. What a spectacular sight! They don't build them like that any more.

On we slogged and we came to the really steep bit I'd mentioned earlier, though mercifully we were going down it. I love going fast downhill but I had to patiently wait behind the other runners due to the narrowness of the path. I suppose I could have launched myself straight over the edge of the winding path but I was concerned about what might be lurking in the long grass, cowpats aside. At the bottom of the hill I passed Rob who'd taken a wrong turn and ended up on the Slog course instead of the Slug. An unexpected treat for Rob then!

We were soon on to the only unfamiliar part of the course, as we ran up from Ditcham towards West Marden. People moaned about this afterwards, it being a long interminable slog up a big hill, but I didn't mind it: it was shallow enough that you could run with a reasonably normal gait - you just had to pace it and be patient. The reward at the end though was a steep well surfaced drop down into West Marden where I could now use my full range of descending techniques. I love running fast downhill!

Someone who isn't going to love running downhill is Andy whom I met climbing out of West Marden. I could see by his limp and the dirt on his back that he might have taken a tumble. He'd gone over on his ankle coming down the steep bit. I suggested now was a good time to drop out as we'd just passed the marshals at the drinks station. His reply was that he'd never yet dropped out of a race and he wasn't going to now. With 4 miles to go and the revelation that he thought he might have broken something, was this really such a good idea? He gave us a shock at the finish when, following treatment, we thought he had been taken off to hospital, but he eventually emerged with a strapped ankle, presumably intact.

Back to the last few miles of the race and I'd been having trouble picking up my pace due to the steepness of the terrain, although I had been overtaking a steady stream of runners right from the start. Now that we'd climbed out of West Marden though, the terrain started to flatten out and I was able to really pick up the pace and drive for the finish. I was pleased with my pace for the last few miles, almost to half marathon pace, though due to 8 miles and a heavy gym session the day before, there was a touch of fatigue preventing me getting my heart rate up to where it should have been.

As we basked in the sunshine at the finish, swapping stories and checking out the strapping on Andy's ankle, we witnessed a very tired Kevin arrive to complete his first (near) half marathon. He now knows he'll easily finish the Great North Run in 2 weeks' time. Well done Kevin!

It's a shame for Rob that after 13 miles of Slog, he was listed as last finisher in the Slug!

Fab day, great run!