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GB Ultra Thames Trot 50
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See you all in the morning. Decided against the camper, way too cold.
Gotta travel up in morning so getting up at 4.30
. Bed soon!
Hi all, just packing my bag now after a large bowl of pasta, looking forward to this with a level of trepidation !
4.30 is going to be oh so early, setting all my alarms to make sure I wake up, really wouldn't want to miss it !!
The weather seems like it going to be ok, as long as it's not snowing it should be as good as it gets for this time of year.
Anyhow best of luck everyone and have a great race !!!
Sooooo gutted. having said that, the job is more important
Wishing all of you the very best for the morning. Looks cold but most of you will have finished before the snow.
All the best
Here is some pre race briefing for anybody who is running their first 50 miler.
The rest of you know what you have to do.
The mental low point of your first 50 miler comes around the half way mark. At this point you might already be having to dig deep, as you would be towards the end of a marathon, and the knowledge that you have as far to go again can be a tough obstacle to overcome.
I cannot stress this too strongly, because last year 10 % of the field failed to finish this race, and virtually all of these people quit at the half way aid station when faced with the enormity of running as far again. Virtually everybody who got past this psychological hurdle finished the race.
Once you hit the 30 mile mark, you will start to get a real sense that the task ahead of you is getting smaller. With every mile from then onwards you will be chopping the race down into smaller pieces. It is easy to dig deep when the remaining section of the race is getting smaller, and this poses much less psychological challenge than the half way mark.
When your efforts finally pay off, you are tired and running through the darkness with a head torch. Suddenly you see the lights of the bandstand at Henley off to the side and run towards them. As you draw towards the lights, the assembled crowd applauds, and you cross the finish line on tottery legs. Steve Adams congratulates you and presents you with your medal and T shirt ( nice medal incidentally).
At this stage it is alright to get a bit emotional.
that's really helped. it's gone in mentally. I live 50 yards from the route at around the half way point. That's been my biggest worry.
Im feeling in a sort of numb state now, i know theres nothing else to do now except get up (annoyingly early now as TFL have chosen this weekend to close any line remotely useful for me
) and pull the lycra on and head to Paddington. Ive no expectations, i just want to finish with a smile on my sweaty cake strewn face 
It'll be nice to run with new (and some familiar) faces in a newish and pretty part of the country, whatever happens at least ill have that.
Am no. 254 - blue running jacket.
Good luck all.
Not a happy bunny.
Best of luck everyone, looks like a lovely crisp running day out there
That is a real bummer
Why not replicate the effect by hiding in your freezer all day with a pack of jelly babies and some cake?
Sorry to hear that Lirish, but the freezer might have been warmer.
It was a tad cool to start, but bright and sunny. The sun soon warmed things up, but thte ground was frozen most of the day. I had to stop just before Reading to do some running repairs Started to snow at around 4pm, but it was just a light sprinkiling. I finished with just enough daylight to not need my headtorch in about 8:37 (didn't stop my watch so don't know the exact time).
Those out later would have had more snow to deal with as it was still falling when I left.
Cheers to all the people I chatted to and who motivated me, esp Matt who dragged me round the entire second half, great finish dude. Got round in 7:38 which came as a nice surprise. Made it 48m rather than 50 but hey ho...
Oh dear Lirish not good. The race actually started 10 min late due to rail delays and people arriving late from the station it was bloody freezing hanging about in my shorts.
Great setup and nice route but I had a bit of a shit race. Went off way too fast (school boy error) so had a torrid last 20. In addition the first 10 was frozen mud and my ankles were bloody killing me where they kept rolling over. Finally I stopped for a stretch at about 40 mile and my IT band let me have it. Bloody agony.
Managed 8hr 1min but not without a struggle.
It's all a learning curve it don't matter how many races you run you can still have bad days.
Nice shirt though
Well done to all finishers - great time from SGB
As others have said, it was a tad chilly at the start so opted for 2 layers under my jacket and a couple of pairs of gloves. Like Dill I probably went off a bit too fast (as I did last year and really suffered in the second half), but the run / walk strategy in the last 20 miles worked well so it wasn't too bad this time around although twinges of cramp in various parts of my legs didn't help.
Still, finished just as the snow was starting in 7:43ish, which is a marked improvement on last year's 8:10, so rather chuffed.
Had the usual fun and games getting back to Oxford afterwards, but having missed the hourly train by about 5 mins, it seemed rude not to go for a quick Guinness and catch the start of the rugby.
Feel as though I'm back in the land of the living now, but expect to ache quite a bit in the morning.
Hats off to Guy and the gang for another well organised race, and special thanks to the marshallls and the folks manning the checkpoints in the bitter cold. Without you, it wouldn't have been possible!
They should call this race "the quad killer".
It gave my quads more of a hammering than the Comrades up run.
A massive well done to everybody who completed their first 50 miler today! This race was my first 50, and it turned out to be a launch pad for bigger things.
While this race appears to be one of the easier 50s on paper, it always manages to throw you a curve ball. The time of year means that you can be presented with anything form an energy sapping morass, to frozen hard and cambered ground, or even snow underfoot.
I see this race becoming a classic of British ultra running.
Wud like to reflect ur comments too. The matshalls n organisers standing out all day in the freezing cold... Much respect!
Also that Icey rutted mud n grass was a killer the ankles yeah, esp that last field, ouch!
Don't wanna see another jelly baby for a while now...
Wow! my first Ulta and marathon rolled into one.
How you all do it in sub-8hrs is beyond me.
I was contemplating binning it at the half way point but I remembered Ben's post. I paired up with another crawler who came in to the Goring check point and off we set.
The snow started falling after Purley which nice.
Finished in 11:30. Good feeling and a great experience. Met some lovely people so it was a good day out.
Cheers
The frozen ground was good and bad - easier than wadiing through mud, but hard on the ankles. My legs are really sore and achey today, and im hobbling pathetically down the stairs !!
Big big thanks to the lovely friendly marshalls and well-stocked check points - although also cant face another jelly baby or glucose tablet or gel for a long time. The salty, greasy fish and chips on the way home went down like the proverbial homesick mole
The thing that really struck home for me yesterday was the completely different atmosphere at an Ultra compared to standard road runs. Everybody was really friendly. Thanks to all the poor soles at the checkpoints ,as it must have been a hell of a long day for them in those conditions.
Hats off to you guys that survived the snow and dark as that has got to be a challenge in itself!!
so with a 10 minute late start that should mean about 7:50 time.
what a wonderful experience that was.
Very pleased to have finished my first 50 mile race. It was a great experience in a well organised race. The fruit cake was awesome and the marshalls and people helping out at the check points did a great job, especially the Sweety man handing out the haribo at more points in the race than seemed possible. Came in around 8hrs 33mins. Managed not to walk any of the race but had a quality refuelling stop with porridge in a thermos, (well done the missus). Well done everyone who finished. Hope to meet you again soon.
Still in the "never again" phase but I expect that will wear off by the end of the week!
Great organisation and I'd recommend it to anyone but would warn them not to underestimate the terrain (like i did) just because it's mostly flat. This is a tough race!