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Stour Valley Path 100km ultra 14th September
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Re training, I currently run 30-50 mpw depending on long run. I do a long run of 20-25 miles every other week currently, with a medium midweek run of about 10 miles, and 3-6 mile runs interspersed.
Marathon PB?
Nope. I'd like to think around 4 hrs. Half mara (road) is 1:45 if that is any help.
OK no problem.
A person with a marathon pb of around 4 hours, can cover 50 miles on a flat course in about 9 hours, by using a run walk strategy to maintain a 4.30 marathon pace.
We routinely see this in events such as the Thames Trot for example. I would expect a person who did the Thames Trot in 9 hours to take 10+ to do the St Peters Way Ultra (if I understand it correctly).
For a flat course such as SVP 100 you could run the first 20-25 miles at training run pace, then switch to a strategy of run 20 minutes/walk 5 minutes. The ratio could later be reduced to 20/5 or 15/5 if needed.
Thanks that's food for thought and makes me feel a bit more confident. Gonna start putting some back to backs in after July too.
Must do a road marathon at some point, but to be honest the thought of 26 miles on the road does not thrill me!
Plenty of trail marathons out there!
Nope. I'd like to think around 4 hrs. Half mara (road) is 1:45 if that is any help.
Re training, I currently run 30-50 mpw depending on long run. I do a long run of 20-25 miles every other week currently, with a medium midweek run of about 10 miles, and 3-6 mile runs interspersed.
matthew/anyone !
what head torch would you recommend bearing in mind most of my running is done during daylight hours and I've managed thus far without one.
Regarding the question about shoes, if it has been dry leading up to the race you could certainly use road shoes for the route. If there has been a great deal of rain in the weeks leading up to the race, a lightweight offroad / trail shoe could be a better option. There are a number of field crossings on the route and the clay soil can be heavy if it's very wet (as it was much earlier in the year). The route itself is mostly flat, although there are a number of climbs in the latter half that will allow competitors to stretch some different muscles and should be a 'welcome' relief.
Regarding head torch - we are aware that a good number of people will complete the route in daylight hours. However, as a safety precaution we have made this a mandatory piece of equipment (injury or loss of bearings may mean that runners who are normally fast require a light source for the final stages of the race). If runners are confident of completing the route in daylight hours, a small travel torch or lightweight headtorch could be appropriate for emergencies.
Hope that helps.
We will now have Hoka One One present at the event, with an expert (Martin Driscoll from Sidas UK) to answer any of your questions.
There are now 120 days to go until the race and almost 50 people signed up so far. Plenty more are showing interest in signing up closer to the date, so it looks like it should be a great day out in the East Anglian countryside!
matthew, will the hoka rep be at the start or the finish ?
It's my understanding that he's going to try and be at both the start and the finish.
Looking forward to it!
Can't wait, its gonna be my first ultra!!
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
By the way Bradley, there are quite a few people who will be running their first ultra at the SVP100, so you should be in good company. We also have a number of very experienced ultra runners (such as Sam), who will no doubt be setting a fast pace for the front runners.
If you want to train / compete harder and longer, and gain better results, then recovery should be your focus! My friend Drew Price has kindly pulled together a list of six key recovery techniques which are of relevance to all runners, particularly ultra runners! The methods may seem simple, but they can help take your training to the next level: http://www.svp100.co.uk/nutrition-advice/
Given that we received messages from a number of people interested in participating, but who were worried about the time limit, we are pleased to announce that we have decided to open up the option for a limited number of runners to start the race early on the morning of the 14th Sept (0715). These runners will have a time limit of 15 hours to complete the course.
The LED Lenser series are very good and I love mine, however if funds permit, I'll probably get a Silva Trail Runner as they seem to be better for running without constantly fiddling with light.
Is there any livestock en route?
Why? are you thinking of nutrition along the way...?
Yes! There is one field that had a sign saying "beware of bull"...although I have never seen the creature. It does make you run very fast through the field though. Other than that, it's only really sheep that you have to worry about, and the odd dear or badger
I meant deer of course
Planning a full recce of the SVP on Saturday, at a slow / steady pace in the heat, with another runner who recently ran across the US. Starting at around 7:20am from Newmarket (White Lion). Feel free to join us for parts of the route if you are keen on a recce run. Timings will be slightly unclear as we progress, particularly later in the day as the heat rises!
This event could become a classic, if you get the organisational detail right in the first year.
Thanks Ben. We are trying our best to adopt many of the good practices from other successful races, whilst keeping the race affordable for everyone. We will certainly be closely listening to feedback from year one, and will be doing some 'what went well, even better if' analysis post-race.
I have a feeling that it could well be a fast route, if the conditions are right on the day i.e. not 30 degrees.
Jennifer Bradley (first British woman to cross the US on foot) ran the entire route yesterday. She was surprised by how beautiful the path was and said that the majority of it was very good for running. We did encounter a couple of difficult fields to cross, but they should definitely be harvested by the date of the race.
We are still looking for more volunteers to help out on the day of the race, to help ensure an excellent experience for everyone. If anyone is interested, more details can be found here: http://www.svp100.co.uk/volunteer/
Great write up of a SVP100 recce run from Jennifer Bradley, who became the first female runner from the UK to run from the West to the East Coast of the USA last year. You can read about her recce and other ultra running exploits here:
http://runningandbaking.com/2013/07/23/stour-valley-path-100km-recce-run/
Soooo tempted, even though I'm useless at navigation of any kind!
Hmmmm.....
Well will try and mark out some of the trickier navigation areas Okapi. However, there should be plenty of people to help with navigation during the earlier stages of the run...plus we have provided a GPS file for the route on our website, which is really useful if you have a GPS device or a smart phone with an app like Viewranger