What a glorious, marvellous weekend I have had. Its not often that I have the opportunity to go and help out at a race, because I’m away from my family so often that to add another weekend really is taking the michael!
However, last weekend I knew that HWMBO was fishing in Scotland so I grabbed the chance to go and help out at the South Downs Way 100 organised by http://www.centurionrunning.com/
My instructions were to be at the finish for 8pm where we would then get the finish line sorted out ready for the first runners to come in. Loaded with some shopping for the race and lots of warm clothes I drove to Eastbourne.
While the last section of the course was being marked I was left to put up the chairs and tables; this sounds easier than it actually was. Putting the equipment up wthe simple even for me but the wind had picked up and kept blowing them over again; I decided to leave them living lying down or otherwise it could have easily turned into “groundhog day”
Next task was putting up the gazebos, this proved to be a bit of a nightmare as the wind had really picked up so trying to attach the sides wasn’t the easiest of tasks, but with a huge amount of laughter, tugging and strapping we eventually got 3 up ready.
James Elson the RD was working non stop, on the phone to various cps checking runners updates, helping lost runners and sorting out any other problems that may occur, he never stopped.
The race was getting very exciting between the first two men Ryan Brown and Sam Robson until we finally heard that Ryan was in the lead. We had an eta, the excitevent was building and we were all on the lookout for the head torch. Finally there he was, through the gates 200m around the track to the finish line Winning the SDW100 in a time of 17hrs 04 minutes, quite fantastic. Sam Robson came flying in a mere 19 minutes later, just marvellys. For me a great pleasure and joy to witness two great runners and friends finish their races. Nick Weston finished third with an amazing sprint finish in 18hrs 08 minutes.
Then there was the ladies field which rather like the mens was getting very exciting. Gemma Carter who had been leading the race sadly had to pull out due to an injury which meant that Claire Shelley who had been hot on Gemma’s heals and closing the gap as the race progressed was now in the lead, a lead which she maintained finishing in an awesome time of 19 hrs 43 minutes – way to go Claire!
2nd ladies in we’re Nicole Brown and Hannah Shields together with Ivan Sadlier. Seeing Nics come into the stadium looking strong was very emotional, a few tears were shed! Her confidence has grown over the last year and i hope she now realises what she is capable of achieving.
As the night continued runners came racing through the finish line and it didn’t matter what pain they had gone through during the race they all smiled as they crossed the line.
As night turned into day the flurry of runners continued. We made sure they were comfortable made endless cups of tea and coffee, heated up hot dogs and listened to the tales of the night.
One runner came in with his pacer – his black Labrador, another runner proposed to his girlfriend as they ran the last 30 miles together, Tim Welch timed his finish wonderfully and the last runner Gary Butler finished with 9 mins to spare!
A great event and for me a real honour to be a very small part of it. It didn’t matter whether some of the competitors were unable to complete the race due to injury or managed a sprint finish or a stagger, each and everyone of them was an inspiration and all went home with wonderful memories and lessons learnt.
As for James, well he worked tirelessly, never slept and greeted every runner that came in. Being a race director is a hard job, not only is there the organisation, getting the cps in place, equipment to the various cps, food, water, shelters, the list is endless, but you are also responsifor the the safety and well being of your competitors. Volunteers are always needed at these events (I believe the SDW100 had 70 volunteers) so if you find yourself with a free weekend why not give it a go – you will love it!
Congratulations to everyone who finished, job done!
Happy training
