The London 2 Brighton ultra marathon was like nothing I've ever experienced. The distance. Yes that made sense. It felt like 100km. But the terrain? It seemed to be uphill most of the way. GPS shows the last 25 was!  The rain was torrential from the start and lasted for about half the time we were out, turning everything to mud especially the middle third or so, we estimate 20km from the midpoint stop was mud. Thick, slippery mud. Impossible to run, the only way was to wade through it. Much of it was ankle to shin deep. This added a couple of hours to our overall time but it made it more...."interesting". 

We started off as a four but soon split with Paul Addicott having to pull away as Paul Nedd, Sean Connor and myself all beginning to fall victim to ongoing niggles and injuries. By 30k Paul was dropping back and despite his sterling efforts and ours to help him through he succumbed to the inevitable of having to go at a slower pace. Sean and I hung on and made it to the 57km checkpoint in relatively good shape but relying on painkillers. The heavens continued to open as we trudged on to the section which was to go on forever. Relentless mud. But eventually we broke free and the afternoon sun blessed us. The terrain got less boggy and there were some road sections to build up some distance and some rhythm into our weakening stride. By 75km we were feeling pretty upbeat but shattered. Everything hurt but our spirits. Then the long climb all the way to Brighton. The pace slowed and each distance marker seemed to take an eternity to get to. 87km. We knew Paul A was close to the finish by now and we also knew Paul N was some way behind, tackling the mud. We felt for him, he was alone through that 4 hour stage. At least Sean and I had each other for banter and to swear at. At many times we did. Many times we just shouted and grunted our way through the worst points. Another checkpoint. Then "the Beast". The king of all hills. We walked. It took forever. But then a steady descent for a while before the long 5km to the finish. And there at the finish line was Keith Lawrance and his wife Pauline. Keith, the friend I promised to help raise funds to support prostate cancer sufferers. They travelled down to Brighton to see us finish.  Truly amazing.

I cannot deny it, I had such fun.  But it was so tough.  It hurt.  It went on forever.  So many emotions to deal with.

Here's my progress tracked by GPS https://www.strava.com/activities/145090205

Thank you all so much,

David

On 24^th May I will be taking on the challenge of running the 100km from London to Brighton (maybe 63 miles sounds easier), starting at 6am in Richmond and finishing (hopefully in a gallop) on Brighton racecourse.  I will be one of many hundreds taking part in the challenge, most walking it over two days, some running it over one.  I will be supported by my running buddies and very good friends Paul, Sean and Paul who will be taking on the challenge with me.