Ok. It’s been a while since the 3rd March 2019! I must admit to being a little tardy with my reports. But with this race looming again on our schedule, I thought it would be a good idea to cover what happened previously in more detail. So to cover my lateness, I thought I’d title this update with “race retrospective”.
The first time I ran this race was in 2014 and, as my first trail marathon, has stuck in the mind ever since. I distinctly recall the pleasant surprise of the first food stops, laden down with various sweets and biscuits (you don’t really get those in road marathons!). The crazy hills, or “stings”, which at that point I hadn’t really encountered with such frequency, being from Essex. A relaxed and staggered start at your convenience and a cooked breakfast at the finish. It also had one of the quirkier medals I’ve seen, featuring a scorpion, a hill and some trees. I can’t forget the characters we met either, including one runner who decided to deal with some of the muddiest terrain I’ve encountered by running the whole thing in sandles!
So all in all, I remembered the Steyning Stinger as a great race and it was now time to return. There was just one potential problem…Storm Gareth! We’d heard some mutterings in the news about a potential storm coming, but paid it no mind. Then when it came to actually getting there – it’s an early start – the weather was pretty dire and we gradually became aware of how tough this was going to be.
It initially started out ok, with much of the initial race gradually ascending to the top of the South Downs over three steep climbs.
However, as soon as we crested the top of the hills, it became clear how strong the winds were. Despite being pretty well insulated against the weather, the rain still stabbed like needles and it was hard to stay on the trail as we were buffeted around so much. You could barely see more than a few metres in front of you and the brave Marshalls had to take cover in vehicles at the more exposed parts of the course. At some points it was difficult to keep running, although a steep turn on the course sometimes resulted in a welcome boost from the wind.
Looking at some of the race photos, I decided to add the only one where I’m actually smiling. While I definitely wasn’t smiling inside, I was still glad to get out of the wind! Check out the hazy background and the mud. It was around this point we decided that the weather was a bit too extreme considering our fitness levels. We’ve done more than our fair share of tortuously long races over tough terrain, but it seemed silly to continue and hats off to those that finished the whole marathon. The wind wasn’t the only hazard with the final long descent having morphed into one long mud slide during which I had very little control. I’m very surprised I didn’t stack it! I probably did, but have likely blocked it from my memory.
Finally we finished and I staggered over the finish line to gratefully take cover in a solid stone building and enjoy a well earned breakfast. We’d covered a half-marathon and 457 metres of ascent in ridiculous conditions. However, I’ve retained a nagging feeling since then that we had some unfinished business.
So now we’re returning on the 1st March 2020, hopefully sans storm or anyone called Gareth, and fingers crossed this time we can succeed where we previously failed. You’ll probably find out next year though!
Daft Runners 