Sunday 31st August was The Beast race day. It was also day 87 of consecutive running. Day 100 is going to be Saturday 13th September so that makes it a special Parkrun day!
Kata and I have been looking forward to running The Beast ever since we signed up for it at the beginning of July and we were not disappointed. It was an excellent event and not a race that we will forget in a hurry. It is one of the most fun and challenging races I have ever taken part in due to the excellent organisation and variety of terrain to keep you 'entertained' along the way.
This 2D rendering of the route doesn't do it justice. The contour lines don't do justice either.
I was conscious of fuelling up but not taking on too much food at breakfast (the memory of 2014's Glenlivet 10k still haunts me) and so I had scrambled egg on toast and a bowl of muesli at 8am - two and half hours before the race start. After breakfast Kata and I decided that the best thing to do was to take the bus into Corfe Castle so as I could enjoy a post-race beer or three. So we hopped on to the number 40 bus and enjoyed the view of the beautiful Dorset countryside on our way. Like school children we made sure we got the seat on the top deck at the front for the best view. The heat from the sun pouring through the window did not bode well for the race and started to reduce the jelly babies that were in my back pocket in lieu of energy gel into....well...a sort of gel!
Kata reading Carrie's blog on our way to the race as the jelly babies in my pocket possibly ruin my shorts forever.
I decided to wear my trail shoes for the race. Made sense as it was a trail race. I was also wearing my 1000 mile anti-blister socks, but after only about 2 miles into the race I realised that I had a blister. Worse than that, I had two blisters - one on the ball of each foot. I ran pretty much the whole race with painful blisters. I can't be sure but I think it was because I ran on Friday and Saturday in my trail shoes on what was essentially tarmac. I actually came back from a jog on Friday and told Kata that I wasn't happy with my shoes and that I hoped the terrain at The Beast was more off road. I packed light for the weekend in Dorset and only took one pair of shoes. In hindsight that may have been a mistake. Ah well - more learning experiences to make me a better runner.
GGRRRR!!!!!
The race got underway on a country road. A short downhill and then a short uphill turning right into a field. We ran across the field up and down hill for about 1.5 or 2.0 miles before tackling the first stile of the race and then running into woodland. There was an inevitable bottle neck at the first stile and while waiting to cross, the Swanage Steam Train passed us by. The runners exchanged waves with the confused and delighted looking passengers before starting the serious business of running again.
Apparently 424 runners finished. It didn't look like 424 runners started! My personal aim was to finish ahead of the guy dressed as a cow (out of picture).
The first woodland stretch was narrow and uphill and already some people were starting to walk. I managed to pass a fair few people by either asking politely if I could pass them please, or else waiting for an opportunity of a slightly wider bit then pegging it up the hill.
Some of the links between terrain and sections of the race are a bit hazy in my memory, but the next section I particularly remember was a trail path the likes I have never seen since this....
Kata gets annoyed at the West Highland Way (and rightly so) as I muse on why some civil engineer or construction expert deliberately placed this brick here.
On this section which could politely be described as "uneven", a fellow runner two ahead of me lost his footing and fell quite badly. From a purely selfish point of view, I was lucky that the runner in front of me and the runner in front of the guy that fell went back to help him meaning that I could keep going. By the time I left the scene he seemed to be back on his feet with no serious harm done. It was a tricky stretch of path and I ran most if it by keeping to the sides.
Looking fresh at the start, and looking not so fresh....somewhere else!
The next stage I remember was the coast. Amazing! Simply stunning. There was a short, narrow, steep flight of stairs to the cliff top and when you reached the top it took your breath away (and not just because we'd been running about 5 miles by now). The turquoise water, chalk rocks, white waves, blue skies. Amazing. I did regret that I couldn't stop to take it all in as I ran on. I really savoured this part of the race and it was by far my favourite section. At this point I witnessed the second casualty. The costal path at one point cut through jaggy bushes that came up just above head height. The ground was rocky and to add further peril, there were roots to contend with. The girl in front of me tripped and fell. She got up, ran on for a bit, then stopped and stood to the side. As I reached her I asked if she was OK, she said she was so I ran on. There was a head wind on the coast section. The kind of head wind you only get when standing on top of a cliff. It was the most welcome head wind ever. The heat was so strong by this time that the cooling effect helped a lot.
Final mention of the coastal section and possibly the highlight of the race, was the staircase at what I now know to be St Aldhems Head. I have to admit I may have swore when I saw what was in front of me. I took a moment to document this sight for the blog.
I'm afraid the picture is blurry but I couldn't tell if it was out of focus or if there was sweat in my eyes and I didn't really have time to find out.
Turning off the coast it was a seemingly never ending series of hills. Up and down, up and down, it was not undulating, it was proper hilly. There was one section through farmland that went uphill gradually for about 2 miles, over a few stiles, and on concrete path. This was the toughest part of the run for me and just had to be endured. There were a lot of walkers at this stage too and I did manage to make up a few places by keeping up a run of some description.
Leaving the farmland, we ran through a very picturesque village (which was of course on a hill) and then entered woodland again. The final water station was here and I took a pit stop. I stopped to drink my water before heading into the woodland and on my merry way once again. It was pretty much all downhill from here until we reached Corfe Common. It was a bit of a surprise to come blinking out of the woodland into the sunlight and see Corfe Castle in the distance. A very pleasant surprise as I was pretty tired by this stage and my blisters were unsurprisingly not getting any less sore!
The end is in sight! Less motivational was the string of coloured vests ahead of me and reaching a vanishing point.
One final small piece of woodland remained and as I passed a marshall they said to me "only 100 metres to go". I was confused and thought I had misheard. I was expecting at least another 1 mile. But indeed I had heard correctly and as I turned the corner into the open again I saw the finish line and the lines of spectators cheering the runners home. All that remained was to cross the line, collect my awesome t-shirt, and wait to cheer Kata home. I didn't have to wait too long as she kept up her vaguely annoying habit of not really training then turning up to races and doing really well.
Corfe Castle and last years runners (possibly)
The final remaining remainder that remained to remain was to hit the pub. The Fox Inn was closest so sporting our matching t-shirts we headed to the pub for possibly the best deserved beer ever!
Thanks to all the organisers and marshals. This was a fantastically well organised race and I would love to do it again. I will recommend it to my friends. The only hesitation I have is that one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was that I ran it for the pure fun of it with no expectation or goals time wise. If I ran the course again I would be aiming to beat this years time (1hr 57min 55sec) which makes it a whole different proposition.
I really only did it for the t-shirt.
As a final note, I think at one point I passed a woman sitting on the grass verge playing Chariots of Fire from a radio. It was hot and I was tired though so it's equally possible I was hallucinating.
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