After failing my first attempt at a 100 miler by bailing out of the Centurion Thames Path 100 in May 2022 at 73 miles, I decided to get back into the 100 mile saddle and settle some unfinished business.
3 days after quitting the Thames Path, I booked onto the very well known North Downs Way 100. This is a race that I first heard about from my brother, Jack, who said that 'the North Downs Way 100 scares me'. One of our favourite running YouTubers, the highly talented Ben Parkes, had failed it twice before finally completing it in 2018. With a Thames Path 100 'Did Not Finish' fresh in the bag, and these facts combined, you could say that things weren't looking good for me hoping to finish arguably one of the toughest foot races in England.
In the months leading up to race day, I slowly upped my training volume in a slightly more structured way than usual. In addition to increasing my weekly mileage steadily, I also started introducing hill workouts and long runs on the North Downs Way itself, often running sections anywhere between Bluebell Hill and Ashford.
On race day eve, I got a train from my home town of Maidstone in Kent up to Farnham in Surrey and stayed at the lovely Bush Hotel which is about half a mile from the start line. When I woke up, I was half terrified half excited to get my race gear on and make my way to registration.
Despite all my training and preparation, this race was easily the hardest physical thing I have ever done and I'm so grateful to have learnt so much by taking it on. Hopefully, this video serves as a useful account of what it's like to run the race on the day and also what pitfalls to look out for.
Massive thank you to my brother Jack who surprised me by deciding to pace me from Bluebell Hill to the finish line (the last 29 miles) at the last minute. He'd initially planned to just be crew for that one aid station and bring me supplies, but I'm so glad he upped the race day duties and promoted himself to pacer! I was not having a good time due to some shoe issues (described in the debrief), so it was great having someone to chat rubbish with in the last quarter to think about something else.
Thank you to Centurion. The staff for organising the event and the volunteers for the exceptional support and friendliness at aid stations. I've done quite a few races and you just can't beat the Centurion aid stations.
I forgot to mention them in the debrief, but I want to give a special shout out to the couple at the crew point just after the Medway Bridge. The flapjack they gave me was unbelievable and I'm certain they'd do very well on Bake Off.
My official time was 26 hours, 22 minutes and 11 seconds, and I placed 76th out of 151 finishers. Full results can be found here: https://www.centurionrunning.com/raceresult/612e642b4bd9d6da4fb09a18
Video of me failing the Thames Path 100 2022 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdq-hpEutIg&t=629s&ab_channel=CraigTries
The Aspinall Foundation website - https://www.aspinallfoundation.org/
SUBSCRIBE by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB9R-J4V0UE0apMJiws9EQQ?sub_confirmation=1
30SomethingMike North Downs Way 100 route videos:
Miles 0 - 50 (North Downs Way 50) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IwlzDacEQw&ab_channel=30SomethingMike
Miles 51 - 103 (North Downs Way 100) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVwA-jYn7H0&t=357s&ab_channel=30SomethingMike
My Strava effort on the day - https://www.strava.com/activities/7595835755
Follow me on Strava - https://www.strava.com/athletes/28567950
Follow me on Instagram - @CraigBarden1
Gear used on the day:
Sports watch - https://amzn.to/3l3bhPU
Bag - https://amzn.to/3MpMhid
Running shoes - https://amzn.to/3N6wuEM
Camera - https://amzn.to/3uN3NV8
Extension pole - https://amzn.to/3hNmP9b
Outdoors Microphone - https://amzn.to/3erMMdc
Dry bags - https://amzn.to/3NBa66s
Portable chargers - https://amzn.to/3a5ytex
10,000mm hydrostatic head lightweight running jacket - https://amzn.to/3A7VUi4
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - Farnham to Puttenham, 0 - 6.8 Miles
02:42 - Puttenham to Newlands Corner, 6.8 - 14.7 Miles
05:38 - Newlands Corner to West Humblefields, 14.7 - 24 Miles
08:16 - West Humblefelds - Reigate Hill, 24 - 31.8 Miles
13:08 - Reigate Hill - Caterham, 31.8 - 38 Miles
15:28 - Caterham to Botley Hill, 38 - 43 Miles
17:36 Botley Hill to Knockholt Pound, 43 - 50 Miles
19:06 - Knockholt Pound to Wrotham, 50 - 60 Miles
21:50 - Wrotham - Holly Hill, 60 - 66 Miles
24:00 - Holly Hill - Bluebell Hill, 66 - 76 Miles
25:27 - Bluebell Hill to Detling, 76 - 82 Miles
27:10 - Detling to Ashford, 82 - 103 Miles
28:05 - The moment I thought would never come
28:52 - Debrief
Music from Epidemic Sound - https://epidemicsound.com/referral/5qaq9
#Centurionrunning #ultrarunning #Northdownsway100
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