A Trip Down South

The Steyning Stinger Off Road Marathon

What an endurance event ! That just about describes the drive down there at least. I am, however, no stranger to "that" drive as i grew up in Sussex and spent much time up on the South Downs. I therefore had a very handy B&B (Parents house) just 5 miles from the start of the race and, as it turned out, a finely tuned support resource for during the race itself ( they popped up everywhere ).

So, what was it that tempted a "proper" hill runner to do a race amongst the "bumps" that are the South Downs ? Well, in order to the enter the Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado i needed a marathon time ( the 26.2 mile variety not the usual mountain marathon to which i am better accustomed ). There was, however, no way that i would knock out this distance on Tarmac so i decided to trawl the net for something more up my street - and bingo , this race cropped up on the radar.

The organisation for the race was almost faultless. Almost faultless in that they seemed to omit one key fact when informing runners about the starting procedure. The marathon started at 8.30am but any runners could start earlier if they felt they needed a bit more time. A great idea given that marshalls would not then have to be out for the whole day. I theerfore presented myself at the start at 8.10am, was counted through the start and duly disappeared off for a wee and a warm-up ( not that keen really - but it was about minus 3C ! ). When i returned to the start line the marshall was clearly intrigued as to what i was doing back so soon . It appeared that when you turned up to the start and crossed the line they started timing you . In effect , it'd be a 26.2 mile time-trial ! So, i set off for the second time .

The course was nearly all off road and took runners on several large loops that made good use of the many bridleways and footpaths. The tracks themselves were hardpacked to start ( frozen ) and then a really nice sticky clay texture when the sun warm up that top layer. There were gates, stiles, road crossings and boggy fields ..... rather reminicent of my school cross country days ( albeit slightly longer )

It could be quite hard doing a long time-trial but i guess i'm used to spending long runs on my own . All i had to do was find "the pace" and chug along. It may have been billed as a killer route but with only 3000 foot climb in the entire distance it was all feeling pretty flat to me . The drinks stations were regular , the mile markers ticked and , as most runners had set off before me there were plenty to catch. My parents rallyed around this quiet corner of Sussex to be at the next checkpoint and i seemed to be hitting my predicted times. Instead of flagging in the final miles i actually got a wee bit faster as i realised that i was almost done. One final slippery descent saw me stop the clock at 3.14.

I knew i had run pretty consistently well and i'd had no disasters but i was slightly surprised to see my winning margin was 8 minutes over 2nd place. At race HQ it was interesting hearing folks discussing the race ...... Torture, killer climbs, treacherous descents etc etc ..... did make me think - "Anyone for the Peris Horsehoe ????"

1 week on and the legs are back to normal and fully looking forward to a couple of Real Fell Races in the next couple of weeks before a few days Alpine ski-touring and then to Gairloch for the Highander Mountain Marathon.


By Chris Near