Fallout: Beyond Marathon

April has now arrived, and Easter is just around the corner. I swear time goes by quicker as you get older. And on that topic, I can't quiet believe it has been a week since I have was taking on one of my toughest challenges to date.

Since I took on my first ultra a few years back I have toyed with the idea of running a 100km event but didn't think my body would be able to tolerate it given the niggles and struggles of doing anything 50km+.

This should have been my second event with Beyond Marathon, however I took a sudden U-Turn and backed out of their Escape from Meriden event last year. It is quiet easy to do so when you are essentially building your own route from scratch rather than an organised event with checkpoints, aid stations, and medics. I was determined not to make the same mistake and experience a different form of challenge. So when I came across this event I wanted to make amends and put things right, and felt it would be a welcome addition to my race calendar.

So what is Fallout?

Well, the plot is that there has been an accident at an atomic energy research facility near Harwell (Oxfordshire) where radioactive waste has been released. With it being deadly upon contact, the challenge is to reach a safe distance of 40 miles within 12 hours. The Fallout cloud grows bigger by the minute in all directions, extinguishing all life upon contact. There is a curve ball thrown in however. The distance is tracked as the Crow Flies (aka a mile is measured in a straight line). Cool plot ey?

It had taken me a while to come up with a suitable route I aimed to run. Initially my route was going to take me down over The Ridgeway and head towards Ealing (London) where I would have been able to stay at my sisters. But due to a last minute house move that option was no longer available to me. After a little bit of stressing over potential routes, I decided I would plot a route from Chiltern and work my way up to Leamington Spa.

The Friday saw me based in Belfast for work so I ended up flying into Birmingham Airport late evening, and drove 30mins to Leamington Spa where I had an Airbnb booked for two nights. The place was a dump. Honestly, one of the grottiest and dirtiest places I have been in. Those who lived there had made no attempt to clean the house, if ever. This meant another change of plans, scrap the second night's stay and drive back home afterwards.

Saturday morning so me up and early to clear out, and walk a mile to the train station and begin the journey to Chiltern. Pointless pre-booking a seat as someone was sleeping in it, it was a relatively nice journey with some lovely scenery to enjoy. I also met a pair of runners who got on at Banbury, one who was nursing an IT Band injury - I know all about that! At Didcot we met more runners and shared taxis to the start point whilst chatting about our own escape routes.

Registration was super quick and after a safety presentation by Richard we made our way outside with green smoke released to indicate it was time to go. In my mind I had set myself three checkpoints: Oxford, Banbury, Leamington Spa.

I made my start towards the first checkpoint. It was pretty much perfect running conditions. Dry, bright, with a slight crisp cool air. It was lovely to be back in an area that I had lived in for a couple of years and to be familiar with so many sights. I made my way in and out of Abingdon, through Radley and into Oxford. It took me about two hours to reach the centre and felt it was a suitable time to have a quick pit stop to get some carbs down me and thanks to Wagamama- some free samples!

I pushed on knowing my next target was Banbury, and felt okay heading out of Oxford through Summertown and Kidlington. Stupidly I had forgotten to refill my water  and was beginning to feel a little sluggish. I kept moving on and started to make my way around Oxford Airport where the heavens began to open and the rain started to fall. I kept moving, and the sun reappeared as I reached Woodstock, home to Blenheim Palace. I found a nice cafe to refill my water and continued my way. I started to regret not getting something to eat! It would be a while until I passed through another town where I could stock up and replenish. My route began to take me away from the more built up areas of West Oxfordshire and I started to hit a cluster of picturesque villages and countryside roads. 

I continued along these empty country roads for miles until I was led into Wooton, an attractive village consisting of narrow streets and stone cottages. This was now a theme for a good chunk of my journey, as I passed through Sandford St. Martin, Barford St. Michael, and Barford St. John. The area would not have looked out of place from the Cotswolds. To be honest, if I had the chance to, I imagine that this area has plenty of hidden gems waiting to be discovered and would be a great area to explore by hiking or cycling. The one thing I liked about the area, as well as the Cotswolds is that much of the newer developments are mostly 

built in stone to match the older properties. I tried to soak in as much as I could of my surroundings however I was also flagging and once again I was in need of hydration and some food. I plodded onto Bloxham, a large medieval village with cottages built in local ironstone. Not that I appreciated that much. I saw a Londi's and went straight in. Boost energy drink and a Ham Sandwich. It didn't do my mood any favours as it was frankly the worst tasting sandwich I have ever experienced. And at a time when you would almost certainly appreciate anything you tasted! Knowing I was only a few miles outside Banbury, I continued my journey.

I slowly continued and the Gods decided to unleash another burst of rain as I entered Banbury. I managed to take shelter in a pub where I took my time to rest up, get some fuel down me and refill my water. I could happily of stayed in that pub. It was so inviting, lots of people drinking and eating. And there’s me feeling bit of a wreck! At this point I was contemplating calling it quits. But that stubborn mind of mine prevented me from doing so. I told myself get to 84km and that would be two marathons. Be proud. So I entered outside and saw two fellow runners attempting to reach Meriden. We were the furthest away at that time, it kept my motivated to keep going. 

Now on to the final stage of my journey, I slowly made my way through more quiet villages with absolutely nothing going on and nobody in sight. At times it almost get like the end of the world. The sun began to dip and I gradually found myself in Kineton, where I stopped to refill again. I passed a chippy which was packed with people- it smelt glorious. The lady in the co-op didn’t help by saying it was the best fish n chips around! As I left I started to hit a small patch of trail through some woodlands and I began to get second wind. I had passed the 84km and I knew that 1km at a time I was going to do it. 

Hitting 100km was a glorious moment. The satisfaction I felt was slightly emotional. But there was no time for sentiments. I still had a few more miles to complete and with the rain coming down heavy again I finally reached my destination. 105km covered in just over 11 hours, I was back to the beginning. I made my way back to the car  and craving for chips and sausages! Again I was ultimately let down with how disappointing they were! 🙈 

I sat in my car for a while, letting it settle in what I had just achieved. By then it was 10pm and was half tempted to go back to my Airbnb. But instead I turned the ignition and started a 2 hour drive back home.

I had plotted my route through Strava - I was unsure how reliable it would be and had mulled up other options such as Kamoot. I had synced the route to my Garmin Forerunner 935 and followed the path from my watch. I was pleasantly surprised by the route. For the most part it kept me on footpaths and countryside roads. It was only a small section towards the end I ended up getting lost in the dark as I tried to find my way through a sharp descent down some woodland. To be fair I didn't mind too much, it was nice to hit a trail as most of my journey had been on road and the impact was telling on my body.

The concept and the event was wonderful- despite it being an event that you in essence, create yourself. One thing I realised during the event was how quickly time passes by.  Being on your feet and running non-stop for 11hrs+ sounds horrendous, but it was actually more pleasant and easier than I had anticipated in some ways. And my recovery period hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be.

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