RACE 10 - STEYNING STINGER HALF MARATHON - 6 March

Well - a milestone of a sort.  I've reached double figures!  To celebrate I thought I'd do my first ever half marathon.  The one I chose was an off-road one called the "Steyning Stinger". Described as a "cross-country hill run or walk [needless to say I'm intending to run it] through the South Downs between Worthing and Shoreham-by-Sea, inaugurated in 2002. It now in its ninth year and takes place on the first Sunday in March. 

Required ability level: Very Fit." 


You can see from the elevation profile why they recommend you are pretty fit! Needless to say, I was pretty nervous about it as the gradients do look a) steep and b) long (it's uphill for the first 5.5k!) and I've never run a half marathon before.  In the race instructions they describe the route as "predominantly cross country with mud, flint, grass, chalk, and rutted tracks. One notably hazardous stretch is on the Chanctonbury Ring area. This is rutted with water gulleys, tree roots and compacted chalk and can be VERY SLIPPERY" (their capitals!) 


To digress, from Mysterious Britain (www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/.../chanctonbury-ring.html ) that probably doesn't have quite the cache of a true archaeological website but is kind of interesting ...... "Chanctonbury Ring is a hill on the Sussex Downs some 700 feet above sea level and, until the hurricane, which swept across Southern England, was crowned with beech trees. Excavations at the site showed that the ramparts dated from 300 BC. Remains of several Roman buildings were found during the early digs, along with various items and fragments of pottery.

Chanctonbry Ring before the hurricane.: Photograph by Charles WalkerAs with other lonely wooded spots there are many stories and legends concerning ghosts and the devil. Legend has it that the devil had a hand in the formation of Chanctonbury Ring. When he discovered that the inhabitants of Sussex were being converted from previous pagan religions to Christianity he decided to drown them.

He began digging a trench down to the sea from Poynings, sending large quantities of earth in every direction, one of which became Chanctonbury. He was not to complete his work however. An old lady living nearby placed a sieve in front of a lighted candle on her window ledge. This disturbed a cockerel perched on a fence. The devil heard the cockerel and, looking over his shoulder, saw what he thought was the sun rising and so fled before completing his task.

You can, it is said, raise the devil at Chanctonbury Ring by running around the clump of trees seven times in an anti-clockwise direction. When he appears he will offer you a bowl of soup in exchange for your soul."   By the time I get their I may want that bowl of soup!

Anyway back to the race.  Again got up early (this time left the house at 5:15am!) and had a fantastic drive down the A24.  Some beautiful scenery from about Box Hill onwards and little/no traffic.  Arrived in good time - an hour before the race was due to start - well I thought it was an hour actually an hour and a half as I'd got the marathon start time rather than the half!  I could have done with the extra half hour in bed as I couldn't stop yawning - even at the start line.  Few things pre-race worth noting; Steyning is a lovely town; the daffodils were all out around the lovely flint chequered church (including some really beautiful dwarf daffs); Steyning Grammar School (the race HQ) was a bit of a dump (certainly the bit we got to see at any rate); the gents toilets blocked up (v. smelly!); and it was cold.  


During my getting ready I found that my expensive race socks - they have special right and left socks, padding, support and are multi-coloured (its probably the latter that's the most important feature) - had a hole in them.  My big toe poked right through (that should teach me to check my kit properly the night before).  Anyway, just put the right sock on left foot and vice versa - I mean they can't be that different can they?  Well, I found out later that they could be that different, approximately by about mile 8. 


The marathon runners had set off by 8:30 and we were allowed, or as the organiser announced 'those slower runners' were allowed to set off soon after.  Not wanting to admit to being a slower runner, I waited to the official start time of 9:00 to find only about 30 of us left - everyone else had gone earlier.  We set off at a cracking pace - partly as the first mile or so was along the edge of the downs only gently uphill. Settling down after a couple of miles into a more sedate pace there were about 4 of us that changed positions pretty much to the end. Some were better going up hills, some down, some flagged at half way, some a bit later..... 

The first "sting".

The first "sting" was up onto the downs (well that's what we thought) but in fact if you look at the elevation profile, it didn't really count.  The two dips were where we crossed the A24 on road bridges where they sited their water stations and chocolate biscuit station - how civilised is that! You turn up in a sweaty state, gulp down some water, linger slightly longer over 'energy enhancing' chocolate digestive and off you run.  Can you imagine that in the 2012 Olympics?


Back to the "stings".  Basically they were just long, hard slogs uphill onto the downs with the race photographer perfectly positioned in the location where you feel you're just about to expire and/or stop running.   Also once on the top of the downs we were faced with what the organisers termed "a very cold easterly wind [that] threatened competitors with hypothermia" and as I'd decided on t-shirt and shorts for the race - I felt it!  I had wondered why seeing other competitors getting ready that they had put on tights, running jackets, hats, snoods, gloves (which I did have), long socks, electric blankets, hot water bottles ......

Chanctonbury Ring

By about mile 8 the 'sock issue' was beginning to make itself felt. Also quite early on in the race we'd had to cross a low-lying waterlogged field so my feet were wet which didn't help.  So to distract myself you tend to concentrate on other things, like how beautiful this part of the downs are; how friendly people generally were - I mean competitors even held the gates open for each other, warned each other of approaching horses/ mountain bikers/ dogs/ vehicles/ chocolate biscuit stations and so on.    

I didn't unfortunately take my camera on the run but I did see one runner taking numerous pictures while running. On his running top he had an address along the lines of 'running commentary'  - I can only assume that there is a website somewhere with an almost Wainwright (the walker and writer of the Lakes Guides) attention to detail.  At the top of the second 'sting' I was distracted by another running top and no, before you jump to conclusions (partly I admit due to previous race reports) it did not contain a pretty example of the opposite sex.  No, this t-shirt had on it - "100 marathons" club (there is actually such a thing!) the gentleman's name which I can't remember and his age - 75+!!!! Does that mean I have a good 25 years to go of this kind of thing?  Also I checked - he wasn't doing the half like 'lightweight' me - he was doing the full Monty! All I can say is total respect!

The gentle part of the descent 

Coming down off Chanctonbury Ring, the organisers hadn't been kidding in their description "One notably hazardous stretch is on the Chanctonbury Ring area. This is rutted with water gulleys, tree roots and compacted chalk and can be VERY SLIPPERY". It was exactly as they said but having said that one or two runners flew down - I've no idea how - some took it very gingerly, while I attempted somewhere in between.  It was during this descent that my quads (thighs) began to ache, my knees were sore and the feet were getting quite painful.  Which added up is pretty much the whole leg! 

The finish straight

Back onto the flat (ish) eventually, one of the group (we'd managed to out pace the others) eased into a 20m lead and there was nothing I could do to catch him.  The mind was willing (well kind of) but the body (legs - 2 number) were weak.  We covered the final 2 miles at what felt like pace but in all probability more of a shuffling jog.  He crossed the line about 50m in front - waited for me to finish to give me a hearty congratulatory hug (manly of course!) - it was that kind of event - friendly, well organised and just great fun.  At the finish they had all the necessities - cheering spectators, water, chocolates, St John's Ambulance .....


The slight downside was to ensure that the distances were totally accurate - the finish line was about half a mile from the school in the middle of a field.  That felt like a VERY long walk back to the school. Finally I  took my trainers off, socks now with even more holes in them went straight into the bin, and had a look at the wide ranging number, size and positions of blisters.  


Two other things I should mention that I loved about this event was that they understood runners. What do you want after such exertions? That's right a fry-up which is exactly what they gave us in the schools' dining room.  The other thing they'd arranged is that the photos taken were made available as free downloads as part of the entry fee (amazing value when you consider that normally a medium resolution picture costs about 7 quid each) and there's 20 of me! No I won't upload them all as in 'one or two' i.e. many, the grin is too much like a grimace.  


Having finished breakfast I went back to the car which was unfortunately on the other side of the village but it gave me a chance to enjoy the sunshine and admire the quaint architecture (see the end for more information).  Drove east to Lewes to meet up with Jakki & Nigel, Louis and Maddie and a magnificant roast dinner with all the trimmings!  I was also presented by Louis and Maddie, a drawing of a world cup (currently residing on my fridge door) and a medal. I was quizzed at length about how far and fast I'd run - at which point Maddie decided to show me how fast she could go by sprinting up and down the hallway.  Needless to say while expressing my admiration of the speed achieved, Maddie said she could run faster and actually "could run faster than her legs" - a wonderful turn of phrase and something I'll aspire to! 

As it was such a lovely afternoon we all went for a walk in the recently restored (well enough for public access) Lewes Priory (http://www.lewespriory.org.uk/The-Priory-Park-project ) where we played 'hide and seek' and 'sardines' (oh my aching limbs and blistered feet!) After the walk Jakki showed me her epee - a left handed one no less and showed me how to use it.  A lot harder than it looks as after a very short time it weighs heavily and is difficult to control.

Many thanks to Nigel,Jakki, Louis and Maddie for such a great end to a great day and putting up with an ever slowing and aching guest.  

Result: 36th out of 219 (but I think some of those walked it) in a time of 1:51:58 




Steyning 
A well-resourced town with a cheerful, vibrant community, Steyning is rich in historical and literary associations. Its streets are full of timber-framed buildings, its Norman church contains some of the best Romanesque architecture in England and in the legends of Saint Cuthman a unique record in the South East of the conversion of a Saxon community (see more information on http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/archaeology/steyning.html.)





It is the perfect place to explore the downs and weald of central Sussex overlooked by the famous Chanctonbury Ring. The area abounds in lanes and footpaths linking downs, river and hamlets, many with ancient churches and inns.