Feeling every Mile of the Winter Downs 200 miler

For those of you familiar with Camino Ultra will know Peter Thomason.

Peter can be found in the photo diaries of Camino's first ever event. He's taken on all of our event series and this year he was the stand-out winner of our London 100.

In January he was the strongest at the Longbridge Backyard (before a work flight meant his time was up) in the summer he raced favourite Ryan Whelan all the way at Centurions 100 mile North Downs Way (Pete was second in a performance that put him in Top 10 all-time for the 103 mile format).

Peter proudly with the original Camino Ultra Buff (before muddiest!)

So after another impressive race year was there room for one more epic performance?

Peter decided not to race the Sri Chimoy 24 hour in late September due to a feeling that more recovery was needed from NDW and so the decision was made to race the 200 mile Winter Downs event. When the race preview came out it was clear that there were easily half a dozen really strong candidates for this one - however when you toe the line for your first ever 200 miler you need to ensure that you don't become an early stage casualty and do everything within your skills to finish.

So how did Mr Camino do? Well luckily for us the weather is perfect for a blog read and a good cup of tea - Big thank you to Pete for sharing his race reflections with us - a good insight for anyone looking to go longer than 100 miles and for winter time adventures.

PETER THOMASON:

One of my aims for this year was to experience different types of races. I managed that with the Longbridge winter backyard ultra in January, racing the inaugural London 100k and the North Downs Way 100 but I wanted to keep testing my limits and go after a goal that really made me healthily nervous. As the end of the year loomed, the Centurion Winter Downs 200 where I'd run basically twice as far as I'd ever done and in 16 hours of darkness certainly ticked that box... perfect!

Prep

Going into this I knew I would need to be stronger than ever before. I worked on a plan with coach Dave that once again focussed more than anything on consistency. I'd shown reasonable pace and finished strongly in my previous races so I was confident that I had the aerobic base to at least give it a good go. Similarly, I continued nutrition and strength work with Alex Alvarez to keep building my overall power and durability with 3 gym sessions each week. With both of these things I felt good going into race week physically. The only downside was that having been in California with work for a few weeks immediately before this, I was still a bit jet-lagged but didn't think too much of this knowing I was going to be starved of sleep in the event regardless.

From a race plan perspective, I wanted to be as familiar as possible with the course and the structure of the event. I'd already run the SDW and NDW 100s so knew a lot of the trails before and then made sure I did a few reccy runs out to the less well known Vanguard and St. Swithun's ways which are the parts of the course connecting the north and south downs. I managed to do all of these laden up with the extensive mandatory kit and so again, felt pretty well prepped. I didn't know every mile for sure, but not too much of it would be completely unfamiliar either. I then built a race strategy based upon the available previous 2 years results.

There were a lot fewer benchmarks of course than some other races but I got together the best plan I could of where I hoped to be when and broke the course down into the sections I would tackle. Unlike other races I'd done before, the official aid stations were approximately 50 miles apart and so knowing where in between my crew would meet me would be vital.

And yes... the crew. I am and was incredibly lucky to have my parents willing and able to give up days of their life to be there for this one. Spoiler alert but I simply couldn't have done it without them. This was the first race I ran which truly felt like a team event but more on that later. If you are considering this race and want to run it more than experience it as a self-supported adventure, a fully dedicated crew is a must.

The Race

Starting the 200 mile loop from the bottom of Box Hill at 8am, I set off at a decent pace along the first NDW section. It was unseasonably warm and dry so I made the most of the daylight and covered the first marathon in about 4 hours 30mins and continued like this right up until around mile 50. I was moving and eating well, really over emphasizing eating real food knowing that gels, sweets and cake couldn't sustain me for a 48 hour+ effort. 

So far, so good. Despite a panic at one stage that I'd deleted the course of my watch, this was all going well. I was in and around the podium, buddying up with other runners of a similar pace as the first night set in and we got closer and closer to the SDW, the first major mental milestone that I'd set myself. And then came the first crash.

Out of nowhere, I began to feel nauseous but of course, that's nothing unusual for an ultra. I kept moving, trying to stick with another runner (Nick) who was helpfully dragging me on. I managed to do so, but the hours and miles started to go by and nothing was changing. My crew and I swapped to different types of food whenever we could but in the end I spent close to 10 hours of that first night feeling on the verge of puking and was starting to slow down. 

This was new to me, I'd never had such extended nausea and so needed to try something different. Thankfully, it was around 4am and I was coming up to the first official check point, Truleigh Hill at 92 miles so I decided to take my first ever sleep during a run and got 90 minutes before waking up feeling much better. I crammed in a jacket potato with tuna and got back out on the course, refreshed. 

On a side note, this was one of the biggest differences compared to anything I'd done before, having sleep as a tool available for the race was a complete new experience and tactical dimension that for sure I underestimated and didn't make the most of. In fact, I went in with zero sleep strategy. Instead I naively opted for a 'see how little I can get and wing it' approach. With hindsight, this was obviously not a good idea something I should have asked for more advice from David and the team beforehand. Still, it was a fun, new element and definitely added to the adventure.

And with that jacket potato and extra sleep I hit a real high for the next 13 hours or so as I effectively covered the remainder of the SDW. The weather was again kind as I got some glorious views from the top of the hills and had regular meet ups with my crew every 10 or so miles for refueling. This was the most enjoyable part of the race for me and I was getting the job done, at this stage in 3rd place. 

Once again, it's worth saying just how different it felt to a normal 100 mile race. Due to the relatively small field and very long distance, it was halfway through this day that I last saw any other competitor. In fact, from when I left Truleigh Hill, 19 and a half hours in, I literally only laid eyes on another competitor once until the finish line 37 hours later! Crews and volunteers were incredible and friendly as always wherever they could be but this was, even with a crew, a much more solitary event than anything I had raced previously.

I was now 137 miles in at the 3rd checkpoint, happily eating a lasagne at 4.30pm as the sun fully disappeared and the second night started. I was still feeling strong and with 'only' around 65 miles left, I was aware that every step was a personal best distance and knew lack of sleep had to catch up at some point but I was feeling good and confident that I would get this done, maybe even in a competitive time. Time for the wheels to come off again.

From this point on, the race went from a strong performance in which I'd 'bounced back' from my nausea to being a complete battle. The nausea came back, much harder than before and whereas I'd been able to keep eating the first time, this became more and more difficult until it eventually became impossible. By the time I arrived in Farnham, with around just 25 miles to go, I was walking, there were tears, I was seeing things and I really wasn't confident I'd finish. Thankfully, my crew saved me. My parents were on hand to get me back into bed for another power nap, feed me up and give me that combination of sympathy and more importantly clear thinking and tough love that got me back out the door. As well as the help on site, my dad had been able to message David, who in turn was able to give clear advice as somebody who's gone these mental kind of distances before, this was invaluable.

And so, the final push of one more marathon. I had a new target, to finish before the third night and so off I went. Any passers by watching me certainly didn't see any glamour as a stinking, woodland monster trundled along the country lanes but bit by bit I got there and eventually made it to the finish line in 4th place and 56 hours 49 minutes. Job done. 

It's safe to say that lot of this last section wasn't 'enjoyable' in a traditional sense but now a few days have passed since the race, this is the part of the event that I am most proud of, that I have taken the most from and will keep with me the most. It's a complete cliche but coming back from a point where you really think you can't go on, is incredibly self-affirming. It is I guess why many of us continue to love this sport. It was horrible and it was amazing. I went well past my previous limit and loved it.

Overall, this was a brilliant event. If you're thinking of it, do it.

A massive thank you to all the staff and volunteers at Centurion who made this possible and to the Camino Ultra team for the continued coaching as well of course as my incredible crew aka my parents! None of this would be possible without all of you, I'm very grateful.