I woke up in a Premier Inn bedroom with an unusual feeling of excitement and nervousness, today was the day of my first ever endurance event, an event I had spent months training for. Saturday 4th September 2021. The date had seemed so far away at the time of booking, without fully appreciating the term 'Ultra Marathon' and all that it entailed.
The South Coast Challenge is one of many events across the UK organised by Action Challenge. You can walk, jog or run varying distances from 25km to 100km, over 1 or 2 days, with the option of raising money for a charity to help fund the event. My chosen challenge was to walk 57km along the South Coast from Eastbourne to Hove and to fundraise for Alzheimer's Society, a charity close to my heart. I'd set myself a personal goal of completing the walk within 12 hours, although my main goal was simply to make it across the finish line!
Arriving at the starting point, Polegate, we parked up the car, put on our trail shoes, picked up our backpacks and headed into the site for registration. Behind the registration desk was an incredibly cheerful Action Challenge member who handed over our start packs including a bib number to pin on, a branded neck buff and a route card showing the most important elements of the challenge, where we were going, the elevation and the location of all the rest stops on-route! Having pinned my bib number onto my backpack I felt positive that the weight of the bag had increased considerably since taking it out of the car only 10 minutes earlier! This was met by some amusement by some fellow challengers who assured me I was imagining it!
Fuelled by porridge and a Twix, we joined the starting line warm-up session, Matt doing athletic looking stretches, whilst I waved my arms and legs about in an attempt to follow the Zumba routine taking place on stage. A group count-down from 10 and we were off at precisely our scheduled 8:20am start time.
Heading down the road in a throng of people, it wasn't long before we turned off through a gate and headed into the countryside and almost at once an incredibly steep, long, climb was upon us. Eventually the land levelled to a more undulating flow and the people thinned out and we were able to enjoy some dramatic scenery as we made our way to the clifftop path at Beachy Head.
Living in Leicester, the furthest point away from the sea in the UK, means that I have spent a lifetime being over-excited whenever I can see the sea! As the sea first came into view across the cliff, it was so beautiful, peaceful and calm early in the morning, the line between sea and sky undeterminable in the summer haze. It also signified a particularly brutal part of the challenge, the walk along the coast path of the Seven Sisters, where the many, many, successive hills were so steep they felt as though they were completely vertical! Hill after hill was conquered as we passed by monuments, lighthouses and dramatic cliff scenery until finally, the first rest-stop came into view, the 14k stop.
After a brief stop we continued on our way for the 2nd quarter of our challenge, a long, hot, flat section of walk following the Cuckmere River. Although the flat riverside path was welcome after all the hills that had come before, it quickly became monotonous and we took advantage of the lie of the land and picked up the pace to the half way point and, most importantly, lunch stop!
A great selection of food was available for lunch, and for those finishing at 25k, a bbq lunch was in progress. I had a little doubt in my mind that I could repeat the walk I had just done a second time to make it to the finish, but I pushed it aside and feeling refreshed we headed out for the third quarter of our challenge, my personal favourite section. Consisting mostly of undulating farmland, we took in the lovely views as we continued on our way. At one point a challenge volunteer was handing out lollipops to help us on our way. By this point I was experiencing quite severe backache, the weight of my bag seeming to get heavier with every step. Luckily, a couple of painkillers dulled the ache and I was able to continue.
A full change of clothes at the next rest stop prepared us for the final, and longest, section of the challenge. As darkness fell we could see the town of Brighton light up as we made our decent into the town. Counting down the km for the final 10 I thought would make the distance appear to go more quickly, I was wrong. The final 7km was hard, really hard. Passing by Brighton seafront, observing all the beach bars full of people having Saturday night dinner and drinks, it took all my willpower not to throw in the towel and go and rest my blistered feet and aching legs on a bar stool with a pint in hand. But, when we'd got this far, with only a few km to go, quitting was not an option so on we went, past all the bars, into Hove, and up through the town until, finally, the lights of the finish point came into view.
We crossed the finish line together, where we were handed a glass of bubbles, medal and finishers t-shirt. Although beyond exhausted, it was an amazing feeling to make it to the end and complete the challenge, knowing that I had achieved something remarkable, both for me personally, and for the charity I had chosen to support. I hadn't let anyone, or myself down, I'd done it, and with a recorded moving time of 11hours 40mins, smashing my self-set 12 hour goal!
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