In It To Win It- Part 2
Before this day the longest distance I had ever run was only about 12 miles. I'm not sure what clicks inside me to make me do daft things but there must be some chemical in the brain that removes all the doubt no matter what the circumstances are and just lets you get on with it. I knew without a doubt that I would finish The Sandstone Trail that day regardless of what was thrown in front of me.
From what I remember everything went fine up to Beaston Castle where I was beginning to tire. At Beaston I saw the Old Pale masts and knew from there it was home ground, with as much oomph as I could gather I pushed on towards those masts.
Heading up the lane after Rocky Farm alarm bells started ringing as I looked at the map. I knew the masts were just up in front of me but the map was showing them a few miles further ahead. I was very tired, my feet were hurting, I had rubbed the skin off my back and nothing was making sense. I sat down and had a bit of an emotional moment which was quickly followed by a good talking to myself- 'How the hell am I going to be able to run the 44 mile Classic Quarter over much more difficult terrain in probably worst weather when I couldn’t even do this one?' A few walkers past giving me a strange look like they'd just seen a zombie or had something popped out of my Ron Hill shorts?
With food and drink consumed I got to my feet and within minutes saw my error, the masts I'd been worshiping were not my beloved Old Pale but Summertrees. I managed to break a smile, curse at myself, then carry on towards the real Old Pale masts that I could now see on the horizon.
The rest of the journey was a mix of running, walking and hobbling. I phoned Steph at some point towards the end to organise my pickup, I warned her that things weren’t good!
Running or even jogging down the final hill from the Frodsham War Memorial was out of the question, I was well and truly battered (but not quiet beaten).
As I shuffled down the final piece of road towards the Bears Paw and finish Steph was walking up to meet me. A hug and a kiss and Steph just looked at me proudly. I spent the next 500yrds to the finish telling Steph that that was it, no more running for me, cancel all my subscriptions, burn all my shoes, forget the Classic Quarter and lets move on...
To be continued