Race To The King

By Adam Vernon

.... The basecamp was well organised with 600 tents being quite a sight, and the main marquee for meals and socialising …

So what’s it like walking a double marathon in two consecutive days?

It was in the winter of 2020 when I met up with Diane, a work colleague from 20 years ago; who we normally exchange Christmas cards with but sadly little else. As we chatted over our coffee Diane told me of her plan to walk a double Marathon in June 2020, I was immediately interested to learn more as I had walked a marathon a couple of years ago and I had been considering attempting two marathons in one day as a personal challenge to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research. Diane gave me the details, and after looking up ‘Race to the King’ on the internet I was hooked and asked Diane if she would mind if I joined her. It turned out she was already planning to do it with two other friends (Barbara and Lesley) and she was more than happy for me to make up the fourth member of the group. We were all signed up and received our training plan from the organisation in order to be physically and mentally prepared by June that year. Well, as you will have realised Coronavirus stopped our plans and the Race to the King was postponed until June 2021. All four of us had the good intentions of doing some training together, as specified in our training plan, but in reality, I only did one 8 mile walk with Diane and didn’t meet the other two members of our team until one week before the actual event when we met for a coffee in Horsham to talk through our preparation for the following weekend. However, all of us were very good at doing loads of training throughout the Spring months increasing not only the amount of walking but also the distance travelled. In the run up to the big weekend the amount of information being sent from the organisation running the event increased as did the exchange of WhatsApp messages between the four of us. Do this, don’t do that, where to pin your timing chip, when to wear your covid mask, don’t forget your sanitizer, sun cream, wet weather gear, overnight bag, and finally the medical health declaration form the night before to make sure we were all covid safe! The Race to the King happens each year (I think) and normally goes from Arundel to Winchester but there was a last-minute change this year and we departed from Goodwood Racecourse instead. We had to do a bit of ‘J’ walking to make sure the distance was still a double marathon and the organisers had done a brilliant job sorting everything out remarkably well. About 2500 people took part in the event over the weekend; some people just did one day (either the Saturday or Sunday), some people ran or walked the whole distance without stopping, and our group (600 of us) were the ‘Weekenders’ who walked the whole distance (53.5 miles) but camped overnight at the basecamp roughly halfway. I really do have to compliment Threshold Sports who run the event for their brilliant organisation throughout the whole process. All the pre-event information was good and comprehensive; and the organisation over the weekend was superb, the reception, the transportation of the luggage to the basecamp and on to Winchester, the seven pit stops with copious food and drinks, and first aid and numerous toilets, the enthusiastic welcome committees at every stop, the preparation of the basecamp with 600 tents pre-erected for us and a massive marquee for Saturday evening meal and Sunday breakfast, and the finale at Winchester with the awarding of our medals. All of it excellent!

... the Race to the King happens each year ... and normally goes from Arundel to Winchester …

So we set off excitedly on the Saturday morning with Betsy driving me down and all arrived at Goodwood at just about 7.00 am ready for our 7.50 start time. Covid had forced a different starting procedure this year and we all were in ‘waves’ with 5 seconds between groups or individuals. We all made use of the toilets before leaving and then were told we could leave as soon as we were ready and left about 7.30 with a spring in our step. Betsy was at the start line to capture our departure on camera, and then later drove past us in the car, tooting the horn and giving vocal encouragement! I thought that all three ladies knew each other but in fact Diane was the common denominator between us all, however Lesley does work with Diane. What do three girls and one boy talk about for two days having never met as a group before? Well, I was pleasantly surprised that we were very well matched in terms of outlook and brought a plethora of life experiences to share, so conversation was free-flowing and random. Never once did I sense any tensions or awkwardness between any of us which made the weekend a delight. We talked about: our preparation for the double marathon, our shoes and sock choice, our partners and families - which is always a pleasure, our personal history and what we have done and do in our lives, our noteworthy holidays, the beautiful countryside we walked through, how far we’d walked and how far still to go (about a million times), films and series that we’ve watched recently (the wonders of Netflix during Covid), and the intricacies of ‘wild weeing’ seemed quite high on our conversation agenda! (and luckily was never a problem or an embarrassment). Due to mainly walking on country paths we were usually walking in pairs, and we seemed to rotate freely with each other, without thought or design (unless the girls had a masterplan!) which was lovely. We concluded that a group of four was ideal as; no one was ever left out and you regularly had someone new to talk to. We found it hard to believe that there was hardly 10 minutes of no talking over the whole weekend. We all thought there might be miles of complete silence, due to pain or boredom, thankfully neither of which occurred. We tried not to think about how our feet and legs were feeling, although we did have one or two little niggles there was nothing that couldn’t

be sorted with a Compeed patch or a change of socks. Day one seemed to whizz along, although it was quite disappointing that our starting point was Goodwood, near Chichester and our basecamp was at Compton Farm, also near Chichester! We joked about walking all day for 22.8 miles and still not getting away from a Chichester postcode! The basecamp was well organised with 600 tents being quite a sight, and the main marquee for meals and socialising (at a distance of course), there were numerous toilet blocks around the field and banks of mobile shower units. We checked into reception at about 4.30pm to get our tents allocated and then collected our luggage which had been ferried via vans from Goodwood. We settled into our tents, removed our footwear and socks, inspected our feet, and then decided to have a shower before the evening rush (if there was going to be one!). The showers were amazing, considering they were all mobile, trailered units they had instant copious hot water that came out at considerable volume and speed, just right for a freshen up after 9 hours of walking. After a little post shower relaxation, and just as it started to rain, we decided to go for our meal before everyone else had the same idea. There is a limit to how much entertainment you can have in a one-man tent! There was a short queue going into a double food counter and a choice of four hot meals. Although the portion size was a bit random and dependant on the generosity of individual servers, we thought the food was good and tasty. We had contemplated recirculating for a second portion but actually we all felt well fed after the first round, followed by a couple of cups of tea or coffee.

… We found it hard to believe that there was hardly 10 minutes of no talking over the whole weekend …

…. Our 5.00am breakfast was soon eaten, nearly a full English for me …

We settled down to sleep about 8.00pm as the rain had set in for the night. After a bit of reading and contacting loved ones, the camp site soon quietened down and before I knew it, I was waking up at 3.00am. Thinking this was too early, even for me, I went for a quick visit to the toilets with my torch, (on the essential kit list!) before trying to settle again but the excitement of day two approaching was keeping my mind spinning. Then at 4.00am it was like a switch had gone off as tent zips started ‘zipping’ all over the camp site and before we knew it people were talking all around. There was a mum and daughter opposite us who were very funny. They talked as though no one could hear them and were pretty loud. This had been the mum’s first night camping in her life! It seemed as though she had brought as much in her sturdy overnight suitcase as you might need for a week’s holiday. She had a proper 4-inch-thick blow-up mattress, which made my yoga mat seem rather thin! The daughter was a regular camper, and they made a great couple providing entertainment for everyone nearby with their funny conversation, including which way round they had to sleep because of the slope on the field.

Our 5.00am breakfast was soon eaten, nearly a full English for me, but choice of various options available for others. Bags packed and into the van ready for 6.00am start for day two. However, we paused slightly to let the enthusiastic runners go first, so they didn’t all overtake us as we were setting off. We crossed the start line at about 6.20am with a row of cheer leaders ringing bells and dancing as we triggered the digital timer for our 30.7 miles on Sunday. We were all togged up in our wet weather gear, as the sky looked very heavy, and the forecast was not good for the morning. It was a very misty start, and we couldn’t see more than about 100 yards, so there was no sightseeing of the beautiful views from the South Downs Way. The first pit-stop was surrounded by mist but there was no rain, so about mid-morning we took off the wet weather jackets and over-trousers and continued on our way into Hampshire. The day was cloudy which was probably best for long distance walking and the sun popped out for a short while and we all commented on how we couldn’t survive for long in the heat. The pit-stops were more frequent today which made the time go quicker but the sight of Winchester seemed a long time coming! 30.7 miles is a long way in one day, more than I (and I think any of us) had ever walked before. However, remarkably we continued in good spirits and without notable aches and pains, compared to some other competitors who were clearly struggling and shuffling along with determination to get to the end. I rang Betsy to inform her of our expected arrival time in Winchester which we had estimated in the morning would be about 6.00pm. At one stage we thought it might be sooner, but the last few miles got longer as the day wore on! The sights of Winchester gave an extra spring in our step and Betsy called to say she was ready and waiting at the finish line. We trawled through the back streets of Winchester and then we could hear the crowds cheering and the music playing and as we turned the final corner Betsy was there to greet us with camera in hand. Crossing the official finishing line at 6.10pm (nearly 12 hours walking) we were welcomed by the reception committee praising our efforts and clapping us on. Betsy had arranged for Clemmie to join her as she lived in Winchester and is a very good family friend who we have known since she was four years old and had been Hannah, our daughter’s friend through infants’ school and chief bridesmaid at her wedding. It was lovely to see Clemmie who was as excited as we were at finishing our double marathon of 53.5 miles in two days. Luggage collected and back to the car for the drive along the A272 back to Kirdford, with my first double marathon under my belt! Feet and legs feeling in great working order – all good!

To date I have raised over £900 for Alzheimer’s Research on my Just Giving page - https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adam-vernon2 any donations would be very welcome.