Just over a week ago I ran the 5-4-3-2-1 Salisbury trail 50 k. The race is so-called because it includes 5 rivers, 4 hills, 3 large country estates, 2 castles and 1 cathedral. We traveled to Salisbury on Thursday evening and made a little weekend out of it.
We spent Friday and Saturday visiting Stonehenge, Old Sarum and walking around
the town and the river Avon. I love turning one of my races into a little
weekend away with my husband and discovering another pretty English town.
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| Doing some sightseeing the day before the race. Looking from Old Sarum towards Salisbury. |
I was super nervous before this race as training in the last
4-5 weeks didn’t go to plan at all. I felt hugely under-prepared. But one thing
I learned stepping up to running longer distances is that you never feel truly ready.
The forecast of a hurricane with heavy rain and strong winds didn’t help to
calm my nervous. I really, really hoped the weather forecast was all wrong.
It was raining as we woke up but as we waited for the start
it eased of a bit. The race was organised by the local fire station and
therefore was a very low key event. The entry fee was only £17 for the 50k! I
love cheap races!!!
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| Just before the start, being super nervous |
Before I knew it we were off running along the Avon River
and up to Old Sarum. We ran once round Old Sarum, a mighty old Iron Age hill
fort, before heading back towards Salisbury. Soon after, the first speedy marathon
runners sprinted past us. At this point I was chatting to a lady who was
running with her dog, a beautiful blue eyed husky. She told me that the husky
had run a 70 mile race! My husband and I have been taking about getting a dog
and I really, really would like a dog I can go running with! After leaving
Salisbury we headed up one of many hills. As there were so many hills I started
to walk the up’s to preserve energy. Unfortunately that made it really hard to
get going again. We had beautiful views from up on the hills and it reminded me
of my long runs along the Ridgeway. Luckily the rain stopped and the sun came
out which made it all even nicer.
We also ran past Longford Castle, an amazing old fairy tale
castle. These castles really exist! You kind of expected a knight on a horse to
ride out of it at any moment. Even though it was really flat at that point I
started to struggle a bit. I tried to eat but just didn’t feel like it. More
hills followed and I luckily started to talk to a lovely lady which really took
my mind of running and made the time fly past. Her name was Tina and I found
out that she is German as well. Small world. After running past/through
Salisbury race course we arrived at a yew forest. And wow, how beautiful are
those yew trees! Right out of Alice in Wonderland. I wouldn’t have been surprised
if they started talking to me. I wish I had taken some photos!
I don’t remember
the last bit of the race very well. We came out onto roads about 6 miles from
the finish which made it feel like we are nearly at the finish. Which we weren’t.
I really started to struggle again. I started talking to a lovely gentleman who
I ran with until the finish. Talking takes your mind of running so much. He was
also doing 12 minute run, 3 minutes walk intervals which was nice. But those 3
minutes seemed surprisingly short! The last half an hour I was really
struggling and couldn’t wait to get to the finish but once we were close to the
finish I was actually sad that it was all over. I finished much later than I
expected but I loved (nearly) every minute of it!
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| We ran past Salisbury Cathedral as part of the race. |
This was the most beautiful race I have ever run and for the
first time ever am considering running this race next year again (I usually
prefer running somewhere new)! The scenery was stunning, people were lovely and
it was super cheap! And I later found out that Steve Way ran it too! I never
saw him though as he finished about 2.5 hours before me.
I am proper hocked on the longer distances and am now looking
for my next ultra. I really would like to do 50 miler. I loved the laid back atmosphere,
being able to walk without feeling too guilty and speaking to loads of
inspirational runners who have crazy races/challenges planned. I especially
loved that these were all normal people with proper jobs and kids at home. I
love people who like to challenge themselves and like to think big. I can’t
wait for my next race!
