"You've got to be tough. When they don't want to go on you have to make them. When they expect you to be psychic and know they want fruit cake and tea instead of the usual banana and squash at the end of the next lap - then it starts. That's when you need to take over". These were the words of wisdom from the wife and supporter of a Black Heath runner (a veteran of numerous 100kms and 24hr track events). But what if, in your heart, you didn't think it was worth it? What if you knew your runner had to be up at 4am the following morning to fly abroad and impress a stranger! What if you had to get up the following morning and get the children to school and yourself to work and at the rate your runner was going you would be home very late. I'm sure that the BH wife would say these were excuses, but..... The lesson being, if Garry does this event next year I will insist we have the following day free and ascertain beforehand just how serious he is to finish.
With the children always in mind we stopped at the National Trust Roman Villa at Chedworth on our way up. Abby happens to be studying the Romans at school at the moment so this was an information gathering exercise for her! We then had a rather nice pub lunch with a bacon and melting brie baguette and a pint of the fine local brew - tasty, but very busy and rather the sort of place you would take your mother or grandmother to lunch.
On to our second NT property. A superbly eccentric house and garden (oh, I would have loved that garden, all winding paths, walled areas and hidden ponds) jam packed with Samurai clothing and armour next to model hay wagons from each county, next to keys, next to nursery equipment, next to clocks. There wasn't a square inch of uncovered wall or free floor space. In fact the crazy results of a kleptomaniac's life crammed into the house whilst he lived in the barn!
From there we progressed to the Fire College where there were a couple of nice touches in the room. Firstly there was a TV, but it only received channel 5. Secondly there was a notice advising that the incorrect smoke alarms had been fitted in each room which were triggered by steam so if we had a shower or bath be sure to close the bathroom door and keep it shut! Having settled in we took a walk around the course which was rather like walking through a war zone with crashed cars, burnt out aeroplanes, derailed train coaches, blackened buildings and smouldering heaps at various places. It smelt pretty foul too. These scenes of carnage were however surrounded by green trees and lush grass with only the sounds of the birds to listen to and the odd rabbit or deer to add to the surreal atmosphere - a very strange experience.
In fact the whole event I found very strange. The dining room was vast, it could easily swallow up 500 people, so the 20 to 50 that turned up for supper rattled around somewhat. The less said about the food the better - "not too good" about sums it up.
Race day dawned bright and sunny but with a cool wind. I set up camp in the handling area on the grass in the shade of a tree and watched the fun begin. Each team set up in different areas, the Welsh near us on the grass with umbrellas for shade, the Scottish opposite us based in a transit van and the English carefully positioning themselves in the shade of a building which after an hour was in the full sun. The race started, Garry ran, I chatted with other supporters and read my book. From my position I could glance up after 15mins to a bend in the course, then when I saw Garry I had time to collect drink and food and arrive at the start of the handling area at the same time he did, walk to the end of the area with him and start all over again.
The day wore on as did the laps and people started to drop out including one of Garry's friends, Barry. This was slightly annoying because I had rather come to rely on Barry to judge where Garry was. Barry was wearing a bright green vest and his running style was even stranger than Garry's (yes I know, hard to believe) so he was easy to spot, also he was slightly ahead of Garry so when I glanced up and saw Barry I knew Garry wouldn't be that far behind. But drop out he did which coincided with a bad spell Garry was going through and that seemed to put him off and make him question why he was doing the race. A few laps later Garry stopped.
The St John Ambulance were kept busy bringing back three people at least who had collapsed out on the course and treating numerous muscle strains and other injuries at the handling area. By laps 10 to 20 all athletes were beginning to look pretty bad, some suffering more than others and I'm afraid I couldn't see the point of it all, it seemed so futile. When Garry finally stopped I didn't try to talk him out of it, it was his choice, one I think he regrets, but he would have regretted it more if he had continued. Will he do it again? He thinks no, I say yes. It will nag at him that he didn't finish, I know he could have completed the distance and next time I'll make him do so!