Chester 100 - 29 May
Steve Silver set off to complete his first 100 mile race on Saturday 29 May. Chester 100 is organised by GB Ultras. The race combines routes on and through the Sandstone Trail, the Marches Way, Helsby Hill, Frodsham, Delamere Forest, Beeston and Peckforth and packs a respectable 1,757m of ascent.
The race starts and finishes at Ellsmere Port. Steve finished in 40th position overall in a time of 30 hours and 32 minutes.
Well done on your first 100 miler Steve! It’s a slippery slope and GB Ultras do a lovely Race across Scotland that may be of interest…
Report by Steve Silver
I stood on the start line of the Chester 100 on Saturday morning with a mix of excitement, anticipation and more than a little worry. It had been an ambition to run a 100 mile race ever since I celebrated my 50th birthday with a 50 mile run. Upon finishing that run I overheard an experienced 100 miler tell another runner that if you can complete this 50 you can do 100.
Unfortunately, injury and then Covid delayed my attempt and the worry on the start line was due to a sub optimal run up to the event, training was hampered by persistent niggles that wouldn’t settle down for any length of time and never managed more than a 20 mile training run in the preceding six months.
I set off from Ellesmere Port Sports Village just after 06:00 hrs feeling relatively optimistic in the morning sunshine, the first half of the race was fairly uneventful, I was however feeling the strain as I finally arrived at CP4 (18:06 hrs 50 miles), I took the opportunity of a bowl of pasta and a cup of tea and set off feeling much better than when I arrived. From this point on I was struggling but CP5 came and went and the long 23 mile slog to CP6 (87 miles) along the St Helens Canal and back to Frodsham began, at this point i started to experience a few hallucinations including a large white shire horse blocking the path and a black panther stalking me in the undergrowth. In hindsight this may have had something to do with the numerous fisherman smoking dubious substances along the canal.
The weather forecast predicted night time temperatures of around 10 degrees but I had started to get a little cold so stuck my jacket on and by the time I arrived at CP6 at 05:45 hrs was feeling a little warmer, I had another bowl of the magic restorative pasta with a warm drink to set me up for the last stage, I also changed into my Ripon Runners shirt for the last stretch which I had put in my drop bag and set off feeling battered, bruised and a little weary.
The slog out of CP6 to the finish included some leg sapping elevation followed by numerous stiles that were becoming much harder to negotiate. With the hills and stiles done the last miles were mostly on tarmac and I and my fellow competitors toiled as the sun beat down.
The final miles were undoubtedly the hardest physically as you would expect, mentally I knew I would complete as I had ran the maths through my head countless times and my trusty Garmin confirmed the miles left to complete and eta were well within the cut off.
I had decided to give Lyn a ring as I approached the finish in case the tracker wasn’t working so she could meet me as I arrived to cross the line, before I could do this and suffering dot watching trauma she came out to greet me and walked in with me for the last few miles which was a very welcome surprise.
As I crossed the line I couldn’t even muster a run as previous attempts had all resulted in my legs buckling underneath me, I did not want to be the bloke going viral on social media, although a lie down on the grass did look very tempting.
30 hrs 30 mins 6 secs of work for my 1st 100 mile belt buckle
Arrival at CP6 for Breakfast after getting a little bit chilly