Endure 24 Leeds, 2 - 3 July
Report by Lena Conlin
A 24-hour event at Brimham Park: run/walk as many 5-mile laps as you can in 24 hours, midday Saturday to midday Sunday, if you are on a lap at midday, it will count as long as you complete before 1 pm. The challenge can be a solo effort or a pair or another sized team.
The route is undulating trail and track through woodland and parkland with a water station just over half way.
Any solo runner achieving 20 laps receives a yellow 100 club t shirt.
I have taken on this challenge twice before, in 2019 I had a bad back and managed 17 laps (85 miles) and last year, the week after I was injured by a cow, where I walked 10 laps (50 miles).
I wanted to run at least 20 laps this year but I injured my foot 3 weeks ago at the White Horse Marathon and it was still bothering me.
I arrived a Brimham Park and camped Friday evening, I found a pitch about 50 metres from the route. I registered and then I met up with my second claim, Bedale and Aiskew team mates, they had several teams and Joanne going solo for the first time. We had a great, chilled out afternoon and evening. Endure 24 is a very social event.
The weather was showery, it poured down in the night and intermittently on Saturday morning. I set my stuff up so that I could pop in quick and get supplies keeping me on the route as much as possible.
I decided to run 5 laps come back to the van, 4 laps come back to the van, 3 laps come back to the van 2 laps and come back to the van, then 1 lap and that would make 15 laps, 75 miles. Not the 20 I had wanted, but 75 miles on a sore foot, I would be happy with that.
The race started and I set off with Jill from BAR who was first runner and team captain for one of the BAR teams, we ran/walked the lap chatting all the way but trying to keep an average pace of 12 min miles. We were a little over as we completed our first lap, Jill passed her slap and baton on and I was on my own, I ran a little faster trying to keep the 12 min mile average. I ran with Joanne for a while and then that was the last I saw of her, she did really well, 16 laps.
The laps felt like they were getting longer, in reality I was slowing down, it was very warm now and my foot was niggling but nor too bad as long as I didn’t rock it on the uneven surfaces, I landed as flat footed as I could and focused on being able to continue with perpetual forward motion regardless of pace. I was pleased to get 5 laps completed.I went back to the van,swapped my bottle for a full cool one from the fridge and had some food.
I set off again, past the tents, into the wood, down up, down up, past a folly, down to marshals with music (a great distraction) up a hill, into the woods, more music, more hills and the water station, over halfway now the worst bit for my foot, uneven tracks through the fields, hills rocky, dusty, pale and reflecting the brightness of the day into my face, 6km, 7km and more undulations, through the start, repeat.
I considered doing 5 laps again, but at 4 I’d had enough, it was getting dark and I wanted to get an extra layer and investigate some hotspots on my toes.
9 laps down, 45 miles well before midnight. My feet hurt and I had 2 whopping blisters. I dressed the blisters, changed my socks and shoes, ate food, drank coffee and soup (not together), got a fresh bottle and set off for 3 laps in the night.
The camp quietened down and there were less runners on the route. I re-evaluated my plan and decided to go for another 2 laps rather than doing a single lap, so, 5,4,3,2,2, – 80 miles. I had slowed from the original 12 min miles but not by too much, even with stops at the van my average was around 13.20 min miles.
On return to the van after 3 laps I had to redress my blisters again, they were slowing me down more now even so running in the dark gives you plenty time to think and by day break I had worked out that if I really pushed hard I might just make 20 laps 5,4,3,2,2,2,2.
I stuck hard to the plan, reducing the time I took to refuel. There was a point on lap 17 that I could hardly walk.I went to the medics and they kindly re dressed my blisters. lt took a while and getting going again was tough, I thought I would have to walk the rest of the event,but somehow I pushed the pain away and as long as I didn’t hit too many rough sections I could do a shuffling slow run that was faster than walking fast).
I passed through the start finish area at about 10 to 11, I now knew I could get the 20. The last lap was a mixture of pain and elation, I chatted to people and thanked the marshals and medics. I climbed the final hill one last time heading between the roaring crowds and somehow found the energy for a sprint (loose term) finish 24 hours 8 minutes and. 36 seconds for 20 × 5-mile laps.
I had started full of doubt but gained confidence in myself as the day went on. 24-hour races are hard work but good fun, they are social and everyone has their own goals. Team or solo, you can do your own thing. I recommend them.