The Serpent Trail - Getting the job done

It's taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this race and I'm not sure why. 

First off, the company who put on the Serpent Trail (Freedom Racing), do a great job. 

Registration on Friday was quick and easy. The level of detail they go into for their pre-race emails is phenomenal. Aid stations and volunteers are great. Nice medals. Free race photos. What's not to like.

They do a variety of distances over the weekend. 10k up to the 100k. I was signed on for the 100k. 

Training leading into this hadn't been great. Variety of reasons. Hurting my arm using a concrete breaker. Developing a niggle in my foot whilst running. And generally being lazy. All just excuses.

On race day I was on the bus to the start line early. Another plus point of this race is they provide you with a bus to start and you run back to the finish (this is included in your entry fee). Go time was 6am.

As we set off I got into a comfortable rhythm. The first 50km of this race is where the majority of the vert is. I clocked about 2000m of ascent/ descent over the 100km and about 1500m of it came in the first half.

For the first 15 miles I felt like I was cruising. The trails in this neck of the woods are a delight to run. I've not done much exploring round this part of country but will have to visit again.

Unfortunately just after mile 15 something tweaked in my knee. Nothing serious but it meant I couldn't run how I wanted. I had to be more cautious on the downhills and use my poles earlier than anticipated.

This really effected me mentally. Instead of enjoying the race it became a painful slog to get to the finish. Don't get me wrong I expect to be in the pain cave during these things but not that early.

The next 45 miles were just breaking the race down into small chunks and ticking them off.

It was great to see my mate Jay at the half way point. There's not many people I would 100% trust to crew me on a race. In fact I could probably count them on both hands and have fingers left over.

Jay had put me up for a couple of nights (on the third floor, which was fun post race!!). He also got up at stupid o'clock to drop me off for the bus, met me at the half way point and was at finish to watch me cross the line.

All this really meant alot to me and just goes to show the friends you can make through this sport.

Thanks again mate.

Anyway a change of shoes and socks at half way and I was on my way again. By this point I just wanted the race over and done with. My knee was really playing up and running for any extended period of time becoming a problem.

I basically got into a run walk rhythm and grinded it out.

Pre race I had set a goal of sub 13hrs. I crossed the line in 13hrs 18min. Which I'm happy with but know I could do alot better.

At the end of the day it's a great race and the negativity I felt on the day was all self inflicted. 

One day I will go back and have another go.