The Thames Ring Comes Back

Not that it has ever existed. But here are the details..

THAMES RING RACE 260

This project has momentum. We are close to the point where will ask potential runners for commitment. Entry forms and a first draft of the rules are being drawn up. The rules will provide an indication of what you are in for.

59 people have expressed interest in the race so far. We have decided that we should limit the entry to 100. Past experience of ultras suggests that we would then have no more than 75 starters on the day. A prompt entry is therefore advisable for those who want to be sure of participating. Anyone who decides to withdraw will get their entry fee back (less £15) provided we are notified of the withdrawal no later than 31^st May 2009. Anyone withdrawing after that date will forfeit their entry fee. If that seems hard, please remember that the TRA will be incurring substantial expense on this race and it will not be able to obtain a refund of that expenditure.

We have secured the Morrell Rooms in Streatley which are situated on the Thames Path itself. This is the venue for both the start and finish of the race. The booking extends from early on Wednesday, 24^th June, to Sunday afternoon, 28^th June. Precise times have not been set but, as you will realise, runners cannot be accommodated in the Morrell Rooms on the night before the race. If you cannot travel from home on the day, you will need to arrange your own accommodation in the vicinity. The start time remains fixed at 10 am. That gives time for a good night’s sleep and breakfast beforehand.

We have not decided yet where the Check Points will be. However, a preliminary attempt has been made to calculate approximate locations and likely cut off times (see table below). The cut offs will apply to departure times from each CP, not arrival times. The table set out below assumes a time of 100 hours which remains the overall time limit. It is also assumed that the pace throughout will be relatively steady although it is likely to be faster in the early stages and slower later on, particularly when you factor in sleeping time. The distances are approximate so don’t assume that an extra 5 miles has been added to the total!

LEG	Leg dist	Leg time	Tot dist	Tot time	CP closes
Streatley – Marlow CP1	27	8	27	8	18:00 Wed
Marlow – Chertsey CP2	25	8	52	16	02:00 Thu
Chertsey – Brentford CP3	26	9	78	25	11:00 Thu
Brentford - Kings Langley CP4	26	9	104	34	20:00 Thu
Kings Langley – Soulbury 3 Locks CP5	25	9	129	43	05:00 Fri
Soulbury – Stoke Bruerne CP6	26	10	155	53	15:00 Fri
Stoke Bruerne – Braunston CP7	27	11	182	64	02:00 Sat
Braunston – Banbury CP8	27	11	209	75	13:00 Sat
Banbury – Oxford CP9	27	12	236	87	01:00 Sun
Oxford – Streatley Finish	29	13	265	100	14;00 Sun

Sleeping arrangements are a headache. No provision for sleeping will be made at CP1 and probably not at CP2 either. This does not mean that sleeping is forbidden (provided one keeps ahead of the cut offs). We expect to provide tents for sleeping from and including CP3. However, runners will be expected to bring their own sleeping bag (and a bed mat if required). This will be taken ahead in the runner’s baggage which will be produced for the runner at each CP. Baggage is limited to two bags per runner.

Doubtless this update will provoke a volley of questions. May we request that you store these up until you receive the entry form and rules as the rules may answer at least some of your questions. That would make our life a bit easier.

Finally, the race can only take place if we have enough helpers. We expect a spread of as much as 40 hours between the two ends of the field by the time that the first runner finishes. That means we need a lot of people to look after the runners through this unprecedented test. Offers of help should be sent to either Dick dickjan@talk21.com and Anthony a.j.taylor@talktalk.net

Dick Kearn and Anthony Taylor 26.10.08

Thames Meander RIP

I got a sad email today that another one of the great UK ultras has gone extinct. The organisers of the Thames Meander have announced that this event has become to big to be run as a family event and are calling it a day.

The Thames Meander was the best of the river races on offer. It took a 54 mile route along the river from Reading to Walton-on-Thames via Henley, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines and Shepperton. It was originally set up as an opportunity for those headed off to the Marathon Des Sables 6 weeks later to get a long run done. 10 years on it remained the number one event for those going to the Sahara. It was a simple but very well organised race and will be missed by myself and at least 200 others in the UK.

It seems paradoxical that the demand for ultra marathons and extreme events are rising yet some of the superior and more established events seem to disappear. The explaination I think is quite simple.

There are broadly 2 ways a race comes into existence in the UK (and perhaps abroad)

• A small group of individuals or a club who organise 1 or 2 events per year in a particular area
• A small company who have a portfolio of events throughout the year

There are many examples of the first type such as London to Brighton (gone), Thames Meander (gone), Grand Union Canal Run (still here), Dartmoor Discovery (still here) that exist purely because of the enthusiasm of a few individuals who really want to see an event happen. There is usually some history behind each one (Dartmoor was born out of someone going out on a long training run and getting lost, GUCR was Dick Kearn just seeing if it was possible to run the whole canal in one go, the Thames Meander was an effort to give the British MDS competitors something to train with).

The second type of events are again run by enthusiasts however it is by individuals who intend to make a living out of it. This is great as it means there is more stuff to do in the UK and they are usually very well organised. The portfolio of events that each company has tends to keep a few dozen employees in a job that they really enjoy and brings great races to the likes of me who are willing to pay for the privilege of doing them.

I do believe there is a difference in atmosphere between these two types of events but do not believe this is driven by how commercial they are. I've run good and bad events of both types and have my favourites like everyone else does. The key difference here is how each of them handles their own success.

For any commercial event company (or indeed business) it is simple economics 101, supply and demand. If their events become oversubscribed they just make them bigger or put more on. For example the incredibly enjoyable endurancelife series of 5 coastal marathons last year has now become 7 marathons. This may involve employing more people or those organising doing a few hours less of their other jobs. Companies have the benefit of scalability.

On the other hand take a group of people who are arranging one event purely for the love of it. They tend to be employed in some other area and once a year organise an event purely for the love of it. They will charge a fee which would just about cover the monetary cost of putting it on but probably not their time. This is not so much a job for them, it is a hobby.

The problem here is that the enthusaism of a few individuals is not scaleable as with a company and when the event becomes really successful it can have a real impact on peoples time. There is not the option to just put on another event or to make it bigger. I suspect that the reason that the Thames Meander was ended was because the enquiries and admin involved in admitting 200 runners (and maybe rejecting 200 more) was too much work for a small group of people and hence it is no more. I also suspect that getting permissions to run events, the prevailance of health and saftey Nazis and possible litigation by unhappy runners has just added to the burden of putting a race on like this. A company could just employ people to do this whereas a family couldn't.

I am sad that the Meander is gone as it was the best event of it's kind. I am also worried by the trend and hope that the GUCR and Dartmoor are not next in line. I'm sure that as long as there is a market for river and canal runs there will be an organisation willing to do it. This is fine, but I'll miss the days when I was running a race that was someones "baby" rather than a catalogue item.

When I grow up I want to have a baby. From the source to the estuary of the Thames is 180 miles. That is a fat one.

I didn't look that bad..

I've just stumbled on this website while browsing through a huge number of posts for the GUCR 2009 on the runners world forum. It is from the TV company that were documenting the race. The photo of me with the headtorch was taken at Tring at 99 miles. I look quite good there (if I do say so myself) and was quite suprised to see it as I recalled feeling crap.

http://www.145film.com/home.htm

That was before my confusion as to where the 100 mile point was. I thought that was it but I was to later discover that it was a further mile down the canal. It was such a trivial thing but it sent me on a downward spiral that threatened to end my race.

I don't recall any photos or videos being taken at the 120 mile point but if there were they would make for an interesting comparison. Like those "before and after" photos you get of people addicted to heroin, you could have 2 photos and say "this is what running in the night through Hemel and Watford do to an otherwise healthy male".

Next time I'll remember, Tring is 99 miles. I'll write it down on my hand.

Getting beaten by girls

This does not normally bother me, except yesterday this happened in a Men's race.

The Met League (I think, I can't be arsed understanding what all the different leagues are) cross country race was at Wormwood Scrubs this week. Since it is only a few miles from where I live, starts at 2pm and has the promise of a good pub afterwards I thought it would be rude not to.

I love the start of short races as I get to see stuff I never normally see, such as people warming up by dancing all over the place. It had rained for most of the day up until 2 when the ladies race started, the men were due to start at 2.30

The course was 2 flat laps of wormwood scrubs. It was not too muddy but I hear spikes would have been useful. These races are very competitive and attrack the best short distance runners from the region. I think the highest serpie ranked 19th which gives an idea of how good everyone here is.

I hate running fast, it's uncomfortable. I think I did a fairly even pace and sped up a bit towards the end. My entire race was distracted by a girl running just behind me. I thought she may be just out on a jog but she was behind me all the time. Then towards the end she did run alongside me and confirm that she was in the race as she missed the start of the girls race. She actually said that she does races like this to pick up men. I couldn't tell whether she was hot or not as she flew past me and dissappeared. She looked quite nice from behind.And so I'll have to live the rest of my life knowing that I can't even rely on men's races to avoid getting beaten by girls.

I tried later to drink it off my mind but it didn't work. It just made me walk all funny instead.

Don't run with animals

Animals don't like me, none of them. I have a running history of animals attacking me and if I was in the US I'd surely be suffering as this lady did.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7712306.stm

Not sure what it is that makes animals turn on me, they may smell the fear. Here is a brief list of the ones I've encountered.

Cows

Running the Dartmoor Discovery where there are wild cows on the moors. Some of them spilled onto the road where I was running and I thought nothing of just running past them, cows don't attack people to they? Well actually they do and one of them just ran at me from the other side of the road.

I was torn between jumping over a nearby wall or just running faster. I chose the latter and then in a panic asked myself a question that I had never asked myself before "How fast can a cow run?" The answer is quite fast but it didn't matter as it broke off it's pursuit.

I spent the rest of the race (and my life) in fear of running through fields of cows.

Squirrels

Harmless and cute aren't they. Well no not really. I have heard stories about some of the really urban squirrels attacking people for food and even cigarettes. I don't smoke when I run so have no problems there but they do gather round me when I run through a local park.

What do you do when a squirrel chases after you? Can I turn around and kick it in the face or should I just move on and feel slightly embarrassed that I am running away from an animal the size of an small meal? I just fear how good and climbing those things are. I know that if I stop then one of them will climb right up my body onto my shoulder ready to claw my face off.

Geese

I truely hate them. The closer they live to humans the more cocky they are and the less likely they are to get out of your way. I've been wary of Geese ever since my first week working for the postal service where I went on a round with a postie for a day. I asked what must be asked of him all the time "how often do you get bitten by a dog?" He replied not often and it's the geese you need to be careful of. Their beaks are armour piercing.

With this in mind I have been fearfl ever since and avoid them in Hyde park and wherever they appear. However towards the end of the GUCR I could not avoid them. They were sat on the bank of the canal and refusing to move and they had adolescents with them. For some reason they were quite protective of their young and just sat there hissing like snakes. I ran right out of their way as I was in no condition to fight back.

Snakes

Not had any problems with the 2 snakes I have encountered so far (one in Canada, one in Leamington Spa) but they can be startling to see. Rattlesnakes are not usually fatal and get quite a bad press about being dangerous.

Chavs

It can be difficult to understand the gruntings of those who wear 3 types of headwear simultaneously as you run past them. I often pick out the words "run" and "forest" but not much else. They normally hang around in packs of 4/5 and near off licences and JJB sports. They are nearly always in populated areas so it's safe. If you are feeling brave you could shout something back. If they ask you why you are running just reply with something like "to stay fit, cos your Mum goes like a train since Daddy went inside".

Ones to look forward to

Scorpions

The MdS will have these. Apparently thay are the only animal other than us that can kill itself deliberately. I'll be sure to check my shoes before slipping my foot in them. I imagine getting trapped in my shoe would drive any animal to suicide

Dogs

I have encountered dogs already on various river/canal runs. Some of them are just a bit too friendly when I am not feeling the same. It's all fairly harmless.

However I have read race reports from the Spartathlon that wild dog attacks are to be expected. Not to sure what to do about that, take a baton? Or some meat?

Lions

I'd like to run a race where this might be a risk, but I can't find one.