St Peter's Way Race

Last weekend we went south to Essex to visit relatives and to run the St Peter's Way Race. My journey was quite complex -I took the  bus to Inverness  on Friday lunchtime ,train to Edinburgh, changed to catch the sleeper to London , took the underground across London , train to Billericay , bus to Witham then car to my parent's house . I arrive at about 9.30 AM - 21 hours door to door .

I didn't know quite what to expect from the St Peter's Way race which  follows the 45 mile long distance footpath from Chipping Ongar to St Peter's on the Wall at Bradwell -on -Sea. Despite lots of rest and trips to the osteopath and copious gels and ibuprofen my back was still painful on Saturday even walking around the house. I decided to attempt to run and only pull out if the pain was unbearable . My sister had asked me to run with her -she is quite new to ultras and her normal running pace is a lot slower than mine so at least I wouldn't be tempted to go too fast .
First impressions of the race were good . Everybody had their kit checked .One runner without a waterproof was initially not allowed to run until one was found . This I like - rules that are enforced for everyone especially when they are for the runner's safety.
We had laminated the race maps but this is not ideal because one ends up running with a  sheaf of plastic . The organiser circumvented this by giving every runner a laminated sheet of the next section at each checkpoint and taking the old one back - so you only had to carry one sheet at a time - simple but effective . The route directions were also very detailed and accurate , although the route was still quite tricky to follow at times. Each checkpoint had a really good selection of sweet and savoury food and various drinks. The volunteers were very helpful and friendly . All in all it was a very well organised race over an excellent route.
My back was sore from the start and the deep sticky Essex clay didn't help. By the first check point ( manned by a cheerful man dressed as a chicken) it was really hurting . However after that it seemed to settle and got no worse. My sister kept up a steady if slow pace. It took a bit of concentration  to run and follow the route as it was easy to lose one's place in the instructions.Althoug the scenery wasn't as dramatic as in Scotand we passed through lots of pictresque villages .The weather was good; clear blue skies and a brisk tail wind.
 By the time we reached Corporation  Farm and Cock Clarks I was back on home territory- the footpaths and villages being more familiar  from runs from my parent's home. The 3rd checkpoint was at The Bell Purleigh which is one of my favourite pubs. For years my parents an I would walk to Purleigh for a pub lunch whenever I came home to Essex. It is just a bit too far for my parents now but we still do shorter pub walks  .
Beyond Purleigh I really began to enjoy myself . The weather was amazing ,it was firmer underfoot and I was coping with the back pain. At Mundon I had the chance to pop in to the wonderful St Mary's church which has been partly restored . Maylandsea seemed to go on forever but finally at dusk we reached the Steeple checkpoint . H had already finished and I was delighted to hear that she was first lady. Such was our slow pace that the sweepers caught up with us at this point although at first they were too polite to say that they were sweepers ( or maybe I was just being a bit dense). I was very impressed to see that one of them had come all the way in Vibram Five Fingers. We got a bit wet in a heavy shower of rain but it soon cleared away. The finish was at the ancient  and evocative church of St Peter's on the wall which dates from 635AD. It stands in proud isolation on the windswept sea wall and was built on the remains of a Roman fort. There there was a warm welcome and lots more food and hot drinks.
All in all it was an excellent race . I cannot fault the organisation at all- it was flawless . Definitively one to do again hopefully when I will be fit enough to race it properly.