Longbridge 100 byu - otherwise known as 'the rehearsal'

After months of no training, and very little running due to the heart-breaking and extremely sudden loss of my most beautiful mother, I made a rather last minute decision that 'we' would enter and run Longbridge 100 Backyard Ultra.

The royal 'WE' referred to in this instance was myself and my dad, who was now my newly appointed chief crew member for the forthcoming and most important event of the year - Rasselbocks Backyard Ultra, taking place in March.

I had kept it no secret that at Rasselbock I would attempt to find my breaking point, set new PBs and ultimately break the current womens BYU record which stood at 35, held by the most respectable and top class lady, Karen Nicol of Scotland. My dad had never crewed me during a race before, and with March fast approaching and the situation now presenting that he would be taking charge of crewing for the event alongside my younger brother Seb and my much trusted coach Stu Obree, we realised we had to seize the opportunity that was Longbridge and use it for Dad to gain insight and experience into me, as a runner, and the race format of a Backyard Ultra. My dad is no stranger to running, or to directing me as a runner. As a team we had always prepared and planned races, and without him I could never of earnt The Monarchs Way FKT. Although he never ran it, or walked with me along any of the recces, I always had the reassuring sense of knowledge that he, like me, knew the path inch by inch, mile by mile, as we had spent extensive time studying maps and discussing and researching points of resources along the route. I digress.. back to Longbridge..

The lack of training wasn't the only weight that I had to carry for Longbridge, I had recently been diagnosed with COPD (thanks Covid) and have found myself having to rediscover how to continue moving forward with lungs that no longer work to their full capacity.

Longbridge started at 6pm, in the dark, and gave each runner the glorious gift that was 634ft of elevation per yard, also known as 4.16 miles. The darkness, and the cold, was a brutal way to start a race, and come sunrise, even though over 30 of us started, I struggled to even count double figures as I looked round the start pen.

When the sun rose, and the light surrounded us, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. That 'yard' was the most beautiful, and I recall stretching out my arms and flying down the hills, soaking in the now visible surroundings whilst trying to match runners faces to their shoes, the only part of each runner that I had actually seen through the dark night. During the night, at just yard 6, I had caught a stone and jerked forward, feeling it in my shin. This threw a spanner into the works for us, and begged the question 'should I stop?' But 6 yards certainly didn't allow much of a crew rehearsal, so we continued with caution. I was very aware of the area and ensured I didn't run any of the harder uphill sections whilst keeping my shin taped and supported.

Agreeing as a team to stop at yard 18 just as the jolted shin started to get agitated, and whilst my legs were still fresh.

Running yard 19 because the crowd insisted 'one more yard' and I'm a sucker for a crowd chant. Longbridge 100 is a real grass roots event, hosted by Darren at 3WordRuns. Darren is committed to minimising our environmental impact and promoting sustainability. The overall organisation of the event really embodied the warmth and caring attitude that shines through Darren, without a doubt a race director that cares greatly not only for the environment, but for the runners that partake in his events. I arrived at this race wobbly at the knees, with a heavy and rather broken heart, feeling a little lost in my own shoes, and wondering if I still had any thing left to give. I finished with a smile on my face, warmth in my heart and the honour of receiving the 'furthest female distance' cup. None of this would of been possible without my Dad, the extra assistance of my best friend Gav, as well as the entire 3WordRuns team, from the cheering marshals to the warm encouraging words and genuine love received from the event team upon completion of each yard. An event I look forward to supporting again.

19 yards /79 miles/ 11,837ft elevation/ Furthest female distance.