Date: Saturday 22nd September 2019
Official miles: 38 miles
Strava says: 38.77 miles
Elevation: 1656 m / 5433 ft
Weather: dry, cool and sunny
Start: Haslemere
Finish: Denbies Wine Estate, Dorking
Route type: A to B
Conditions: dry trail mix including hard, stoney, sandy
Website link: Surrey Hills Challenge
Describe the route in three words: scenic undulating fun
Surrey Hills - Race Report
As this was my very first ultra I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I absolutely LOVED it though! It was really enjoyable and surprisingly manageable considering how under prepared I was. Don't get me wrong, my fitness level was good at the time due to my regular sessions with Blaze Fitness UK and also one or two weekly runs, but I hadn’t trained for long distance. Turns out though, if you are happy to walk all the uphill sand whenever suits and enjoy all the aid stations, then completing an ultra is an achievable challenge. I won’t go into great detail of the route (mainly because I am writing this a year and eight months after race day) but you can read another article which I wrote a few days later which gives lots of tops and advice to first timers and talks about some of the course too, you can read it here.
What’s in the snack pack?
Bike Hut pack with water bladder
Dextrose tablets
4x bars (Perkier and Snickers)
Rain coat
Long sleeved top
Hat
Gloves
1x socks
Pack tissues
Vaseline - for my lips but also in case of chaffing
Compeed
Surgical tape
Whistle
Spare hair band
Rain cap
Fully charged mobile phone
Route map
Painkillers
What I wore: Salming Exo Trail 5 shoes, Garmin Forerunner 35, Nike leggings, buff, Decathlon socks, Blaze teeshirt, sunglasses.
Lead up: Having not run further than 10 miles leading up to this race and only two weeks before when asked if I would ever run a marathon again, I declared, “No way, I’ve done one, I’ve got nothing to prove, never again.” I am not sure exactly what had come over me when three days before Surrey Hills I found myself filling out the entry form. I believe there had been a few things that had made me reach the decision, one. my friend Jo had told me she was doing it (I have confess - I was shocked, and I’d though, well if she can do it, surely I can as we are similar fitness) and my friend Anna shared a discount code of Facebook. I excitedly texted Jo to tell her “surprise, I’ll be running with you!” for her to then laugh and tell me her ultra wasn’t for another 2 weeks. Oh.
Morning preparations:
Had my usual bowl of 40g porridge last with 200ml soya milk and mashed up banana. Ky drove me to the start point at Haselmere Hall where he waited with me as I did my stretches to warm up.
Summary
A fabulously scenic and fun route, with great support at the extremely well stocked aid stations. There are certainly hills so a great route for someone looking for something a little bit more challenging and longer than one of the many fast 50 km routes which are available.
Lessons learned
Gaiters would have been ideal for this route as they stop stones going onto your shoes and minimise your laces coming undone, I now have ‘Dirty Girl’ gaiters bought online from ultramarathonrunningstore.com
Pack everything into the snack pack so that it will remain dry, I put everything into plastic sandwich bags (which I reuse again and again).
Results
Chip time: 7hr 38m 54s
Overall: 36/117
Female open: 8/26
Surrey Hills Challenge 2019 - click here for results
