Marathon 25: The One We Nearly Didn't Finish — Somerset

We always knew Somerset was going to be a challenge.

This week we took on the Cheddar Gorge Marathon, an organised trail event that would prove to be every bit as tough as advertised. Two laps of the course, 700 metres of climbing on each lap, making for a total of around 1,400 metres across the marathon.

For context, the biggest climbing day we'd had before this was around 650 metres across an entire marathon, so this was a significant step up.

Fortunately, we had a fantastic team around us. Jess and Laura, two nearly-qualified midwives from Somerset, joined for the challenge after training together at university and are now embarking on their careers together. Huge congratulations to both of them, not only on your journey to midwifery, but on taking on one of the toughest days we've faced so far.

Particular praise has to go to Jess, as this was her very first marathon. As several people said throughout the day, if you can complete this one first time round, every marathon afterwards will feel comparatively straightforward.

Conditions were actually fairly kind on paper. Low 20s, some cloud cover and no baking sunshine. But we needed every bit of help we could get because this wasn't just a hilly course, it was a proper trail effort too. Uneven ground, constant climbing and very few opportunities to switch off.

The atmosphere, however, was brilliant. Everyone seemed to understand exactly what kind of day lay ahead. There was very little sense of racing each other and much more of a collective attitude of, 'we're all in this together'.

The biggest challenge quickly became reaching halfway before the three-hour cut-off. For most of the first half, we sat right on the line. But by nine or ten miles, we realised we were beginning to slip behind schedule.

Laura and I pushed on to make sure we reached the checkpoint in time, squeezing through in 2:58:30. We then deployed a little charm on the race officials, explaining the charity challenge and that we were running as a team. Thankfully, they allowed Jess to continue when she arrived just a few minutes later.

In many ways, that felt like the real victory of the day.

The second half was still incredibly tough, but with the pressure lifted, it became all about sticking together and getting round.

A huge shout-out also goes to Jonny, Jess's husband, who had absolutely no plans to run but saw how difficult the first half had been and jumped in to support us for the remainder of the marathon. An incredibly selfless effort and one that was hugely appreciated.

By the finish line, we were completely wiped out. So much so that later that afternoon I had to abandon plans to drive across to Norfolk, after a dose of heat stroke cross exhaustion, and instead recover for the night at a Premier Inn in Portishead. 

25 weeks in, this was a timely reminder that marathons don't get easier. If anything, they continue to find new ways to challenge you.

But another county is ticked off, another incredible team effort banked, and we're still moving forwards.

That's all you can ask for.