WINTER DOWNS 100
“What kind of sicko puts the finish line of a 100 mile race just after Box Hill?!” Asked BBC Radio Host Allison Ferns at a recent interview I had with her
I had been looking for a December 100 mile race, so when I saw the Inaugural Winter Downs 100 by Centurion Running being announced back in the summer this got my attention. It even started in my backyard, the beautiful South Downs Way, so I immediately signed up. It would be a perfect end of the year race.
In the weeks leading up to the race, I started to get a little nervous as it would be my first “winter” ultra. I thought about the potential weather conditions, hours of darkness and what lay underfoot. It was soon obvious that this would be no regular summer ultra with late sunsets, early sunrise, dry paths and sunshine! James Elson, the Centurion Race Director, shared some very comprehensive emails and videos in the days leading up to the race. They were packed with all kinds of useful information about mandatory kit, clothes layering, foot care and winter running, which I am so thankful for!
All images courtesy of Jamie Rutherford
With 6 days until the race start, the race preview was released and I was blown away to be mentioned as the favourite in the female race. I have an impressive running CV but it makes me look like I am a much better runner than I am! (Badwater 135 X 3, Spartathlon, Keys 100 X 2, Daytona 100, First Lady in the KACR145, LLCR130 and most recently the White Horse 100). In the final few days before the race, I started to feel pressure about this expectation and had to tell myself to put any thoughts of a podium behind me and just enjoy the end of the season race. There were ten ladies on the start line, so as long as I finished I knew I would have a top ten finish!!
The race start was 14:00 on Wednesday 11th December. I loved this start time. It meant I actually got a good night’s sleep the night before the race and had a relaxing morning with a late breakfast. As Amberley Museum, the start line, was only 25 minutes from my home, we didn’t have to leave home until 12:15pm. The downside to the 2pm start was that the first day we had less than 2 hours of day light before a long night of darkness!
As this was a winter ultra, ALL of my mandatory gear was kit checked at registration. Centurion Running take everyone’s safety incredibly seriously and rightly so. I had invested in a Montane Gecko 20L pack for this race which was the perfect size for everything I needed. Shout out to Montane Customer Services as this pack was sold out online in size small so I contacted them asking if they knew any external stockists and they tracked one down for me which I am so grateful for! My pack weighed about 5kgs and suddenly wished I had worn it more in training runs!
After a comprehensive race briefing from James, a few photo opportunities followed. It was 13:57 and there were three minutes to go. Weather conditions were 7ºC with some persistent light drizzle under overcast skies. We had a ten second countdown and the main gates to the Amberley Museum were opened and we were off! We were an 80 person group heading out on this inaugural Ultra. After 400m along the B2139, we hit the South Downs Way heading West, approximately 42 miles towards Winchester. I decided to start strong and to try and make the most of the limited daylight.
This section of the South Downs Way is where I train…a lot, and I know it pretty well. It’s so beautiful here even in the dull damp mist. Annoyingly, I had forgotten to put any Gu Liquid Energy Gels in my race pack, so I had none for the first 13 miles along the course until I saw my husband Matthew. He was solo crewing me and is a vital part of Team Laura Watts. So, when I arrived at the crew CP at Cocking I was so ready for some orange liquid energy with caffeine! I flew straight in and flew straight out. No messing around. This was F1 pitstop stuff and we were pretty efficient. The terrain had been pretty good so far, there had been an early section of slippery mud but it was mainly wide well drained chalk trails with a few puddles.
The race photographer, Jamie Rutherford, kept popping up at different places and was snapping me with his camera or was running alongside me with his GoPro. I was wondering why I was getting so much attention and was enjoying the limelight. Jamie is also brilliant runner and after I left Cocking he sprinted up the mile climb from the crew point to get ahead of me for some more footage! As I climbed the hill it was time to don the head torch which was to remain on my head… for the next 14 hours!
The next crew point was Harting Downs, Mile 20, and this section went quite quick. I was running with and around a few different runners on the undulating trails and it was nice to enjoy some chats as I knew that once the race field spread out, I would be alone for a lot of the race. Matthew was waiting for me with my usual essentials of new water bottles, lip balm, Gu Liquid energy gels and some mini mince pies. I wish shops sold mince pies all year round, they are such a great source of ultra fuel for me.
He had also bought me some hand warmers that are activated once exposed to the air and according to the packet, could last ten hours. We were a little sceptical about their effectiveness. Hothands hand warmers from Amazon. They are so cheap! I had never tried them before but these were incredible! I put one in each glove and they did exactly what they said, they stayed hot for ten hours! I suffer with cold hands so this was just amazing to have warm hands.
6 more miles down the trail I had arrived at Queen Elizabeth Country Park. It was still lightly drizzling and there was a lot of moisture in the air. Another quick pit stop and I was gone. Butser Hill was waiting for me. It’s a beast. What I now found tricky was running through fields that weren’t an obvious trail. Even though in daylight I knew exactly where to run up to Butser Hill, in the darkness with just the beam of my head torch, it was difficult to know exactly where to run.
Luckily there were a couple of people in the distance ahead of me with their red Blinky lights flashing on their packs so I navigated in their direction. I power hiked up Butser and started running when I reached the peak. Mile 30 was the first of only three Aid stations on the course, held in the Sustainability Centre. I went to the front door to register my arrival with the tracker but declined the warm welcome from Drew, one of the Centurion Team to come in. I had enough fuel and water to sustain me until the next crew stop. I really was trying to avoid going into cosy warm buildings as I knew it would be harder for me to leave! I was really enjoying myself so far and was feeling strong although it was a long way to go. Drew said I was doing really well and had done 50k and just over 100k left. This didn’t seem so bad!
This is a good time to mention how challenging navigation was on this Winter 100. It is completely unmarked on its entirety plus pitch black dark and so my focus became so reliant on the Garmin watch I had on. The blinky rear red lights ahead of me were a bonus but were becoming far fewer as the miles passed. The trail did not follow field edges and was diagonally across fields in places. This heightened level of concentration is quite fatiguing over 14 hours of darkness.
I reached Old Winchester Hill, mile 34, at around 20:20 and there were a handful of support crews around on the main road. We did our pit stop on the country lane outside the car park. I also took our long-range Walkie Talkie as phone comms from this part of the course was intermittent and unreliable. Any random drivers down this country road would have surely wondered what was going on here at this time of the evening! It was another mince pie, lip balm, salt and I was off. Matthew said I was looking strong and determined. It was 6ºC but there was now a strong windchill from the Northerly wind.
I knew I was in first female position but was trying not to think about it too much. My mission was just to keep running and powering forward. I think the second placed female at this point was three miles behind me but I knew that things could change rapidly. One of the many benefits of having a crew was that Matthew would be able to charge my headtorch batteries as they ran out. I was using my Petzl Nao on the medium setting as I didn’t want to burn through the batteries too quick but in any tricky sections I would turn it onto the brightest beam and it really did turn night into day. I was really having to concentrate at keeping an eye on the terrain because it was uneven in places, very muddy, lots of tractor ruts and lots of loose rocks too. It felt like it was about 02:00 even though it was 21:00!! Just before the village of Exton, there was a section of the course where the River Meon had broken its banks and the whole of the South Downs Way was an ankle deep river. This was a great test for my knee length Dexshell socks and they passed with flying colours! Highly recommended.
I passed Beaconhill Beaches crew point at Mile 39 and now it would be 20 miles until I saw Matthew again. This was a long gap without my personal support. There was the second Aid station at Mile 49 which I could use if I needed to. It was a moral boost to leave the South Downs Way and join the Wayfarers Walk. I had recce’d this section and randomly tripped over on a flat field. I couldn’t believe it; I tripped over and fell again at the same place!! Now navigation became much more difficult. And it didn’t help that my Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Solar Watch decided to shut down on me. The first time it did this I was in the middle of a field and I was totally relying on the GPX file. I looked at my watch and it was showing the start-up page. I thought, oh sh*t. Luckily after a couple of minutes it came back on to where I was and I just pressed resume. However, my watch failed me in this way 4 more times during the race which wasn’t good! Latest Garmin update? Corrupt file?
The course became the St Swithun’s Way and this was a long 20 mile section where I was running alone. With my music on softly, I just kept moving forward, running step by step. Still feeling strong in my running but incredibly nauseous. I tried to nibble at a ginger cookie but put it back in my pocket. Then I tried a flapjack and ended up throwing it in a hedge as I had no love for it.
Around the village of Cheriton, mile 45, I saw a bright light shining at me. It was Jamie, the race photographer again. He ran with me for a bit filming and we had a nice chat. A short while later I ran through New Alresford Golf Course and the course diversion around the Alresford Bypass and reached half way through the race. One of the lovely Centurion Volunteers was outside the Bishops Sutton Village Hall and tried to tempt me in but I declined for the same reasons as Aid station 1. Also, I knew that I was being pursued by the second lady and wanted to keep as much time and distance between us as possible. Matthew was keeping me updated with the tracking, especially with the relative positions of the female pursuers.
We have a great system of communication. We check in with each other on the top of every hour or as close to if not running. This way I can be constantly monitored for anything that may need attention. Pace, diet, clothing, warm / cold, relative position of others and more serious on-course threats like floods or enroute hazards etc are all part of this ‘checking in’ if needed.
A few miles before Alton my watch failed yet again at a crucial navigational point and luckily another runner caught up with me. I asked to run with him until Alton and luckily we were running at a similar speed so I didn’t feel like I was holding him back. It was lovely to have some company and chat for a bit until we settled into a comfortable silence.
Alton was mile 60 and Matthew was at the first available crew spot. He had the GPX file downloaded onto his Garmin as a backup to mine so he handed over his Garmin Delta Tactix watch for me to wear so I thankfully had one on each wrist! I wanted to keep persevering with mine as I wanted my race to come up on Strava because as we all know, if it isn’t on Strava, it didn’t happen!! But I didn’t trust my watch in the slightest.
It was now just after midnight and I took a caffeine tablet even though I wasn’t actually tired. I wanted to prevent any kind of fatigue kicking in. I had a ginger ale to drink as I felt nauseous and a few cubes of cold watermelon. This was my longest pit stop, 5 minutes. I needed to reset and re focus. I took a pasta pot with me which I had no intention of eating but just to appease Matthew! I wasn’t’ feeling A1 but I was ok. Only 40 miles to go! There had been a change in Female pursuers and they were closing the gap. I was in no mood to be caught up. Updates were coming in from Team Laura Watts HQ.
Now it started to feel like the longest night! I was wishing for daylight so much. 14 hours of dark and drizzle is 1/10 on the fun scale. As I started the descent into Farnham around mile 72, I was mesmerised by the bright lights of the town. I lost concentration and fell over for the second time during the race! This time it really hurt my knee and my hands. I got up as quickly as I could and dusted myself off. I knew Matthew was at the bottom of the hill so was looking forward to seeing him. It was now 06:00 and I was 16 hours into the race. Kasia Atmaca, the second place female was now just over a mile behind me. She had been closing the gap and could sense this was her opportunity to take the lead.
This was stressing me. Matthew was constantly trying to fire me up and motivate me to keep pushing and keep her at bay but I was now hurting a lot and I said I didn’t care what position I finished in, I just wanted to finish. As I left Farnham and joined the North Downs Way I knew I had just a marathon to go. I had a big chat with myself and I decided to try and push myself hard and keep Kasia at bay for as long as I was able.
I have run the North Downs Way 100 race by Centurion Running twice but I didn’t remember any of this course, it all seemed completely different. I don’t know whether it was the tiredness or the darkness but I was wondering to myself if there was another North Downs Way and then I was doubting I was on the right track even though there were NDW signs everywhere and my GPX track was showing on course.
About 3 miles from Farnham, I reached a section of the course called “The Sands”. After climbing over about 5 large fallen trees, casualties of Storms Bert and Darragh, I dropped down into a sand coloured knee deep stream which I ran through for what seemed like two hundred metres. This was the first time I felt the smallest dampness to my feet. The Dexshell socks had been incredible. Even though my Hoka Speedgoat 6s were soaked and caked in mud, my feet had remained dry and warm the whole race. They were worth every penny of the £50 price tag.
It was daylight when I arrived at Puttenham, Mile 80, and again I decided to decline the hospitality of the volunteers as Kasia really was closing the gap and catching me up! Jamie came out of the Aid station to take some more photos and run with me for a bit. I hadn’t eaten anything for 40 miles so was running on empty, grit and determination.
After Puttenham the terrain changed to sand on the ascent to St Martha’s. Matthew was at the crew point and I managed to eat a Freddo Frog. I was feeling pretty broken and he told me Kasia was 8 minutes behind me. This was so close! I didn’t like being the hunted! 15 miles to go! Jamie was here again, some more photos, videos and chat.
I was now running on the North Downs Ridge and usually there would be stunning views over the Surrey countryside but this was a grey, misty and dull view. I passed Newlands Corner, 87.8 miles, and grabbed another Freddo Frog from Matthew. That was all I could stomach but I now had a renewed energy. A determination to keep what I had gained and not let anything past me no matter what. It was now more mud, slippery trails and tree roots to negotiate. I was running all the flats, small uphills and downhills and any significant hills I was stomping up. I couldn’t have done any more to go any faster, I really was doing my best. More importantly the threat from behind was losing ground.
The last crew point was the Denbies Hillside at mile 95. I grabbed a diet coke and a battery charger from Matthew as my phone was on less than 20% battery and I didn’t want to stop and get my power bank out of my pack. Every second really did count here! I didn’t even open the diet coke as there were no walking opportunities, I was still running. Downhill to hit the A24 where we had to run up to the underpass and back down to the Stepping Stones Car Park. A random guy out walking told me that there were 270 steps on Box Hill that I was about to ascend. Thanks for that!
As I reached the foot of the Box Hill Steps, I took a deep breath. This was going to hurt. I lined up “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC on my headphones and went for it. I didn’t look up. I just kept powering up, my quads were on fire. This was hurting. I played Thunderstruck three times then reached the top. I thought back to my interview on BBC Radio last weekend when I was talking about the race the presenter Allison Ferns asked me what kind of sicko put the end of a 100 mile race right after Box Hill. I was smiling to myself through the pain. Yes it really was a sick thing to do! Thank you James!
Matthew called me and said Kasia wasn’t far behind me, I couldn’t believe it, I thought I had shaken her off. I think Matthew gave me false info this time to spur me on to victory. Sneaky. I had led the whole race. For 100 miles I had the lead and had to dig so deep to keep it later on. I had been visualising the Centurion Running Winners Trophy. I needed that in my life. The last 1 and a 1/2 miles were a descent to Juniper Hall and I was glued to the GPX file on my Garmin as James told us in the pre-race briefing that lots of people got lost last year in the 200 mile race and couldn’t find the finish line. I was determined that that wouldn’t happen. Suddenly I saw Juniper Hall and I saw the Centurion Flags and finishers arch. I ran through victorious and punched the air.
I HAD DONE IT! I had won a Centurion Running Event. The inaugural Winter Downs 100.
22 hours 46 minutes 18 seconds.
Female Champion.
Ally, one of the volunteers (and an amazing runner) gave me a post-race kit check to make sure all was in order before I was presented with my MAGNIFICENT trophy by James. I couldn’t believe it. This was a dream. I also won my age category so got a wonderful wooden block plus a fabulous Winter Downs 100 finishers buckle.
10 minutes later Kasia crossed the finish line and I thanked her for pushing me on. She was a very strong runner but this was my day and I wasn’t going to give up my number 1 spot.
Thank you to James and his team at Centurion Running for putting on a brilliant winter adventure. It would be wonderful to see more women at this event next year. Thank you to Photographer Jamie for making me feel like a running rockstar.
And thank you to Matthew for his unwavering support and believing in me and pushing me harder than ever before and without whom I couldn’t be on this incredible journey.
What a brilliant year.
Keys100 May 2024
Badwater 135 July 2024 – First British Woman to have finished BW135 three times
White Horse 100 September Female Champion
Winter Downs 100 December Female Champion
