Running Through The Wall

Killerz

This is a bit of a monster post, but I've included so much detail to try and help anyone interested in doing something like this in the future...

Background:

Ever since my daughter Sadie successfully emerged from heart surgery soon after her birth back in November 2014, myself and my wife Gemma had said that at some stage we would make a point of paying something back to the good people in Crumlin who had done such great work with her and our family. The most accessible option for us was to fundraise around a running event. We’ve both done marathons before, so needed something that might capture the imagination a little differently. I always had a goal of running a 100 mile race, so attempting to clock up that distance over a 24 hour event made sense in my book. The relay which ran alongside the main event offered an accessible option to my wife who despite not doing a whole lot of training, has this amazing endurance, and a knack of always delivering on her targets. So, the idea was born. Gemma pulled together two colleagues from her job, and Mark (FBOT) who you’ll all know from here. Another colleague of Gemma’s, John Boyle, was also doing the 24 Hour Event. So overall, we had 6 people running under our team banner, which we called ‘the Mayflies’.

The preparation:

Those who read my sporadic log posts know that I generally keep my runs to low mileage, but multiple times per day and per week. That’s just the way life works out. Longer runs do happen occasionally, sometimes with the double buggy, while I’ve run the Donadea 50k, the Wicklow Way Ultra (51k trail) and Wings for Life (reached 41k) this year. I did one ‘training day’ for this – see previous log post, which involved 10 hours of running, using my planned race strategy, which worked out very well on the day and gave me confidence, up to 58 miles/ 93k – this was 4 weeks out. Training was very low volume thereafter.

Logistically, there was arguably more involved in this than the training and the run itself. Months of planning a strategy, and everything from who was going to mind the babies right down to what to eat, when, etc.

The Goal and the Strategy:

My goal was to hit 100 miles. Everything else was gravy. But a plan was devised that would allow me to accomplish up to 120 miles if all went to plan. I was blessed to have the advice of Ray Snowdon who had just completed the Marathon des Sables in April. I’ve never met the guy (I know him through working with his wife), which makes the level and detail of his advice all the more remarkable. While the MdS isn’t the same as a 24 hour race, some of the things he brought to my attention were critical in what I consider to be a successful race for me.

The race (for me) was broken down into 20 mile segments, each segment to take about 3 hours 30. There would be 30 min breaks after each of these segments. The plan was that the break would widen to 60 mins at 60 and 100 miles. As each lap was slightly over a mile, the segment was actually 20.56 miles, or 20 laps. This segment was broken down into 7 * 30 mins. Each 30 mins in turn was broken down into 25 mins run, 5 mins walk. The running pace required to meet the target was 9:37/mile, and walking around 14:30-15:00/mile. Later on, we could make the segments 19.5 miles (19 laps) if required.

Each break would allow me some downtime with my crew – Helen and Eoin (HelenAnne and Eoinin from here) – both experienced runners who were outstanding on the day. Helen and Eoin logged all my nutrition, fluids, etc. This provided guidance to them and to myself as to whether we might need to up intake of salt etc. or otherwise. I also changed my running outfit on each break. This was a mental refresh if nothing else. Over the top? Maybe, but I think it helped. Fresh socks were like a new set of feet. I didn’t sit down except to tie my shoes, but the 30 mins always flew past. I also took on more food, maybe a coffee etc. during this time. This was taking stock, and checking all the signs. FBOT had this giant marquee-like tent that I was able to move around in, get access to my gear etc. This proved to be a fantastic resource over the 24 hours.

The crew and supporters and tents were there every lap, trackside – it was super to have this facility so close to hand. The park setting for the race was really beautiful and made for a welcome distraction at times from the task in hand. And every lap, you go through a couple of hundred metres of trackside gazebos and crew stations which created a great atmosphere to look forward to.

The Nutrition:

I’ve a generally good stomach thankfully, and this continued on this occasion. I was kind of unsure about what facilities we would have access to in Belfast, but worked on the assumption we should have hot water somewhere. It wasnt as accessible as I had hoped, but thankfully FBOT had a camping stove which provided that really close to home.

For each 3:30 segment, I packed a spibelt with 2 gels and 6 salt tablets. The salt tablets would be taken every walk break during the day, but every second one at night. It was a warm day, so I think this really worked well for me. I rarely had the 2 gels – conscious that they would cause stomach issues, but when I did take one, it was a nice boost. I had access to water at the main water station every lap, and also had a table set up trackside (thanks again FBOT) with my own fluids, mini choc bars, sports drink which I took a bit of every now and then. I also had a protein recovery shake on my last 5 minute walk in each 3:30 segment, which kicked off my refuelling on the 30 min breaks.

Typically the breaks involved eating things like pot noodle/ porridge/ sandwiches/ potatoes/ protein bars/ coffee/ coke/ chocolate which the crew kindly got ready for me. It also gave me an opportunity to charge my garmin watch. I didn’t use music for the first 20 hours of the event, but it was there if I needed it as a boost.

The First Segment:

This went off without any hitches really and I was just glad to get going, catch up with some familiar faces, and have the chats. This was all about keeping the pace sensible, keeping the nutrition and fluids steady, and watching out for the sun on a hot day. I was definitely one of the back markers at the start as a result of following my 25:5 strategy. I questioned myself briefly about it, but convinced myself that if this pace can ultimately get me to 100 miles, I certainly wont be in last place in the final shake-up.

Stats (all Garmin):
12pm Start
Time running: 3:24:09
Distance: 20.44 mi
Pace: 9:29/mi
HR Avg/ Max: 132/147

The Second Segment:

Off I went for this one as the day continued to get what seemed to be progressively warmer. By now a few of the St Anne’s faithful had arrived to lend their support and this was just brilliant. They were in full voice, before heading off to the nearby Decathlon store to take advantage of the weak sterling. They must have got lost on the way back as I didn’t see them for another 4 or 5 hours  . Nothing major to report during this stretch as I maintained a sensible pace, still comfortable, still enjoying it and on target. The relay team passed me every now and then and were always good with words of encouragement, and I caught up for chats with the likes of TFB, Don H, John O'R, Gary R & the DBRC gang, Mark C, Anne J and met Aoife (Ososlo) and Ed Mc for the first time. I can’t remember when exactly it was that I was chatting with TFB – multiple times in fact, but I think he was having a tough day out there. Ultimately he got stronger as the day went on and had a solid result in the end.

Stats:
3:55pm start -- 3:25:08 -- 20.37 mi -- 10:04/mi -- 137/ 154

The Third Segment:

This now was getting towards the high end of where my preparation was. This was likely to be the last day time stretch for me, before going into a darkness run and into unchartered territory, mileage wise. It was still warm, so I continued to monitor the salts closely and maintained the comfortable pace. I again resisted the music on this round as I had developed a good rhythm without it and was loathe to risk jeopardising that. Having no music also encouraged me to be more sociable!

Stats:
7:51pm start -- 3:29:08 -- 20.44mi -- 10:13/mi -- 134/147

The Fourth Segment:

With 61.5 odd miles in the bag, I was now into completely new territory for me. I’d never done more than 58 miles in one day. I briefed the crew and said this was where it was likely to get more difficult... for them and for me! This is where I needed them to maybe start suggesting things to me in case I got mentally as well as physically tired. This was arguably going to be the hardest section as it was dark, through the night and somewhat ‘middle miles’ before getting closer to the 100. I resisted taking the hour break, and instead cut it by 50% and went out a half hour ahead of schedule. The park was lit up by a combination of street lighting and a few dozen what can only be described as ‘light sabres’ covering the areas with no fixed illumination. This was kind of cool, but the darkness at times did make me a bit sleepy. I’ve done two midnight marathons previously though so drew on the experience from those to plough through. I think maybe at about 1am I hit a bit of lull – not a low, just a ‘meh’ moment. No real issues though and cruised on home to cover off that segment and get to 82 miles, or over 3 marathons covered. At least now, the next segment could just be 18 miles if I so wished. Garmin ran out of battery towards end of this so swapped it out and gave it a longer charge. I think it was somewhere towards the end of one of these laps that I got chatting to Enduro for a bit, as he remarked at the wonderful support I was getting from people shouting support at me as they were leaving the park for the evening

Stats:
11:57pm start -- 2:55:00 -- 17.34 miles (garmin ran out of battery early here) -- 10:07/mi --132/151

The Fifth Segment:

Dawn was breaking. I teed up the crew for this next few hours, shook their hands and said – this is it, here we go. Of course there was still a long time to get to 100 miles, but this was the segment we were going to do it in. Getting to 90 was one thing, but the next 10 miles to the 100 seemed to take forever. I think the problem here was that I started to think in terms of miles and counting them down rather than just concentrating on ticking off the laps/ 30 min segments. Finally I was getting there and I thought it might be a nice idea to cross the 100 mile chip timing mat with Gemma who was on her final relay leg at that stage. And so we did – nice moment, captured on camera too! Almost 102 miles done, and a little ahead of target, so time for a break and a think about what’s next.

I was quite stiff on this break, and I was really tired… Mentally and physically. Oh so sleepy! So stopping now would have been easy. But I changed into a fresh outfit, and brought out the music. Time to bring this playlist to the people of Belfast! I said I’d at least walk a couple of laps and see how we go.

Stats:
3:57am start -- 3:45:32 -- 19.47 mi -- 11:35/mi -- 121/136

The Sixth Segment:

So off I went walking - gloves, hat and jacket on to keep me toasty. Rain starting to come down now. It was now 8:30, and I had 3 hours 30 mins left to see what I could do. About 2/3 the way around the lap I decided I’d try running. And I kept running from then on, only taking 3 min walking breaks instead of the 5, as I first targeted the 4 marathon (104.8 miles) milestone, then 110 miles, then as I was working towards 116, it became apparent that 120 miles might be achievable. It seemed like a nice round number to aim for, so off I went in pursuit. The rain was coming down a bit heavier now, but I was in generally good spirits, quite often picking up the pace as I went. Those still running seemed in good spirits, and the support was out in force again. On I went and went through the chip timer for the last time. I had my marker ready to put in the ground to record my final finishing place, which was about 500 metres along the course. I was completely spent when the hooter went off, only to have to walk those 500 metres back to the start again!

Stats:
8:34am start -- 3:26:57 -- 18.84 miles -- 11:00/mi -- 123/138

Overall stats (official): 193.978km/ 120.6 miles in 24 Hours.
Overall position: 15th

Just After:

Got back to the crew, but I was in no mood for socialising at this stage. I needed to get warm and lie down or sit down or something. I was in bits. I needed sugar, salt, water, everything at once! I hoovered up 3 hotdogs and a can of coke while having warm clothes put on me. Made my way to the presentation tent to pick up my medal, 100 mile jacket and cheer on the winners. We all got out of there pretty quickly then for the Ireland game which kicked off at 2pm. We were back at the hotel for that, but no room ready yet. Watched the first half on a big screen in the lobby. I got my room key by half time and went up to bed and fell asleep. Wrecked but happy.

Photos:

Eoin F: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/86489211@N00/sets/72157669714685802/

Anne Mc:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/115734037@N08/sets/72157667546449574

Thanks:

Big thanks to my crew – HelenAnne and Eoinin. To the supporters who gave up their night and came up – including Mrs Mc, Mr and Mrs Kenny G, the O’Connors. Thanks to the relay team who did an amazing job to finish second overall – Gemma, FBOT, Florence C and Jonny D – remarkable considering all of the other teams were seasoned club teams/ runners. Also to John B who did the 24 Hour Race. Thanks again to Ray S for the advice, to my mom for looking after the poo machines at home and to everyone here and everywhere else who has supported me and us and the charity in raising a significant amount to be applied towards a great cause.

Some thoughts on what worked:
• Just being prepared and having the bases covered.
• Having a great, dedicated crew and support.
• The Run/ Walk Strategy from the start.
• Taking a conservative approach on my debut.
• Changes in socks, gear.

What might I change/ work on in order to improve:
• Reduce the rest breaks
• Increase the pace
• Stay somewhere closer the night before
• Consider other energy boosters – eg more coke
• Have a pair of runners a half size larger to cope with bigger feet late on in race

I've been wrecked tired for the past week. Monday morning getting out of bed was horribly difficult. I could barely lift my legs. I had awful nausea for the day and barely ate a thing. The nausea wasnt much better on Tuesday, but the legs had improved significantly. Appetite slowly came back by the weekend, and I'm just back in from a 4 mile run, my first run in a week.

It's been tough, but it has been the experience of a lifetime.

tang1

Serious stuff Jamie, massive well done to you and your crew. Inspirational stuff that.

chickey2

Fantastic! Well done, on the run and the report!

Mrs Mc

Super report J it was such an epic weekend and great to be a supporter there to see you , Gemma, Mark and the rest of the Mayflies achieve greatness.

laura_ac3

I don't know what I can say to express what an impressive undertaking that was. Tired just reading it! I thought of you over the 24 hours...Couldn't grasp my head around the fact that as I went running, had dinner, went to bed, slept a whole night, breakfast, run again that you'd be doing that the whole time. Well done to support and relay team too. Hope the recovery goes well.

The Muppet

Wow, how impressive and inspirational is that? Congratulations to you and your wife the relay team and support crew and all for such a great cause too you should all be very proud of your achievement.

Firedance

Fantastic J, you're an inspiration and smiling in all those pics I was 'watching' from the comfort of my bed the updates through the night and silently cheering as I watched you go up the rankings. Massive massive well done to you, your support crew and the relay team. Brilliant report, brilliant achievement, just brilliant all round really!!

Singer

Obviously amazed at the running, but also well done on an excellent and thoughtful report.

FIFA2004

That's such an incredible achievement! Can't get my head around how anyone manages to run for 24hrs And a fantastic cause too congratulations!!!

diego_b

Amazing experience and a super report to share with us all, big well done for raising funds for Crumlin in such an epic way!

annapr

Unreal, Jamie. Nothing but kudos to you and Gemma and all the Mayflies and crack support team. You were so thorough in your planning and sticking to your strategy. Fantastic.

Maybe FBOT should change his name to McGyver, seemed to have a solution for everything

Murph_D

Brilliant, Jamie - seem to have prepared perfectly and executed the plan with a considerable plomb.

Pity you had to wake up to find out that Ireland had lost that halftime lead.

Felt sorry for you having to walk back those 500m. Surprised FBOT didn't produce a golf cart from somewhere.

Well done!

eoinín

Jamie neglected to mention the nice little "mental challenge" I set him around 2am when I sent him out with the backup Garmin set to kilometres. I like to think the ensuing mental arithmetic he was forced to do got him through a few dark, lonely miles (or kilometres)!

Ferris B

I'm so impressed and with your perfermance and honestly surprised as to the amount of miles you finally covered. I was little concerned for your outcome heading into the race with your relatively 'low' training mileage. How wrong I was . Previously you've produced stunning results off low miles ( double marathon, 5 in 5 etc) but I thought 24 hrs might be too much. But your preparation and level of detail and obvious dogged determination, not to mention a little bit of talent saw you through.

Really, really well done. Wish I could have been there to witness it.

Forget the Hanson approach. I think you've just developed the Killeen Method. Ranulph Fiennes will be writing the foreword in your book.

Kennyg71

Well done J, still amazed by that feat, your some man, great read.

Killerz

Thank you all for the very kind comments and support - means a lot, and lovely to see it.

Eoin giving me a Garmin with km on it really was just the kind of challenge I really looked forward to at that time of the night... Kept my mind off the tiredness I suppose

Ferris - I appreciate your honesty in the scepticism and I don't think you were the only one that felt that way. In general I think logic would suggest that the low mileage approach shouldn't work. That was the main reason behind the taking the rest breaks. I work very well with recoveries - the 5 in 5 days and the 2 in 1 day as you alluded to reflected that . The training day copper fastened that notion. Contrast that against donadea and the wicklow way and even wings for life and you'll see that I fade after about 3 hours (albeit those were at a faster pace). It's something I need to look at if I want to give a genuine shot at Dublin in October, unless I just stay out there for a really short time

I hope most of all that it would encourage anyone who considered doing something like this (or any kind of ultra) that with the right preparation - which may not be generally what's written in the books - you can do it.

Mcgyver fbot - I like the sound of that!

Enduro

Well done Killerz. That's a very impressive debut distance by any standards. You've clearly got talent!

Killerz

Enduro wrote: »

Well done Killerz. That's a very impressive debut distance by any standards. You've clearly got talent!

Thanks a mil, E. Was very happy with it as a dipping of the toe into the water. Not sure I want to plunge the whole foot in though

Ososlo

Loved that report. It brought back lots of great memories!
Our strategies were so different in nearly every respect, from pacing to fuelling to clothes changing etc. Interesting to see what worked really well and what you might change next time.

I have figured out now why I thought I saw so little of you on the course. It was because you kept changing your clothes so I didn't recognise you when you changed! I met you during the 'orange top period'!

Well done again on a fantastic debut and to you and the others for raising so much money for a super cause.

See you for more of the same next year?

HelenAnne

Killerz is being really kind and praising his supporters / support team etc and while the St Anne's parkrun gang were amazing and FBOT was indeed like McGyver (and practically put our tent up for us when we were making a hames of it), the thing I was so, so impressed by (as well as the running) was how lovely to crew for Killerz was.

I was pretty anxious beforehand -- I thought he might start to lose his reason a bit at the later stages, and I was afraid we might have to make a decision about persuading him to pull out if he ended up in a bad way, or I thought he might have to be bullied into eating / drinking etc, but he was amazing -- he was smiling the whole way round, he was unfailingly pleasant and patient with his crew (even when I couldn't find things straight away in the tent etc), he just seemed so on top of things -- all we had to do was hand him the things he politely asked for! He even hobbled over at the end and tried to smile for photos. And was polite about my sandwich-making skills.

Obviously a nice nature will take you a long way in ultra running!

And well done again to the Mayflies relay team -- they all ran brilliantly and were really cheerful and positive as well.

HelenAnne

Killerz wrote: »

Eoin giving me a Garmin with km on it really was just the kind of challenge I really looked forward to at that time of the night... Kept my mind off the tiredness I suppose

It shows a lack of husband-wife communication between me & Eoin too -- mine was on my wrist, charged up and in miles ...

Killerz

HelenAnne wrote: »

Killerz is being really kind and praising his supporters / support team etc and while the St Anne's parkrun gang were amazing and FBOT was indeed like McGyver (and practically put our tent up for us when we were making a hames of it), the thing I was so, so impressed by (as well as the running) was how lovely to crew for Killerz was.

I was pretty anxious beforehand -- I thought he might start to lose his reason a bit at the later stages, and I was afraid we might have to make a decision about persuading him to pull out if he ended up in a bad way, or I thought he might have to be bullied into eating / drinking etc, but he was amazing -- he was smiling the whole way round, he was unfailingly pleasant and patient with his crew (even when I couldn't find things straight away in the tent etc), he just seemed so on top of things -- all we had to do was hand him the things he politely asked for! He even hobbled over at the end and tried to smile for photos. And was polite about my sandwich-making skills.

Obviously a nice nature will take you a long way in ultra running!

And well done again to the Mayflies relay team -- they all ran brilliantly and were really cheerful and positive as well.

What lovely comments, Helen - very nice. Glad you enjoyed the experience crewing up in Belfast! I'm glad I didn't give you and Eoin any reason for anxiety in the end, but from my perpective, I was able to run and enjoy the experience knowing I had a great safe couple of pairs of hands there if needed. Thanks again!

snailsong

Well done Killerz. That's a phenomenal performance. And you make it sound as if it was easy. I'm sure it wasn't. In awe!

Killerz

Ososlo wrote: »

Loved that report. It brought back lots of great memories!
Our strategies were so different in nearly every respect, from pacing to fuelling to clothes changing etc. Interesting to see what worked really well and what you might change next time.

I have figured out now why I thought I saw so little of you on the course. It was because you kept changing your clothes so I didn't recognise you when you changed! I met you during the 'orange top period'!

Well done again on a fantastic debut and to you and the others for raising so much money for a super cause.

See you for more of the same next year?

Thanks Ososlo. Ah, the orange top period - when life was good...

Did you write a report? Would love to read it.

PS not so sure about another bite at this cherry!

martyboy48

That's some going Killerz, fantastic result for you and your crew, and all for a great cause.

You'd nearly make a lad think about having a go at some stage

Well done again

Killerz

martyboy48 wrote: »

That's some going Killerz, fantastic result for you and your crew, and all for a great cause.

You'd nearly make a lad think about having a go at some stage

Well done again

Thanks Marty. I'd hope that my experience would encourage everyone to believe that these things are possible. And possible to enjoy them!

Ososlo

Killerz wrote: »

Thanks Ososlo. Ah, the orange top period - when life was good...

Did you write a report? Would love to read it.

PS not so sure about another bite at this cherry!

Well I wrote half a report and then went off and got drunk for 4 days straight (lots of catching up to do ), so I need to re-visit it!

aquinn

Truly incredible going Jamie, what a performance and to be so positive throughout is really fantastic. Delighted to see you are indeed human and that it hurt on Monday. To have your smiling face still appearing in middle of the night photos, crew feedback and them keeping us updated was really super.

Congratulations again and well done to all.

Younganne

just catching up on the report but was "watching" via Facebook updates. What a fantastic achievement, fantastic team support, and a great cause. Well done to the relay team too.

The report was a great read and fair play for all the organisation, planning & prep. You make it all sound so easy!! Congrats.

Abhainn

Jamie that's a mighty achievement. Super effort and report