I’ve lived in Northamptonshire since 2010 and had often caught sight of the distinctive Three Shires Way metal signs across the county. On my way to work, on days out, – they seemed to be everywhere! And indeed, with the route based on a long distance bridleway covering 49 miles and crossing into three different counties it’s no wonder there are so many signs about! But I had never set foot on the well waymarked trails until a couple of years ago. Instantly I began to think about how I could turn this into an event, and if it would be possible to also include a shorter, marathon distance as part of the festivities.
Predominantly flat, and with wide, well-maintained trails I knew that there was the possibility of some fast times being set last weekend. What I didn’t account for in my initial planning was the weather reaching up above 30° on race day though!
The county was issued with a Yellow Heat Warning Alert, with this rising to an Amber Alert two days out from race day. I consulted with Phil, our Medical Advisor, who was happy for us to continue with the event, and together we put some extra measures in place for race day:
- Hat dipping stations, with sponges and buckets of water, as well as water misters were to be out on course from Checkpoint 2 (Dungee Road)
- We doubled the amount of water out on course
- We added in some extra water top-up points along the course
- Medics had extra cool packs and a cooling unit in their vehicles should they be required
- We agreed to be flexible with cut-offs where necessary if we felt the weather had impacted these
Alongside this, I also asked all runners to:
- Wear suncream
- Have a cap or buff to keep the sun off their head
- Monitor fluids and hydrate sufficiently
- Adjust their pace to suit the conditions on the day
There are always a few runners who email in the build up to a race to say that they can no longer make the event for whatever reason, but in the two days before the Three Shires Way was due to take place it felt like I was inundated with runners entered into the ultra asking to drop down to marathon distance, and those entered in the marathon telling me that they were choosing not to run in the forecast temperatures. Obviously, completely understandable, but as an event organiser heart breaking, knowing all the hard work that had gone on behind the scenes to put the race on. No matter how many runners we were to have though, it is always important to me that we still deliver a top notch experience, and I hope that runners agree we delivered!
A modest 21 runners made the decision to toe the start line in Hanslope for the 50 mile race on the 21st June. There was a real mix of experience, with many old hands in terms of ultrarunning, but also a number of runners who were attempting their first ultramarathon or 50 mile race.
From here I set off for Yelden, where the marathon was due to begin. The volunteer team had already arrived and begun to set up the village hall as Race HQ by the time I had arrived. The bus arrived from Grafham not long after, and runners poured into the village hall to register for the race and collect their pre-ordered merchandise. I briefed within the hall and we took a walk down to the start line, at the edge of the village. 41 brave runners stood on the start line, again, many attempting their first marathon distance – what a day to run your first marathon! The next one will seem a breeze after the heatwave we saw at the Three Shires Way!
I had barely made it back to the village hall before the first ultra runner raced up the road to check in at Checkpoint 3. Charlie Cook arrived at Yelden nearly an hour ahead of the runners in second and third position!
From Yelden the ultramarathon route followed that of the marathon, with runners completing the final 26 miles on bridleway leading to Grafham Water.
All runners passed over a timing mat upon reaching Marlow Park, allowing supporters back home to track their progress out on the course. There was also an aid station based here, and I have never seen so much flat Coke consumed by so few people before! It was in high demand at the aid stations!
From here, runners completed an 11.5 mile loop which took them out on a wider area of the water before crossing the finish line upon reaching Marlow Park a second time.
I think it’s safe to say that all runners appreciated the trug buckets filled with water and sponges available at the checkpoints!
The first runner to cross the finish line for the marathon was Emily Gent. Emily had been in second position, just behind Chris Rhodes, upon reaching Marlow Park initially, but went on to overtake Chris and finish first at the marathon distance. Not just the first female finisher, but the first overall finisher in a brilliant time of 4:11:24! That’s something to be incredibly proud of. Not only that, but our second overall finisher was also female, with Rhiannon Baxter from Stilton Striders finishing just ten minutes later in 4:21:35. Really doing the girls proud!
Rhiannon had run with clubmate Lewis Hyde, finishing as first male (and third overall) finisher in a time of 4:21:36. Mark Rookledge, from Octavian Droobers was our second male finisher, in a time of 4:36:16, with Kai Turck completing the male podium (after some convincing!) after crossing the finish line in 4:44:48. Victoria Broadbent completed the female podium with a 4:50:04 time, having dropped into third place from second in the final miles.
Charlie ran an incredible race in the ultra, leaving volunteers at each checkpoint in awe as he flew in and out, with barely a pause. He stormed across the finish line barely a few minutes after Emily had completed the marathon to take what had appeared to be an obvious, and incredibly well-deserved first place trophy for the ultra. His final finishing time at 7:01:39 – not that far behind our predicted front runner times had it been run in normal temperatures, and setting the bar incredibly high for those looking to break the course record in years to come. It was nearly two and a half hours before the second finisher of the ultra crossed the finish line, with Matthias Mueller from Ranelagh Harriers completing the course in 9:27:04. Adam Milson had been running with Matthias earlier in the race and wasn’t too far behind, crossing the line in 9:46:13, having held second and third place throughout the race.
We had a little wait for the females. Local runner Oana Sposub, having sat in second place for the majority of the race stormed around the final lap of Grafham Water to overtake Mika Mihell who had led from the beginning, with Mika eventually losing first lady with a finish time of 11:03:04, just a few minutes after Oana’s winning time of 10:57:05. Eszter Adam completed our final podium for the day finishing with a fabulous time of 12:02:28.
Not only did we see some fantastic performances of grit and determination from runners managing the rising temperatures, but there was so much fantastic camaraderie, with friendships being made out on the course. One of the last instructions I gave runners during the pre-run briefing was to ‘look after each other’, and they certainly did that!
As always, a huge shout out to a brilliant volunteer crew, who tirelessly topped up bottles, reassured runners and were out in high temperatures themselves throughout the day. We have a fabulous core team of volunteers at Race Harborough who make my life so much easier every race day! They truly are a brilliant bunch!
This was the first running of our Three Shires Way event, and after many, many months of planning it was brilliant to be able to share this long distance route with all of the runners. There were some phenomenal displays of perseverance shown, and so many runners can now say that they are marathoners, or ultramarathoners for the very first time! What a way to begin your journey into long distance running!