The SVP50 is a 51 kilometer trail running race that follows the second half of the, undulating, Stour Valley Path in Suffolk, in the east of England.
This was my first ever ultra run. In fact, it was my first ever run longer than about 32k. I picked this race as my first, because it was very local. This meant I could spend a good amount of time recceeing the route before hand, which I did.
On the day itself. I did feel ready, I had trained well. But unfortunately my guts did not agree with me on the day. It wasn’t the start time that cause the issues (midday), nor the heat, I don’t think (approximately 24 degrees). It might have been the bacon and egg sandwich I had in the morning, I’m not sure. But I had a very good run up until about 21k, at this point, nature called, and urgently. Four times I had to suddenly find a bush to duck behind. This emptied me of energy, and I nearly had to DNF at around 30k.
Luckily for me, I found Sharon (center of the picture above). She had a very decent shuffle going on that I tried to replicate. I stuck with her, which she didn’t seem to mind, and she pulled me in to the end.
Everything about this race was brilliant, especially as a first timer. I completed the race in 6 hours, 49 minutes and 56 seconds.
Chris runs ultras 
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