I went into this feeling really positive, training had gone really well, I was feeling strong and looking forward to the challenge. It all ended after 154 lengths of the tunnel. Yes, my legs and knees hurt but ultimately it was my mind that checked out, egged on by my heart that just wasn’t in it – I didn’t want it enough for another 16 hours of pain and hard work. Today after a good sleep I have the regret that was inevitably going to follow. Will I go back again? No, the tunnel was what I expected – a hard mental challenge. What I hadn’t expected was the behaviour of a small minority of the runners there and how much that would play on my mind and impact my race and at times make me feel uncomfortable. I am sure a lot of people wouldn’t be as bothered but for me it was difficult to ignore when I was being reminded of their actions every single lap. (I am not going to go into all the details here as I don’t think it is fair on Mark as race director but I also don’t want to completely ignore these things either as it did impact my race). Did it mess with my head? Absolutely, was it ultimately what ended my race? I don’t know, I do know it made the Tunnel Ultra harder than it would have been if everyone had stuck to the rules.
Logistics all went well for the race, I stayed in the Bath Waterside Travelodge the night before, close to the train and bus station making it super convenient and with a late checkout of 12am it was ideal as registration wasn’t until 2pm. I then got the D2 bus to the Hope & Anchor pub in Midford where I got a bowl of chips and a coffee. Lots of other runners were also there as it is the closest point to the Greenway with a 0.9 mile walk to the South end of the tunnel and the race base. I need to give a big shout-out to the staff at the Hope & Anchor as they were all lovely and very friendly (also great chips and coffee). It is also the last chance to use the toilet before the race as the portable toilet is off limits until after the race has started!
I headed along to the tunnel at about 2pm and was surprised to find no space with some runners having a lot of stuff with them. In the end I put my bag at the edge of the path in front of another group as there was no other space. Race instructions had been very clear that it was one medium bag/box per runner and that if trolleys were used to bring kit they were to be folded to take up less space. Likewise any chairs were meant to be folded between laps. A small number of runners definitely had a lot more kit with them – does this give them an advantage? In this kind of race I think it does. It’s hard not to feel frustrated.
The portable toilet in the middle of its puddle was playing on my mind, especially with my period due but everyone was in the same boat so I’d just have to get on with it. Except it turns out we weren’t all in the same boat as Mark said at the race briefing that it was OK to have a discrete wild wee at the far end of the tunnel. Fine for the men but apart from in the middle of the night this was definitely not an option for the women. This really played on my mind during the race as I think I lost about an hour over the whole race by having to navigate the puddle, sometimes wait for it to be free and then use the portable toilet versus men who were just crossing the timing mat and peeing at the side of the path. I was incredibly frustrated by the unfairness of it. I am OK with basic facilities, even a loo in a puddle, but I do want an even playing field.
The pre-race time dragged! It was nice to get a catch up with people and say a proper hello to Aimee and Paul who I had previously met when they volunteered at a check point on Cardiff to London Ultra last year. Mainly I just wanted to get started. Finally Mark did a quick race briefing, we all lined up in single file and then it was 3.30pm and we could finally get going.
It was exciting and a relief to get started. The tunnel is pretty much what you would expect from an old railway tunnel, the lighting is soft which later in the race I didn’t like as it was kind of like dusk which didn’t help with the sleep deprivation. Underfoot is basically a pavement with stone edging to either wall of the tunnel. Markers every 100m on the floor became a blessing and a curse depending on where my mood was at later stages of the race. With no pace indicator on the watch they were a useful indicator of how fast/slow I was moving!
The tunnel was open to the public the whole race but was never that busy, some bikes went very fast but they were generally good at letting you know they were coming! We were instructed to run on the left hand side to make it easier for other tunnel users and (also us) with runners heading in both directions! There is a slight camber to the path but it didn’t seem to cause me any problems and everyone soon spread out so you could always run at your own pace.
For anyone considering entering the Tunnel Ultra it is worth noting that the tunnel is 1.7km long so over the whole race you run 220 miles not 200! It is also notably uphill for the full mile heading North and down heading back to base at the South end.
The first few hours passed really quickly and I got into a rhythm of walking 300-400 metres and then running the rest of the length of the tunnel. My aim was to do this until 100 miles and then reassess. I wore my race vest and carried enough food and drink for roughly 4 hours so I didn’t have to stop too often. This worked really well as a strategy.
The portable toilet was exactly as I expected – not pleasant but necessary – with the added challenge of trying to keep my feet dry (I had about 50% success with this!). To be fair to Mark and the volunteers they did keep it as clean as possible and topped up toilet roll but it was still pretty grim by Saturday afternoon.
I enjoyed running some lengths with Aimee Tippins, our paces were naturally very similar and the chat was easy and made time pass quickly. Otherwise I generally ran on my own with the odd chat here and there.
Lights went out bang on 10pm. I had my head torch in my race vest as I had needed it for admin outside the tunnel once it had got dark. I soon found I much preferred the tunnel with the lights off and barring some of the actions of other runners the 6hrs of darkness were OK and passed relatively quickly.
Before I knew it the lights popped on again, it was 4am – I felt a little sad as it was a long time until 10pm when I could enjoy the darkness again!
I found a pressure to the Tunnel Ultra – it felt like every second counted and time was creeping away. Saturday was a long sleepy day. I can’t remember when but I started getting hot spots and then blisters on my toes to deal with. These are more of an annoyance than anything else as they take time to pop and tape. Also my pacing was slower than I had hoped – I suspect this was more due to each length being more than a mile (an extra 0.1 miles per length) but it did make me anxious. Every time I had to navigate to the portable toilet for a wee I felt frustrated that the men were just peeing at the side of the path at the other end of the tunnel. These thoughts mess with your head in a race like this!
Running some lengths with Aimee was fun and I was gutted for her (and sad for me) when she hurt her hip on Saturday morning and had to stop. But the race goes on so I kept ticking off the lengths. Time began to drag during Saturday and my legs became sore as I headed to the halfway point. Nothing was broken but everything tired – not surprising at this point in the race but I was finding it hard to find positives to focus on. Once I hit the halfway point I hoped counting down the lengths would help and it did for a while but I was getting slower, I seemed to have something that needed to be done at the end of most laps – going to the loo, sorting feet, restocking food/drink… and it was all taking time. Saturday afternoon I kept entertaining the idea of stopping (lots of people were) but I had nowhere to stay for the night and still had plenty of time! I tried to find positives to focus on but it was tough and always the clock was ticking.
As the race went on, I found it harder than others to ignore things that had happened earlier and it played on my mind each length of the tunnel. The tunnel became somewhere I didn’t really want to be – not because of the tunnel itself but because of the actions of other runners. I love the ultra running community and all it represents but I didn’t feel the behaviour of some matched this and was very conscious we were on a public path on the outskirts of a city. Running mile lengths of the tunnel meant it was hard to get away from these feelings.
When the lights went out at 10pm it was a relief. There weren’t many runners left so there were peaceful spells on your own in the tunnel which I liked.
My knees became more sore and I was getting slower. I started to do the maths and knew I would be tight to finish. I put KT tape on my knees and it helped for a few lengths, I then tried Bear Hug knee supports again they offered a short relief but then were annoying me more. I tried changing shoes but that didn’t make much difference and then the paracetamol stopped helping.
I didn’t want to spend another 16 hours in the tunnel pushing hard in pain. I could still finish but I could easily miss by a few lengths. Ultimately it boiled down to the fact in that moment of tiredness and pain and with how I was generally feeling about the race I didn’t want it enough to push through. My heart wasn’t in it. I couldn’t find a reason to push on. I knew I would probably regret it after a sleep (and I have). I am not sure if it was the right decision or not so will settle with knowing The Tunnel is not a race I feel any desire to repeat. Massive congratulations to those that finished especially to Agnes (her third finish). The Tunnel was an experience I hope I don’t have to repeat at any race soon.
I had a cry and chat to Iain before handing in my timing tag. I was feeling very emotional and my period started within an hour of finishing – did this play a part in my decision making? Probably but I’ll never know. It’s always easy to double guess decisions after the event!
It wasn’t an easy decision to make but it was a relief to stop and be done. It meant I had Sunday free to start my recovery. After a 2 mile walk back into Bath I was able to get an early check in back at the Travelodge, a nice soak in the bath and an afternoon nap. By Monday morning the knees were fine and I was able to run/walk my daily backyard loop (4.16 miles) quite comfortably.
To all those who choose to enter The Tunnel in the future if your training has been sound it is a race that will be won or lost in the mind! Good Luck!