Looking back at 2013

After crashing and burning on my overambitious 2012 goals
(10 hours off my 100 PB!?) I decided to be a bit more realistic for
2013: finish the Spine Challenger, finish GUCR, and chip 35 min off my 100 mile time, to finally get it under 24 hours.

The
Spine Challenger went fairly well. I took it very easily, spent the first day nearly last, but plodded my way up to mid-pack and my first ever race win (there was only one other woman...).

The
Thames Path 100 was supposed to be my first shot at the sub 24 100. But I was never going to be in shape for it that early in the year and the weather turned it into a mud plod.

And then came
GUCR. The first ~130 miles went pretty well and I cruised into the Grand Junction Arms checkpoint at ~100 miles in 23.10, accidentally taking over an hour and a half off my 100 PB. The wheels fell off towards the end but my 37.17 finishing time was far quicker than I thought I was capable of.

Post GUCR I had a niggling knee injury, which I kept running through for the
British Ultra-fest 24 hour Track Race. With the sub 24 100 already in the bag I fell into the ‘overambitious goal setting’ trap. It was a bit of a struggle towards the end but I managed to sneak PBs at 50 miles (9.59), 100 miles (22.52) and 24 hours (103.3) and another 1st place woman finish (there were slightly more women here, but the field wasn’t particular deep).

And that was more or less the end of my running year. Partly because of the multiple minor issues I now had with my knee, and partly because I finally committed to starting the Spine Race and running wasn’t the best preparation for that. I’d entered the Winter 100 in a fit of boredom post GUCR, but withdrew to avoid exacerbating the knee issues.