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The votwo Jurassic Coast Challenge 2009

78.6 miles (3 marathons) in 3 days along the Dorset coast path. Day 1 report

And so it began……

For the uninitiated the votwo Jurassic Coast Challenge is the original (and quite possibly the best) coastal running challenge in the UK. Inspired by the late Paul Hart who ran the route in the early 1980s preparing for the London marathon it was reborn in 2006 as a mass participation event with 12 competitors braving the course between Lyme Regis and Studland.

Fast forward to 2009 and the word of mouth has spread with over 150 individuals signed on the dotted line to come to Dorset for some coast running fun. Their idea of fun being to run 26.2 miles each day for 3 days. Yes, there are indeed some odd folk out there in endurance land, and we’re proud to be amongst them.

The route runs from Lyme Regis to Chickerell near Weymouth on day 1. Day 2 goes from Chickerell to Lulworth Cove and Day 3 from Lulworth to the finish at Studland, Poole.  In the way are a few hills, sandy bits, muddy bits, dog walkers and some of the most fantastic scenery on the British Isles.

A few key stats about the 2009 challenge:

Total number of entrants over the 3 days: 182 (male 137, female 45)Minimum age = 21

Maximum age = 65

Average age = 39

Entries from abroad include those from Germany and the Netherlands, South Africa and Switzerland.

Local entries from Dorset = 17

Total distance to cover: 78.6 miles

The 2009 event starts

The first day of the 2009 event dawned with blue skies, strong Westerly winds and an air of anticipation as entrants gathered at the Lugger Inn to register. The walking group were quickly dispatched to the start line and were off and moving just before 9:30am enjoying the breeze at their backs as they climbed out of Cobb harbour. A few of the keener walkers broke into a jog as they approached Charmouth and check point 1 in Seatown, making great time in favourable conditions.

As the walkers passed by Seatown the main group of runners were massing at the Cobb to start and were on route just after 11:30am. It was quite a sight seeing so many lycra clad loonies running through the town and the group certainly attracted a few looks, cheers and comments from the locals and holiday makers eager to know what sort of fancy dress party this was, and why they had not been invited.

The day 1 route is characterised by a very hilly start including a climb and descent of the Golden Cap, the highest point on the Dorset coast path which comes only 5 miles into the route. A flatter section follows alongside the sea and then the Chesil bank passing checkpoint 2 at Burton Bradstock and then checkpoint 3 at Abbotsbury which offers a chance to get into a good running or walking rhythm for once on an otherwise very tough route.

The ample checkpoint stores of water, coke, bananas, flapjacks, jelly babies and filled rolls were, as ever, being demolished by the challengers to keep themselves hydrated and fuelled on the run. With a good tailwind and a few showers blowing through from time to time conditions were quite good for distance running so some decent times were recorded by the athletes.

First home from the running group with the fastest overall time of the day was Graham Booty in 4hr 13min. Using the JCC as practice for a crack at The Oner coming up on the same course in August he seemed in good shape tucking into his hot soup and rolls waiting for the others to finish.

Fastest lady was Lucy Hilton (also second home overall) recording 4hr 17min along with husband Steve in tow. Lucy and Steve have been strong contenders on the JCC in the past and once again showed their strength today.  

Tomorrow sees the eager competitors setting off from The Lugger Inn for on a merry jaunt to Lulworth Cove, taking in the incredibly steep terrain between Ringstead Bay and Durdle Door. Sounds like fun….

Day 1 vital statistics:

Number of starters:        147

Number of finishers:      146

Fastest times:          

1) Graham Booty 4hr 13min                           

2) Steve and Lucy Hilton 4hr 17min                                               

3) Adam Holland 4hr 20min

Fastest veterans:            

1) John Lewis 4hr 29min                                               

2) Anthony Geundini 4hr 34min                                               

3) Philip Smith 4hr 44min

Fastest females:              

1) Lucy Hilton 4h17min                                               

2) Cleo Oliver 4hr 29min                                               

3) Claire Humphries 5hr 08min

Slowest:  9hr 04min

Number of filled rolls eaten: 226

Number of bananas distributed: 300

Number of onions that went into the finish line soup making processes: 26

Details from our man on the ground with a GPS (Ian Hobley):

Distance covered 26.52 miles (never one to take a short cut our Ian)

Total time 4hr 22min

Average pace 9min 52sec per mile

Fastest mile 8min 07sec (mile 15 to 16)

Slowest mile 13min 19sec (mile 7 to 8, must have been loafing there)Finish position for Ian: 6^th overall. Beaten by 1 woman only.  

Day 2

Another bright start

Day 2 of the 2009 Jurassic Coast Challenge once again started with blue skies and light winds, all cunningly arranged to lull the competitors into a sense of false optimism before the start. The event began, as ever, with a hilarious and yet highly informative briefing from director Ben Mason before the two groups, walkers and runners, headed out to briefly re-trace their steps along the road down to the coast path.  Pre-warned about the potentially treacherous nature of the ground around the ranges before Weymouth thankfully no-one re-enacted the broken ankles and sprains of 2008 and they all headed to the navigational fun and games known as finding check point one on Portland.

Breezing along

Checkpoint 1 involves a testing climb up the on Portland before dropping back onto the causeway where the route goes truly urban for the stretch through Weymouth. Dodging stag and hen parties, the smell of fish and chips and a hell of a lot of traffic check point 2 necessitated a brief stop on the seafront, under the clock tower, for checkpoint 2. At this point Graham Booty was holding form as the leading runner with Lucy Hilton stalking not far behind, once again looking strong and out celebrating her birthday with a second marathon run! From then on the runners were gradually threading through the walkers as they moved on towards CP3 at Osmington Mills.

Dark clouds massing

With the first part of the route being quite flat and the weather kind the competitors were generally looking in good shape in the first part of the day. This is always hugely disappointing to us as we pride ourselves on votwo events being particularly challenging. Therefore, not wanting to be accused of making it too easy the second half of the day 2 run is arguably the toughest part of the whole route. Ouch. To add to the fun today the wind picked up a bit and a good dose of icy rain and hail blew across when a lot of the entrants were struggling up and down the horrendous hills between Ringstead bay and Durdle Door where some awesome photos (see the gallery for a small selection) show the storm coming in. Many of them struggled to raise a smile or wave for the camera at this point and were heard muttering various obscenities about hills and death threats to the course designer (‘Perfect’ Ben was thinking when he heard this, having achieved exactly what he set out to do).

The finish

Fortunately for the sake of the finish line staff the weather needle swung back towards ‘summery’ whilst the majority of the competitors ran/staggered/limped/stumbled (delete as appropriate) down the final testing set of stone steps down to Lulworth Cove. Hot vegetable soup, tea and buns greeted them before the fleet of luxurious U-Drive mini buses wafted them back to the accommodation in the Chickerell area.  

In terms of the positions Graham Booty was the fastest man once more (just!) although birthday girl Lucy Hilton had pegged him back to within 1 minute at the end. Both went under the 4hr mark for another very testing marathon route with one marathon already in their legs.

Day 3 starts at Lulworth with a cracking great climb out of the cove just to warm up the legs for some of the most impressive hills of the weekend. The finish at Studland is always a brilliant atmosphere so if anyone wants to join us competitors will be finishing from early afternoon until….well whenever they stagger in do pop down to the chain ferry to support/be inspired/have a good laugh at the ministry of silly run impressions going on there.

Bets are currently being taken by the votwo staff about how many competitors will be showing up 1 hour late tomorrow due to the clocks changing over night………

Day 2 vital statistics:

Number of starters:        137

Number of finishers:      131

Fastest times:                   

1) Graham Booty 3hr 49min                                               

2) Lucy Hilton 3hr 50min                                               

3) Chris Blythin 3hr 59min

Fastest veterans:            

1) John Lewis 4hr 29min                                               

2) Rob Sartin 4hr 31min                                               

3) Philip Smith 4hr 32min

Fastest females:              

1) Lucy Hilton   3h 50min (birthday today)                                             

2) Joanne Proudlove      4hr 28min                                               

3) Cleo Oliver                4hr 34min

Slowest:                         8hr 21min

Number of ForGoodness Shakes drunk:  101

Weight of veg chopped for soup: 145 lbs (65ish kg) 

Details from our man on the ground with a GPS (Ian Hobley):

Distance covered 26.92 miles (navigational embarrassment on Portland added the extra bit)

Total time: 4hr 26min

Average pace: 9min 53sec per mile

Fastest mile: 7min 38sec (mile 7 to 8; keen)

Slowest mile: 13min 45sec (mile 25 to 26; painful.)

Finish position for Ian: 7^th overall. Beaten by 1 woman, again.  

Day 3

Dawn

Day 3 dawned a little bit before dawn for the votwo staff, as they got up half an hour before they went to bed to move the logistical operation of the event from the Lugger Inn to the finish at Studland. With the loss of an hour of sleep everyone was looking and feeling a little tired but also pleased to be greeted with an amazing sunrise on the drive past Corfe Castle on the way to the finish and registration point. The registration area and catering tent sprung up in the Studland car park as the well oiled events machine rolled into action, fuelled by caffeine and a good bit of motivational shouting from Ben.

Shortly afterwards the walkers started massing for their briefing (including important info about avoiding a landslip near Kimmeridge bay) before boarding the U drive fleet of limo/minibuses to transfer to the start at Lulworth.

Bring out the limp

The one thing that most competitors seemed to have remembered to bring to registration was a good old fashioned limp (some more impressive than others, one or two giving the impression that a single leg was doing 90% of the work). It was therefore easy to spot the ones who had simply turned up for the one day event, being those walking with a suspiciously normal gait. Tim the medic had a truly wonderful time preparing the feet of various hobbling runners and due to the fact it was bright but only 2 degrees above freezing the free teas and coffees were flying out of the door as fast as they could be brewed.

Ben’s entertaining yet informative briefing (infotainment I think they call it) once again went down a storm and was worth the entry fee alone, according to one slightly mad competitor. Shortly after this the U drive fleet left full of runners for Lulworth to begin the 3^rd and final marathon of the JCC 2009.

The route

The day 3 route is quite possibly the highlight for many for the simple fact that it has some of the most rugged and beautiful sections of the course, with the added benefit of being the last day. Straight out of Lulworth Cove a very steep ascent warms the quads before the considerable ups and downs of the Army firing ranges offer stunning views of the coastline to come. Due to certain bits of the coast path going missing over the last few weeks and falling into the sea there was a section near to Kimmeridge bay that had to be avoided. This involved a short detour inland on some roads and footpaths before rejoining the route proper at Chapman’s Pool. No-one was heard to be complaining too vigorously about missing out Hounds Tout cliff although the extra miles definitely added to the ‘challenge’ element, as can be seen from the finishing times for the day. To make up for the diversion a pod of Dolphins were organised to do a ‘swim by’ along the coast and was seen by many of the competitors and check point staff – a memorable sight on a truly stunning day.

The weather

The weather really did come good for the final day of the event too. The finish at Studland is a phenomenal place to be in the sunshine and that is what we got for most of the day. The atmosphere was brilliant as the finishers walked, jogged, limped and crawled in, all deserving a massive pat on the back and their medal from Ben for the great achievement. Even many of those who had to retire were there cheering the others in and in particular Gabriella Fredriksson who was forced to withdraw at checkpoint 1 but stayed for several hours congratulating the finishers with unwavering enthusiasm.

The challengers

With the route being forcibly longer due to the diversion (approximately 30 miles all told) the competitors were required to show grit and determination to complete the most gruelling stage on the last day. Times were inevitably slower with Cornishman Adam Holland not only finishing first but probably looking freshest of anyone all day! It took him only 4hrs and 32min to complete the 30 miles and tick off another 3 marathons on his ongoing list. Adam never does any formal run training (except a couple of paper rounds) and runs a marathon race or two most weekends. At 22 years old he’s rattled off about 41 now, an incredible achievement and approach to running which we at votwo think is absolutely fantastic. We hope he can come back and do the ONER in August and we reckon he could give some of the more well known ultra runners a bit of a scare if he decides to.

As ever Graham Booty was near the front all day long (finishing second on the stage) and Lucy Hilton tapped out another top 3 overall and first lady result. Both of them having a brilliant and very consistent weekend on the trails. Nick Crosby also needs a mention for doing superbly well to keep up his un-interrupted streak of being the only person to complete all 4 official JCC events that have taken place. He finished strongly in 5^th overall on day 3, so after struggling day 2 he showed great character to pull it back. What is particularly nice is that Nick knew Paul Hart, the inspiration for the event who sadly passed away last year through his connections with votwo and Paul would have been very proud of the fact that Nick has put so much into keeping his finishers record alive. He would also have been delighted to see so many people pushing themselves very hard on the final day of the event as he loved to see anyone overcoming adversity, particularly in sport; the 2009 event was a fitting tribute to Paul.

STOP PRESS: GREAT COMMENT ON THE EVENT FROM NICK ARRIVED TODAY...

As well as the fastest individuals the JCC is a challenge taken up by a wide range of people and the finish times ranged from 4 and a bit to 11 and a bit hours on the final day. It sounds a bit clichéd but it really does get a little bit emotional at the finish line when you see some of the grins, hugs and tears that finishers display when they reach the line. This raw emotion at the finish really is what the event is all about and if you’re short of inspiration or motivation check out the photo gallery (and You Tube video later this week) to see what we mean.

Photos and video

If you took part in the challenge and would like a comprehensive DVD full of hundreds of great hi-res photos (see a tiny selection in the gallery) from the event please email events@votwo.co.uk with your full postal address and ‘Please send me JCC photos’ as the email header. Your DVD of images will then be posted out on receipt of a cheque for £20 including postage made payable to ‘votwo events’ and sent to 3 Hill House, Tehidy Park, Camborne. Cornwall. TR14 0TH.

Dave is frantically working on editing the video which will go up on you tube hopefully later on this week or early next. We’ll post a link on the site when this is live so you can go and re-live the joy of the JCC.