Name: Jon Regler
DOB: 19/12/1974
Occupation: Director at Astral Couriers
Targets for 2016: Sub 20hr Oner, Sub 24hr 100 miles, a successful UTMB lottery draw and finish, set up a nano-brewery...?
Motivational Quotes:
1. Don't doubt yourself
2. If it didn't hurt the next day you didn't push hard enough
3. Sleep Monsters are my friends!!
THE ONER - JUNE 2016
The post-Oner breakdown. So, it is done. 82 miles of World Heritage accolade worthy Jurassic coast line for the third time. Done? Yes. To plan? No. The great thing with the Oner (for me) is that it’s on my doorstep and has a noon start, no getting up at stupid o’clock to drive miles for an early start, better still this year I was getting a lift with my brother who was working a food fair at Portland. Unfortunately I ended up working until after midnight the night before, the joys of running a courier company and having some airfreight stuck in Manchester Airport! There was one bonus that I could squeeze in a final Met Office check and hope for sunshine....
The radio was banned in the van on the way down, I fear the ‘ear-worm’, the unwanted repetitive song in your head that goes on all day and will creep up on you again in the middle of the night for no reason. Usually something you really don’t like. Now my brother has knack of planting these but he respected my request and behaved himself!
New race HQ was busy with runners and supporters, it was indoors which was a godsend as the sunshine turned to a downpour mid morning. Always nice to see some familiar faces from past years, the Brutal Oner Family are brave enough to come back for more! First familiar face - Keith from Ultramarathon Running Store, top man that I seem to bump into at the few events I do. David Miller, doing the half, Martyn Odell and Paul Beechey from last year and Erica Terblanche from the previous 2 years - if you raid my bag of energy bars I won’t judge the questionable fashion of ski gloves with bare arms!
After check-in I was automatically disqualified for bad sunglasses by Rich Smith and went home….. training buddies Jim and Grant were our hosts in the minibus to the start line, watching the ever changing sky and laughing off the next 82 miles as we drove alongside the route. I just happened to sit next to Jack Gammon who I had been in contact with in the run up to the event - well done Jack, you did it this time!! 👍 Arrival at the start in Charmouth was the same as always…. 100+ well hydrated people running for the bushes to relieve themselves!!
A few photos, good lucks and the usual jovial banter and at 12:02 we’re off…… a bit faster than I should have done, but I was comfortable. Gentle running, enjoying the hills and views on to Portland 30 miles ahead and chatting with fellow runners. My plan was simple - drink 1 litre between checkpoints, drink at check points, eat something every hour and at checkpoints. Brutal Events have amazingly well stocked checkpoints, sorry AMAZINGLY well stocked checkpoints, jaffa cakes, crisps, nuts, cake, Science Fitness Glycosourse, sweets, just about anything Claire knows might enter an endurance athlete’s mind or help pick them up over the next 24hrs. The only thing to do is shove it down your throat.
I’ve only ever run this section of the Jurassic Coast twice before; my previous 2 Oners. Golden Cap out the way, the highest point on the south coast, and at CP1 I came through something silly like 7th place and thought I better slow down, 120km to go! Nice to see Jim and Grant hadn’t eaten everything, then battle through the tourists and smelling the fish and chips.. back on to the hills again and the rain hit us a couple of times between here, the horrible flat shingle beach sections and CP2, where I slowed down a bit. This is nice chilled out section, heads inland a little from the coast before CP3. Was nice for Paul and Martyn to catch up and run for a while whilst I started to feel a little wonky - this will be my phrase from now until I get to race HQ and around Portland. Wonky.
Spirits were uplifted when I’m greeted by my dad and brother at the Ferry Bridge, a perfect end to the first marathon, a boost and encouragement helps with the miles of tarmac ahead of us, we ran on to Portland and climbed to race HQ - again being asked if I was ok and I said “I feel a bit wonky” grabbed a drink and raced back out to pickup the cliff-top path down to the next checkpoint at Portland Bill, I ran this section strong, must have been the breeze and getting off the tarmac. The back of the island is a bit rocky, the quarry has very loose stone and I took a spectacular tumble that thankfully no-one saw! I was again greeted by my Dad and brother for the last time…. HQ… food.
I felt crap and knew I needed to get some food down my throat, again I topped up my Glycosource and necked a bowl of pasta and a tuna sandwich, leaving HQ all I could think was “you have to hold this down” it is a long leg to the next CP, mostly tarmac and navigating through the bemused drinkers of Weybiza. I left with a chap called Earl and warned him I could vomit at any given moment! Martyn and Paul caught up again and we headed into Weymouth merrily chatting and run/walking at a nice pace. Again I felt good and positive, we stuck to the rule that you MUST run the whole of the esplanade to the cafe, then walk the hill to the fun park and on to the hills and CP7 at the Smugglers Inn to see Jim and Grant to grab a cheese and bacon scone before we were then out of civilisation and on to the Lulworth with hills PROPER!
I love running through the night, not sure why it is, maybe the mix of sleep deprivation, endorphins and serotonin that gives me a high to drive on through when anyone normal would stop. 4 of us set off - me, Paul, Martyn and a Hungarian guy who’s name escapes me, but can run a sub-3 marathon. I will never forget this night as it progressed…… by the time we got to Durdle Door my wonkiness had returned, Paul and Martyn headed off, I finally started to puke. What very little content in my stomach was now in the grass before Lulworth Cove, not only that but I had one of my strangest experiences in ultra-running life, I was falling asleep whilst walking over the top of the hill and as I was in this hypnogogic state I suddenly shouted out “NO!” - Who knows what my mind was going through, I’ve hallucinated and seen things before but never shouted at nothing! The shock and amusement woke me and gave me a boost down the hill to CP8 where I refuelled, had a hot drink and not wanting to stay still for too long, was quickly off again through the ranges with my new Hungarian friend.
You can easily take a wrong turning in this section, go off route, get a few extra 100m elevation in and lose time. I know it really well and much to my Hungarian friend’s gratitude who said that if he wasn’t with me he would be lost and not know where to go - I pointed out we had been issued maps! The next few hours were a blur of me being sick and him swearing in English behind me, particularly when there was a steep downhill. Maybe the F-word doesn’t sound so powerful in Hungarian? It kept me amused and once Kimmeridge was in sight I again found that energy to run on down the hill all the way to the aid station, passing a few others with this burst of energy.
Kimmeridge CP done I headed on alone to the next stop, St Aldem’s Head…. more hills, and those steps to look forward to before sunrise and Swanage. I can really pin point where I hit my lowest point between here, St Aldem’s Head and Swanage, but the combination of low energy, vision impairment and the occasional puke wasn’t fun. I’ve had this vision thing happen before and can only put it down to dehydration and poor nutrition, put it this way, I could not see a gate until it was about 10m away, everything was a blur as if my shit new sunglasses were misted up. I truly was a mess.
A highlight and focus on any ultra through the night is sunrise, I can’t remember it, I was alone and had no one to share it with and there was no sunrise selfie on my phone either. Through Durlston Park, down the green for one final puke in the grass to Peveril Point in Swanage to again be greeted by Jim and Grant, full of beans and energy!! Jim made a comment about me looking a mess and filled a plastic cup with salted nuts and told me to make sure I ate them ALL!! One by one Jim’s Nuts saved me…. on through Swanage and up to Ballard Down where the end is in sight, albeit 5 miles away! A lovely run down to Old Harry Rocks and Studland where I finished Jim’s Nuts before hitting the beach for the long, soft home straight and a battle with the finish time.
My plan was sub 20hr, considering the amount of puking I’d done though the night, the blurred vision and general crappiness I was glad to have finished, I thought I’d broken the 21hr barrier but it was 21:03.
Running any ultra is a battle. The training has it’s ups and downs, illness may get in the way (twice), on race day you don’t know what will be thrown at you or why, but solving the problems and dealing with them got me to the finish line, maybe not as the A goal, but 3 minutes short of the B goal. Another box ticked, more lessons learned.
Oner - I am not done with you yet!