The Long Mynd Hike - How was it?

Mrs Thompson wrote:

So finally after months of preparation and a couple of weeks fund raising I line up for the start of the Long Mynd Hike on Saturday afternoon at 1pm, with fifty miles and 8 massive hills to cover I was more than a little nervous!

With all your great sponsership promised I knew I had to do my best!

Somewhere between 400 - 500 people take part in the hike which happens every year.

You can't see it too well but I have to carry a ruck sack holding certain pieces of equipment like food, first aid kit, waterproof trousers etc. It's heavy but because we are running through the night we have to be able to take care of ourselves.

This is how hard the hills are, some people are fit enough to run up them (not me!), most people walk the ups and run the flat sections and the down hills.

If you look carefully you can see the line of people coming down the hill in the background before starting to come up this one.

Most of the race is off road, in the countryside and we come across some great animals in the fields.

I'm on Ponsbury hill here, around 20 miles done and thirty to go, starting to feel really tired here.

At the top of the Long Mynd looking over to Corndon hill -  I have to run to that hill and run over it, it gives you a good idea of the differences involved.

Set up at some places around the course are check points where you have to get a tally clipped to prove you made it and also you can collect some food and drink. They are set up in the middle of nowhere but are brillantly organised.

Grabbing a cup of soup, you never sit stll for more than a few minutes as then the pain sets in.  I've been on the go now for 5 hours and still hours to go! It gets dark quickly after this photo as no street lights or towns anywhere near. People get really spaced apart, we barely see any one else.

After this photo I start wearing a head torch and finsh the run in the dark. It's really important to know the route, have a compass and map as it's really easy to get lost!

This is near the end in the pitch black, the light is a reflective piece of clothing on another runner in the distance.

I started at 1pm on Saturday afternoon and reached the finsh at 3.30am Sunday morning.

I finished after fourteen and a half hours and in a lot of pain!

I was actually the tenth lady to finish and achieved thrid prize for the West Merica Police Novice award!

Thank you to everyone who sponsered me, it's now time to collect the money!

I took a photo of my shoes at around 25 miles as they were getting sore and dirty, turns out this is actually really clean! I ended up with muck up to my knees. The feet have loads of blisters and I am shattered! I was sick twice unfortunatley - this is a hard race!