I completed the Benfleet 15 this Sunday, a popular and infamous 15 mile off-road race. The weather had been wet in the lead up to it and so the trademark mud was there in a big way. The weather on the day was actually near perfect. I had run this race three times previously, but only once on the new course, way back in 2017. Then, I had completed it in 2:17.30 and felt I was in good shape to get close to that. The reality was I was way off it.
Perhaps I had been too ambitious from the get-go. I ran the Rudolph Run, a local 5 mile race in December and completed that in 37:01, I also ran this the December prior to my 2:17 in a time of 35:08. Lots of different things to factor in there, but 2 minutes slower x 3 for the distance gets you to 6 minutes, maybe add another couple of minutes because it is hilly and a mudfest, I could maybe justify 2:25, my final time was 2:31. Six minutes for mental fortitude lacking? Yeah I can see that maths.
I have gone over the numbers, both mile splits and km splits between 2017 and 2026, used various run websites and apps to try and piece together the race that was.
I met my friend Charlotte before the race and we had a good catch-up and ended up starting the race together. We were a little far back, I didn't want to be right at the front with those throwing themselves down the big hill to start, but we definitely lost 30-40 seconds in the initial flurry as we tried to negotiate the traffic. At one point early on the cattle grid was closed and so we all had to funnel through a small gate to the side where more time was lost. The less said about the queue jumping guy in black the better.
After the big downhill start we were greeted with our first uphill of the day, there would be plenty more throughout the course. Five or six if I were counting. Steep enough that even at my moderately fit status I needed to walk them. There was some congestion here too, and it was difficult to get into a rhythm with everyone having slightly different approaches to pacing themselves.
I regretted entering the race at this point, what must have been half a mile in. As I said I had done the race before, but I think your mind blocks out the worst bits for self preservation. There were parts of the course that came back to me and felt familiar but there was none of that over the first 3 miles. Through 3 miles I was about a minute down on 2017, I could put most of that down to the congested start.
The first big chunk of time I lost was in km 7, I did 6:52 compared to 5:10 in 2017. I can't quite piece together what went wrong there, this was over the serious mudfest section. That was a brutal couple of miles, sliding this way and that. Walking was harder than running. Once through that we popped out at Leigh-station, there were good crowds there, then it was onto paths along the coastline. I think I got a touch overexcited in this section. The surer footing made moving so much easier and perhaps I put in too much effort. There was a 5km section in here where I was 15 seconds up on 2017.
I got to 10km about 3 minutes down on 2017 (I didn't know any of these splits at the time), there was the initial 1 minute lost plus 2 minutes in that funky 7th km, but aside from that it was fairly even. We hit the marina at mile 8 and it was at that point, just over halfway that I knew it was going to be a slog.
It was out on the long stretch along the sea wall at Canvey. There were runners as far as the eye could see, and the fast ones at the front were already coming back the other way. I didn't mind the seemingly never ending trip out, the more miles we were getting in the bank now, meant less miles in the mud or on the big uphills to the finish. It was in this section where I did begin to flag and showed some mental weakness. There are lots of very valid sections of this race where you can walk at my fitness level. The big hilly sections, or some of the tricky to negotiate mud sections, but on the flat, breeze in your face or on your back, you need to be running and for parts of this I did stop for the occasional walk break. Anyone that has had walk breaks knows when you start, it is a very hard habit to break.
I got up to maybe mile 11 when I was passed by Charlotte, who had done a much better job of pacing her race than me. I managed to keep her in sight for quite a while, we got off the sea wall and went up past Benfleet station, up an insane hill, kudos to any commuters who get up that every evening. Past the aid station, which was no help to me. They have a no plastic policy, insisting you bring your own beverage holder. I had paid £2 extra on entry for a reusable cup, but didn't bother picking it up, I didn't want to run 15 miles, cup in hand. It was cool enough and short enough that it probably didn't affect my performance much if at all.
I again lost some time in these final miles, there was some downhill to take advantage of and some flat, but my legs were shredded and my spirits dampened by this point and so I will have haemorrhaged more time than was strictly necessary. There was still time for some more uphill before the big finish. There was a zigzag section where everyone was walking, only beginning to run again on the final zig or is it zag as the gradient eased a little.
There was then just the final hill to climb, I think I ran the entire thing in 2017 but I didn't have it in me. A good march to the top was all I could muster. Once there I saw Charlotte and she encouraged me to get running. The threat of "I'm filming you all the way to the finish" was sufficient to keep my legs moving all the way to the line. My legs really didn't feel my own for that final 150 metres.
Charlotte and I then met up for a post-race debrief, reliving the various hills and mud, which was a nice way to end our mornings work. The event is epic and isn't very conducive to time goals, but time goals is what I had and so I am left disappointed and concerned for exactly what kind of shape I am in. My watch has been telling me bad news for the last week or ten days and so maybe there is some illness lurking in the background.
My body is aching two days after the event, particularly lower back, but there are two or three other body parties also crying out for attention, I have just managed to complete a 5.5km recovery run, get back on the horse and all that. I have the Middlesbrough half marathon 1st March, on the road, and that should give me a much better gauge of exactly what sort of shape I am in over the longer distance, and whether a push for a marathon PB at London is realistic. I'll dust myself off, or rather deep clean and pick the matted mud out of my hair and go again. Benfleet 15 you may have beaten me this year, but next year I'll get my revenge.
P.S I also saw Roman who I had met at HARP 24, both before and after the race. He monstered it in 1:55 getting himself a silver medal in the process. What a nice chap he is.
