HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - The Numbers Heavy Conclusion

 Thanks for having stuck with me through the three HARP 24 blogs covering my 2025 journey to 65 miles in 24 hours.  In this final blog I want to dig a little deeper into the numbers and try and look at how we get from there to the ultimate goal, 100 miles in a day.

I don't have perfect information on this, but from the data I have from my Garmin plus the official splits I think we can piece it together pretty well.  If we look at what I did across the 24 hours it looks something like this:

Running - 2 hours 40 minutes at 11:15 min miles covering 14 miles.

Walking - 15 hours at 17:30 min mules covering 51 miles.

Still - 30 minutes.

Off course - 4 hours 40 minutes.

Early finish - 1 hour 10 minutes.

Total time 24 hours.

Put into km's that is 11 min/km walking pace and 7min/km running.  The walking I am happy with, the running looks a little slow but it is in the ball park of what I would have been doing.  Maybe 6:40's when fresh and a little slower as I tired.  My short runs as the race progressed will have been hard for the Garmin to pick up accurately. 

The 30 minutes of still would have included some of the off course stuff in those early laps when I went for supplies etc, and would also include brief pauses at water stops for a refill.  Later on I had some unscheduled rest stops as I pulled off the course to allow horse riders or faster runners to pass.

Off the course was in the main my two sleep stops.  I have lap 8 at nearly 3 hours 10 minutes and lap 9 at 4 hours 20.  7 and a half hours for 2 laps, which would probably have been 3 hours on course so you've got something like 4.5 hours off course during the night.

I then bunked off early at 10:52 in the morning and so lost over an hour of move time there.

If we are looking for easy wins in our quest for greater distance than the 4 hours 40 minutes off course and 1 hour 10 minute early finish would be the first to go, throw in 10 minutes less still time and we have a nice even 6 hours.  Even if I just walked all 6 of those hours we are covering an additional 20 miles as a minimum, taking our distance up to 85 miles.

85 miles feels pretty close to that 100 mile target, but 15 miles, over a half marathon is still a sizeable gap.  The thing working in our favour is just how little time I spent running.  Even with some generous rounding and bringing in some slow undetected shuffling we are struggling to get up to three hours.

As I said in my previous blogs I'm just not endurance ready at the minute.  If I can change my marathon shape from 5 hours to 4 hours or even something better, that makes life so much easier, and would allow me to stretch out that run time further.  But it needs to go out a decent amount.  Changing sleeping to walking has a big impact, shifting 17:30 minute miles walking to 11:15 minute running much less so.

We are effectively adding 2 miles an hour for each hour of walking upgraded to an hour of running.

Just to show that 85 miles again, our new look 24 hours would look something like this:

2 hours 40 minutes at 11:15 min/miles - 14 miles

21 hours 50 minutes at 17:30 min/miles - 71 miles

30 minutes still/off course.

Total 85 miles.

At 2 miles an hour extra we are going to need to convert 7 hours of walking into 7 hours of running and our final 24 hour split to get to 100 would shake out like so:

10 hours running at 11:15 min/miles - 54 miles

13.5 hours walking at 17:30 min/miles - 46 miles

30 mins still/off course.

That final push to get over the top is a significant one.  I can see a way to get to 16 laps and 80 miles just by losing the sleep completely and really being super efficient, it is that last 20% which is going to require me to get myself fit enough to be a runner, not a hiker/adventurer/explorer.

I'm struggling to wait a year to put this right, and have silly ideas of creating my own 24 hour event later this summer.  I must be patient and wait to do it where it counts at HARP 24 in 2026.  

HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - Part 3

 Now 20 hours into the challenge and with the end in sight I had the time to think and contemplate the size of it all.  I had been on my own for almost the entirety of the event, there were occasional interactions with the volunteers at the aid stations. or with fellow runners/walkers, but these were fleeting.  I enjoyed the time and didn't use my headphones for the first 10 hours, chosing to listen to the sounds of the wood  and in an effort to preserve my phone battery.  With the challenge of the night loops I decided to bring in some assistance and so listened to lots of Parenting Hell podcasts, my motivational playlist and some Nelly throughout much of the rest of the event.

Given that I was walking I was able to be on my phone alot, messaging friends and family, keeping my spirits up and letting them know how I was getting on.  My brothers Luke and Joe in particular were checking in on me and geeing me up.  Having completed lap 12 they both messaged within 10 minutes of each other to urge me out for one more lap to get the distance over 100km.  Given the exhaustion and me concentrating on miles I hadn't quite put that together and so it was good to give me that final nudge out of the tent to complete that 13th and final loop.  

I was now taking over an hour and a half for each lap and could see that a 14th lap wasn't possible.  Joe did ask if I could squeeze one in but I completed lap 13 at 10:52 and there was no way I was churning out a 1:07 lap to get in before the cut-off.  At some 24 hour events they allow you to complete the lap you are on as long as you start it before the end of the 24 hours.  That is tough on the organisers who are almost as tired as the competitors and rightly want to get themselves home, and so HARP say all laps need to be finished by 12 midday.  Rocking up at 12:02 thinking you've bagged another lap must be brutal.

I also had places to be and so immediately set about getting myself packed up ready to depart.  The girls had a show at half 2 and I needed to get myself home and showered asap.  That was easier said than done.  My body which seemed able to churn out 11 minute kms walking seemingly indefinitely, decided to creak on that last lap and there were 12:31 and 12:07 km's on the run in.  

The body shutting down continued after I crossed the line, the only way I could get myself on the ground was to get as close as I could to the target area and then just drop.  A quick crawl around and I could empty the tent of it's contents before a big effort to get myself vertical again.  I managed to find a Mark One Hire provided wheelbarrow to transport the food and clothing back to my car, before returning to deconstruct the tent.  Taking the tent down proved even more challenging than putting it up, but I finally managed to do it without it blowing away or breaking.

Another slow trudge back to the car and my HARP 24 experience was over for another year.  A final total of 65 miles spread over 13 idyllic loops of Cherry Orchard Country Park.  10 miles more than last year, 10 miles less than I was probably capable of, given my current level of fitness.  But a warm satisfied glow all the same.  I don't know why I do ultras, they aren't really my thing, but there is something that really hooks me about the 24 hour format, how far can you transport yourself under your own steam in the course of a day? 

The support from my wife, and friends and family was incredible and so appreciated, it made the whole thing so much better .  As was the support of my fellow runners and walkers taking on this crazy challenge, the ultra vibe is just so different from any other race you will do.  I was keeping an eye on my catagory, but I wasn't really in a race.  We were just 300 or so people that decided to battle against the course and the elements in a shared challenge.  A final thanks to all the volunteers at HARP who make the whole thing tick, those on the course helping us through it, and those back at base and behind the scenes.  It is such a slick operation for what is a small, local charity event.  I will look to keep coming back, I have challenges left unmet as a solo runner, but maybe in a few years I will explore the team aspect as well.

That completes my HARP 24 2025 story, but there will be a 4th blog with a nerdy stats deep dive on this year, and my future 24 hour plans for those who have the stamina for it.

HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - Part 2

Having completed lap one I went to grab some supplies from the tent and had a quick stop at the loo then back to the start for lap two.  I hadn't mucked about and yet I found myself looking at my watch and seeing that I had lost four or five minutes.  I knew I had to cut back on those stops, and so over the course of the 24 hours I did a number of back to back laps.  Through the finish line arch, round the corner and through the start line arch.  It perked me up to know I had saved myself that time.  At 11 minutes a kilometre I could be 500 metres up the road in the time I was spending back at base.

Lap two was 1:13 on the official splits, lose 5 minutes for the stop it was more a 1:08.  It is difficult to differentiate each lap, they all merge into one long summery walk.  I was still running for good amounts of those first laps.  The time off the course makes proper split comparisons difficult but they do show that the running was becoming less frequent.

Lap 1 - 56:28

Lap 2 - 01:13:44

Lap 3 - 01:17:14

Lap 4 - 01:26.08

That gradual slowing had to be halted and I managed to do so on lap 5 with a 01:13:56.

I have managed to piece this all together with the official split timings which were great, and almost instanteous in getting updated, along with my Garmin Forerunner 255 that i got for Christmas.  It is a lovely looking thing and capable of triathlon if that is your bag.  The thing that attracted me to it was the long battery life, 24 hours as advertised if used as a running watch.  It can last a week as a conventional watch and step counter.  I wasn't totally convinced it would last the entire event and prior to the race Roman and I were trying to turn off the phone alerts that appear on the watch in an effort to save battery.  Alas, we failed and so that along with me wanting to have splits every km meant that at some stage we were going to need to have a recharge plan.

My Garmin and I made it through 7 laps, 35 miles and a little over 9 hours when I opted to have a break.  I had really hoped I could grab some free laps by not sleeping at all but after working hard through the heat of the day I started to crave a stop.  I had made it through till 11pm last year and did a lap with the headtorch before hitting the hay.  This time it was 9pm and I had completed 7 laps in the daylight.

I had been so adament that I wouldn't sleep that I hadn't bothered to pack a sleeping bag, so I lay in my touch too small tent, fully clothed, socks and shoes remaining on with my head on my bag attempting to sleep.  Why did you keep your shoes and socks on I hear you ask? I was really fortunate not to suffer with blisters the entire event and so I didn't want to upset the applecart by changing anything.  My three pairs of spare trainers remained untouched, as did my post race flip flops.

I got some sleep I think, then spoke to the girls and Lauren after they had finished their show.  Sending them off to bed, I crawled out of my tent with headtorch on ready for my first night lap.  The garmin has me starting it at a little before 11pm and taking 1:27 for my five mile loop.  My tent was calling me again and so I headed back after the one lap.

It all gets a little fuzzy at this point.  40 miles into a race, in the middle of the night, with the heat, my brain is far from it's best.  I set my alarm for 3am and attempted a second block of sleep.  My alarm went off, or what I thought was my alarm at 1:40, I think it must have been someone in a neighbouring tent.  I was all ready to head out when I saw the time and decided to grab a little more shut eye.  I eventually roused myself a little before 3am and was on the trails ready to move on through to the end.

The night laps were very much walked.  Even at that pace I managed to give a tree root a good kick.  But once the sun came up about 5am I was able to run parts of the course.  My garmin has me doing 15 miles and 3 loops in 4 1/2 hours between 3 and 7:30 in the morning.  Getting me up to 11 laps and equalling last years total.  That was a really nice boost to reach breakfast time having matched last year.  4.5 hours to go, 1 lap to beat it, 2 laps to go over 100km and 3 laps looking just out of reach.

Come back for the final instalment to find out how many I did.

HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - Part 1

This sunny weekend I opted to spend it running, but mainly walking around Cherry Orchard Country Park when I took part in the HARP 24 event.  Each of the very picturesque loops is 8km or 5 miles long.  The challenge to do as many laps as you can from 12 midday on Saturday until 12 midday on Sunday.  There are a range of different options, solo, duo and teams of up to 12 runners in each.  I opted to enter as a solo runner, as I did last year. 

This race had been on my radar for some time, without me ever really focusing my training on it.  I have slowly been getting some regularity into my training, running three or four times a week with total mileage of something like 16-20 miles.  Lots of short runs 5km, 5 miles, the occasional 10km, a rare 10 mile long run on a week when time allows.  I completed the Shakespeare Half Marathon in 2 hours 14 minutes at the end of April but I faded badly in the second half of that and so realistically I was only in 5 hour marathon shape.

I wasn't too concerned, this was a nice scenic walk last time out and I thought it would be much the same this year, with hopefully a little more running given my improved fitness, all be it over the shorter distances.  I achieved 11 laps and 55 miles in 2024 and so needed at least 12 laps and 60 miles to be satisfied, 75 miles was the stretch goal, my long-term target being 100 miles and we can then retire from the 24 hour game.

My biggest concern for the race as it had been last year was putting up and taking down the tent.  I had managed to break the poles from last year's tent as I took the tent down on my own with the wind blowing. That had been a rather fetching turquoise number with space and a certain style to it, in its place was a £25 rather feeble looking offering from Amazon.  I managed to put it up, the only issue being the rock hard ground bending the tent pegs at a terrifying rate.  I managed to get two pegs in perfectly, more through luck than judgement.  The other two, the less said the better.  Guide ropes? I don't have enough straight pegs or patience to deal with those.  I just had to hope it wasn't a windy one.

One thing I did remember was a mallet, and this proved a useful aid in making new friends.  My next door neighbour was struggling with his tent even more than I was.  The smart move would have been to assist him making his, and he would then return the favour in making mine, but we're men and we're men that do ultras, we don't ask for help we just struggle alone and get it done.  I did offer him the use of the mallet, and he happily accepted and things seemed to get better from there.

We got chatting about various races we had done and we introduced ourselves.  It turns out he is called Roman and I told him he shared a name with my new nephew.  He was a lovely guy and we would catch up at various points throughout the weekend.  My other neighbour was another nice guy called Stuart who was also a solo runner.  He had done the Outlaw Iron distance triathlon at a similar time to me, and was on the running comeback trail after dialling it back as his seven year old was taking up his time.  Sounds familiar. 

Enough of the background, you came here for the running.  Having arrived at 9am the wait till noon was a long one.  It eventually came and on the stroke of 12 the mayor sent us on our way.  That first lap is so different from all the others.  All the solo runners and one member from each team are out on the course and all starting at the same point, it is bustling and at parts of the course it narrows and you start to approach crowded.  This soon thins out and people scatter around the course.  

The first lap included a number of runners popping out of bushes and trees or else running through fields.  I initially thought they had gone to water the plants but they were saying they had gone the wrong way and got lost etc.  I can't quite understand how, as the course is pretty straight forward and the organisers have done a great job in marking the course.  

I was running well, looking to take it as easy as possible, I didn't walk at all for the first couple of miles, but then decided to do so up the hill just before the aid station at half way.  I remembered this from last year and would walk it each lap.  It's a decent climb and the extra energy and effort required to run it just didn't make sense.  Once I had refilled my water bottle at the top I ran most of the remainder of the lap and finished the lap in 56 minutes, a minute or so faster than my time from a year ago.

I think I will leave part one there.  24 hours is a long time and I reckon I can eek it out over at least three blogs.  Come back soon for the next instalment.  Thanks for reading.