Brighton Big Dog 2017

What a difference a year makes! 12 months ago Big Dog was the first weekend of a triple header that included the Swiss Grand Raid and the National Marathon Champs. I arrived prepared, fit and ready for 6 hours and the best part of 3000m of climbing. As a result I finished 10th in a high class field which included the National Champion. This year I had no competitive marathon events under my belt before Brighton and only a fraction of the mileage in my legs. I was going to have to rely on experience and determination.

My first mistake was pretty fundamental. My daughter woke me at 6.30am so we got up and had breakfast. I started the race at 12pm having eaten nothing since my morning bowl of cereal, apart from a banana. The 12 o-clock start is tricky, but an early lunch would have set me up far better for 6 hours of grueling racing. 

The second mistake was hoping that I'd somehow rediscover the form of 12 months ago. The competitive instinct meant I set off at a similar pace to last year. The reality check came 4 laps in, when after only 2hrs and 30 minutes I had my first twang of cramp in my thighs. There was still a very long way to go, so I ate everything I had in my jersey pockets, downed my bottle of water and backed right off. Laps 5 and 6 were slow as I spun my way up the climbs, but luckily I started to recover and felt strong enough to push a little harder again on the final couple of laps. 

Brighton Big Dog is undoubtably the best event I attend in terms of atmosphere, organisation and the fantastic course. The route is really one for the climbers, with several long agonising fireroad ascents and a couple of sharp, technical, rooty climbs thrown in for good measure. The reward for all that climbing is some absolutely awesome singletrack decents. It's very enjoyable and rewarding. Luckily the rain over night hadn't made much impact under the trees of Stanmer park and the trails were running fast in the sunshine.

Considering the mess I was in at the half way point I am really proud to hold it all together and make it to the finish at all. 14th out of 72 in an age range of 18 to 39 ain't bad either for an old timer 6 months from his 40th birthday.