A Flyers Eye View of the Southern 50
Has it really come and gone again already - Another years Southern 50 hike ?!
After the glory of winning the 50k event last year it took us all of a minute or so to decide to enter again this year and see if we could defend the title.
Preparation was a serious thing of course, with three practice hikes in the months leading up to the event and lots of “tactical talks”. One of our number going off to university and “embracing the student lifestyle” didn’t help, although he did lay off the beer the week before! We also have the Flyers Creed to keep to:
- Checkpoints are our enemy
- Straight lines are our friends
- No sitting down
- Eat and drink on the move
- Pain is good for the soul
- Don’t eat the sausage rolls!
- First in the pub, last out
Things didn’t look that promising when we had to stop twice on the way up on the Friday night for one of the team to be violently sick, but Stephen said he would be fine and seemed to recover during the team meeting in the pub.
As usual the short / fitful sleep was all too soon ended with the glare of lights at “oh my God o’clock”, then a healthy breakfast and kit check. The wait after this is always where the nerves kick in, then it’s grid references and off into the gloom and, this year, the rain.
This year we started quite a long way down the list of teams and were able to enjoy some early morning team gobbling on the long slow climb up out of Watlington. With the steady rain and melting snow the conditions underfoot off road could be reasonably be described as “soggy”, with a number of footpaths resembling small rivers.
This made climbing the hills that much more fun, especially an extra steep one that had a mausoleum & church / checkpoint at the top, with Martin falling over near the top and nearly sliding back down again. The scenery in the Chilterns was even better with a topping of snow, and we had a number of Red kite sightings along the way. We also managed to get round Chequers without being arrested or shot!
After the early team gobblings we reached a patch where we knew there were 2 teams ahead and we didn’t seem to be getting closer to them, things were starting to hurt and the mood was getting a bit darker. So Paul came out with his secret weapon, some home made bread pudding (I could tell you what was in it but would have to kill you - suffice to say nothing illegal!) and that did the trick. We were off again and came across our old rivals the Undertakers just after a checkpoint at a navigational decision point; we went different ways and didn’t see them again till the end.
Then it was just team 23 in front, although we also knew that team 57 would be putting in a good effort and would be chasing us so had to keep pushing on. Martin was struggling with his hamstrings and cramp but kept on plugging away, with lots of encouragement from the rest of the team. Then we saw a team in front on a long slow climb, we went back into gobble mode and were soon away, the leading 50k team with about a third of the route to go.
Checkpoint strategy was maintained with our only stops being at two huts where we could plot grid references in the dry! The checkpoint staff were all wonderful, helpful and supportive as always - damn them - they will slow you down with offers of tea, toasted cheese sandwiches and pasties, but not for us - we have a plan and it doesn’t involve comfort!
It was nice of checkpoint 13 (where our own Explorer Scout leader was based) to plant a little booby trap for the walkers - just as you came over the stile to enter the area where the tent was there happened to be a wet muddy area into which we all sank up to our shins - lovely ! We also thought checkpoint 14 was a bit much, hiding it in someone’s back garden is a bit unfair - did the owners know about it - or were they out for the day?
Last checkpoint finally found and we were off on the late sprint, well by this stage fast hobble would be more accurate, to the finish. We arrived to have it confirmed that we were the first 50k team back in 9hrs and 37 mins, but then would be the long wait till the morning to see if we had done enough, or if a team behind us had been quicker.
We were very pleased that this year we also had a fledgling team of Explorers in the 30k event for the first time, team 65. Unfortunately they didn’t have a lot of luck - one of them had to drop out the week before due to a chest infection and her last minute replacement twisted her ankle on the course. I believe they also broke part of the Flyers Creed and were seduced into spending far too long at some of the checkpoints ! But we were very proud of their determination to finish as a team and in the dark, with a final time of just over 12 hours. They weren’t last and I am sure that they will have learnt a lot and will be much better placed for another go next year.
I’m ashamed to say that we also broke the Flyers Creed, as we weren’t the first in the pub and certainly weren’t the last out, but we had enough liquid painkiller to help us sleep! Then it was the morning after the slog before and the presentation ceremony. It came down to the last two 50K teams, and there was a huge feeling of relief and pride as they called out team 57 as the runners up. We had managed to defend our title and that was a great feeling, as distinct from the feeling of pain from our legs and feet, which wasn’t so great! Oh, and Paul won the biggest blister competition this year, also for the second year running.
Finally we would like to say a very big thanks to all the organisers / helpers / checkpoint staff for this great event. Who knows, we may be back next year !?
Team 48
The Phoenix Flyers
(Mark Thompson, Stephen Stretton, Martin Bugg, Paul Thompson
201st Islington Scout Group
Completing the southern 50 (30km) event (Explorers version)
February 10th came round and we were all up at an unheard of hour in the morning. At about 6.00 we had to meet Mark and Fiona at Gillespie Road to leave and get to Speen scout hut for 8.00 where we could have our kit check and leave at our start time of 9.10, so we were on the road with all the team present consisting of Me, Gemma T, Gemma P and Ged who came in as a last minute replacement for Kelly who was ill.
Once we got to Speen Mark decided to reverse into the area outside the scout hut and then got stuck in a ditch he couldn’t see, so there we were sat in the car stuck in a ditch thinking how to get out. We tried pushing the car with no hope. Mark then managed to find some metal mesh, which we used to help the car grip on the snowy ground. Now out of the ditch we all went inside for the kit check. We were the first to arrive at the hut, which was good as we didn’t have to fight to do our kit check. Luckily every one had all of their kit and no one had forgotten anything so 9.10 came and we were off.
We got our grid references and we were out the door into the snow and rain, plotted a few grid references and then left. It wasn’t far to the first checkpoint called 8X although we had a bit of a navigational error. Not too bad and we weres able to correct it very quickly and easily.
We got to the first checkpoint to find a car parked up on the side of the road. We handed in our papers to say we had been there and hadn’t missed it. Then on to checkpoint 9, a tent in a car park. We started on the road but then decided it would be quicker to go straight through the woods so I set the compass and off we went straight through the woods to checkpoint 9. It was all going well until we came to a hill called Hobb’s hill which the girls later renamed Nob’s hill. We looked at the hill and thought over we go hanging onto trees and anything we could to get up it. We got to the top only to find of all people Ged had hurt her ankle but after some first aid from the two Gemma’s we were soon back on the road.
We came to checkpoint 9 where we were welcomed by the checkpoint staff and where we could get some food and drink. We plotted our next grid reference and were back off only to find out we had to avoid chequers. So off we went and it seemed like a long way to checkpoint 10 but we finally got there after avoiding chequers and not being shot. We grabbed some cheese sandwiches and off we went again knowing we were behind. We tried to make up some time.
We came to checkpoint 11. A so called scout hut which we found out was a parish hall with some very funny people dressed in shirts and bow ties which we could not get the idea of. After a toilet stop we were off again. To make up some time we decided to go in a straight line but this didn’t work very well and we got a bit lost. We found out where we were and off we walked in the right direction to checkpoint 12, a village hall. By the time we got there it was dark and we were glad to be in a warm dry place. We were very welcomed into this checkpoint by some lovely old people from a fellowship, who wouldn’t stop feeding me (I think they thought I was a bit thin) and offered us all cheese toasties which we had to decline as we didn’t have much time and we were warned about their toasties and sausage rolls.
So off we went into the cold wet night to Marks checkpoint, checkpoint 13 almost at the finish. We arrived there only to find a huge knee deep puddle on the other side of the style (I think they put that there on purpose) but we were in and out of Marks checkpoint as soon as possible and on to the worst one to come, checkpoint 14.
This base was in a little village called Wigginton. The base was in someone’s back garden of all places. We finally found it down a little footpath after 10 minutes of looking. We were in and straight out again on to the home stretch back to the finish at Tring school. We made it back there by about 21.00. Where we found showers and hot food. The showers could have been better as only one of the boys worked out of 6. The others just dribbled and none on them had curtains. After some food I went to bed while the girls went for their shower. I don’t know what the girls accommodation was like but I ended up on a hard gym floor with no roll mat so a pretty uncomfortable night for me while Mark had decided to go to a hotel for the night. After a little bit of sleep we were all up for the presentations and trophies. We came in 16th out of 18 in a finale time of 12 hours and 4 minutes. Not bad for a first time and an injured team. We then packed up and headed home. We will be back next year to attempt it again and see how well we can do.
Also big thanks to everyone who organised this great event, and all the 1ovely checkpoint staff.
Team 65 - phoenix flyers too (phoenix explorer unit)
12 hours and 4 minutes
Christopher, Gemma, Gemma and Geraldine. |
