The Great Britain athlete finished 11th at the 2018 European 24hr Championships and helped GB to a team silver with 244.35km. Yet it was far from a perfect day for the Croy runner, with stomach issues and low points to battle through, Stewart shares what got him through.

“My rocket 88, the fastest in the land, crucial velocity, crucial velocity!”

That was the first one to come out. The first of 23 planned ear-worms. A method for compartmentalising the 24 hours I’d be running round the park in Timisoara. Something to look forward to every hour or so. The opener was Crucial Velocity by Clutch. Chosen by the hard-rocking Pat McCann.

What am I going about you are probably asking. Let me explain.

24 hour racing is a battle of wits with oneself. The physical distress of the race is well known and I wrote a bit about my race last month. There are basically 4 things which can go wrong in a 24 hour event, or any long ultra for that matter:

1. The body goes

2. The gut goes (with stuff going either up the way or down the way (or both!))

3. The ability to consume carbs goes

4. The head goes

I am great believer in trying proactively to make sure that #4 doesn’t happen. That might be through staying positive, practicing mindfulness or in the case here, coming up with a distraction technique.

Inspired by teammate James Elson writing “Arms raised in a V*” on a whiteboard at Belfast last year and how that made me feel, I decided pre-race to ask some folks to write me a song lyric of their choice to give me something mental to consume during the event.

This article is about how it didn’t work in some ways and then how a particular card hit me hard and became my go to one.

Too much of a good thing?

On reflection I had too many of them. Getting them from the first hour didn’t have the effect I’d hoped, chiefly as I didn’t need a pick-me-up that early. Think of it like taking paracetamol for a sore head but not actually needing it, so that when you do need it the effect has been dampened.

Nonetheless, I was enjoying the cards. Louise, my best friend and wife, carefully coordinated the collection of the lyrics and wrote the cards out. Mick Seymour, my crew chief on the day, would hand me the cards every hour or so.

When I was tumbling into the distress of a slowdown, caused by issue #2, a card handed to me lit a flame. It reminded me mentally of why I was here. Of sacrifices made. Of love.

Heavy eh? I mean, this is a running blog. Not some sort of NME mash-up where McAlmont & Butler meets Led Zeppelin via I Am Kloot to inspire a middle-aged sweat monster to keep running literally day & night [We have no idea what that means either – Ed]. But it is relevant.

Without strong resilience and mental fortitude you will never realise your full running potential. No matter your chosen distance. This is just how I chose to try and make it work in an event.

I don’t ever see the day when David Rudisha stops after the first lap for a lyric card. But hey, you never know. He might have read one at the start.

The song

The song that hooked me had quite an effect. Was it a heavy metal riff monster that I could draw magnificent energy from? You know, something like AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, or perhaps Motorhead’s Ace of Spades? Nah. It was a personal resonance that if left unexplained would mean nothing to but a few. I better explain. Here’s the lyric.

That is, obviously, Badly Drawn Boy’s Magic in the Air from his Mercury Music prize winning album The Hour of Bewilderbeast.

In doing this for the race I’d hoped to land on something that would get me emotionally charged and give me a boost of determination. Something that if I was flagging it would make me want to push and push and PUSH!

It worked.

As I finished the lap with this in hand I shouted to Mick, “This card only from now on, every hour!” And I ran. During that lap, card in hand, I held back some tears. The enormity of the event coinciding with the enormity of the choice.

I yelled “yas!” as I pushed. It connected and resonated so loudly that it scared birds from the trees, literally. I grew 6 inches. Which some would joke is like doubling my height.

Why? That’s the beauty of music. It can have such an effect. I’d searched for it to inspire. James Elson’s little nugget from 2017’s World Champs became a turbo boost for me in 2018.

Who selected this song is important. It was Louise. I mentioned her above. It was our wedding song. Not a conventional song choice for a wedding. But it had resonance then and even more so in Romania.

We’ve had a frenetic and challenging 2018 so far and many people will know why. In that moment memories and smiles and sacrifices came flooding through. A gulp, a bit lip later and I was doubling down in determination and inspiration.

And then every hour I topped up on that fuel to remind me of the feeling, the stimulation and the reason. It worked gloriously. I don’t well up often but my call to Louise at the end was delivered with a croaked voice but buoyant mind. We ran the last 6 hours or so together.

A thank you

To those who took part in this little mind game, you know who you are, I thank you wholeheartedly. I ended up with not all cards given but I read them all after the race and each and every one made me smile. I am a pretty lucky guy on so many levels.

*Pearl Jam’s Jeremy

The post Every song has meaning, but can it make you run for 24hrs? appeared first on Fast Running.

Great Britain men took silver and the women clinched bronze in very hot conditions at the 22nd IAU 24 hour European Championships in Timisoara, Romania on 26th and 27th May, reports John Pares.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland fielded a strong team of James Elson, Craig Holgate, Steve Holyoak, Dan Lawson, Pat Robbins and James Stewart for the men, and Tracy Dean, Wendy Shaw and Ali Young for the women. With three athletes to count for the team medals, it was always going to be a tough challenge for the women to medal as there was no room for anything to go wrong.

The 10am race start around a 1.2km loop on a hot day in Ion Creanga children’s park, meant that it would be a long, hot first day that would make or break performances. To manage the heat and to conserve energy for the cooler night section, all of the athletes started off slower than their pre-race plan. The instruction to the athletes was, “If you want to catch the others, go slower.” Strange advice for an athlete, but absolutely essential!

Good hydration and plenty of salt was also essential and the crew monitored all athletes to keep on top of it. This was also a critical phase for fuelling before the almost inevitable stomach problems later in the race.

As the temperature rose to 29°C in the afternoon, some of the earlier leaders dropped away and the British athletes and teams started to rise up through the ranks. A thunderstorm in the late afternoon cooled the air slightly and caused a flurry of activity but changes of kit went smoothly.

Photo: Sam Thorley

Despite all the training, preparation and support, 24 hours is a tough event and things started to go wrong for a few of the athletes. Robbins had issues from around 10 hours in, slowing and then stopping completely. Stewart, who features on Fast Running as part of the Fast 10: class of 2018, ran into severe digestion problems around 10 hours. He struggled through repeated bouts of vomiting but was able to come through and pick up his running again. Elson was going extremely well and then hit a wall around 14 hours before stopping.

Holgate also developed severe problems but was able to continue, albeit at a much slower pace. These issues were almost certainly heat- and dehydration- related, which shows how hard it is to get this right. The management team then had to carefully consider whether it was safe for athletes to continue.

Meanwhile Dean, Young and Shaw continued their dogged climb up the leader board. Knowing the challenge they faced, they paced it well and supported each other throughout the race. This was a really impressive individual and team effort.

With eight hours to go, Lawson and Holyoak were running well in good positions, and Stewart was coming back strong. The men were in third place and the women were in fifth. The final third of the race was all about holding the pace and continuing to deliver the same performance.

Medals were likely for both teams and the key was to maximise distance covered without risking ‘blowing up’ or injury before the end.

At 19 hours the men were lying second and the women third.

In the women’s race, the Poles were out of reach but the team had a real possibility of catching Germany. The men were challenging France and starting to open a gap to Germany.

Photo: Sam Thorley

Lawson, the reigning European champion, was going into the event and looked like he would challenge for a podium position at this stage.

However the athletes ahead of him were still strong and he was only able to improve by a few places, eventually finishing fifth. Dean looked very impressive coming out of the night section. Her smile and attitude was infectious and her positivity and energy helped to drive her up to seventh position.

The last two hours were hot again and by now all the athletes were suffering. It was inspiring to watch them seemingly pushing beyond their limits. In the end, GB consolidated their medal positions as France had a strong finish in the men’s race and the women were unable to close the gap to Germany.

This was not a day for PBs but the team medals were a great reward for a gutsy performance from our best 24 hour runners. This was also an important team performance. Ultrarunning is normally an individual event and a major championships is one of the few times that people are part of a team. The whole team gelled and the high level of mutual support and camaraderie certainly helped to win the medals.

Poland had an outstanding event, winning both the individual gold medals as well as the women’s team gold. Patrycja Bereznowska, holder of the current world best distance and reigning world champion led from the beginning and looked fully in control, although her distance of 243.35 km was 16km behind her record and was another indicator of the tough conditions.

Alexandr Sorokin was leading for most of the men’s race before fading to third. Stephane Ruel looked like he would take the gold but also started to struggle. Andrzey Radzikowski paced it perfectly to come through in the final hour for an impressive win.

Men (individual)
1) Andrzey Radzikowski (POL) 265.41 km
2) Stephane Ruel (FRA) 263.54 km
3) Alexandr Sorokin (LTU) 260.99 km
5) Dan Lawson (GBR) 253.43 km
11) James Stewart (GBR) 244.35 km
17) Steve Holyoak (GBR) 237.36 km
40) Craig Holgate (GBR) 205.45 km
67) James Elson (GBR) 166.33 km
82) Pat Robbins (GBR) 125.99 km

Men (team)
1) France 754.62 km
2) Great Britain & Northern Ireland 735.15 km
3) Germany 725.96 km

Women (individual)
1) Patrycja Bereznowska (POL) 243.35 km
2) Stine Rex (DEN) 241.92 km
3) Malgorzata Pazda-Pozorska (POL) 240.69 km
7) Tracy Dean (GBR) 224.61 km
14) Ali Young (GBR) 214.46 km
19) Wendy Shaw (GBR) 205.98 km

Women (team)
1) Poland 720.45 km
2) Germany, 656.24 km
3) Great Britain & Northern Ireland 645.06 km

The post GB win team silver & bronze at European 24hr Champs appeared first on Fast Running.

The men’s team, silver medallists at the last European Champs in Albi, France, will be looking for team gold and are led by returning European champion Dan Alan Lawson, who is currently training in India.

James Stewart, who features in the ‘fast runners: class of 2018‘ and fellow Scot Marco Consani, alongside experienced 24hr team members Paddy Robbins and Steve Holyoak, will be joined by debutant Craig Holgate.

Craig qualified at the Bislett 24hr last year and has previously performed excellently for Great Britain at the 100k distance. Bislett 24hr is run completely indoors in the training area of the famous athletics stadium.

The women’s team are only taking five athletes, but will also be contending for team medals with string returning athletes such as Ali Young and Jess Baker joined debutants to the GB 24hr squad Wendy Shaw, Tracy Dean and Adela Salt.

Dean and Salt have both previously represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at trail and road ultra distances and ran large 24hr distances in China and the US respectively late last year. Shaw is making her first appearance in a GB vest after an outstanding performance of 220km at the Barcelona 24hr race last December.

The team will be supported by Team Leader John Pares, who is still the reigning Commonwealth 24hr Champion, sports dietician Renee McGregor, physiotherapist Guy Van Herp and squad member Robbie Britton.

Britton, who is taking a step back from his own 24hr career to focus on trail running and supporting the squad in other ways said: “we have such a fantastic crop of athletes here and it’s really good to be seeing new members joining the ranks. Both the men’s and women’s team have the potential to return with team and individual medals and it is an honour to be a part of it.”

Fast Running will be following the build-up of James Stewart in particular as he shares his running journey in 2018.

The post British team announced for 24hr European Championships appeared first on Fast Running.