From the Ferry to the Newhaven Baptist Church

After freshening up in the Channel, we got dressed and went to the city. We sat at the harbour in the sun and celebrated the day. Perfect!
Later we took off for the ferry. Abbey had booked a room so we could finally have a shower after the run. It felt great! We sat around in the bar and waited for the English coast to arrive.
The Bed & Breakfast was basic but good, Rebecca had already arrived, but we were all tired and went to bed straight away – postponing the catching-up to the next morning.
When we got up, the temperature was significantly lower than on the French side of the Channel. The breakfast was interesting: As the landlady was Chinese, there was a noticeable Asian influence including spring rolls…
Rebecca had brought her massage roller. She instructed Barry and helped mobilising him for the day. At the same time, James and Jan-Nicolas did some last minute fine tuning to the route. We did the interview, packed our stuff and went to the other side of the road to the Newhaven Baptist Church for the start. Rebecca and Barry took off in pride sunshine for the 5th Marathon.

Check Point #1

The route to the first stop lead through beautiful country side. As usual, Kirsten and Jan were first in the red van, Jan doing the navigation and Kirsten driving. Being back on the “right” side of the road, Kirsten felt right at home driving the tiny UK country roads, and we arrived at the Victoria Lewes Hospital in no time at all. For a change, Aaron put the kettle on.
Barry and Rebecca surprised us with an early arrival. There was a steep rise just before the check point but they were both looking fresh and doing well.
The runners took off, and we had to wait for Aaron to finish the dishes. 😉

Check Point 2

As our route through France had been cross-country-style, the vans did need a good wash. So, when we passed a petrol station featuring a car wash half-way to the next check point, we stopped by and Aaron gave the vans a jet wash.
As often, our next check point was in the middle of nowhere, so the postcode we typed in to the TomTom brought us close, but not directly to the meeting point. Having already spent time at the gas station and considering the pace Rebecca and Barry had shown to the last stop, we got worried that we might have already missed the runners arrival at check point 2.
Kirsten and Jan drove on to double-check but returned after 2 miles, pretty sure that the runners were still to come, and they arrived only minutes later. Again, they had done some climbs but were doing fine. Aaron, who had been driving and taking care of the vans, surprised us with a sudden sportive burst, putting his running shoes on and joining the runners for the next quarter!

Check Point 3

Kirsten and Jan were driving ahead but lost the blue van in heavy traffic. Abbey, Aaron, and James found the runners and were able to give some on-the-spot pain killer and water support.
Kirsten and Jan pulled-up to the The Wheatsheaf pub as the next stop as it offered a large car park. Finally the blue van arrived and we ordered some coffee. Abbey was on the lookout for the runners – only realising her choice of T-shirt when the first locals passed by honking…
It got hectic when the runners arrived: For the first time, Barry said that he felt exhausted and that his calves were hurting. Abbey did her best to get him going again. The battery of Rebecca’s phone had gone down but Jan had a power pack ready to keep it going and the route to the finish line was programmed. Even though Aaron felt pretty good, Kirsten talked him out of continuing before injuring his knee.
The runners took-off well serviced (and the coffee was drunk cold).

Check Point 3.5

The supporters went back to Haywards Heath to buy a snack and some stuff for the runners. On the way back to the vans, we got a text from Rebecca – The runners were running low on water and needed more pain-killers.
Team Mega got in the vans and followed the route of the runners, half way to Crawley, we caught up with them and gave them well needed supplies.

Finish Line

The runners’ route to Crawley was made for commuters rather than then runners and combined dual-carriage motorways with tiny, often-blocked, pedestrian walks. Today’s finish line was in Southgate Park, but as the park was next to one of the main arteries leading to the city, the supporters had problems finding a parking slot. We finally found a side road, and shortly after we stopped, the runners came running down the road. Amazing!

From the Finish to the Premiere Inn

We walked around the block with Barry and Rebecca to cool down and do some stretching. At the same time, Lorraine arrived at the Premiere Inn and prepared an ice-cold bath for Barry.
Kirsten, Abbey, and Jan took Rebecca to a train station close-by, while Abbey and James took Barry to the hotel, nearly getting lost. After checking in and getting things sorted, we met at the hotel bar and had dinner in the restaurant catching-up with Lorraine about the last days and up-coming Day 6.