Thames Meander specific
The Race
Sunday, February 17th, 2008It has been the fine ultra marathon event every runner was expecting, a glorious day perfectly organised by Kathy, Steve and the entire team.
It is the friendliness, dedication and professionality of the team behind this event that lets it stand out among similar races; the cheerfulness of the race marshals at the most ghastly hour and minus temperatures, the love of detail when it comes to providing hot tea at a later check point or placing signs when navigation seems ambiguous and the excellent Odlo running shirt given to each competitor at the finish line, a welcome alternative to the cotton T-Shirts given at other races that may be comfortable to wear at the beach during summer holiday but not for your daily training run. Excellence, you have a new name: Thames Meander!
I arrived early at Kings Meadow in Reading, almost two hours before the start. I like to be early at races to have plenty of time for those last-minute preparations and to set my mind for a great race. But I also wanted to have a chance to see the remnants of Reading abbey that are at a short distance from the train station and Kings Meadow. Amazing to see those stones laid by masons one millennium ago and still standing, although badly damaged through centuries of destruction and neglect. What might remain in a thousand years time of today’s architecture, say the Gurkin or the new City Hall building? History will tell.
Of course Kathy, Anke and Steve we already in full action at Kings Meadow, organising the registration of the runners, positioning the marshals along the route, making sure all water supplies were allocated to the check points, etc. After a few kind words from Steve we set off, following the river downstream, full of anticipation for a great day out in the countryside.
I headed out with a light pair of long tights and a short-sleeved shirt plus a long-sleeved one on top. I took great care not to start sweating, as wet clothing would cool me down tremendously - after all, temperatures were around freezing point. About an hour into the race the sun provided some warmth so that I took off my long-sleeved jumper but keeping my gloves on for the duration of the race.
It takes a few minutes only to leave the city of Reading behind and be welcomed by the charming river meandering its way through the countryside. Waterfowl everywhere, beautiful swans and ducks on their morning swim while we kept chugging along with our race backpacks.
The Thames Path was quite dry this year as we didn’t have much rain the last days and the flooding of the river had subsided a while ago. The first hour or so the ground was frozen with white patches of frost in the shade, soon to be gone once the suns rays reached everywhere, enlightening the river in all its splendour.
From my participation two years ago I remembered that house in the Lower Shiplake area that had a miniature train station and railway in its extensive garden, and I was delighted to spot it again. How much fun must that be for children to play with the train, loading and unloading the wagons and going on a ride through the park!
Shortly after we reached Marsh Lock, this tremendous long walkway over the river where you see the water rushing below your feet while running safely a yard or so above.
At Henley I saw this Mississippi-style steamboat on the moor and I immediately thought of the musical Show Boat and it’s most famous song “Ol’ man river”; except that good old Joe was not around to sing it. Wrong river, wrong continent I suppose …
Check point one was just a short stroll away from Henley, within sight of Temple Island. I tried to keep my time at the check points relatively short, filling up my bottle with fresh water and adding maltose sugar, maybe adjusting clothing or getting out some food to eat on the next stage and then heading out to the Thames Path again. It was not a matter of saving time, as I was not racing this event for a personal best, but I did not want to cool out at the check points since temperatures were still around 0 to 3 degrees.
Temple Island with its beautiful temple building is a sight of breathtaking beauty, one of the many special and historic sites that the Thames Meander passes by.
Shortly after Temple island I had a little accident: While trying to tear out that bag of nuts from my front pouch of my racing backpack, the bag broke and all the nuts went flying to ground. What a bummer! My first thought was “thank goodness this is happening here at the Thames Meander and not at the Marathon des Sables!” I’ll think of something so that such a mishap won’t happen in the desert. And the ducks at Temple Island had a magnificent Sunday lunch.
The Thames Path between Temple Island and Marlow is very pastoral, green with some smaller hills and beautiful sights of the countryside. At Marlow I got a glimpse of the “Compleat Angler”, the inn where in 1653 Izaak Walton is believed to have written his world famous book on angling and fly fishing.
Check point two was just a mile away next to the A404 bridge. Good to stock up on some water and grab a fresh bag of nuts from my backpack.
Between check points two and three we passed one of the more affluent areas along the Thames, with beautiful houses on the Thames in the Maidenhead area. Crossing the Maidenhead bridge we were only two miles away from the third check point. I stopped briefly to refuel on water, still running in my short-sleeved black running top as the sun kept me warm as long as I moved quickly.
After Bray lock the Thames Path is fairly green and secluded again, although a bit boring after the beauty of the Maidenhead area. However, this is the perfect build-up to Eton and Windsor Castle. It is breathtaking to approach the majestic castle from the west as it rests triumphantly in the late afternoon sunshine! Crossing the bridge from Eton to Windsor saw us surrounded by tourists who might have wondered what these fellas with backpacks and race numbers might be doing at the UK’s premier tourist location.
After crossing Albert Bridge and passing Old Windsor Lock the sun started to set. It was still light enough to navigate without a torch, but temperatures started to drop quickly. I passed a family with two children; when the boy saw me running by, he asked me if I was competing in a race. I explained what I was doing; having seen my race number 7, he exclaimed “Number 7 is my lucky number! I hope you win that race!” I didn’t tell him that the winner of this race was probably at Molesey boat house at that time, enjoying his 2nd pint of lager, so I said “I’ll do my very best, and with your good luck nothing can go wrong”.
Passing Magna Carta island, it was almost pitch black, historic proof that they must have signed that document during sober daylight.
Checkpoint four just short of Bell Weir Lock was great, Anke handing out hot tea to the runners and all the marshals helping out where they could to accommodate the runners. I put on my warm long tights and an extra layer of clothes on top to keep warm. Temperatures were around freezing point now and having run for 9 hours my body was getting low on carbohydrates to burn for extra warmth.
Leaving checkpoint four I got lost a number of times as it was completely dark and I had to rely on my head lamp for spotting those Thames Path signs. After the M25 bridge I was back on track and followed a fellow runner that did the navigation part for me. With more than 10 hours on the path and the darkness I don’t have lots of memories of this part of the race, except that it was cold, very cold. But that was expected, just as the weather forecast had predicted, and it is part of the Thames Meander challenge; by signing up for the race, cold temperatures are part of the package.
Having adjusted to the darkness and walking/running with my new friend, we managed to find checkpoint five in Shepperton with ease. With just five miles to go to the finish and still having some water in our bottles, we opted to go straight on, not giving in to the temptations of the warm and cosy pubs of Shepperton as some other runners had.
Crossing Walton bridge we knew that it was smooth sailing from there to the finish. We had a good chat about the Marathon des Sables and other races to keep our minds occupied with other things, so time went by quickly. Too quickly, all the sudden I was passing Molesey Cricket Club and then there was the Molesey Boat House! I made it, some 13+ hours after taking off from Reading. Best thing: No injuries, no blisters and still in good spirit.
Ah, and - yes! - I did sign up for the 2009 Thames Meander. There isn’t a finer ultra marathon in the UK than this one. It just doesn’t get any better than this.
No Comments »Your maps for the Thames Meander
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
The Thames Meander Entry Form states under section “Compulsory equipment”: “Ordnance Survey Landranger maps 175 Reading & Windsor and 176 West London”. A map is an absolute must, although the thames path between Reading and London is relatively straight-forward to follow. But during the later stages of the race with darkness setting in and you possibly being on your own, you want to have a map you can rely on. If you promise not to tell Kathy and Steve, I’ll tell you a secret. Last year, I didn’t bring the Landranger maps along. Instead I used another map which I found most useful. It’s called “Thames - the river and the path” by GEO projects. It is a very detailed map of the river and the thames path. I found the close-ups of some of the cities quite useful where others got lost in 2006 (Marlow, Eton/Windsor for example), and the fact that it focuses only on the Thames and its path, excluding all other regions beyond the river. 
To get from Hampton Court bridge to the finish at Surbiton School, I will use the “Richmond Kingston upon Thames” map from AA Street by Street, having clearly marked the way on pages 34/35 and 40. The last thing you want to do three miles before the finish is trying to understand your map and how to get to Surbiton from Hampton Court.