Race review: #40 Monster Race Fest Marathon (Ely, Cambridgeshire)

Monster Race Fest, Ely, Cambs.  20th September 2017

I'd had my eye on this race for a while, which was starting in the beautiful fenland city of Ely in Cambridgeshire.  It wasn't far from where my wife's parents live so we were able to combine an in-laws visit along with a marathon for me - win-win! 

This was a "running festival", and on at the same time was the Monster Half, Monster Marathon and Monster Ultra.  It was a small, low-key event with a maximum of 100 runners in each race. Just my sort of event, the big city races have their place for sure but I much prefer the friendliness of these types of events.  The great thing about having the Ultra on at the same time, was that the organisers were very relaxed about cut off times for the marathon, basically the message was take as long as you like and just get the job done. This really took the pressure off.

Mel dropped me off in the city centre nice and early, and I made a short leisurely stroll up towards the cathedral, where race HQ was located. As I approached the cathedral, the Ultra had just started and the runners (and lead bike) came past. 

As I got to the start area I bumped into my running buddy Rachael, she had driven up from Kent with her mate Kirsty.  I also bumped into Sophie and Carol, who I had met at Bewl Water (my hardest ever marathon!)

Sophie was almost completed with her quest to be the youngest ever woman to run 100 marathons.  A quest which she recently completed, congratulations Sophie on your amazing achievement! (Newspaper article here).  

I also saw Paul, and met another lady called Sophie, and we gathered for the mandatory selfie photo outside the cathedral. Best selfie ever!

I headed over to the admin gazebo, this was set up just outside the cathedral. It was a bright and warm sunny morning, quite a result really considering it was nearly October.  The cathedral looked amazing in the morning light.  A very friendly lady called Liz, who was the co-owner of Monster Racing, gave me my bib number and timing chip and the usual safety pins to attach it (I now have a massive collection of spare ones at home!)

Oddly, I had to show proof of my England Athletics affiliation which I had printed off the website.  This gives you £2 off the race entry and covers your race insurance.  Usually this doesn't get checked on the day, but at least we were warned to bring evidence in advance.

Liz had kindly given me bib number 140, to mark my 40th marathon. Numbers 1-99 were reserved for the ultra, but it was still nice to have 40 in my number.

There was a public loo block next to the gazebo, which had seen better days. There was a bit of a queue, as nervous runners lined up including the runners for the half which was due to start shortly after the marathon. Perhaps a few more portaloos near the start would help for next year.  I dropped my kit bag off which was safely stowed aboard the race director's van, no problems there at all.

Just before 9 o'clock, we lined up next to the cathedral and there was a quick briefing from the race director.  The route was an out-and-back, mainly following cycle route 11 towards Cambridge.  The start klaxon went off and the runners surged forward.  There was no timing mat at the start, but never mind as I was soon across the start with only 100 runners taking part in the full.

We did a little run past the Cathedral before turning a sharp left into the grounds of "The Kings School", and through the lovely Jubilee park. This bit was all downhill, although I didn't notice at the time.  It was so nice to be able to run through the gardens, with the sun out and a lovely mild temperature.

The route now dropped down onto the towpath along the River Great Ouse, which flows through the city centre.  There were lots of little shops and nice looking pubs, as well as boats moored up.  This was really nice to run along although sadly didn't last for long.

We came up off the towpath and crossed the main A142, where a friendly marshal was helping us cross the road.  We went back down onto the towpath, however now we were out into the open fields and flat Fenland.

The towpath was well made with compacted gravel and was wide enough now for all the runners to find their own pace.  I was just a couple of miles in, and started my usual "Jeffing" - 90 seconds run, and 30 seconds power walk, repeat.

Just after the 2 mile point I caught up Sophie, Carol, Rachael, Kirsty and Paul, and we exchanged some light hearted banter before they dropped back and on I went.

There was a couple of dead flat miles here with empty farmland around us runners, before climbing off the towpath and joining cycle route 11 which was due to take us all the way to our turn around point.  The course was well signed by the organisers, so it was hard to make a wrong turn. 

We were now heading towards the village of Barway. I passed the first aid station, which was unmanned and had lots of bottles of water.  I did have my camelbak with a litre of gatorade in it, but as it was getting a bit warm I stopped to drink a bottle, discarding the waste in the provided bin bag.

I passed a hostel building with signs up for the driver in Spanish - not sure what that was about!  I was a little worried about the route before I started, I had visions of mile after mile of boring dead flat fenlands, but here I was only 3 miles in and already the terrain had changed a few times.  This change of scenery every few miles really kept me motivated and interested - there was always something to look at.

On I plodded, keeping up the run/walk as much as I could. I chatted to a few fellow runners for a bit and the miles soon whizzed by.  We were running on cycle route 11, although there were a few buildings and lots of fields around us. It was beginning to really warm up now, and I was grateful for my camelbak as I kept sipping away.

As I passed the seven mile point, the lead runner from the Ultra came steaming past at what seemed an insane pace for someone who was running just shy of 70km, and his route had taken him all the way to the centre of Cambridge and back. I later found out that this bloke was the British ultra champion, called Craig Holgate. What with Craig and Sophie earlier, seems I was mixing with running royalty on my run :-)

As I came up to the seven mile point, we did a small dog leg through the centre of a village called Wicken. I spotted that a house had a tractor parked on it's driveway, not your usual range of German cars round here! We shortly then entered Wicken Fen, which was the first ever National Trust park in the whole of the country.  This was really nice, and lots of people were out strolling with their families and pets, and a few photographers out and about.

This was the only point in the whole race where I could have taken a wrong turn. I crossed a small bridge over a dyke, and paths led both to the left and the right but there was no sign. Fortunately I saw the race photographer and headed in the right direction (not before making the mandatory jazz-hands and aborting a walk break to make it look like I was running all the time!)

I soon left Wicken Fen behind, and it then turned into the curiously named 'Adventurers Fen'.  This was again a dead straight path next to a dyke.  I took on a more water at the aid station and kept going with my run/walk.  I was churning out the miles at roughly 11 - 11:30 min/miles which was absolutely fine for me.  I got chatting to a fellow runner called Natalie and we exchanged a few running stories for a couple of miles.

It was nice to have some company for a couple of miles. 

We crossed over the Dyke and I spotted the name of the bridge 'Cockup Bridge' - seriously?  I was already in high spirits and this silly name for a bridge did make me laugh out loud.

Crossing the bridge I was now well into the race and at about 10 miles, I knew that there was a short plod of about 3 miles to the turn around point.  Natalie dropped back and I pushed on, keeping my run/walk going consistently.  I was now well and truly into some rural land. It was dead flat, but still the route had enough twists and turns and change of scenery to keep me going. I was really enjoying this run very much.

There was now a dead flat piece of road to run down, this to be honest felt a bit of a slog, but I knew I was only a mile and a bit from the turn around point.  On the right hand side I could see in the far distance the windmill at Stretham, which you pass on the A10 on your way up to Norfolk. So I knew we were getting quite close to Cambridge and so the turn around point was near.

As I approached the turn around point, the friendly marshals jotted down my race number so I was accounted for, and I helped myself to water and lots of Jaffa cakes. They certainly tasted brilliant after 13 miles of running. I got chatting to fellow runner called Anne who had recently completed several marathons for a charity, including London.


I reluctantly left the Jaffa cakes behind, turning around now to start the second half of my marathon. I glanced down at my Garmin and saw I had gone through the half way point in around 2:30, which I was really pleased with.

It was now time to retrace my steps. This started with the 2 mile slog on the road back toward 'Cockup bridge', which seemed even more hilarious on the way back.  By now it was almost lunchtime and was getting really warm. I was beginning to slow a little, but still kept the run/walk going.  I went past Carol and Sophie who were approaching the turn around point, and we shouted out hello to each other and encouraged each other to keep going. Very shortly I also passed Rachel, Kirsty and Paul, who looked relaxed and happy.

I went through the Fens again, approaching Wickham Fen. Once again I almost went the wrong way at the same point earlier (what is it with my navigation skills!) but at the last minute realised I had taken the wrong path and headed back over the bridge.

In the gardens of Wicken Fen, families had stopped to eat their Sunday lunch outside and were giving lots of encouragement to us runners. This was really nice, and a few families were giving out haribo and jelly babies.

Things were beginning to get a bit tough now, and my legs were tired, and I was hot. I still had a bit of Gatorade left in the camelbak and was very glad of it. I also had 4 packs of mini cheddars with me, which I was eating every 5 miles or so and they were going down well.  

I passed a farmers field and stopped to take a picture of the combine harvester, the driver gave me a friendly wave and a thumbs up. You don't get that at the London Marathon!

I kept plodding those miles out. Back past the Youth Hostel and the multi-language sign warning of the bull in the field, and the roads signs written in Spanish reminding drivers to drive on the left.  There was a manned aid station here, and I gladly glugged down a bottle of water and stuffed my face with Haribo. Just as well they were here, as once again almost managed to go the wrong way - again! The marshals called me back and put me back on the right way, thankfully, not before having a laugh at not being able to see the sign right in my face. Amazing how long distance running turns your brain to mush!

On I plodded. I knew my pace had slowed even more by now, but I was still managing 12ish min/miles.  As I went past the deserted water station again, I knew there was just a few miles left. In the distance I could see the spire of Ely Cathedral - it did feel like it was mocking me, as the more I ran it didn't seem to get any closer!

I was now back on the towpath of the Ouse. I was running with a lady for a bit, who was running her first ever marathon and she was struggling but doing really well. I gave her lots of encouragement, she was digging in and keeping going to the end as I was.  By now we were well up to almost 24 miles and getting close to the finish, the spire of the cathedral had at last became much bigger.

I came up off the towpath and had to cross the road, this time it was much busier and the marshal had his work cut out.  I really wanted to just walk the rest of the race out, but just dug in and kept going.

I went back along the towpath of the river through the city, where lots of people had come out (many with a pint in their hands!) to cheer the runners on. It was getting extremely tough now. Everything hurt, I was boiling and tired and just wanted to finish.  I took a left turn off the towpath and back into Jubilee gardens. Now I noticed that it was a hill alright, and a flaming uphill one at that!  I sped walk as best I could through the garden, almost catching up the lady I had spoken to earlier.  We went back through the school entrance, then a sharp right turn and the cathedral and finish line was in front of me.

I came pounding in the last bit and made a bit of a sprint finish, well it felt like a sprint but more of a shuffle really!  At last the finish. I crossed the timing mat, and the marshals and race organisers cheered me in. I stopped my watch, and I had finished in 5:29. I was chuffed, it was a hot day and a bit of a slog, but I had dug in and kept going.

As I crossed the line I was given my finishers medal - in the shape of the monster logo, and a lanyard saying marathon 2017. A marshal remove the timing chip from my ankle, and I was handed a bottle of water, and Liz (the race director) gave me a goody bag. This was for once, really pretty good - it had some food (crisps and chocolate), and a t-shirt and the bag itself was monster branded and a drawstring re-usable one. We had a bit of a chat and she asked if I was going to be back next year - you bet!

I saw Anne come in to the finish, followed by Natalie shortly afterwards and we congratulated each other and of course posed for a selfie!

I gave Mel a ring to come pick me up. "What, you finished already, we haven't even left yet!". I had told her I was going to finish in 6 hours so was unexpectedly ahead of schedule. This gave me a good excuse to go looking for a coffee and why not.

I really enjoyed this race very much, it was much more varied than I hoped for and although tough in the heat, had it been a bit cooler it was nice and flat (apart from the last hill!) so makes for a good course.  For 2018 I'm thinking about doing the Ultra, it's only another 10 miles or so and I quite fancy running to the centre of Cambridge.

Number 40 done and dusted, I met up with the family and we had another coffee and some cake before the long journey back to Hampshire. Next stop Winchester the week after, glutton for punishment.