“Off Road Shoes Required” – The Inca Trail 15th February 2009

Race Report by Jackie Webb

Well it said it all really, but quite frankly wellies or even diving gear would have been more appropriate. I tried not to look at the photos of the flooded course displayed in the club house and concentrated on getting the timing of my place in the loo queue right.

We were slightly dismayed when, during our pre-race pep talk we were told that due to flooding the course had been changed and was now about 8 miles (rather than the advertised 7) and if this runner was anything like the one I live with, I suspected that the “about” meant more like 9. “Don’t worry Jack” Amanda whispered “One potato two potato” (Amanda’s new secret weapon when it comes to pacing herself during races). We were also warned that there were still some fairly deep flooded stretches that were deeper than they looked (they looked pretty deep) and lots of mud.

Well, Michael Rosen’s ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ soon came to mind, with thick oozy mud and of course we couldn’t go over it or under it, we had to go through it. We set off slipping and sliding like Torville and Dean on acid. After a very long stretch of mud, we had about a mile of flat straight track; nice easy running we thought. We then came to a big puddle which we easily skirted around but soon wondered why we had bothered keeping our feet dry. We had to run through water that easily came over my knees, so once we were running in it, we got absolutely soaked. This stretch went on for about 80 yards. I then encountered a new problem. My trousers started falling down with the weight of the water. It’s not very dignified hitching yourself up every few feet.

After the water, came more mud and then a nice bit of clean road. At this stage we started to see the leaders heading back and were both impressed at how friendly and encouraging both the runners and marshals were. Climbing the promised ‘Machu Pichu’ was pretty tough but I managed to run some of it especially when I heard the shake of a sweet tin at the top. Running down was great. I careered down at quite a speed and could see a marshall in the distance but couldn’t make out what she was saying until the words “slow down it’s very slippery” seemed a bit redundant. I managed to keep my balance and then embarked on the return leg; more mud, that water again and finally “one potato two potato” to the finish.

We finished 56th and 57th out of 70, which we were pleased with as they all seemed lithe and lovely club runners. We did it in 1 hour 27minutes and I’m still not sure now how far it was. I heard it was 8.13 miles from one runner. I would definitely recommend this run. Amanda and I both enjoyed it and feel more confident about the Wessex Ridgeway. At least we managed to keep our running shoes. Dave told me one early finisher crossed the line in his socks. Perhaps he didn’t feel he could keep the flippers on for the final stretch.