I hadn’t actually intended to participate in this iconic event…I’d heard about it, but knew very little other than that it has been branded the ‘Glastonbury for Runners’. I was literally drafted into a team of six by my friend Lil, whose team had unfortunately lost a runner at the eleventh hour. So, without any preparation, I was going to be part of an event where you run lots and sleep very little, if at all!

After doing some very high-level research on my iphone whilst sunning myself in Mallorca sipping large vodka’s by the pool (again; note the athletic preparation), I understood the Endure event is held annually in both Reading and Leeds attracting around 3,500 runners. Essentially, the ‘race’ can either be entered as an individual, a pair or teams of between 6-8 runners, which was our nominated category. The aim is for the team (or individual) to complete as many 5 mile laps as possible on an undulating trail course through the picturesque woodlands of Wasing Park, situated south of the M4 close to Thatcham and Newbury in Berkshire. The race started at twelve noon on the Saturday and finished at the same time, 24 hours later, on the following day.

The main site opened on the Friday morning to allow participants to set up their tents and generally get organised in advance of the race. Entertainment, music, food and drinks were apparently in plentiful supply throughout the race village for those who felt the need to seriously dehydrate and miss out on some crucial sleep on the eve of the race! When we arrived on the Saturday, there were a few people already looking devoid of sleep!

A couple of our team members arrived the night before to set up camp with the Avon Valley Runners (AVR) who were out in force and had seconded a fairly large area that was already littered with tents and campervans when we arrived about 9am on the Saturday morning. Some of the guys even went off in search of the local parkrun, which can either be viewed as natural enthusiasm, or pure stupidity! I’d go with the latter given what was in store for us!

After pitching the tent (with some much needed assistance from some lovely AVR people – thanks Max, Kat and Robbie!) we wandered down to the race village to have a look around to take in the pre-race atmosphere and get our bearings. It was around a 5-10 minute easy walk from where our tents were situated and within literally a couple of minutes we stumbled upon a plentiful supply of toilet cubicles and a couple of pop-up coffee vans.

The village itself was buzzing an hour and a half before the race was due to start. The sun was shining, music blasting out from the DJ area and the village was jam- packed full of eager runners full of smiles and nervous anticipation for what lay ahead. Sarah (our nominated team skipper) had already picked up our race packs the evening before comprising of an Endure t-shirt, race number and an ankle-band containing the race chip which we had to wear when out on the course. We were pretty much good to go! 

We decided to grab some food from the main catering tent, which we named the ‘café’ (or Kaf’s Kaf as a homage to EastEnders in my case!) and sat outside in the sunshine eating bacon rolls taking in the atmosphere. The service and quality of food was excellent throughout the weekend, with a very comprehensive menu to choose from, and being open throughout the night ensured that we would return many times over the coming 24hrs.

There was race briefing at 11.45am providing everyone with clear instructions and in particular, how to change runner at the end of each lap or when a break was needed if the person was running multiple laps. There was effectively a ‘holding-bay’ that the outgoing runner needed to wait in and upon receipt of the team wrist band they were then allowed to leave the area and enter the course to begin their lap(s).  

Howard went out first for us, and we estimated that he would run his lap in approximately 35-40 minutes, therefore Sarah (who was running out second) knew she needed to be in the holding-bay at around 12.35pm for the handover. We had set up a WhatsApp group and quickly realized that the best way of giving everyone sufficient warning of when they were due to run was to post the time each runner finished on the group. That way, the person going out to run their lap after the current runner had finished, would know roughly when they needed to be in the holding bay. Are you following so far....? This was particularly useful throughout the night when people might be resting or trying to grab some sleep as it then allowed them to set an alarm to ensure they didn’t miss their slot.

I went out third after Sarah planning to run my first lap fairly hard to suss out the course and establish where the tough bits were likely to be for future laps. The first mile was an incline and hard on the legs so early in a run, but after overcoming that and the second mile, which also was undulating in parts, the third mile was fast and flat and allowed me to build up ahead of steam. At about the 2.5 mile mark we ran past a V-Dub van that had energy shots and was playing some really uplifting dance music, with a couple of crazy guys dancing alongside it. This gave me a real boost and I high-fived one of them as I sprinted past. At the three mile mark there was kind of refreshment cabin that also acted as a water station, which I can imagine was very well received by the solos and pairs who would be out on the course for a good number of hours at a time.

Psychologically, this was a key landmark on each lap for me as I knew that it was only 2 miles to the start line/handover, which wouldn’t be too challenging, so it encouraged me to push on. About a quarterly of a mile on from here was the infamous Heartbreak Hill. This was a fairly tough climb for around a quarter of a mile, which many people were walking. I made it up in reasonably good spirits and wasn’t surprised to see that my mile 4 was, and always would be, my slowest mile of the lap. Once the crest of the hill was reached, it was either flat or downhill to the finish. The back end of mile 4 was the known as the ‘Fairy Forest’ which was a tight trail that was windy in places and required careful negotiation due to the tree roots that were protruding out of the ground. After a very sharp, steep descent, we only had a mile to go.

This was as flat as a pancake and after a short section through more woods, we entered the main site again and almost ran a loop around the main perimeter before entering the finishing straight to hand over to the next runner, who in my case, was Lil. 

The beauty of festival event like Endure is that there is so much going on around you when you’re not running, so the 5 hour gap between runs can be actually be filled easily, whether it be taking a rest in the tent, looking around the expo stalls, grabbing a bite to eat or a shower before getting ready for the next run. In my case, it was seeking out the small campervan kiosk that serviced ice cold large and cider! Well, what else do you do on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon?!? After enjoying a cold cider and chat with some of our team who were hanging around the main starting/handover area, 50-odd minutes had quickly passed and Lil had handed over to Dave.  

Lil needed a G&T after her lap…obviously! So I had to have another one to keep her company (!) and we, along with Nunners, who was taking over from Dave, found a shady tree to sit under and watch the world go by for the next 45 minutes.

After her run, the team had completed a lap each and it was back to Howard running again. The next set of laps mirrored the first, with the temperature now cooling as twilight approached for the runners at the back end of the second stage. The format was largely the same with drinks consumed in the village and food purchased from the ‘café’ – burger and chips this time, so we continued to work our way through all processed meat products that were available!

After a busy afternoon, it was also a good opportunity to get a shower. They were in plentiful supply and really close to the main race village. The queues weren’t too long and moved fairly quickly, and aside from the water flow being somewhat temperamental (purely due to the demand I’d imagine), they did their job perfectly.

The village was really chilled in the evening and had emptied out after the initial wave of enthusiasm that had greeted us at lunchtime, so after spending some time relaxing on hay bales listening to music, we wandered back to the tents to prepare for the night shift.

As mentioned earlier, timing was key, especially when everyone wasn’t together, so the process of messaging finishing times to the group was crucial and gave me a decent idea of when Sarah was going to be coming in from her lap.

I found the third leg the toughest. Walking down to the village beginning to feel tired and jaded was horrible. It was also at pitch black at 11pm, so head and hand- held torches were needed for the entire walk from the tends to the start line. They were also needed if a trip to the toilet was required! The tired, near- midnight stroll reminded me of that lack of sleep feeling you get at airports when flying at unsociable hours.

For the night runs, Howard and Sarah wore glow in the dark face paint (I didn’t actually get around to applying any!) and we also used a flashing Star Wars lightsaber to identify the handover runner in the holding bay as it was near-impossible to locate your team mate in the darkness – many other runners commented on what a great idea it was.

As I went out for my third lap, I very quickly realized that my head torch wasn’t as powerful as I needed it to be, and despite also carrying a mini mag-light, I was badly struggling to see anything clearly in front of me. I might have got away with it on a road run, but not through undulating woodlands. It didn’t help that the runners were fairly spread out along the course at this point, so there were occasions when I felt like I was running in total darkness. The toughest point came when I was trying to navigate my way through the Fairy Forest . Despite the fact that it had been decorated with thousands of fairy lights, which looked amazing, I was in fear of turning an ankle on a tree root or in a sharp dip, so as I approached the steep descent that signaled 4 miles completed virtually tip-toeing down to the bottom. Unsurprisingly, mile 4 (10 mins plus) was the slowest I’d run all weekend. As I handed over to Lil she asked me how it had been and I think I replied. “That Fairy Forest….f*cking horrendous… “She laughed and the lady next to her looked mortified. Enough said really!

The next 4 hours were possibly the worst I’ve experienced in a long time, and certainly experienced in my very short running career. I was so tired, but couldn’t sleep for fear of missing my leg, so I just laid silently for an hour or so before talking myself into the right frame of mind to run again at around 4am. I was overjoyed to find my trainers, hat and various other running garments soaking wet outside the tent entrance due to the drop in temperature and night time dampness, but I figured that if I could get through this lap, then the last, around mid- morning, would be a cake walk compared to the last few hours.

Whilst the event rules stated that head torches had to be worn between 8pm and 6am, by the time I set off on my fourth lap, daylight was on its way with the skies getting lighter by the second. It was a great feeling to be running at dawn – peaceful and somewhat tranquil, with the sounds of birdsong from the trees emanating through the still woodland.

Despite feeling exhausted, I ran a very solid leg and actually enjoyed it, safe in the knowledge that there was only one more for me to run. At this point, I need to give absolute respect and kudos to the marshals out on the course who were incredible, especially through the night and early morning when runners were at their lowest ebb. Their encouragement and genuine support sent shivers up my spine. Their absolute positivity helped driving me on and put a smile on my face. By the time I handed over to Lil it was pretty much daylight and the hard night shifts were done and in the bag!

After her leg, we had a quick change of clothes and headed down to the café for some much needed fuel. There is something rather satisfying about sitting down for an amazing bacon and fried egg bap and a bottle of ice cold Fanta at 7am in the morning, following a night of no sleep, that, for once in my life had nothing to do with alcohol!  

Breakfast was just what was needed and I was feeling quite chipper after eating, knowing that the end was in sight with only one more lap to run. Due to injury, Dave decided not to run his final leg and

Nunners was feeling the effects of the efforts she’d put in, so it was down to Howard, Sarah, myself and Lil to complete our epic journey.

I took my final lap fairly conservatively. I was starting to feel seriously dehydrated and the lack of sleep catching up on me, so when I crossed the line for the last time, I was greeted with much needed jelly babies and water courtesy of Nunners, before nipping to the café to devour the most amazing chocolate muffin that I think I’ve ever eaten.

It is, apparently, customary to join the final runner on the home straight and cross the finishing line as a team, so as we saw Lil entering the village from the woods, we nipped onto the course and ran the last 50 yards as a team, holding hands as we crossed the line. It was fantastic and just about summed up the togetherness and bond we had formed as a team over the past 24 hours. Apart from Lil, I didn’t know the other team members before signing up, but I truly felt that I had made firm friends with these amazing people.

The medals were brilliant and the t-shirts a great memento of a quite epic weekend. After having a shedload of team and individual photos, it was time to take the tents down and pack up to go home.

Whilst everyone was pretty much running on empty and showing signs of serious fatigue and in some cases, injury, the banter and laughter still buzzed around the group right up to us going our separate ways and dreaming of a couple of glasses of wine and a comfy bed.

I can’t begin to tell you how good Endure 24 was! Words can’t explain the feeling of being part of such a great event. Every runner out on the course willed and encouraged others to push on and keep going when things were getting tough. This camaraderie, togetherness and spirit just about summed up this weekend for me. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. For such a large event, the organisation was impeccable and I don’t have a single negative word to say about it. All I would say is get a team together and do this. You won’t regret it. I promise….