RTTS.  You blew me away from Start to finish.

Registration process is easy, with plenty of helpful email udpates, training plans, kit requirements, food station stocks, maps and lots of other helpful info you will need. 

Before you do anything though, make sure you sign up for the free race photos.  As they are being taken on the day, they instantly get uploaded into an album on your Facebook page, so people can keep check of what you're up to. Great idea and a lot of my friends were sharing and commenting on them as they were popping up on my timeline thoughout the race.

I read a lot (and I mean, a lot) of blogs from last year's participants, so hopefully had some idea on what to expect.  After completing St. Illtyd's 50k Ultra in May, I had a fair idea of a hilly course (dont worry, RTTS is nowhere near as hilly as St. Illtyds!) and us Welshies eat hills for breakfast (we have no choice but to train on them!).

The start line was easy to find, plenty of parking, toilets (Clean & well stocked of loo roll), and some fun little tattoos, headbands and signs to muck about with to keep the nerves down.  I met up with Helen (The Running Lawyer at the tattoo stand, so always great to see her beautful face and a fellow visorclub member!) I started in Wave A, at 7:30am, so was lucky as it was going to be a hot day and I wanted to get some miles in before it got too warm.  It's trail, so expect to start out slow (unless you're right at the front), which I didn't mind.  

The ridgeway is a mix of white clay, grassy verges, dirt trail, tree stumps (which I fell over and went head first down a banking) and as it has been so dry, the trail was really hard underfoot.  There were a few tarmac parts to run too.

The course is super signposted and there is no way you can get lost due to the amount of signage.  Big red arrows, signs telling you 'not to go this way' etc which really helped.

Checkpoints.  The most well stocked checkpoints I have ever seen.  Anything and everything you can think of to eat and drink.  The volunteers, medics and supporters were all angels in disguise.  They helped fill your water bladders, get you what you wanted to eat and drink, spray you with water to cool you down, lance blisters (luckily I didn't need this!) and make sure you were coherent, fit and well enough to carry onto the next checkpoint.  I did see a few people get stopped and taken off the course due to dehydration.  There were plenty of toilets too, which all had loo roll in them and hand sanitiser.

After reading the food list for the day, I had promised myself a fajita at the halfway point but was disappointed to only find two types of pasta or some soup, as the chef advised me the fajitas weren't ready.  Now I know this probably sounds silly and its a really small thing but after already running 50k, the thought of that fajita was keeping me going.... I ended up with some of the pasta and a Mr.Whippy with a double flake off the ice cream van, which wasn't a bad substitute! :-)

Checkpoints 6-9 had something extra about them in the guise of the volunteers.  They flit around you when you arrive to make sure you are ok, check you for exhaustion, pain, general mental health (all done in a very subtle way).  They offer to make you tea, coffee, get you food and spray you with water.

I struggled between checkpoint 6-7.  A fair few people had dropped out of doing the 100k and stopped at 50, so between these two checkpoints I only saw 2 people.  That mentally drained me.  Luckily I chatted to a chap called Chris at checkpoint 7 and we agreed to go forward together and keep each other going.  It was needed as one part of the ridgeway looks much like the same, it just stretches on for what feels like forever out in front of you.  

To the lady stood at the side of the road handing out calippos at 72k...... I love you.

At checkpoint 9, a volunteer remembered me from Checkpoint 2 and he asked how on earth was I still so jolly at this point.  When you get to CP9, there's only 12.9km of trail left down to that finish line.  It's downhill, it's clay and tarmac.  You have to run to the Stones, loop them, then come back on yourself for another 1km before the turn up to the finish line.  Not sure if it was sheer exhaustion but the stones were disappointing. Perhaps I was expecting Stonehenge but it's nothing major in comparison to what you've already acheived getting that far.

When you hit that 99km sign, you have to turn left into a field, for a short run up to meet the tarmac road that leads you into the finish line. 

Now, the minute you hit that tarmac road, is where you completely forget how exhausted you are and you sprint like Linford Christie down that finish straight.  You can see the finish banner, the lights, the cheers as the crowds can see you coming and you sprint like it's your very first 1km of the day! The sense of relief at the finish line is unreal. 

The organisers let Darren give me my medal too, which was really lovely.  There's plenty of food and beer waiting at this finish.  I picked up my finisher Tshirt ( I had ordered a small but it was too big, so Scimitar let me swap it for a XSmall) I did also buy a hoodie, as both the tshirt and hoodie are excellent quality.  I had a pint and went home. I amamged 14 hrs 13 mins, so got in just before dark, which i was pleased with.  I wouldn't have wanted to be up on the ridgeway in the pitch black, even with my blinding headtorch.

I'm still mentally processing the race in my own mind, which is probably why it's taken me this long to write a review.  Am I glad I did it.... YES.  Would I do it again..... That's the burning question.

This race has a £140 price tag but you can totally see where the money for it is spent.  Value for money for sure. Well done Threshold.  More was in me than I ever thought possible.