The Tolkein Run is a 6 hour running event by the Saxons Vikings and Normans running club, who also host a whole calendar of running events with wacky themes (I’m intrigued by their cakeathon but doubt I’d survive the beerathon).
It takes place at Samphire Hoe, a picturesque nature reserve between the cliffs of Dover and English channel. You basically keep running laps until you reach the distance you want, or you can just keep going until the 6 hours are up. At the end you get a massive slab of chocolate and other goodies as well as an amazingly nerdy lord of the rings themed medal which is one of the main reasons I’d to travel so far from home for this event.
I first ran this in 2017 when I was curious about getting into ultramarathons and it was a great experience – the scenery is quite stunning and the event as a whole was very relaxed and friendly. I didn’t expect to run this again because it’s so far to travel and took place in the mid-week. A friend told me that this year’s was going to be on a Saturday so I couldn’t resist having another go and managed to rope in Daryn this time as well.
We travelled to dover the night before, staying at a nearby hotel so we’d be ready to get registered for the 9am start. We topped up on (probably too much) all-you can-eat breakfast and made it to Samphire Hoe just in time for the race briefing. It was looking like it would be a warm, sunny but very windy day.
The course usually an out-and-back route with a mix of undulating trails and flat sea wall but this was closed due to the high winds. Instead we’d run an alternative route with more of the trails, through some car parks and onto a kind of wasteland filled with thorny vines to trip over. And then you turn back the way you came to complete a lap.
Each lap was roughly 5k long, so it would be 4 laps for a half marathon, 8 for a full marathon and 9 and a half for a 50k ultra.
I ran the first couple of laps with Tom, a little faster than I maybe should have been. I’ve done very little running lately and am pretty out of shape so my plan was to take it easy and maybe do enough laps to to get a marathon.
After I settled into a more sustainable pace the first few laps went by easily, although the route was definitely more hilly than I remembered. The out-and-back course means you see everyone on each lap, often with a friendly greeting to spur each other on.
Daryn was aiming for a half marathon and ended up running an extra lap making this his longest run to date (well done!). I was definitely starting to feel it around this point, and found myself needing to stop for some refreshments at the end of each lap. It was quite hot by now and the wind hadn’t let up. I took some comfort knowing there was only three more laps and likely I’d finish the marathon at around 4 hours.
By my seventh lap I started feeling pretty good and not quite ready to stop yet. Daryn was waiting for me at this point, cheering me on as I went past (he was my lift home) and I asked if he’d mind me getting to ten laps, turning this into a 50k ultra (sorry Daryn). He seemed quite enthusiastic about this and I found myself shuffling around the course for the last laps.
It was interesting to see the course empty out in the last couple of hours – most people were there to run a marathon but there were still a surprising number of people going for the full distance. I eventually waddled in to the finish at just after 6 hours with a 33 mile run completed. I’m pretty pleased with the result, especially with the lack of training. And I got my nerdy medal which looks pretty cool (It has a kind of stained glass effect that glows when you hold it up to the light).
It was great to be back at Samphire Hoe for another run, it really is a beautiful place to run around for a few hours, and a great, relaxed event for people wanting to experiment with longer distances.
