The MK24 Midsummer Runfest is a great little event I’ve only just found out about. It’s a 24 hour event organised by Redway Runners, taking place around Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes. You can camp at the race HQ (which is fully decked out with any facilities you’d want, including showers!) and do as many laps as you want around the lake. It’s 6.55 miles a lap, and the event’s motto is “Run it your way” – you can choose to tackle as many laps as you want, however you want during the time period.
It’s a really chilled out and fun event, with a fantastic summer festival vibe to it – family friendly, lots of entertainment and things going on at the HQ. My plan was to camp out with the family while and catch up with them between laps. The kids love camping so it seemed like a perfect weekend for us.
It didn’t quite work out like that however… the summer had been incredibly hot, and the day of the event seemed to be the peak of the heatwave, about 30°C all day! I was honestly not sure I’d be able to run in that heat, and Lorna wasn’t comfortable camping out in it either, so we decided to change plans at the last moment. I would camp on my own, and maybe wait until the evening to start running.
I arrived at the event a little late, some time in the afternoon. It was unbearably hot for me, but there were some spots of rain which made me think it’d cool off a bit! Lorna and the kids helped me set up my tent and the event really did look like fun. We’ll see about doing it properly next year.
My plan was to run 50k, but honestly, I’d be happy with just running a couple of laps. I decided to see how I’d get on. The first lap was pretty tough – Looking around I noticed the vast majority of people were walking, and it wasn’t long before I was too. The sun was high and there wasn’t much shade and the heat got to me a bit. Luckily the laps got a little easier as I went on, and the 6.55 miles were manageable each loop.
By lap three the sun was starting to set, making the shadows longer. It was still really hot, but I felt as though I could get into the shade just enough to feel more comfortable and I was able to run the majority of the time now.
Lap 4 was my marathon lap! There was now a nice breeze making this so much more manageable as the evening drew in. I saw Lorna and the girls at camp, where they dropped off some much needed supplies for me and said goodnight.
It was night time when I started my final lap, which would make this the longest run of the year for me. Even at 10pm the temperature was 26°C and I was feeling quite shattered towards the end.
I came in at around 10:15 pm having run 50K in about 7:41:16. I’m pretty happy with that considering I was unsure about attempting it. I had a much needed sleep while some people were continuing to run through the night. The next morning there were still quite a few hours left on the clock (the event runs from 12pm – 12pm the following day). Lots of people decided to do a couple of laps on day 1 and then do the rest in the morning while the temperature was hopefully a bit cooler.
Lorna picked me up and I claimed my swag – an awesomely garish pink t-shirt and matching medal, along with other goodies. I’m not sure how much I’d actually wear this but I love how hideous it is.
Despite the challenging conditions I had a great time running this and would love to try again next year. I’m tempted to try and go even further, maybe even 100K (10 laps), which I think is achievable in two stages – run 50K, get food with the family, and then pick off the remaining 50K over night or in the morning. Let’s see!
