January 2015

[Charliecat5]

The mighty Caburn

Last night Sweder, Mr Roper and I sat down over beer and nibbles (I had a ginger tea obv.) to start some serious Moyleman planning.  There’s a lot to be done and to add to the pressure we already have 150 mad buggers who have pre-registered their interest.  It is beginning to get quite exciting. 
 
My job is to explore some of the changes we need to make to the route and then to re-map the whole thing.  Prior to the test event last year, I did all the mapping on two wheels… endless hours testing out different sections and piecing it all together to get to the required marathon distance. 
 
This year however, I have become a runner, turned to the dark side.  As the man in the sports shop said to me earlier… there are sportsman in this world, and then there are trail runners.  So as a runner who needs to re-route an off-road marathon, I only had one option - strap on my shoes and get out there.
 
This seemed a great idea last night it the warmth of Sweder’s kitchen, but this morning we had gale force winds and torrential rain.   A little research from under the duvet provided a glimmer of hope that the rain might abate a little later in the day, so a lunchtime start it was. 
 
Loaded up with supplies and a map, Mrs Charliecat kindly drove me to the bottom of Bo Peep, kicked me out and drove off.  Suddenly it was just me standing in a howling gale, approximately 9 miles away from home, with the mighty Caburn standing in my way.
 
The first section is along a gravel track that runs underneath the North side of the Downs, easy running for the feet but challenging with the headwind buffeting every step.  But I found my stride and ran the first couple of miles pretty comfortably arriving on the East side of Firle village.  The first change we wanted to make was to re-route around the village instead of going through Firle Place (we had a bit of grumpiness from them last year).  A few checks of the map and some head scratching and we now have a new route around Firle – bingo.
 
A couple of miles later and the next challenge reared its head.  Is it possible to cross the busy A27 via an underpass?  We know there is one, but we weren’t sure exactly how to access it, or indeed whether we can access it.  The good news is that there is a good route to get there; the bad is that it is not a public crossing.  However, I know the farmer so a visit will be made soon.  From there I found a good footpath which takes us across the fields right into Glynde village, next to the pub!
 
That was the exploration done… from this point I was on very familiar ground.  Trouble was I knew exactly what I was facing… THE MIGHTY CABURN.  I have walked this many times and biked it many times more, but have never run up it.  Oddly, I was really looking forward to it.
 
For those of you who don’t know Caburn, it is a deceptive hill.  From a distance, not much of a distance, it looks quite gentle.  But up close it’s a bastard.  Steep, wild and always windy… but also beautiful and a very special place.  This is why we love having it at the end of the Moyleman – a real kick in the teeth so close to the end!
 
I loved it… it was tough, I didn’t make the top in one go, the wind was incredible, but it was great… and such a sense of freedom at the top.
 
The rest of the run was pretty uneventful, a mile and a bit back home through town for a cold shower (forgot to turn the water on before I left), a quick change and out to watch the mighty Rooks in action.  Two hours later and I kind of wish I had stayed out for a few more miles – it wasn’t the most entertaining game of football we’ve ever witnessed at Pan Siro.

This shows the true colours of the mighty Caburn:

   

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