Endure 24 2025
by Oli Mahon
Friday morning. Whilst I was technically 'working,' my focus was on the Endure group chat, watching for updates from our heroic early tent pitchers as they got settled. A massive shout-out to those who went ahead early – it made the evening and Saturday morning arrivals so much easier for us.
Post work, Friday evening was a busy one: physio, a quick dinner, then off to Wasing Park. I arrived to find that the team had picked a perfect camping spot and the vibe was a mix of happiness and maybe a tiny bit of pre-race anxiety (maybe that was just me!).
I wandered around the amazing food stalls and found myself some essential last-minute pizza and beer carbs – a race entry requirement I think. We chilled around the fire pit – big thanks to Jordan for bringing that along - it was extremely useful throughout the weekend. Then gradually began making our way to bed. The goal was any sleep at all, and many of the group managed to get some good rest. Though, once the rain started, I soon realised the tent I'd borrowed from a friend was not particularly waterproof. Lesson learned.
Saturday began at 5am for myself and a couple others, and a lie-in for the rest ;) . Either way, we were all ready to get going, fueled by breakfast and coffee. First one out of the campsite was Tanya, heading off for her shift as a marshal. Tanya, thank you so much for doing such an amazing job; we all really appreciated it!
So, around 11:40 am, we gathered for a quick group photo before making our way to the start line. The crowd felt like it was approaching a couple of thousand people and there was a great atmosphere as we set off at midday. We started slow, funneling through the start arch, which got even slower once we hit that first hill. I quickly recalled Jack's advice: 'don't run up any hills!'.
It may have been slow, but we were off and I got my first look at the undulating 8km loop which I was to spend much of the next 24 hours on.
I quickly got the lay of the land and started ticking off some of the landmarks I'd heard about: Pace Gully (which quickly became Mud Gully), the Faraway Forest featuring some fantastic musical encouragement, and a brilliantly stocked fruit and gel stop at 5km – very handily placed just before Heartbreak Hill (the longest and steepest hill in the country... It felt like it anyway). Then through Fairy Forest before the homeward stretch through the solo campsite.
As a solo runner, I had the freedom to run whenever I wanted. So, I started with a double shift before a quick snack and stretch. At this point, I was feeling good! The rain, however, soon changed that. It definitely put a dampener on many people’s laps, and poor Phil seemed to catch the worst of it, heading out dry only for it to tip it down shortly after. This seemed to happen on almost every lap he did whilst Piero sat in the dry by the fire pit. But we all rallied and powered through the rain and mud, knocking off lap after lap and racking up the miles as solos, pairs, and teams. Some of us (Nicki and Chelsea) seemed to be permanently on the course – a brilliant effort on day one!
6 laps and 48km done, and having only managed about four hours of sleep on Friday night, I climbed in to bed and slept like a baby in the middle section of Piero's nice and dry tent - thanks Piero! I didn't manage to drag myself up for night laps, but a few brave Farnham Town Runners did, and it looked fantastic with all the lights, if a bit eerie.
On Sunday, I woke at 4:30am, grabbed a coffee, and ticked off a sunrise walking lap to start the day, followed by some breakfast. That put me at seven laps done, meaning I had about five hours left to do three more and hit a nice round number of 10 laps. I powered through another single before needing another break – by this point, all our legs were in bits! But, encouraged by our amazing club team, I decided to give it one last push and get those two final laps done. Part of the penultimate lap was spent walking with Joe, during which I boldly announced that I thought I had enough in me to really go for it on the final lap. Fifteen minutes later, I discovered the truth: I absolutely did not have enough in me to really go for it. Unlike Kathryn, who flew past me on her 11th lap at this point! But I staggered around and ended my Endure experience on a high!
There were so many highs and lows during those 24 hours, but the overarching feeling was, and is, one of pride. Every single person who participated should feel the same way. I saw nothing other than incredible efforts and brilliant company all weekend long. I can’t say I spent the whole time on the course with the mindset of doing it all again next year, but now that it's done, I find myself already tempted to grab an early bird entry... I'll wait a while to see if sanity kicks in though.
I would recommend this event so highly to anyone. It isn’t all about racking up massive miles – you could do just one or two laps and still have a fantastic time. The endurance part is relative to every individual and whilst I found it quite daunting, it was a brilliant, brilliant weekend.
