100km Jurassic Coast Challenge Recap: Part Two
We survived day one! But then we had to get up and do it all over again for day two. Our start time on day two was listed as between 6-7am, so we slept as long as possible and arrived at the start at about 6:50am. We were sent out in groups after listening to the trek master describe today’s hazards. Michelle summed up today’s route as “walk, snack, walk, lunch, walk, snack, walk, finish, dinner.” It certainly made a lot of sense, although while yesterday we counted down just to the next rest stop, today we counted down to both the next rest stop and the finish line. At this point, having survived day one, we were fairly confident we would make it to the finish line, but we still had 42km (26mi) to go.
Michelle describing the hazards we would face today.
Walking through Weymouth.
First rest stop of the day.
There were heavy clouds to start our day, and it was a bit cooler as we set out through the town of Weymouth. The first stretch was a short 8km (5mi) mostly on paved and gravel paths along the ocean. It was relatively flat, and felt like a good warm up. At the first rest stop for the day (rest stop number 6), I hit the medics to ask for some help with a blister forming on the bottom of my foot. There were medics at every rest stop, helping out with disgusting, smelly, blistered feet, bad knees, shoulders, and whatever else the participants threw at them. They were amazing, as were all of the volunteers. From this rest stop we could see the famous Chesil Beach for the first time. Chesil Beach is a 29 km (18 mi) long shingle ridge – wild and rugged, with a shallow tidal lagoon behind it, and, as we would soon find out, very difficult to walk on.
After our usual snack and sock change, we set out on our next leg of 16km (10mi). We walked through fields and around the immigration station flanked by barbed wire fencing, through a wildflower meadow, farmland, and forest, and then the rains came. We had been very lucky up to this point – when I checked the forecast before heading over the pond it looked ominous with rain Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday.
But Saturday was fine for us (not for the poor participants walking through the night), and we made it all the way past 75km (46.6mi) before it started to rain. And rain it did. We had been hearing thunder for the last few hours (it so rarely thunders in England! my cousin told me that morning, haha). The skies opened up and poured down on us with a vengeance.
There was a LOT of water.
Not a bad place to wait out the rain.
We were in the woods at the time and decided to wait it out for a bit to see if we could avoid walking out in the open during the heaviest of the rain. The worst thing you want on a long hike is wet socks as they will almost certainly cause blisters. It was a wise decision – the worst of it petered out in about 30 minutes. At that point we had about 9km (5.6mi) to go to the next rest stop, and walked most of it in the rain, but it was not nearly as heavy as it was in that forest. Unfortunately, it turned all of the paths to either slick wet grass or thick mucky mud. We walked through wildflower meadows next to the cows, climbed up onto a ridge, then down a very slippery muddy path which would have been almost impossible to do on our feet without walking poles. We made it to rest stop 7 at about 1:20pm, thankful that neither of us had to slide down the mud on our butts. Side note, this rest stop was in a field at Abbotsbury Swannery which we visited on Monday. It is a very cool spot and definitely worth a visit when you are not in the middle of walking 100km.
There were a lot of these cattle fences to climb over.
The scenery was spectacular - everywhere.
We took a little extra time at this stop as it was still raining and we knew now that we would easily finish the Jurassic Coast Challenge before dark. We enjoyed a nice hot lunch – I’m a big fan of English sausage and chips - changed our socks, re-hydrated, and rested. The longest part was over, we had walked 82km (51mi), and the end was in sight. Side note – this stop was at the Abbotsbury Swannery, which we went back and visited the next day. If you are in the area I highly recommend it.
The mud was brutal. And very slippery.
The next section was 12km (7.5mi). It started down a muddy path which by this point was very slippery, then out to Chesil Beach. Chesil Beach was stunning – filled with wildflowers of all colors. At this end of the beach the stones were quite small and kept getting stuck in my boots. We trudged along the beach for roughly 2.5km (1.5mi). On a normal day this would be difficult, after walking for 87km (54mi) it was very challenging. I know my fellow participants might disagree with me, but I did not hate walking along the beach. It was tough but doable, the first part there is a hard packed trail on the right side, and the same at the end. The surface was easier on the blister on the bottom of my foot, as there was some give under each step. Listening to the ocean, and being surrounded by wildflowers made it impossible for me to hate this part.
Chesil Beach
Some time after 89km we came off the beach and right into very deep mud that came almost up my entire boot. We met a lovely woman along this stretch who used the Jurassic Coast Challenge to break out of her sedentary ways so she could adopt a dog (a bit extreme, but that pup will sure get long walks!). Soon thereafter we had a view of West Bay’s famous cliffs, as seen on the show Broadchurch, and then to our final rest stop at 94km (58mi) at about 5:25pm. This stop was smaller than the rest as we were almost at the end, but still had medics, and lots of helpful volunteers to help with anything anyone might need. We didn’t stay too long here as we were tired but really wanting to just get to the end.
91km! And mud. Lots and lots of mud.
We had only 6km (3.7mi) to go, and what looked like a small hill from the elevation map, so we set out in good spirits. Climbing the last hill was no problem, even though we had been walking for two days it was steep but short, and the views from the top were beautiful. And then we had to go down.
Coming to the end of our ocean views.
We had been warned at the very beginning of the day that this final descent was quite steep and slippery, but we figured it couldn’t be as bad as what we had already walked through. I thought this was the worst descent of the day. It was very steep, wet, and extremely slippery. Some simply sat down and went down on their butts, we relied heavily on our walking poles and took it very slowly. With our toes jamming into the fronts of our boots and a blister forming on my hand from my pole, it seemed to take forever to get down (in reality it was probably 10 minutes). But once at the bottom, that was it – just a few more km through town to the finish. We were tired and our feet hurt, but all in all felt pretty good. We reached 100km (62mi) and the finish in Bridport at 7:08pm to cheers, prosecco, finishers medals, and a nice hot dinner. 100km done and dusted!
Almost there!
100km done!
Was it worth it? Absolutely. No question. We had such a fun time walking through gorgeous country, chatting with each other and the interesting people we met along the way. And I was beyond thrilled to raise over $10,330 for Cleft to help children like my son. I loved seeing who participants were raising money for and why.
Was it hard? Yes and no. Before I boarded the plane I had a lot of doubts as to whether I could finish. It’s been a tough few months and I was severely undertrained, but once we started walking we never thought we couldn’t do it. Yes we were tired and yes our feet hurt. But it’s just one foot in front of the other … for a really really really long time.
Some fast facts about our Jurassic Coast Challenge:
Of the 2675 starters (in all categories), 1070 attempted the entire 100km, and of those 413 participants started the 100km over 2 day challenge
Of the 413 2 day starters, 281 finished
Total elevation gain: 2200m
Our total time (including rest stops but not including our overnight): 27:19
Our total walking time: 22:30 (give or take, I didn’t always turn my tracker off at the rest stops and my tracker died at 98.98km…)
Lessons learned: my top 10 do’s and don’t’s for a first timer on an ultrachallenge like the Jurassic Coast Challenge:
DO bring a change of socks for every rest stop. Once your feet get damp, you will get blisters.
DO use some kind of blister cream or powder and apply it generously, every time you change your socks. I did not put any on the bottom of my feet, as I had never had blisters there and didn’t think of it, and ended the walk with 2 rather large blistery eggs on the bottoms of my heels.
DON’T let hot spots go. At their first appearance stop and treat or you will be sorry.
DO use hiking poles. I had never used them before but do not think I could have made it through without them.
DO bring a bladder for water, you will drink more of it.
DO take in your surroundings - talk to the people around you and cheer them on, enjoy the scenery.
DON’T forget rain pants. That was an oops on my part.
DO bring a head lamp. We walked for about an hour in the dark.
DON’T trust the tracker on your phone – my cousin’s overestimated, mine underestimated, and both froze at the end and were unsaveable (maybe we should have stopped them instead of pausing them at the overnight? I don’t know).
And, because this is normally a blog about photos, DO take pictures along the way. I wore leggings with side pockets so I could take my phone out for photos without stopping. I took photos of km markers, peoples’ race numbers so I could check on them later, scenery, funny signs, the gates we had to climb through or over, and my messy, muddy boots when I finished.
Bonus tip: take the time to enjoy this amazing experience! For most of us, an ultrachallenge is not a race, we have no time to beat. It should be about enjoying the ride.
Have you done the Jurassic Coast Challenge, another ultrachallenge, or do you have any questions? Leave me a note below!
Did you miss part one? Read about how it started here.