Mizuno Endure24

I was once told: ‘Get hold of a hot woman and an hour can seem like a second; get hold of a hot saucepan and a second can seem like an hour.” If, much like myself, your social and domestic life aren’t up for this challenge but you still want to upset your own sense of the time paradigm, you have to come and run Mizuno’s Endure24.

The idea of the event is simple enough: you have 24 hours to run as many miles as possible around beautifully crafted woodland trails. You can do this either solo, as a pair, in a team of 3-5 or in a team of 6-8. The five-mile loop can seem like it goes on forever when you’re really trying to clock a fast time. Get close to 30 minutes and you’re good; get sub-30 minutes and you’re great. Most, though, are happy with around 45 minutes for a lap. Blame the hills.

The faster you run, the longer each lap seems to go on for. The precious commodity of rest is never long enough and passes before you know it. Time just isn’t your friend this weekend, and this is why I love Mizuno’s Endure24.

Weekend running ‘festivals’ are hugely popular, and this one absolutely nails it. Here’s a quick break down on the numbers: 2,5000 registered runners (200 of which are solo) and a further 2,000 friends, family and supporters. Unlike the more familiar music festival arrangement, Endure never sleeps. This is handy when you’re desperate for a large coffee at 3am in the morning, but not so great if you’re lying in a tent and all you can hear are the call of random names in the change-over pen!

Despite our best intentions, there was never going to be anything relaxing about getting a bunch of competitive friends together for the ProFeet Team, composed of four guys and four girls. “Oh, you did a 30-minute lap? Well done, that’s fast.” *Heart sinks knowing that my next lap is going to hurt*. This is basically the drill – for 24 hours.

The pleasure you eventually feel when handing over to a team mate, and the acknowledging pats on the back, are quickly overshadowed but the fact that you have to repeat the process shortly. Pleasure and pain in quick succession, on repeat. We opted for a simple rotation all through the 24 hours, one runner after another until the clock struck.

This year’s course was brilliant – not a huge number of changes on last year, but some noteable improvements. The paths this time a bit more accommodating for the solo and pair runners who were understandably walking the hills. This makes a difference to those brave enough to charge each of their laps. The fairy lights were just a lovely added touch to the night time running, as were the fairies in the woods… If, of course, I wasn’t just imagining them.

The absolute best part to these 24-hour running festivals, and certainly with Mizuno’s Endure 24, is the sense of enjoyment. The running aside, it’s fantastic to hang out with a group of friends and share a little of the suffering. This is perhaps why this event sells out almost immediately. It’s barely a day since we finished running and we’re already asking who’s coming back next year. We may not have achieve quite what we wanted – we finished 4th out of the 159 in our category – but if the smiles at the finish are anything to go by, Team ProFeet will be back next year to give it another go.