I had continued to walk a couple of times a week and also run to keep my fitness up but this was generally by myself. The new dynamic now would be walking with Hannah on the PW. We started to train together a couple of times a week and go on longer walks at the weekend to get into a groove. Id run or swim on the other days. Walking with others has plenty of benefits but can also bring its fair share of difficulties. You need to iron out any potential problems way in advance of the big day. In our case we were walking together, no matter what. If Hannah started to show signs of slowing significantly I would try to get her through it and if she had to withdraw so would I. BBB here didn't even contemplate I would struggle....
If your walking with someone in this year's PW, you need to have a game plan. If one of you is struggling badly when or do you separate? Do you have scheduled stops together for eating/comfort breaks? Majority of walkers have dips but these might not be at the same time as your partner in crime. This is when the other walker raises the game to keep the other going, as no doubt the favour will need to be returned. If you can; train, train and train some more with each other as you will get your pace more in line that you are both going to be comfortable with on the big day. The mental side of it comes when the slower walker thinks they are holding the other one back, but this can potentially be the other way around too. The faster walker is going too quick at the start and might blow you both up a few miles down the road. Get talking about potential hot spots now and don't leave it till the day. There are plenty of success stories of people training/walking together and I thank successful endurance walkers Karen Lawrie and Tony Mackintosh for their insights mentioned above.
Myself and Hannah had a day off around 6 weeks before the PW and we used it to get one big walk in to test out timings. I had dropped a car off in Peel the evening before and then in the morning, after dropping Sean at school, we drove our other car into Douglas and parked up at the NSC. We then headed off on the Parish route. We got to Ballabeg and topped up the Camelbak's, had a comfort break, before heading on towards Rushen and up over the Sloc to finish in Peel. We had agreed beforehand that the idea of this walk was to do it in the estimated time we wanted to do it on the day. We could then gauge if it was too slow/fast and adjust accordingly. Of course, the weather might be different on the day. Plus, the occasion usually gives you more of a spring in your step but it was good to get this walk in and cover the 32.5 miles to give us some confidence in the pace we were aiming for.
The PW15 arrived and I was back on the track at the NSC. We were feeling confident that we could join the list of a few married couples that had finished together. Wendy was back supporting and we came through Peel bang on schedule. The weather gods were on our side and we were now on the way up the coast heading towards the white church of Jurby which could be seen in the distance. It was all going well with 53 miles in at an average speed of 4.3mph and with over 12 hours of walking done. Then coming into Andreas, where Hannah had stopped the year before, she started to walk slower. Her hamstrings were getting tight. We had a stop for 5 minutes to try stretch them out and continued on. Walking to Ginger Hall her worry was that she was going to seize up completely and fall over. With over 26 miles to go it was evident that it was going to be sensible to call it a day. I have since learned - around these parishes it is a common PW graveyard for people attempting to go the full distance for the first time. Is there a magic formula to get past it? I honestly don't know.
As Hannah got in the car a mile or so before Lezayre church, I told Wendy I would walk to the church and check out there and meet them back on the main road. As I walked by myself for that mile I felt strong and the thought flashed across my mind to continue and finish it. That was overridden by the thought of potentially getting badly blistered feet and more miles in my legs meant more recovery time before the 100 in 8 weeks time. Oh and Hannah would be extremely uncomfortable sat in the car for the next 8-9 hours and having to endure watching me cross the line! That was my first thought obviously.... I got to Lezarye church and said I was finishing here to the marshal who asked if I was sure as I looked in good shape. "I have bigger fish to fry in a couple of months time" was my response. Even I thought it - BBB.....
It wasn't long after the PW that I got the message from Sam that he wasn't going to walk the 100 miler but instead walk the early bird 20 miler which started on the Sunday morning. "I can walk with you mate to help get you home!". I recovered quite quickly from the Parish and with my feet not being destroyed, like they were in 2013, I was able to get some specific 100 training done. The course in Castletown was going to be flat, so I kept to relatively flat loops to do. Three walks during the week between 6-10 miles each and then at the weekend 20+ milers on the Saturday starting around 6am. To get used to walking around Castletown I made a loop which took me from Ballabeg up towards Grenaby and then cut back towards cross four ways, over past the football club, traffic lights, down Malew Street to the square, then Arbory street past the swimming pool and headed back to Ballabeg via the Ballakeighan straight. I'd do this 3 times trying to get my pace even each lap. I always remember seeing farmers on the first lap, posties on the second and then Saturday shoppers heading to Douglas on the third.
My two weeks annual holiday were either side of the weekend of the 100 (14/15th August 2015). I hadn't told many people I was doing it as I seriously didn't know how it was going to play out. A couple of weekends before it, Robbie Callister one of the main organisers, had offered to walk participants around the course in groups. I went down one Sunday afternoon and there was a handful of us. I recognised a guy I knew that was from Peel, Stew Jones. I hadn't met Stew for a number of years but I had seen his name with regard to walking when I was looking at previous PW and 100 records. He mentioned he was the current Isle of Man Open 24 hour challenge title holder when he carried on after completing the 100 mile in 2013 at the NSC and registered 103 miles. I'm guessing he still holds this title as I can't think of another 24 challenge being held here since! It slowly dawned on me that the walkers that were going to be in this event were going to be of a certain calibre and have quite a bit more experience than myself. This was firmly cemented in my brain when a woman rocked up at pace in her walking kit. She then said "afternoon y'all!" in an American accent and proceeded to do some leg stretches. I hadn't a clue who it was but it was an impressive entrance I thought. Turned out to be Karen Chiarello (KC). As we walked around the circuit I got chatting to Stew and KC and the conversation turned to the PW a couple of months before. Stew completed it in 19:20 hours & KC got in around 17 hours. I mentioned I got to Lezarye before stopping to save myself for this event. Inside, my chimp was having a field day "they think you have no chance of finishing this", however, it was more worrying that I actually started to think "I've no chance of finishing this!" when driving home.
The day before the 100, myself and Hannah went down to check out the area on the bypass where we could set up the support tent up the next morning. When we got there it was cordoned off and then Robbie appeared and asked "how are you feeling?", I replied "yeah great, looking forward to it". It wasn't exactly what I was feeling but I was trying to keep positive.
So the day arrived - Saturday 14th August 2015, 24 hours to get through 100 miles (one hundred, one zero zero). Fifty times around the Castletown 2 mile circuit. The prize? To gain Centurion status. We headed off to the town hall to register and I collected my Tower Insurance bag of promotional merchandise and was asked my nationality so the correct flag could be stuck to my number. This was going to be a true international event and with that, in came the Dutch. Four guys looking like they had just strolled from Netherlands to get here. One had legs up to my head. I gave them a nod and they collectively nodded and off I went back to the car and the bypass to get the tent set up. We had a two man tent set up in about 10 minutes, meanwhile next to us there was what looked like a small house being constructed for one of the Irish walkers support crew. Start time was at 2pm which was just under 2 hours away. We headed back to Ballabeg so I could get changed and tape my feet up. I was told to try zinc oxide tape. So I covered my feet in it. I then had a look in the bag and found the programme. It listed the names of the 101 competitors and had a paragraph of bio on most of them...
- I have walked 14 times the Deathmarch at Bornem and 7 times a 200km walk during 40 hours in Audax.
- Has completed many 100 miles events in the UK and abroad
- 6 Parish Walk finishes with a best time of 16hrs 25 mins 30 sec's
- 1 Paris to Alsace finish - 1 Centurion finish - 2 French 24 hour race finishes - 5 Parish Walk finishes
- 14x Parish Walk finisher
You get the drift. Mine read "Parish Walk debut finisher 2013". My heart was thumping and I was seriously fretting about what I had gotten myself into. It was then I told Hannah that I needed 5 minutes to myself and stood looking out of my front window. Come on pull yourself together, you've done the training, stick to the pace plan, there's no pressure on you - just go out and show them what a little hick from Ballabeg can do. My chimp must have liked that last bit (about being a hick) as it calmed me down. Right, time to get down to the start. I went to the toilet for a pee and then 5 minutes went again. I was still nervy. This felt so different to the PW. It felt way more serious. There were some exceptionally good/experienced walkers I was rubbing shoulders with here. I reminded myself whatever happens at the start just try keep to the plan.
Here's the original plan with workings out by my support.
You will notice I had put zones which refer to places found in my favourite movies and the idea behind that was my support could tell me I was in a certain zone. I could think about the film to take my mind off any potential tedium of walking on the same route over and over. Nakatomi still makes me smile as you maybe aware that the building features in Die Hard and the hero has to walk barefooted through broken glass towards the end. I might have to go through similar pain I thought.
As you can see to get in the 100 miles under the 24 hours you need to complete it in a minimum average speed of around 4.2mph unlike 3.5mph in the PW. The course is flat though? If you pushed the hills down in the parish that would probably equate to about 7-8 miles - so I just need to find an extra 8 miles....... If you can convince yourself of this your onto a winner. I don't think I even bought into that one. Flat looped circuits can bring its own problems; using same muscle groups (ie no hills) can bring on repetitive strains, can fall into the trap of going off too quick, boredom could set in, etc.
The chief judge and one of the organiser's Steve Taylor gave a welcoming speech and started the countdown. We were starting at the town hall and I sneaked to the back of the field. The watch connected to GPS and bang we were off. It was a lot quicker than the PW start but I was grateful there were a few slower walkers like myself in a pocket at the back of the pack. Out along Arbory Street, down around a loop in Buchan school, over to the bypass and past the support tents before cutting down the back of the first few houses on Malew Street and then into the square up to the town hall and over the timing mat. A dull bleep registered each lap and a screen gave confirmation of your time and laps completed. It was here that the official feeding station was and the toilets. The only other place you could get aid was at the bypass where your support tent was. The rules stated you couldn't be handed anything but had to collect it from a table. This was to make sure that there was no overwhelming advantage for locals over the international walkers who may not have had support.
My parents and auntie Susie had come down at the start to cheer me on for the first hour or so and sat in the S100 grandstand the commissioners had set up near the support tents. The last thing my mother said was "we're going now, don't stop". A couple of girls started laughing and said "that's you told!". Sam was down in the middle of the supporters and was shouting encouragement. I will refrain from telling you what I thought when he cracked open a can of cider and held it aloft with a smile as I passed by. He was going to be joining me the next day when he was doing the early bird 20 miler which was starting at 9am or so I thought.
I was averaging around 25 mins for a lap which was a little quicker than I had planned but I felt I could keep that pace going for a good while. This crept up to 27 mins laps at around the 30 mile mark, 29 mins at 40 miles and then at around 1am I felt a pain in my right hip when I had done about 50 miles. I literally thought well that's that, its an injury I am not going to be able to shift. Up to this point the walk had been a lonely one, I hadn't chatted to anyone apart from the ones in the slower group for the first couple of laps. I was able to sit behind a couple of women that looked like they knew what they were doing and the pace was spot on for me. I must have followed them for a couple of hours before they both nipped into the loos. For a split second I thought of waiting for them but realised that would have probably freaked them out! I never did see them again. I had asked Hannah and Wendy after around 40 miles (10:30pm) was there a lot of people on the other side of the course and they replied quite a few had dropped out. Not to feel happy at others pulling out, but it gave me a boost to my own self confidence. So at the 50 mile mark I was coming into my first dip and the problem with my hip. Hannah suggested doing a certain stretch she had done before and with hands on her shoulders I proceeded to put my right foot over my left knee and squat down and held it for about a minute. I then stood up and went on my merry way. I thought wow, that's actually cleared it and im back in the game! Only another 50 mile to go.....
One of the more interesting aspects of walking through a town for 24 hours is the locals carrying on as normal. Shoppers & visitors on Saturday afternoon and then people going to the pub at night. On the circuit we went past the liveliest pub in Castletown - The Union. During the evening a couple of my work colleagues were standing outside giving me some encouragement, while supping a few beers. John Venables and Jon Leigh whose brother Richard was partaking in the walk. They headed off before the pub started to fill up, as its usually the last port of call for locals. It was all good natured and I looked forward to seeing if I knew anybody when walking past to get some interaction from them. It then went quiet at closing time but then an hour later the pub was heaving and it appeared as if there was a private party going on. Around 60 miles in (3:30am) I was walking up Malew Street and one of the marshals said to be careful going through the square as there were some drunk lads milling about. Sure enough, two guys staggering from the pub wanted to give me a hug "heeey mate, yoooo aaaare my f'kin herooo". I gave them a hug and was thankful they moved on. The next time I came around two police vans were parked up and the party was over. It was around that time I started to walk with another guy I knew Chris Burns (Stretch) and it only really came about as he was struggling with blisters. Chris was a much faster walker than myself but it was good to walk with someone especially getting into the bigger miles. I remember we didn't say much as I think we were just trying to keep our heads down and get through it. I then went to the toilet and Chris trundled on and I never caught back up to him.
My chimp was starting to rattle again, he was in pain, bored and becoming restless. I needed something to settle him down. I walked past the supporters which was very quiet now as majority were getting some sleep and I clocked some water melon on the table. As I reached in Hannah grabbed my wrist and shouted "stop! that's not yours!". It belonged to another walker, Mike Bonney. It felt like my chimp had been told off and wasn't happy. When I got back around, Hannah handed me a pot of rice pudding and off I went with a plastic spoon in the other hand. It tasted amazing and then threw the pot in the bin and I remember saying out loud "better?" and replying to myself "better". I was winning the little battles in my head but only just. As daylight was coming up I started to walk with a woman and we chatted about everything and anything for a few hours. She dragged me around and when I started having doubts on finishing as she was a couple of laps ahead of me my head dropped and was starting to moan out loudly - "im never doing another walk ever", "im done, im going to stop". She then turned to me and said "stop being a f*cking pussy and man up!". It was exactly what I needed at the time. A verbal slap in the face. My times were slowing and it took us a while (due to exhaustion) to work out what type of pace I needed to do to get in under the 24 hours. After a couple more laps together, I told her to crack on so she could get in and I could try win this final battle in my head.
At 9am the early bird 20 mile challenge started. Sam flew past me with another guy (Richard Wild) in pursuit of a foreign guy who shot off like a rocket. I shouted abuse at Sam the few times they overtook me just so I could gee myself up. To be fair he took it well and it might have even contributed to him going quicker than what he was expecting to!
Outside the swimming pool which is opposite the Buchan school, Lesley Christian who I knew, was marshalling and shouted encouragement each lap. A few weeks prior to the walk, Lesley had told me she missed out on Centurion status by around 5 miles in the past. She now told me that she should have left at midnight but wasn't leaving until she seen me finish. The boost that gave me was incredible. I disappeared around the corner and as soon as I hit the bypass I put my ailments to the side and put in three quicker laps from around 92 miles in. It was like an arm reaching inside and searching for anything left to give. I went quicker on each one by around 2-3 mins than I had been doing for the past 8 (16 miles). She kept saying when I went past "don't let what happened to me, happen to you!". Michael George (who had won the PW in 2013) was also out on the course and said with a grin "inspire me Pete!". The woman that had walked with me, I overtook her on the course as she had a tear in her hamstring and she ended up walking around 4 mile in that state to get home. All of these things had an effect and it was this sink or swim moment to find the way to get through it that gave me a buzz I hadn't had since the PW. I headed towards the bypass for the penultimate time knowing I had done enough that I could crawl the last lap. I knew I was going to finish and started to well up. There was hardly anybody else on the course by now. Bleep! "Pete Miller, last lap!" the announcer notified me like I might have forgotten. As I came down to start the final 2 miles - Donna Cooper who had started the walk and dibbed out after 30-40 miles with an injured ankle, started to chant "Peeeeter Miller is a walker, is a walker!". Better than white van man's version a few years back. Over the chalk drawings on the road on Arbory Street for the last time - one of which read I ❤ walking. I thanked the marshals on the course who were brilliant, especially Lesley who gave me a big smile with a thumbs up. Over to the bypass and our tent was already packed up and Hannah and Sean were headed to the end to see me finish. Walking up the street and towards the line. I paused just as I got there and put the leg that had the timing chip on over to hear the final Bleep! My finishing time was 23 hours 38 minutes and 28 seconds.
From 101 starters, 48 finished and there were 32 new UK Centurions with one of them being the little hick from the sticks that had just become C1159.
Isle of Man 100 mile walk information
Castletown 100 Mile 2015 YouTube video footage
A month later, Sam Fletcher moved down to Ballabeg with his family and menagerie. The walking was about to go into a whole different dimension...….
Castletown 100 Mile 2015 YouTube video footage
A month later, Sam Fletcher moved down to Ballabeg with his family and menagerie. The walking was about to go into a whole different dimension...….
