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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon at Bayswater Tube |
Its a wet rainy Saturday in February , its 3pm in the afternoon and the rain has driven the throng of tourists into the tube stations in London rather than walk and get wet, I’m in a huge standstill queue of people looking to get in to Covent Garden Tube Station, dressed in running gear , smelling like a dead badger with a 6kg pack and I’m so confused I think this is Piccadilly Station. So far I’ve visited 20 tube stations that day WITHOUT catching a single tube train and my Zone 6 Travelcard is so wet it doesn’t work anymore and looks 5 years old ……. but let me take you back a week to explain how I ended up there…..and why I was smiling despite the chaos.
The final part of my Marathon des Sables training needed to be something special. I set myself the task of running 160 miles in 6 days (same distance and duration as the actual desert race) WHILST working a normal week and decided to finish the event with the ‘Underround’ which is a devilishly concocted boutique marathon running between 42 London Tube stations AND running down and up to a tube platform at each devised by Rory Coleman.
I started on Monday 15th feb and ran a half marathon to and from work between Godalming and Farnham off road every single day. I ran with my full desert gear and all the food I needed for the week so I could fully test all my gear 6 weeks before ‘Sandy Jog Week’
The week of running went reasonably well, I had a ‘custard fail ‘ putting 900ml of water into a 300ml water custard mix for my freeze dried meal one night , and I picked the coldest week of the year to run to and from work with temps as low as minus 4 on Thursley Common which meant my laces froze into a big ice cube and I couldn’t undo them sometimes without help.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon at Sloane Square Tube |
I learnt that some of the food I’ve selected I simply don’t want to eat after a few days running , and some of my kit isn’t up to the job ( AGAIN) including sadly a brand new pair of Brooks Adrenaline which lasted only 5 days before coming apart.
I also caught a terrible cold .
Then came Saturday ….. THE BIG ONE….. where I had decided to finish the week with the Underround marathon .
I planned to run it in full kit with rucksack and take on the challenge with a good friend Kieran. We opted for a victory of ‘Nerd over fitness’ in the weeks leading up to the run by getting our hands on ALL of the tube stations in a 3D axonomic map so that we could calculate exactly the closest tube platform to the entrance taking into account distance AND depth. We also had a huge spreadsheet detailing ALL tunnel depths for all lines at all stations.
Kieran also has THE KNOWLEDGE for central London having been based there at University and in the Army . The deck was firmly stacked in my favour….. or so I thought.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon at Kings Cross Tube |
Not many people realise but tube stations are actually designed to funnel commuters SLOWLY round to the platforms to sop up some of the surges . Often when you follow the signs for a line or a platform on the tube you are NOT going the quickest route there .
Our careful studies had worked out the fastest routes and shallowest platforms , and Kieran had MEMORISED not only the route but also which platform to go for at each station and the route to take below ground. A staggering feat in its own right when you compare to me who during the run often wasn’t sure which tube station I was in.
Sensibly we also opted for the time when the crowds would be at the most sparse so we set off at the crack of noon (ish) on a Saturday as we definitely felt that a Saturday afternoon in the West End would be a doddle on the tubes.
We were wrong.
We started under the clocks and departure board at Kings Cross at 12.06 ish . I was strangely nervous about the day and as it gently started to rain just as we started.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon |
Kieran was kind enough to remind me how slippery the stations can be in the rain by falling over in the first 30 seconds to remind me to take it easy on corners.
To say this run is hectic is an understatement. Tube stations blur past in a flurry of urban running in the rain followed by the bustle of getting to a tube in the warmth and getting a photo by the tube sign on the platform , touching the yellow line on the platform then running back up the stairs or escalators. It becomes a bizarre and surreal ON/OFF run / tube / run / tube / run / tube…..and a lot of VERY STRANGE LOOKS as we don’t get on any tube trains.
We got lost a few times , I needed a wee way too often and we accidentally bought cheeseburgers twice just to be polite so we could go to the toilet. On two tube stations we lost each other in the throng and ‘flew solo’ to the platforms before bumping into each other again near the exits.
We also played separate escalator poo sticks.
There was a situation where we may have run in the wrong direction, we also took a shortcut through a Wetherspoons in Leicester Square that used to be the Marquee Club where Wham! recorded their I’m Your Man video and we also had an incident in the Barbican where we simply couldn’t find a way to navigate round/ over / though it and somehow ended up running through a building with carpets when we were convinced we were outside. We got strange looks from a receptionist and a cleaner as we stood in a quiet reception area trying to understand how we had accidentally ‘got indoors’ .
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon half way half pint at wetherspoons |
We also found ourselves on an 8 man Pedibus ‘Beer Bicycle’ going the wrong way with a stag do and created a new past-time called Ultrabusking where you record yourself in Ultra gear dancing with London Buskers.
The run is so mentally taxing that the hours fly past. You don’t have time to be tired as you are too distracted. throughout the run we were live tweeting short videos and pics of some of our tube station conquests.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon by the London Eye |
The sun set as we ran through the Square mile and all we had left was the ominous final tube station at RUSSELL SQUARE tube with 175 steps from platform to entrance. It was a killer but we managed it with just a half mile dash back to Kings Cross….
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon at the 175 steps up from Russell Square Tube |
and then it was all over !
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon – Our finishing time with our Garmin 225 |
Our time of 6 hrs 49 mins meant we were the 5th fastest 2 man team and 33rd fastest time ever recorded. I had predicted a sub 7 hr time for us given my 130 ish mile handicap and the conditions so were very very pleased. Top Gear say that rain can add an extra 15% to the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car Lap time so we have applied to Rory Coleman to have our time recorded as a ‘ Wet Lap Time’ which we think is fair.
Overall I had run roughly 160 miles in 6 days and was still smiling.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon – 6 marathons in 6 days. |
I was ready for the Sahara, Kieran was very tired and was ready for bed.
No Medal , No cheering crowds , no finishing line goodies …this was purist running at its best and will become one of the most memorable and surreal marathons I’ve ever done.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans runs the Rory Coleman London Underround Marathon- my battered and soaked tube ticket |
If you are interested in running the Underround or the personal training sessions with 9 World Record Holder Rory Coleman you can find out more here
http://www.rorycoleman.co.uk/Events_underround.asp?nid=109&pid=58
Id also like to thank all of the London Underground staff for being so accomodating and our partners Pulsin and Beond and GU gels for keeping us well fuelled for the day.
Our next challenge is the World Famous Wife Carrying Race in two weeks time where we are hoping to be testing out a prototype revolutionary video camera from INTOVA.