Here is some pre race briefing for anybody who is running their first 50 miler.
The rest of you know what you have to do.
The mental low point of your first 50 miler comes around the half way mark. At this point you might already be having to dig deep, as you would be towards the end of a marathon, and the knowledge that you have as far to go again can be a tough obstacle to overcome.
I cannot stress this too strongly, because last year 10 % of the field failed to finish this race, and virtually all of these people quit at the half way aid station when faced with the enormity of running as far again. Virtually everybody who got past this psychological hurdle finished the race.
Once you hit the 30 mile mark, you will start to get a real sense that the task ahead of you is getting smaller. With every mile from then onwards you will be chopping the race down into smaller pieces. It is easy to dig deep when the remaining section of the race is getting smaller, and this poses much less psychological challenge than the half way mark.
When your efforts finally pay off, you are tired and running through the darkness with a head torch. Suddenly you see the lights of the bandstand at Henley off to the side and run towards them. As you draw towards the lights, the assembled crowd applauds, and you cross the finish line on tottery legs. Steve Adams congratulates you and presents you with your medal and T shirt ( nice medal incidentally).
At this stage it is alright to get a bit emotional.
