It's amazing how a city as beautiful as Rouen can host such a disappointingly depressing route.
I had been looking forward so much to the Wings For Life 2016 edition, this year in Rouen, France. My training was going well, so I was hoping to have a great run and maybe even beat my best performance of 2014 in Ypres, when I ran for 28.3 km until the Catcher car reached me. But various factors worked against me on the day.
To begin with, it was so hot. The first few kilometres were uphill inside the less attractive parts of the city, then a sharp downhill and further twists and turns in nondescript residential areas. It was important to stay hydrated given the high temperature, so we were looking forward to the first feeding and hydration station at 5 km. Except that there was nothing of the sort. Neither was there any at the 6 km mark...
We were already considerably thirsty when we reached the first measly watering station somewhere between the 7th and the 8th kilometre. You could see it from afar as a commotion had developed around the small couple of tables that were supposed to serve thousands of thirsty runners in a hurry. So how did the efficient organisers go about supplying water to said thousands of runners? Instead of providing small plastic bottles for runners to pick up and drink on the run, they employed helpers to fill small plastic cups from huge 2 litre bottles. The poor volunteers were hopelessly outnumbered and simply couldn't cope. The flimsy cups were falling over or being tipped over by frantic runners desperate to pick up a cup and keep going. What a chaos. I grabbed a plastic cup half filled with water, gulped it down and ran on, still thirsty.
The water situation never improved. This was a major fault of the Rouen Wings For Life 2016. Everyone knew from a week ahead that it was going to be hot and that 6000 participants would need to drink a lot of water, but the amount supplied was so inadequate. At 12 or 13 km we ran along the main quay of the river Seine - one of the more attractive parts of the course - in front of generally amused spectators having a drink at a table. I remember thinking that if I grabbed a bottle of water from one of these tables, its owner wouldn't be able to do anything about it and I would obtain some desperately needed rehydration.
The same thought occurred to me later when we passed some buses with large quantities water bottles inside. Can't figure out for whom these were intended. Too bad I didn't take one, gorge myself in it and pass on to other runners.
From the 14th kilometre or so onwards the route ran along the river Seine. I had been looking forward to some picturesque scenery, the river on the left and forests or peaceful agricultural areas on the right. It was nothing of the sort. We only had occasional glimpses of the river while running through industrial storages, factories and such stuff. A strong headwind just had to blow up at that point. This, together with the heat, the lack of water and my much too fast first hour (effortless, it had seemed at the time) added up at 21 to 22 km into a sudden urge to slow down to a walk. It happens sometimes, unfortunately. Maybe I gave in too easily to the urge. Maybe I should have slowed down to a jog and pressed on, but it's easy to say now. I was tired and I was only interested in reaching the next water station.
I did resume running and as the 26 km mark approached we heard the cacophony of the catcher car coming up from behind. I increased the pace, determined to pass at least the 26 km point, and when the car reached me I had sprinted up to about 26.3 km.
Oh well. Hopefully, next time I'll do better. Up until now my Wings For Life performances are looking disconcertingly like a steady decline:
2014 in Ypres - 28.3 km, nursing a hamstring injury, not knowing if I could even run at all, I started at a very careful pace, which was probably the main reason why I had a fantastic run. The other reason was the weather, which was simply, absolutely, perfect. And a totally flat route.
2015 in Porto - 27.5 km, running into an Atlantic storm on an undulating route.
2016 in Rouen - 26.3 km.
2017? Who knows. Still looking forward to it and to, just maybe, more favourable conditions. Although my best performance may well be already in the past... on an injured hamstring.
