Run Day 5 - Desvres to Hesdin

A Good Day Sur La Route de Sept Vallée

Robert a visité le medecin ce matin et il a retourné a notre hotel pour le petit déjeuner. Son crevis a tendonitis et ze cream and ze painkillers were to do ze job. Nous allons a Desvres et les braves recommencent de l’Aldi supermarché.

Le premier kilometre vas ze meme as ze end of yesterday’s run and then continued up a steep climb which helped Dan and Rob to find a good rhythm. They were both jogging easily at a steady 6mph pace and looked more comfortable than at any other time since the first morning. The countryside was rolling and the road quietened as we turned onto the D343 and continued through Zoteux and Hucqueliers. Rob’s ankle was not bothering him too much and after two painful twinges in his calf, Dan settled down, looking as if he could have run much faster.

Initially, I travelled with Stephen in the Saab whilst Sandra, Faye and Valerie finished their shopping at the Aldi and went ahead to stop in the town square at Hucqueliers and enjoyed a hot chocolate in a café before the boys arrived having covered 9 miles. They were running for 60 minutes and then walking and drinking for 5 minutes and, incredibly after yesterday’s torture, maintained this pattern throughout the run.

I rejoined Sandra and Faye in the van and Val went back into the Saab and we drove ahead to the 12 mile mark, just through the roundabout at Henelot. This was the point at which our path towards Paris joined la route de sept Vallée. We had 4 to cross with steep climbs and descents in each case between the 14 and 20 mile points. It was a nice Saturday afternoon for running (or doing most things for that matter) with the sun appearing regularly through a bright but cloudy sky with a light cooling breeze and the countryside was beautiful and looking very English-like.

The guys devoured the steep climbs – their fitness level really is amazing – , even managing a short sprint to the top of the last hill, but found the down hills more painful, walking down the steepest bits. A few miles further on, they passed La Loge and ran on into La Forêt d’Hesdin. They reached the 25 mile mark by the station where the motor home was parked on the edge of Hesdin and continued through the town to finish in a creditable 4 hours 46 minutes – a performance that yesterday evening seemed impossible.

Sandra and I are staying near the station tonight whilst the others are at La Chope, a friendly and well-equipped hotel ran by an English couple, Katie and Eric. The town is larger than any we have visited since leaving Calais and there should be plenty of restaurants for a nice meal tonight to celebrate a very good day’s work.