Run Day 6 - Hesdin to Canaples

A Hard Day in La Somme

Our hosts, Katie and Eric at La Chope did us proud during our brief stay and it will be good to see them again on Saturday evening after the England-USA game.

It was a distinctly Sunday-morning feel with an even greater tendency to dawdle over breakfast and reluctance to ‘hit the road’. It’s definitely the 30 minutes before starting the run and the first 30 minutes into the marathon that are among the hardest. Contemplating how far has to be covered, and the thought of more and more of it, is difficult to dispel but everyone has their own way of dealing with it.

After team photos outside La Chope, it was 10.45 am when the 2 runners set off at a steady jog but before we had caught them up in the motor home, they were walking and the first 2 miles were punctuated by many stops as Rob knees were very sore and painful. They were heading towards Frevant and in La Weil, an English friend of Katie and Eric’s joined them for 2 miles and helped them to find a gentle rhythm, covering the ground at 5.5 miles per hour.

After 7 miles, the route turned right and up a long drag that picked up the D119 which ran over the rolling countryside for several miles as far as Aix-en-Chapeau. The sun was breaking through more and more after early morning rain and it turned into a pleasant day with a good breeze coming for most of the time, over the boy’s right shoulders’ as they headed south. We passed through several pretty villages and stopped overlooking some beautiful valleys and some wide, open views on roads that were French Sunday-quiet. Waiting for the runners after 15 miles overlooking Aix, we stopped near a nature reserve where badgers were to be found – Tim might have gone searching!

The initial run 60 minutes and walk 5 minutes progressed into run 30 minutes and walk 5 minutes after 18 miles as we neared Bernaville. Foolishly, I walked back to meet the guys and then jogged with them for ½ mile, walked for 5 minutes and then jogged on for another 1 mile. As they easily moved ahead of me as we neared the camper van, Dan was surprised how hot I was and how much I was blowing –as they have got stronger and stronger so my fitness levels have moved in the opposite direction – too much sitting around on my arse – worrying!  

The finish today was on the D933 (the road that will take us all the way to Amiens) between Bernaville and Canaples after 5 hours and 7 minutes. This was another brave effort by the boys, as Rob said, ‘I now know what my sister’s patients mean when they say they are hurting all over’.

Our stay for tonight is in a converted farmhouse in Naourt, where there is reputed to be an underground city. The family have been celebrating 2 birthdays and as we arrived, around 30 of them were enjoying a meal sat in the courtyard along a huge wooden table.

Tomorrow, we will travel through Amiens and onto the N7 and the road to Paris. As Rob said, ‘we’ve stopped moving away from the start and started moving towards the finish’.