24/7

Yesterday was the start of the 24/7.(Read previous post for explanation).We got to the school oval at 7:30 to collect our registration packet and to start setting up our tents. The registration pack included: Electronic bib tags to record our laps, Dinner cards and breakfast cards that we had to hand in we had those meals. We set up our tents then waited for the speeches before the actual race. A representative from the chosen charity explained what the money we raised would be used for. Then the coordinators of the challenge told the starting runners to line up at the start and then they were off. The clock started, and it was very fast. Harry went out quick to avoid the wave of slower runners behind him that would block our way. The track was a 550metre loop so our team would be over taking people all the time. We were going fast at the start, but we all feeling good. There was one problem though and that was that the score board wasn't working and it was giving teams laps when they hadn't done them. Because of our pace and the fact that nobody was overtaking us it was obvious that we were first, but the scoreboard said we were ninth. We slowed down a bit not wanting to use lots of our energy if it was going to be wasted. Each of us had 4 half an hour breaks during the race and one 3 hour sleeping time during the night according to my schedule. The race started at 10am and by 5pm we were ok. Some of us went to get dinner and food while the other kept running. The scoreboard still wasn't fixed although the technicians were working on it. At 9pm 2 people had their sleeping break and I had a half hour break. I was starting to hurt. My knee was starting to click and my calves felt like someone was slowly pulling them apart. I kept going. In the dark at 11 at night. You are just running and you are hoping its going to end soon. You have no hope as the clock says you are only just past halfway and everything hurts. They whole 300m is just a wave of pain until you hand the baton to the next person and you collapse in a chair. By 1 in the morning you are hurting even more. I couldn't bend my knee well and but I was pushing through. My calves were awful and the tendon behind my knee was killer. The scoreboard however was fixed, but we missed out on some of our laps because the recording system had broken as well. To make matters worse the team behind us was slowly gaining. We continued and found ourselves 10 laps ahead of the second place team and it was staying at that interval. At 3 in the morning it was my 3 hour sleep time and I collapsed in one of our tents. Before I knew it I was asleep and was woken  up at 6 in the morning to start running again. I shuffled along when the baton was handed to me trying not to let anyone pass me. The sun was starting to come up now and this gave us more energy. We extended our lead to 12 then 15 laps. I was still struggling  however and I just wanted it to end. When there was only 3 hours left I tried to push on. I did, picking up my pace a bit more every time it was my go to run. With an hour left we were going alright. We had a 20 lap lead and wanted to extend it. I was absolutely spent, I was struggling through. It wasn't like I was gasping for air. I felt like I was just breathing normally but my legs were wrecked. The pain was awful. When it finished I was so happy. We listened to some after speeches and we had to go up on stage because we won. The scoreboard only counted the last 15 hours of the challenge and it missed the start when we were really moving. I reckon I ran about 45km in all. Next year I'm going to do it, but walk it instead of running. I think I will be sore for about 4 days after this.