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THAT 200-miler with Edwina Sutton
Eddie Sutton's Hilarious and Heart Wrenching Winter Downs 200
Who is Eddie?
Edwina Sutton is a mum of three, an ex-triathlete, an ex-PE teacher and an accomplished ultra runner. When not smashing some of the UK's hardest challenges, she runs her own coaching business. She also co-hosts the popular Tea & Trails Podcast which Harrier is very proud to announce as a new sponsorship partner for 2025.
What is the Winter Downs 200?
The Winter Downs 200 is a 200-mile continuous trail. The route forms a giant loop around the South of England, taking in the North Downs Way, Vanguard Way, South Downs Way, Wayfarers Walk and St Swithuns Way.
So Eddie, as a seasoned runner and racer, why did you choose this race?
“I’ve done a couple of other 200-mile races - the Spine and the Northern Traverse. These big races are different to 50- or 100-milers. You have such a journey on these epically long races and I haven’t yet wanted to go back and revisit one of those journeys. So when I saw the Winter Downs 200 I thought, yep, sign me up.
It’s also at a good time of year, or so I thought. It’s a week before Christmas, so you don’t have to spend the whole festive season thinking about it. You can put your feet up all Christmas, eat mince pies and feel smug that you’ve done this massive thing.
I was also really excited about the route because it included a lot of trails that I knew really well. Plus, it’s a big circle (instead of running A to B) which appealed to me.”
Your recollection of the race on your Podcast is both hilarious and heart wrenching in equal measure. If you were to summarise how the race went , what would you say?
“This is the first 200-miler I’ve done where there’s an opportunity to be crewed. In the others, we had to be self-supported, so I was quite comfortable with that format. The Winter Downs 200 allows you to have crew, so you could have somebody there every few miles giving you food, giving you water, giving you warmth, giving you a car to sleep in, giving you a HUG and sending you on your way. But I was so busy in the build-up to Christmas, and I knew I was comfortable going self-supported - plus I was worried that if I had somebody offering me support I might be tempted to stop - so I decided to do it without crew. What a mistake to make.
Of course, I did it, but I struggled. I suffered a lot with nausea, which I’d experienced before, but I couldn’t turn this race around. From about 55 miles to the end, so about 160 miles, I was really sick and couldn’t keep many calories or much water down. Instead of it being a race, it became a survival.
If you sign up for these massive races, that is what you sign up for. If something doesn’t go your way then you have to be prepared that the suffering might last for days. So it was a lot tougher and I had to go a lot deeper than I anticipated.
Because I couldn’t feed myself, it wasn’t just my body hurting, my head was hurting too. My brain wasn’t telling me to stop, but it wasn’t helping me to move forward as quickly as I’d liked.
I was lucky because a few people were watching my dot and obviously thinking “Poor Eddie” and they’d turn up with some tomato soup for me - unfortunately, one tin of which I proceeded to vomit all over the person’s trainers at 5 am.
It was a tough race mentally and physically for me. Although I’m disappointed with the athletic outcome, the mental strength it took to drag myself around kind of excites me because I think, imagine what I could do if I can get the nausea under control and piece everything together.
That said, it is scary to reach your limits in the way that I did. In the last 5 miles of that race, I felt like I was at my absolute edge and I didn’t enjoy that feeling. Not just as an athlete, but also as a mum, I questioned myself for pushing so hard.
So I learned a lot and, for this first time, this is a 200-miler that I would like to revisit. I want to go back to this one, do it again with a crew.”
This race sounds full of mental highs and lows. What was your highest point?
“I think my highest point came at my lowest point. About 70 miles into the race I had a friend come out. It was about 2.30am and I’d been really sick, the nausea was all-encompassing and I honestly thought, I can’t do this for another 140 miles. I was being extremely dramatic and had a massive diva fit to my friend. I said, I can’t do this and I don’t want to do this. I know what’s coming and how deep I’m going to have to dig and I don’t think I’ve got it in me.
She just turned to me and said, “Well you’re going to do it,” which is an amazing thing from your crew. She said, “You’re going to do it because everybody at home, all your podcast listeners, all of your friends and family” and then she used the trump card and said, “Your kids are going to wake up tomorrow and your dot will still be moving. There’s nothing wrong with you. Yeahhh you’re mildly hypothermic and you’re being sick and you’ve got 140 miles to run BUT there’s actually nothing wrong with you.”
The power of someone else telling you that and believing in you so much, it literally flipped a switch in me. I was like, ok, stop moaning about this, get all your kit on, get warm and get moving again. You’re not going to stop, so stop wasting time saying that you are. From then on, there was never another moment where I wasn’t going to carry on. I just needed that outside influence to go, “You can do this.”
And your lowest point?
“My lowest point was literally at the end of the race. I’d climbed up Box Hill, I was in the woods at the top and I got lost. I knew the finish was less than a mile away and I was just going round and round in these woods. I wanted it to be over so bad. I was so close to just sitting down and waiting for the Centurian race team to come and find me. I couldn’t see a way out. Even though I was so close to the finish, knowing the finish was there and not being able to quite get to it was such a low point.
What are your tips for ultra success?
“Prepare as much as you can. Not just physical preparation - think about your kit, the route, your fuelling, the time of day you’ll be running at and make that specific in your training. For example, if it’s a winter race and you’re running in the dark, be really comfortable with your head torch. If it’s hilly, do specific work on the course.”
“Surround yourself with people that have done the race. There’s so much information on the internet, so you can always find other people’s experiences - good and bad. That really helps with the mental preparation. Not all prep needs to be physical, all of the other little bits are just as important. Your fitness can only get you so far, it’s all the other little bits that are going to carry you through.”
“When things go wrong, sit down and have a snack! In running or in general life, we all make poor decisions when we’re hungry. (Ever been to the supermarket when you’re hungry? Terrible idea!) Whether you’re a seasoned runner or a beginner - if things start getting tough and your brain starts powering over your body and saying negative things, stop and have a snack. Give yourself 15 minutes and remember the lows don’t last forever.”
Kit tips for success
“On such an epic long adventure, the biggest thing is having enough kit with you. Your body is really good at using your energy to keep moving rather than staying warm, so having a good layering system is important. On average, people finish these really long races with 5 layers on, so that’s a lot of kit to carry and to wear.
Know your kit really well and don’t be scared to stop and put it on! If you’re feeling rubbish and low, you’re going to feel so much better if you’re warm. It tells your brain, we’re warm and we’re safe, we can keep going.”
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WANT TO HEAR THE FULL STORY?
We highly recommend it!
Eddie’s recollection of her time on the Winter Downs 200 brings belly laughs and it brings tears. It’s also jam-packed with invaluable advice from one of the best in the biz. Watch it on YouTube here or search for Tea and Trails Podcast wherever you get your pods.
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