Running Riot...

Just Entered...

2012-03-07T22:58:00.000Z

http://beyondmarathon.com/wordpress/dusktildawn/

So races that I have actually entered this year...

Grantham ultra x2 this weekend

Lightning 12 hour race End of March

Viking Way 148mile 7th April

Sandstone Trail 34miles 12 May

Anglesey 100km May?

Lakeland 100 end of July

Dusk Til Dawn, October

There are a number of others I have my eye on as and when I can fit them in and depending if I can make time!

LDWA nr Bury, Peelers Hike Mar 4th

2012-03-04T22:00:00.000Z

Saturday Evening

Saturday evening a major cook up with 5.5 kg of lasagne, some of which is still in existence this evening (Sunday)

Sunday morning a quick trip to Bury which turned out to be closer than expected! Time for tea and toast at the start HQ. People setting off at different times but the main runners group setting off at 9.30am
Not really a serious race and placings aren't really a big thing, it's more an excuse to get out somewhere new follow some coded directions, run on a few hills, some mud, usually cake filled check points, all accompanied by poor weather conditions although on this occasion it was relatively good weather with only a few spots of rain and some snow. About 600m elevation, 37.5km and the 4 of us rolled in around 4 hours and a few mins, managed to find time for a river crossing it was only chest deep though so nothing major although when I unstrapped my pack and launched it over to the other side the look on a dog walkers face was priceless!!!
Anyway, on with the race which I have done in pictures..... I missed the key points such as start and finish although here is the bit in the middle!

CP1 8mins into race!

James Love, Vici Mousley, Debs ?, and myself ran as a 'pack'

Around a

reservoir

First encounter of reasonable mud

Came through clean, 15mins done

Definitely part of the route

Where is this tower 'full of cakes'?

There was no food here!!!

Snow on a van

9Bar holder on the back

only knee deep this one, much later found a waist deep river!

On the top of somewhere

Vicci eyeing up her next victim?

A quick assault on the Lake District 26 FEB

2012-02-28T12:57:00.004Z

What better way to spend your Sunday morning than wolfing down a smoothie and popping up to the Lake District?! I arrived around 8am planning to do either option 1 a long section of the Lakeland 100mile race by getting a bus from Ambleside to Keswick and running back OR option 2 a bit of a BGR style recce. I arrived and noticed I had forgot to pack my compass so I parked up and searched pretty much every shop that was open at 8.30 on a Sunday morning, for a compass to no avail. I got a bit of food then noticed some of the staff in the shop below the climbing wall just arriving so I managed to get one from them before they opened properly! Thanks Guys! After that a quick feed and grabbed a bit more lunch to take with me and I headed over to Langdale opting for option 2 as I had now missed the bus to get to Keswick.

Weather was reasonable in the valley but cloudy over the peaks. I hiked up to Stickle Tarn pretty rapidly passing a few groups of walkers and followed the tarn around to take a direct line up Sergeant Man, now in the clouds. Ground was quite wet with a few pockets of snow around. From here I followed a bearing for a small tarn not far from the top of High Raise, and then from there to the trig point on High Raise for a quick photo and to put my jacket on. From here the weather became more cloudy and some light rain, pretty windy in places but not too bad until it got dark.

High Raise, the best weather I had really.

After HR I headed in the direction of Thunacar Knot on to Harrison Stickle before wolfing down a bit more food and a 9 bar and heading on to Pike of Stickle. I dashed across Martcrag Moor which was quite enjoyable long gradual descent with a few bogs and things to bounce through.After this I went around onto Rosset Pike enjoying some rock hopping on route.

Tombstone like rock nr Rosset Pike

From there a quick trip around Angle Tarn and up to Ore Gap where I intended to divert to Bow Fell although I changed my mind and decided to leave it for the way home! Quite high up there was the occasional bit of snow around between Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag and the Scafells. A group of walkers were taking a direct route following the cairned path to Scafell Pike and I could here them talking somewhere within the blanket of cloud each time I diverted off to a peak they would pass, then as I headed for the next peak I would pass them, continuing in this fashion until somewhere before Scafell Pike. After Scafell pike I planned to head down in the direction of Wasdale then cut back up a steep line to Scafell. On descending a couple called me, I just managed to stop before them after a reasonably quick descent.
'Which way is down?' He asked.... It was clearly the opposite way to where they were going as they were pushing uphill.

Where are you going? I asked

'To the bottom, where the car park is, next to THE lake!'

I'm not being funny, but there are a lot of lakes being the Lake District do you know the name of it? I don't want to send you the wrong way!

After a look on his printed out map we figured it out and they carried on to 'the top' presumably Scafell Pike. Not very easy to find in cloud with no propper map or compass, always worth having one even on a clear day and knowing how to use it, just in case!

I headed down towards Wasdale to the wall that crosses the path near Lingmell Gill before cutting around Scafell heading southwards and then taking a pretty direct line upto Scafell. Didn't hang around too long as time was getting on I moved on to Foxes Tarn and followed the valley down with a good pace to the river Esk. My route took me up towards Esk Hause and it began to get dark pretty quick so out came the head torch. I headed back over Esk Pike towards Bowfell with the conditions worsening the wind was quite strong and although I was dry beneath my jacket, the weather wasn't getting any more pleasant! I decided to cut off and head down into the valley where conditions wouldn't be as bad and there was an easy trail to get back to Langdale as it was getting late and I had to be working at 6.30. Onto the Cumbria way which could accommodate a car I picked up a good pace and followed it all the way past the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub and back to my car.

Before it got dark, looking towards river Esk

Totalled 2700m elevation, 40km and a good day out. Legs not really feeling any aches although I wasn't pushing the pace particularly hard. Good nav practice!

Pretty much best view all day!

Langdale, Stickle Tarn, Sergeant Man, High Raise, Thunacar Knot, Harrison Stickle, Pike of Stickle, Martcrag Moor, Buck Pike, Rosset Pike, Esk Pike, Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Esk Hause, Angle Tarn, Langdale!

19th Feb London Ultra 50km

2012-02-21T19:33:00.002Z

London ultra '50'km as easy as following signs! Ideal running conditions if you

lost the breeze! Played the game 'spot the runner' on the train across to the start generally quite easy on the first trains on Sunday morning. The thought process is something like this.
Is suspected runner wearing some kind of running trainers?
Do they generally stand out as being a bit weird?

Are they displaying an item of clothing that's fluro green?
A backpack that is loaded up with bits wedged into every compartment and a few stray energy gels dangling off it?
Tights?
Are they twitching with excitement?
Are they chain munching their way through a neverending supply of bananas?
And the real clincher... When asked, are they 'taking it easy'/ 'done no training oh except a few 8hour runs here and there' OR... 'injured'?
Anyhow Bumped into ome familiar faces and met some new ones making the jump up from marathon distance. Found the start quite easy as there was a good stream of runners to follow by now and got in line for race numbers at a pavillion

Race got underway just after 9.15 and I found myself about 6th with a small group pushing on in front. I thought I spotted Stuart Mills ahead there too? With a few twists and turns the group moved out of sight and I ran with a chap who was similar paced for a couple of checkpoints before he moved ahead. I ran at what felt comfortable, a pace that would land me 50k in about 3.45. running through a flooded tunnel at about 5k gave us some nice wet feet. The signs for capital ring were relatively good to follow if you kept your eyes open (it was meant to be a marked out course so no real nav skills required) Somewhere just before marathon distance I managed to miss a sign and proceeded to run about 5mins off course. Looking back at where I should have gone on a map there might have been a group of cycling people infront of where the sign roughly would have been. I reached a river and I realised I was heading back to where I had come from and spun round to follow the river on to the final cp. Passed through the cp grabbed a quick can of coke and a few jbs. Only actually rented the coke but im sure my body absorbed some of the goodness in the 90sec it was in my stomach. I picked up the pace now with about a marathon on the watch. Following the course happily along the canal crossed the bridge and I knew there was a fork to the right coming up. sure enough there it was. I bounced down and jammed on the brakes. The path had a big fence across and some sort of police notice. bugger.I headed back onto the towpath and carried on slow, deciding what to do. The next runner caught up and we tried to figure a way around. Not much luck and after ten mins of head scratching up came RobbIe and a few others. None any the wiser about directions we set off heading at a guess the direction of the finish. I had reached 50k on my watch in about 4hours 2mins and I figured out a rough position on the map and seemed to turn into group navigator. When I stopped to walk and check the map so did the others. It seemed pretty much 2 straight roads to get us back on course... maybe 2km? then about the same distance onto the finish. Robbie moved ahead and managed to find someone passing by who had actually heard of 'PerIvale' where we were set to finish. As I got close to the junction to take me back to the course I zipped across the road and left my tail and set about chasing down Mr britton over the final field with the finish flags in sight. I think I rolled in 6th. but ill check that. 4hours 23min 54.8km. Pretty disappointed with the time. Although I did get better value for money... more miles for the same entry fee! Running fast is great if your going in the right direction! Vale my transport coordinator... I would still be lost within the tube somewhere without her... and now newly addicted ultrarunner managed a solid sub 5hour time just a whisker behind ladies favourite Trinity, in her first ultra marathon!! Lots of regulars out in force too big well dones all around!

Good finish location. A shower powerful enough to take your skin off. Some nice mugs big enough to drown a triathlete and his pointy bike helmet.

I've been writing this during my coach journey home with the ever reliable N******* E******. Comfortable, cheap, timely and you can always rely on a good quote from the driver
my most noteworthy from a previous journey...
After enquiring if the bus was travelling to London as it had the correct code but the destination said something else... the driver was kind enough to entertain me with the response
'it says f***ing India on the Tyres too but am not going there neither'

Tonight wasn't quite so exciting....
whilst boarding bus 'wheres ya ticket mate?'
here, as I handed it over
'where ya goin mate?'
Warrington
'Is that the date?!'

yeah 
'Get on then'
 
I felt like royalty being talked to so politely.
 
There are some photos from Ultra Race on the following link.
http://ultrarace.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=750539ecb2127951ccae158ec&id=3c137fd479&e=0720683d28
 
That pretty much concludes the race, incredible how lost you can get when following signs!

All in all quite a hilarious/disastrous race.

11th Hell Runner, Cannock + 12th Mad Dog 10km, Southport!

2012-02-17T20:12:00.006Z

Hell Runner, for anyone who hasn't experienced it yet, is basically an off road running race in the region of 10-12 miles incorporating a couple of swamps and bogs, as many short sharp hills as the venue allows, a bit of technical trail running and on this occasion ICE!

Went down to Cannock with a friend Christian Roach, both all the more enthusiastic about the early start when we felt the temperature outside! At the venue the sun was shining although the temperature still hadn't quite nudged over 0C. We had a quick look around the start area and a warm up jog before becoming lost in the crowds. The start finish area was a little cramped between the baggage marquee and some trade tents making it a bit difficult to move around but we coped! Bumped into Ria Bright who had gone to all the effort of getting me a birthday present!!! Thanks for that!

Everyone huddled into the start line ready for the slightly delayed start, I think it was deliberate to ruin any attempts to warm up. Some very competitive looking chaps around and from the start a small group of us pulled away down hill towards the first short sharp hill, the kind of gradient you can just about run up. A few lying branches and patches of ice to contend with I found myself in the top 5 as we began to thin out a little, there was a small loop about 1 mile before passing by the start finish area and heading off across the forrest on a long track, mainly covered in ice making traction when you're trying to run fast a wee bit difficult.

http://www.21cphotos.com/i_gallery.php?gallery_id=2725#
I can be seen on the 4th and 5th image of the middle row, the water was about to get a lot deeper!

The course seeked out every short sharp hill within a 3 mile radius of the start line, occasionally detouring into some wicked single track twisting and turning through the trees (up and downhill of course). I was really enjoying the single track although my legs were 'a bit heavy' (ie stiff as!) after my 3 days 'holiday' in the Lake District the previous 3 days. After a while we passed a swamp kind of rectangular that was around 60m long with tape at the far end to funnel us in, except this time we were only running past, that was saved for later, just a quick glimpse of it now to torment any tiring runners. More hills and a very twisty section in the dense woods where I managed to build up a good gap with the runner behind (I could no longer hear him breathing or his footsteps pounding down the hills at least). After that I came to a track with an arrow pointing right..... great! but which right is it? Is it right on the main track or right on the single track? The runner behind caught up, I shouted 'If you know the way jump infront 'cos Im guessing!' I scrambled up over the mound in the middle and decided to follow the main track after about 30seconds I spotted the next arrow so picked the pace back up leaving said runner.

When your Adidas trail shoe attacks you

Out into the open again and we turned, in the distance there was the 'Bog of Doom!' during Hell Runner at Delamere I had a nice leisurely wade through the bog as I had a substantial lead, this time however I ploughed on through straight into the ice. The shins took a bit of damage but the legs were pretty frozen after about 60 seconds of wading. This was roughly 13km. I was expecting another 5km then I would be finished. The runner behind was close again but as soon as I noticed him behind I moved away again as we hit the track heading back towards the finish, one last diversion into the woods and I figured unless there was another surprise loop before the finish we must be almost done? With that I sped up a bit and pushed on to the finish which gave me a total of 15.1km about 2 miles shorter than I expected which was a surprise!

I finished in 5th, 1.11 for 15km which was a little slower than I would have liked but considering the pre fatigued legs I was quite happy! Had a bit of a shoe issue with some Adidas trail shoes... one of the rubber knobbles in the tread pushed through the sole into my foot creating a nice sore patch, under the ball of my foot, which I wasn't overly happy about.

Shins post hell runner, they stung in the shower!

After a quick change I proceeded do dig through the goody bag for any item that was edible and chatted to a few people here and there whilst Christian was now in the finish line funnelling system which had started to fill up. For someone who isn't a keen runner and entered for a bit of a laugh not bad at all!! Home via a pub for birthday lunch (thanks mate!) and ready for Sunday

Mad Dog 10k Southport!

Its 2nd year and already proving to be a very popular road race. Last year an incredible headwind gave me a finish time around 41mins which turned out to be about 8th position off the top of my head. This year a little bit of a dull day but no gales.

The legs didn't feel much worse after Hell Runner, although my shins were a little sore from breaking ice with them. The venue was pretty full of people collecting T shirts etc I managed to bump into my little brother doing the fun run 1mile with his pal and also one of my clients, Diane who tries her best to arrange her runs with bad weather!

As we all squeezed out of the start and off towards the Coast road there was probably around 100 people infront of me. I began to edge past a few, the traffic free roads were nice although there wasn't much in the way of scenary. Quite a few runners passed me back maybe around 20 up until the water station at half way, I passed half way in around 20mins and began to pick the pace up, moving my way up the field gradually.

Nothing all that exciting to report, im not going to write a lot about a 10k road race, I rolled in 38mins and some seconds 34th out of the 1120 finishers. Not my quickest but with the continuing trend of tired legs over the previous 5 days, quite happy with that!

Diane did brilliant! Smashing her previous pb by over 5mins and blowing the 50minute target out of the water! Coming in at 48mins! She has been training hard and putting in a lot of effort which shows in her results! Champion!

Di incredibly enthusiastic about the start! Raring to go!

Best caption competition....

2012-01-28T16:09:00.002Z

'Are you SURE this is the bridleway?'

UR 45mile x2! 21st + 22nd Jan

2012-01-24T20:03:00.000Z

The first 2 races in Rory and Jens ULTRArace series of 2012 had around 60 finishers on day one and half of that on day 2. Some of us running both days others (sensible ones? running 'just' one of the days) The course for day 2 was day 1 in reverse with a minor detour around a fishing match (perhaps to avoid annoying fisherman whose poles block the tow path when they are manouvering huge fish from the water? Also much easier for us to run around them, rather than turn it into the ur45 hurdles)

http://www.mmtrack022.co.uk/14/link.php?M=4354350&N=2156&L=4851&F=H

Day 1 45miles from Northampton to Tring.
I slithered out of bed at 4am, squashed the carefully arranged, pile of running gear from the floor into a backpack, blended up a smoothie and hit the road. It was around 2 hours drive to Northampton for an 8am start (seeing as im from WARRINGTON not Wakefield -RORY).
Journey there... all ok, arrived and had a jog down the first km of the course to where we join the canal that pretty much takes us all the way to the finish with a few bridge crossings here and there to stay on the right towpath! Jogged back up had a quick banana, caught up with a few runners and observed the ever entertaining race briefing before we lined up on the start.

For a change I tried my very best not to look at the time or speed on my Garmin and instead run to how I felt. From the start and the first km down to the canal I had moved into the lead. On the whole it was easy to follow the course with occasional markers although I got the map out quite frequently on bridge crossings to decide which side I should be on (never managed to get 'lost' but with hindsight checking the bridge numbers beforehand would have been a significant benefit, worth bearing in mind if you are signing up!)

There was a little rain the day before but I opted for road shoes and on the whole they were fine although I did find myself scrambling a little on some of the small 'muddy' sections. I passed the first CP around 13.6km in 1hour and couldn't hear anybody behind me for quite some time. There was quite a stretch to the next CP I just carried on running at what felt like a good pace bearing in mind I would be running back tomorrow! Shortly after CP3 I was dying to look at my watch to see what kind of time pace I had been going as I was becoming quite thirsty and having forgot my Nuun electrolytes (they were in my overnight bag just had none with me) I was a bit concerned. I gave in and looked at the watch I had done 3hours 57mins and 52km... Quicker than it felt I was going! I slowed down a little to the next CP until I could get some more water. I was passed steadily by day 1 winner Ed O'Reilly just before the CP. I had a good drink and filled my bottle and pressed on.

From there more canal as we neared TringBefore the end I was passed by another runner doing only the day 1 who finished about 3mins ahead at the Pendley Manor Hotel in Tring where we had a delicious bit of soup waiting for us along with our bags! I finished day 1 with 76km in 6hours 6mins (47miles).

Jay Macdonald, a friend running day 1 finished almost an hour quicker than last time!! He was kind enough to be housing me and ferrying me around for the weekend along with Rachel his girlfriend who has been brilliant manning many of the previous UR check points and putting up with grumpy, tired runners who moan about the left over flavours of Jelly Babies or the distance of the CP being 100m further than expected. After the race and a few soups, bottles of water and more water, we headed home via the pub (an exciting pint of water for me), for more water, and a big pizza!

DAY 2!
I woke up a couple of times in the night for a drink being really thirsty and when the alarm went at half 6 I got out of bed. It felt like my legs were still in bed, so I woke them up again and got ready for another day along the canal! Guzzled down some more water and the surviving pieces of pizza before doing some mobility exercises and left for Tring and day 2. The pre race brief seemed empty a few less runners than yesterday!

Although the legs felt a bit stiff they loosened up well after the first few minutes as we joined the canal. Likely the case for most of the 'double' runners, with one or 2 new and fresh looking runners joining us again for 'just' one day. Day 2 had a slight bit more wind in our faces it seemed although the ground was a little drier. A lot of the tow path is surfaced so road shoes are great, there is a chunk on grassy paths which after rain may be worth opting for trail shoes.

Today I was trying to get more water inside as I still felt slightly dehydrated and adopted a slower pace than I had planned. The legs were never going to do a fast sprint today but were comfortable ticking along at a steady pace. To save time and keep drinking I planned to drink as I crossed a bridge, taking my time so as not to end up running the wrong side of the canal! Everything passed a bit slower than day 1, I got a few photographs of some amusing boat names including 'A waste of time' and 'Home' and an artistic bit of painting somewhere not far from Milton Keynes.

If you have a phobia of water, ducks, dogs, canals, fisherman (anglers?), boats, towpaths or bridges this may not be your ideal race. Time seemed to tick along slowly, I stopped to do a few mobility exercises for my hips which worked great, just then I reached the 2nd last CP for the day, leaving quite a slog around 19km to the last CP, I took an extra bottle of water, filled my bottle, a handful of JBs and a coke. I found it easier to keep running at a steady pace than to take any walk breaks. Just as I started to wonder about the last CP I noticed the water turning green indicating I was close to the Blisworth tunnel (aparently somebody last year attempted to shimmy along a brick width ledge inside the 2km tunnel last year!)

From here up a gentle climb to the CP before a short road section then back to the canal for the final 10k back to Northampton! The finish was up a gentle slope and around the side of the Park hotel where a slightly chilled Rory and Jen were waiting along with a good friend Vale who had some delicious sandwiches ready for me!

The old legs were a wee bit stiff after the drive home and didn't feel much better the next morning. Probably the most ache I have had from any running actually. Luckily Monday morning at work only involved a kettlebell session and some lunges after a quick go on the foam roller and power plate!

day 2 75.11km about 46miles in 7hours 55mins, much slower than day 1, though if I hadn't chilled out and got enough water down me, it could have been a whole lot longer! a 3rd and an 8th place. Not sure about the total times out of those who ran both days, will update when I know!

official results below. I have some photos too!

http://www.ultrarace.co.uk/events/downloads/results/2012-ur45-results.xls

CHALLENGE; How good is your pacing?

2012-01-18T21:30:00.000Z

Right. Before nipping out for a short run after work today I came up with an idea!
The idea being that you state your finishing time before you set out (eg post it to your FB status perhaps?) and run your chosen 10k route in that time.
It is not meant to be maximum pace, although if you wish to do that, that's fine.
You can use a route you already know is 10k OR set out running with a distance alarm on your GPS watch.
The main rule is that you don't check your times or your pace during the whole run, leaving it down to your judgement!
I chose to aim for 50mins, on a route I hadn't run before but I was familiar with the roads (it turned out to be 10.66km) I set the distance alarm at 10k and stopped the clock. Although it felt a very easy pace I thought I had most likely gone a bit too quick for it and consciously made an effort to run slower. I was way out!

To keep it uniform use 10km or 6.2miles if you 'don't do kms' however if you want to have a go but 10k is a bit too far for you then maybe you could scale it back to 5km or 3.1miles.
Post your predicted time and your actual time below! No cheating ;]

Phone Review...Samsung B2710

2012-01-18T15:02:00.000Z

Product review

Samsung B2710 mobile phone,

When my trusty phone of about 5 years died (for about the 7th time) during the UltraRace 100mile in June, I wanted to get something that would be sturdy enough to stand my general keen-ness for outdoorsy activities whatever the weather! I needed something that could survive things like falling into canals whilst running along side them or wading through bogs whilst im busy getting lost during a race somewhere or survive having a pan full of water and pasta onto it, from previous experience. I found this phone on a search for waterproof phone. Read a couple of reviews and ordered one for about £95. After playing around I found it had a few cool features like a compass, gps, google maps, internet browser, torch and a reasonable camera on top of the standard stuff.

during kayak trip, picture taken with phone

The screen is a bit small for looking at any internet pages in great detail but if you want to nip on for something minor its fine! The google maps is incredibly handy although I don't have nearly as much excitement when trying to get somewhere I have never been before. No guessing where to go or following my nose it's a piece of cake! For a runner specifically some of the useful functions I found...

When reading a text you can zoom in making the letters big enough to read whilst running, meaning you don't need to break your stride to communicate!
The torch isn't bad at all for a little thing and can be used in addition to a headtorch (I wear mine around my waist) for checking signs as you are running past.
Torch also handy when the interior light stops working in your car and you want to find the house key you just dropped!
It can be used with its own headset and store heaps of songs with an additional memory card, saving having to carry a music player and a phone although this might compromise the waterproof?!
Its waterproof, I have taken it kayaking (my kayaking isn't quite equal to my running ability so it did become submerged about 3 times) and was in my pocket for a day long kayak mission.
Google maps also shows a little cone where you are and a 'live feed' of your movement maybe a race involving lots of roads and navigating through a town it would be handy?
Battery life... I charge it twice per week max and it gets heavy use with multiple calls lots of texts and check the emails each day.Survives a weekend away easily!
Shock proof, ideal for when you drop it whilst cycling at around 26mph (I didn't see if any of the passing cars ran it over or not but there is no damage if it did other than the scratch from the road!)
It has buttons not a 'touch' screen meaning you can operate it in heavy rain or with gloves on no worries!

also taken with phones camera

I think thats about all I can think of with regards to running. So far I have had it nearly 6 months and for me that is quite an achievement, im not particularly careless, things just get well used!

The only minor problem I have, if you mispell a word and flick back to the word very quickly to change it, sometimes this causes it to freeze although its happening less than 1 per week all that happens is it requires turning off then back on again! Who would have thought!

a quiet pint

I would definately recomend this phone to someone with an active lifestyle who might from time to time end up underwater or would just enjoy the security that their phone really can go anywhere. Being water proof it may also be useful for anyone spending a lot of time in a desert, although sand does get everywhere it hasn't found its way into my phone yet! If you want the technical specs you can find them on any sellers website, I chose Amazon!

Feel free to leave a comment for any more specific queries I'll do my best to answer them!

Ultima Frontera 160km, Spain Oct/2011

2012-01-10T16:14:00.000Z

Where to begin!? Well I first heard of the race early in the year, stumbled across the website, only later during the year I decided to enter, yep why not?! The pictures of the area looked great and I hadn't been abroad during the year yet, so made it my holiday. It was organised by Paul Bateson and I thought he and his team did great and would love to go back to do the event again! The event came in 3 flavours a 50km, an 80km and a 160km (2 laps of the 80km course totalling just shy of 5000m ascent)

Friday morning I bumped into Richard Weremiuk (fairly easy to spot a runner in those 'big toning shoes' in an airport it seems?) behind Beyond Marathon at the airport and we grabbed an average tasting breakfast! Although for airport standards it was a culinary delight! Nothing to eventful then until arriving at Malaga airport in Spain where we met Annie Garcia (aka Anniegizer ihavetoooomuchenergyfornormalsports Garcia ) and got our ride up to Loja with Antonio, nestled away in the hills. The afternoon we spent eating double meals and taking it easy around our hotels saving the much needed energy.
In the evening I ventured down to the race HQ, a large sports hall and collected my number and had some more food before getting an early night!

This was the 3rd time I ran 100miles during 2011, it was the course with the most elevation (about 5000m) but I found it the easiest, partly because I had imagined it to be incredibly tough, therefore was pleasantly surprised and partly because I had researched the course as much as possible and trained specifically as possible.

During september I found a few races between the 40mile and 60mile distance in the Peak District, including Bullock Smithy and HP 40 and used them as a hilly long run doing 1 each weekend. I aimed at what felt like a relaxed pace and cruised around them to attempt to replicate the pace i planned to complete UF160. Bullock Smithy being a 56mile event starting just south of Stockport and also finishing there. I did manage to get lost a few times and took a pack big enough to do the Gobi Challenge, but rolled around in 11hours 14min in 10th position. This had roughly half the elevation of UF, and with 14 LDWA style checkpoints was never going to be fast (is it possible not to stop for a hot soup in a barn in the middle of knowwhere? or a stone cottage, with a strong smell of gas, midway down a muddy descent, for some cake?
Anyhow so based on that, I figured I could happily complete UF160 in under 24hours.

On race morning myself and Mike Papageorge (a great guy he was really helpful and also 3rd place in the 50km!) headed down from our hotel to the race HQ. Everyone busily attending to their gear and packing kit and drop bags. I chose to run with my Salomon bottle belt style thing until the drop bag point where I would collect my 3L backpack with night gear in @48km (and run with both from there).

There was a bit of confusion at the start although all was under control, we all walked about 1km back up into the town for a 'more scenic' start. There was around 100 runners between the 3races all following the same route until CP 2 @35.5km where the 50k runners headed S whilst the rest of us head N. We started shortly after 09.30 running on the narrow streets for around 1km before getting out of town onto a trail heading over into the hills. It was hard to tell which runners were doing which race, though it didn't really matter to me I set out trying to just run with how I felt. It was warming up and after a couple of k's climbing quite steadily (first 20k was largely uphill) the runners began to spread out a little. I had been passing people during the climb having started somewhere I guess around the back quarter of people.

http://www.ultimafrontera160.com/P/course-description.asp

The course was pretty good underfoot for most of the time, I chose my trusty Saucony Triumph 7s (a neutral road shoe), we weaved mainly on mountain tracks with some sections on surfaced roads too. I caught up to a runner Chris Goodacre, who won the 50km and we ran together on a gradual climb to CP2 where he was to turn off heading 15km back to Loja, I continued with 45km to go before I would hit Loja marking my halfway point. I hit 42km marathon distance in about 4hours 40mins. I steadily past a few more people before reaching a loop where we descended into Montefrio CP3 48km where drop bags would await us. I arrived here in less than 5hours 30mins from the start, about 90mins ahead of schedule, not having paid much attention to my Garmin watch until here. I had left my night gear here expecting to be about an hour or 2 before nightfall, which now would turn out to be nearly 4hours before dark. A minor thing but it meant carrying the extra bag for about 35km before I would need it! I restocked my waist pack with a couple more Zipvit bars and continued on, not the fastest of CP stops.

There was 18km until the next CP which seemed to take a while but a nice single track trail took my mind off it and kept me entertained and it was trending downhill. I didn't see many people here it was relatively straight forward apart from one section where I knew a right turn was approaching, there was some paint on the road pointing down a track that had been spray painted over in a very similar colour to that we had been following.... Had someone local been having a joke trying to redirect us for a laugh? I spent about 5mins looking around but decided to carry on for a couple of minutes which paid off! About 1 minute later there was a bit of spray paint for our route, so I was safely on course! Shortly after I saw one of the organisation team driving past with a quick wave. I crossed the road and continued on track into some sort of tree plantation which looked like something from the Wizard of Oz! A quick step over a ford via some stepping stones with feet still dry! It was a straight flat road for a few km until the small town Huetor Tajar with the 67km CP (last one of the first lap). Quite swiftly through the CP and moving well I hit the last 200m climb of the first lap and my body started to feel heavy and slow. I found it quite amusing how everything began to ache all of a sudden with no particular cause, I checked the watch looking good to complete the first 80km lap in ABOUT 8hours 40min. Also still daylight meaning I could have left my backpack at the halfway point (also the start) and saved carrying it for 4 hours, I wasn't complaining seeing as I was feeling good and running well within my 12hour first lap expectation.

A quick bite to eat as I organised my gear and found my bag in the huge sports hall. I guess 10mins passed at the CP. I set off feeling good again, the brieft tired spell passed as quickly as it came, though at the time i forgot about it. Climbing to the first CP was great, a nice sunset and a relaxed pace, I began to think. My pace was slowing, I felt good but I was becoming lazy?! I knew to get a sub 24hour time I could take it easy (15hours to do another 50miles?! Nearly half the speed of my first lap I thought) . I had a bit of a discussion with myself and as a result decided that I could try sub 20hours leaving me about 11 hours for the last 50miles which sounded a bit more challenging but also very realistic!

It began to go dark somewhere around ermmm.... 95km. I got the headtorch on but didn't really feel it necessary to put any extra layers on and stuck with the shorts and a Tshirt. There began to be a bit of light rain nothing much but enough to dampen the ground. I think this was the first rain of the season? I couldn't really be bothered putting a jacket on as I would have been too warm.

Just as i got to the 100km checkpoint 2 other runners were heading down the route having just left. I was swiftly through the CP grabbed a bit more water, passing one of the runners who was sorting something in his pack and catching the other a few minutes later. It was Richard Webster, who I met briefly the day before at the hotel. He has an impressive CV of races and i look forward to running with him again soon! We ran and chatted along a steady section along a surfaced road for a few kms which was a great break from not seeing anybody aside from the wonderful CP staff for a long time. Just before the next climb I pressed on ahead and reached the next turn off feeling great. I remembered the route from the first lap and I was anticipating the left turn in the next few mins which in reality was actually closer to 25mins! It hadn't seemed far on the first lap and I kept stopping to check I hadn't missed it! Eventualy it arrived and I followed the track. With it being dark it became hard to judge the gradient and although I ran this section on the first lap I was cautious not to push too hard. A couple of cars emerged in the distance coming down the track, you can only imagine what they thought. Someone running up the trail into the back of beyond, I stepped off the track for them to pass and spent a moment choking on the dust. Heading into the darkness I suddenly came across the CP where I had a quick glass of coke and a handful of JBs before continuing the 7k climb. Just near the top I noticed a sign reflecting off my torch in the distance, as I approached there was something in Spanish with a picture of a scary looking pig and then as if by magic an intense rustling in the nearby bush started, I continued very swiftly to the next CP (back in Montefrio 128km and drop bag location) arriving here after about 14hours running. I was quite quick here and turned down the offer of some hot food, by the time I would eat it and have it warmed it could have been a 20min stop (thinking back to Bullock Smithy)!

Out of the CP a short uphill section then onto the single track which was now sticky with the rain, as I ran the soil would build up under my feet for about 5 steps then flick off in big clods throwing me totally off balance. This got old pretty quickly and slowed me down quite significantly over the however many kms it was (about 5km perhaps) didn't really see much to note for a while until back to the stepping stones where the river had risen slightly covering the stepping stones! I sacrificed the right foot and hopped across (literally) I popped the headphones in and picked up the pace a bit for the 4km to the CP and ran it under 21mins.

Paul was here we had a quick chat for a couple of mins and I departed, My time now looking more towards 18 hours 30mins so that became my new target! The last climb was just as I remembered it and I slithered along at a medium pace. Before the end there was another sticky mud section only for about 5-10 mins this time which was annoying and difficult to run, very much what I imagine those ridiculous toning shoes you see advertised in the gym would be like!

I began the gradual descent back into the lights of Loja knowing I was within a few ks of the finish I got a bit keen and ran pretty fast down through the town passing a runner about 1-2km away from the end to arrive 10mins ahead in 18hours 13mins around 3am. This gave me a top 5 position which I was very surprised about, having considered myself relatively inexperienced at that kind of distance compared to some of the other runners, though I don't tend to worry about other runners and focus on challenging myself.

After finishing I stayed awake the rest of the night waiting for Annie and friends to finish. She arrived in under 24hours around 8am if I remember correctly, but I used the time inbetween to eat as much food as I could get within reach! Annie being 2nd female after an impressive year of some incredible ultras

The expected time I had and my actual time were greatly different but in a good way at least. I recognise that by having a time in my head not challenging enough I became lazy and had to alter my goal to combat this.

I ran with 2x600ml bottles and estimate that I drank between 6-7L with no energy powders added only the occasional nuun tablet.
Foodwise i had 200g of JBs
A couple of cokes
4-5 Bananas
A handful of crisps at most CPS
1 small muffin and 2 dates
2 oranges (just seemed refreshing?)
and about 4 zipvit bars

Major balls ups on my part... predicted time, drop bag planning, not pushing myself as much as I could have, I also didn't have a small enough pack thus the waist belt and hydration pack with the bladder removed, although this worked ok, I now have a small pack which is just the job! I started far too casually.

All in all I would love to get back next year, it was a brilliant event, good value and well organised, Paul, Eric, Michelle, Barbara, Antonio and Juan and anyone else involved in the tea, making us all feel welcome and looking after us! Next time I would be confident to have the number 16 in my finishing time!

Sunrise to Sunset 27/Dec/11

2012-01-06T18:24:00.002Z

Sunrise to Sunset is a time based race organised by Denzil Martin near Telford. Based around a 0.84mile loop, gently undulating on a very quiet country lane, partly surfaced. The aim being to run as far as you can or want in during the hours of daylight, officially that was between 0820 and 1601 this year. There was a marker for people completing 'just' the marathon (as if that wasn't enough) to run over after their 31st lap.
Previous winner and course record holder (43miles) Robbie Britton (also winner of the NDW100 2011) had been setting the pace on somewhat wintry conditions in the past 2 years and was back again despite not being 100% to chuck out a good 36.12miles and call it a day. About 30 runners took part, most choosing to complete marathon distance, including 1 dog (Meg), about 9 of us continued to 'ultra' distance.

Although not being the biggest fan of laps, i had entered primarily as a social training run at a nice comfortable pace, it was great chatting to so many different runners and friendly faces as i passed. Great amounts of motivation on display to get out and start earning (or rather burning) our xmas dinners off. There was a great social atmosphere around the start/finish base with a roaring fire and table full of nibbles! I passed the marathon mark in a steady 3.17 and continued on most of the day at a comfortable pace. I opened up quite a gap and found time for a mid race picnic and gave the checkpoint something to worry about as i munched away on a couple of 9bars and a milk shake! At this point about 5 runners were still going around. They all passed the checkpoint once or twice, i finished my food and headed back around for another 10k finally calling it a day at 80km about 15km clear of 2nd.

If i knew that 80km was 51.24 miles i would have thrown in a few more laps to round it up to 52.4miles and 2 marathons, but then it would have left me at 84.3km and i would have had to round that up to 85km, which would have left me in a viscious cycle hard to break out of!

After that came the best post race food i have ever had! Homecooked jacket potato with a delicious bolonase sauce which i managed 3 helpings of and even bagged a portion 'for the road' Massive well done to Denzil on such successful food and a great event which i beleive was his 49th marathon also! Definately a great event to do if your looking for a chilled out day with lots of great people next xmas! Equally if your looking to make a push up to ultra distance in the relative safety of a lapped course with zero navigation, get it onto your calendar.

Denzils website has a few pics and results http://www.codrc.co.uk/COD_RC/Sunrise_to_Sunset.html
and will display information for future events!

Something to think about...
“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.”

Over and out!

2011 A Quick Round Up

2012-01-04T19:31:00.002Z

Total run 4300-4500km
          cycle 5500-5700km
          swim about 1km!
         (-2 months)

Races, about 35 ( i use some for training runs)
Pairs of shoes worn out 4 + 1 trail shoes
Biggest week... run 220km
               run + bike 423km

Biggest month...run 588km
              run + bike 1102km

Here is a few words on some of the most memorable races
Tough Guy Jan 2011. Basically for those that aren't familiar, imagine a cross country run around about 10k.....Add some trenches full of water, multiple laps of a short and sharp hill, obstacles, nets etc ..... Then follow it up with an obstacle course with giant cargo nets, tunnels, tyres, high ropes, a lake, trenches full water, some barbed wire, hurdles and a few electrified obstacles, all this done in freezing January conditions. All the water was frozen for the front runners, I managed to cut and bruise my shins pretty good on the ice. After the event I spent about an hour shaking and a further 3 hours shivering with as many layers as I could wear at once... a very stimulating experience and having also done the summer version (Nettle Warrior) Im certainly not in a rush to go back and do it again!

London ultra 50k in Feb being my first 1 day ultra race, (I did the Gobi Challenge in 2010 my first running event) i was loaded up with a 25l pack with enough gear and food to sink a ship or survive in the mountains for a week! - I used hardly any of it, got lost numerous times putting about 4 extra miles onto the race distance, muddier than i expected, but a great day out. I was around 32 nd position

SIS Lightning 12hour in March being the 2nd ultra of the year i managed to finish 2nd place solo too. Based around a 10k trail course- that felt hilly at the time, the aim to complete as many laps as you could in 12 hours, I managed to equal the leader with 12 laps although about 30mins slower than him. Being twice as long as I had run before it was very much unknown territory, one I will be keen to try again this year!

Adidas Thunder run 24hour in July. This event has a great atmosphere! The amount of support is amazing as there were hundreds and hundreds of people taking part (categories from 8person relay teams right down to pairs and solos) the aim again complete as many 10k laps of the undulating trail course as you can. I managed 17 laps putting me around about 6th place exceeding my 100mile target which I was happy with although I did get a bit lazy once I realised i was going to make it!

Peaks Ultra 40miles Aug. Being only 70miles away from home I decided to cycle to the race near Derby the day before (Im not a cyclist as such but while the weather was nice in summer (was summer?) I became quite adventurous! Meeting plenty of friends on the evening for a good feed ready for the race on the Sunday morning.Starting the race at a relaxed pace towards the back of the pack as the first mile stuck to a canal we then arrived at the first hill. As the race progressed it became a nice warm day and I was enjoying running between the fields and tracks and quiet country lanes, I had passed quite a few people then came the final 30mile checkpoint where I was informed I lay in 2nd position about 17minutes behind the leader, to my surprise. There was an undulating road section from there then a couple of corn fields and coming to the bottom of them I swiftly passed the leader and ran on the final 6 or 7km to the finish. I cheered in friends as they arrived then began the 70mile cycle home. This began very slowly especially on the nearby hills, after about 90mins made a food stop and refueled. By the end i was feeling pretty good again but ready for bed!

September I had a phase of hill training using a few different races in the Peak District for training runs for the Ultima Frontera 160km. A 40mile, 50 mile and 56mile, all done at a comfortable pace (tried to imagine my pace for the 160km) I also managed to squeeze in HELL RUNNER in Delamere Forest, an 18km trail run taking in as many hills and bogs as possible including chest deep mud and the infamous Bog of Doom. I had a good performance winning in 1hour 20mins 3 minutes clear of 2nd place. An enjoyable month!

Nottingham Ultra 50km in October was my longest run in Oct before Ultima Frontera 160km. I planned to take it at a comfortable pace and save my energy for Spain. From the beggining I was sat in 3rd, just before the halfway point moved into the lead and out of sight finishing in 3hours 43min, great finishing infront of the castle!

Ultima Frontera 160km in Spain! Travelling abroad always exciting, especially to run 160km in the hills around Loja, Spain. Around 5000m of elevation over a pretty scenic course. Around half way I realised my predicted finish time was way too generous and I was feeling just fine, finally finishing 5th in 18hours 13mins, could happily shave a chunk of time off that knowing the course! A good holiday!

After that I took it easy for a month trying not to enter any races although I couldn't resist a nice social day out with Denzils Sunrise to Sunset. Although not a particular fan of laps it was great to see so many runners out enjoying the rare occurance of 'good weather' on the 27th of December. I called it a day at 80km and proceeded to dig into some excellent post race food that was even better than an LDWA event!

All in all an exciting year, I have learnt a lot through such a variety of challenging races and experiences and I have been lucky enough to meet some amazing people along the way. More of the same for 2012!

Lakeland 100 recce 2, Coniston - Keswick (dec)

2011-12-16T19:37:00.002Z

Despite the awful but dry forecast aka, -20 windchill a possibility and incredibly strong gales, I parked the car at Windermere station just in time for the bus to Coniston... only I found out I had to change in Ambleside which would delay my start a wee bit. After I got off the bus was remaining at the stop for 5 mins and I waited on it out of the wind and asked about tickets for the return journey (Keswick to Windermere) later in the day. After a moment the driver asked how I planned to get from Con to Kes as the last bus was 19.25 (It was going to be almost noon when i reached Coniston)... 'What do you mean running!?' she replied. After telling her the places I would pass through she still seemed somewhat confused so I pointed at the map and gave up, hopped off the bus ready for bus 2!

Moving on I set off out of Coniston up the road towards the YHA crossing the bridge to find a group of walkers huddled behind a wall eating their lunch out of the wind. I pushed on straight into the wind to reach the top of the small hill then ran down to the car park at Walna Scar road. I stopped to put on a jumper and an extra t shirt beneath my jacket (first time I have needed so many layers on whilst running, maybe the steady stop start look at map stop start nature of the run and the relaxed pace contributed along with the wind?) Before I passed over the highest point I had past bits of snow on the ground and been blown over once! The wind was incredibly strong going over the top, which was covered with a hard packed area of snow and I picked up the pace to get a bit lower out of the wind. The run down involved a good bit of boulder hopping to keep things interesting before hitting a road and a nice easy section all the way into Seathwaite where I got a bit enthusiastic and ran about 1km past the checkpoint, a quick backtrack and down into a flooded wood for some wet feet and I carried on towards Eskdale.

A bit of scenary, a nice bridge and a little more sheltered it seemed. A few kms later I came to a real boggy section! The ground had been wet before here so I ploughed through not really caring about the feet getting any wetter. Shortly after running through the tree plantation I was blown over a 2nd time bashing my ankle quite well luckily my elbow took most of the force and prevented the rest of my body from getting hurt. (ripped through jacket, jumper a long sleeve top and the skin!) A bit of descending before reaching another farm and making friends with some cows, I followed the path around then was promptly rounded up by 3 dogs which were kind enough just to bark lots and not actually do any harm (I probably didn't look very tasty!) From there it was relatively easy going along the river and then following a road into Boot and then heading onto Wasdale Head.

This is one of the easier sections in the race, short and pretty flat (only 300m of climb). I followed the stream (bridleway) over the open ground to pass around Burnmoor Tarn which looked like the North Sea with all that wind! There was a bit of wading to do before I could get to the path again with occasional bits that weren't flooded. I've been to Wasdale before so that bit was quite simple. I had a good climb to look forward too around Kirk Fell, light was dropping so I dug out the headtorch. Although I was blown over once more shortly after then, the wind actually aided me up here near the top as it was blowing hard from behind me. At the top it was a bit snowy but I found my way down fairly easily under headtorch and came across Black Sail hostel.

I didn't enjoy the climb up to Scarth Gap the wind was howling through the fence and I was constantly being pushed sideways. After reaching the top I promptly began to get down into Buttermere on the other side where it was slightly more sheltered. It seemed a very rocky path quite technical in the dark down to a nice easy path along Buttermere. The water was being blown off the lake and until I realised how close the lake was I thought it was raining!

At this point having taken just over 6hours at steady recce pace I decided to cut onto the road back to Keswick to ensure I didn't miss the bus in 90mins which required the 15km to be done at a reasonable pace. I followed the road and got into Keswick just under 1hour 20 later to see the bus pull in! I'd made it ok and a good job as the bus was early. I had the bus to myself and was glad to chill out for a little while before arriving back at the car for the drive home. The bus door was flapping in the wind and I was quite glad it wasn't a double decker!

Another good section recce'd with some more awful weather. Surely it wont be so bad in the race?!

Bullock Smithy 3/9/11 56mile

2011-12-14T08:14:00.001Z

Bullock Smithy

I stumbled across this race a couple of weeks in advance. Its 56 miles with 14 LDWA style, generous checkpoints, 24hour time limit starting at noon, overnight accomodation aka floor space in a school hall,
and a cooked breakfast at the finish! The race has run since 1976!!!! with times ranging from the record 8.46 right upto the 24hours. For an entry under £20 it was cheaper than staying at home!
The race starts just south of Stockport around the Hazel Grove area and follows a large clockwise loop around Buxton.
I found the HQ pretty easily (makes a change!), just a short walk away from a car park, picked up my stamp card (for the checkpoint staff to hole punch, proving I went to all CPs in order) and checked out the route map one last time along with the`weather forecast on the wall. The forecast was something along the lines of 'low cloud and rain, deteriorating later' not sure how it would deteriorate from that much more? But thankfully it wasn't so bad. I made my way over to the start a couple of minutes away in a park.There was a quick (brief?) brief then the bell sounded we were off! People were running in all directions out of the park, being a few different routes to take, I had had a look at the route on the map in quite some detail beforehand luckily, but for anyone who might not have prepared so well, it must have been a big shock! Normally everybody goes the same way at least for the first part of a race!

To me this race was a key training run for Ultima Frontera 100miler. Having roughly half the elevation (about 2400m) and roughly half the distance (well, 10k over) I planned to take it at a steady pace hoping to replicate what pace I hoped to do in Spain 8 weeks later and see how I felt at the end. Kit wise I decided to use some old Saucony Triumph 7 road shoes that I only planned to drive there in having previously retired them but last minute decided to keep them on, I had quite a large backpack as at the time I didn't have a decent small one, I also carried my night gear and headtorch along with some trail shoes just incase. I wasn't in a particular rush so the weight just added an extra resistance.

As we left the park I set off down the road heading towards a minor side road which merged into a path crossing a few fields. I passed a few enthusiastic starters and we began to merge with people who took an alternate start route. We headed along a farm track and a public footpath creeping into the Peak District heading mainly Eastward, after a couple of kms reached the first checkpoint which being about 4 miles from the start I didn't stop other than to stamp my card. There was some reasonable hills around and about but generally nothing horrendous! There was a decent descent down towards Edale after about 20km which was brilliant down Jacobs Ladder after Edale Cross, I did let it go a wee bit down there which felt great! I located the CP in a public carpark and had a bit of water along with a cup of cold rice pudding and tinned fruit cocktail! Delicious, I was having 2nd thoughts about 5 mins later wether I should run back for
some more!?
A little more plodding brought me into Castleton, a quick refil of the water bottles and a couple of sandwichs, can't remember what but im sure they were delicous! Out of Castleton is a steady incline for a couple of kms through the limestone rock faces and steep sidewalls which a young kid who had conqured one of said inclines decided to roll down a couple of basketball sized rocks down, perhaps as a bit of a dexterity test, or maybe he was keen on the idea of 'Total Wipeout' still, I passed unharmed. Moving on heading now in the direction of Buxton again along a few open sections of bridleway and footpaths. Road shoes coping totally fine at this point, it had been pretty dry although looking across you could see clouds smothering some of the nearby hill tops. Nothing too exciting until the next CP located in a barn I almost didn't spot the open door as I cruised past, I ducked in and grabbed a seat whilst I waited for some soup to heat up. It was pretty hot so I hung on and had a snack whilst it cooled chatting to the very friendly CP staff! After 5mins I decided to water down the soup as it wasn't cooling, although not in a particular rush I didn't want to spend the afternoon sat in a barn blowing soup! This was around 46kms in. I left the CP and begin a short climb up the next hill and at that point managed to reset my watch passing the 50km mark in a very easy 5 hours 30 about 17.32.

I hadn't seen any runners for a while despite being incredibly slow (especially for me) through CPs and that remained a trend for now at least. I didn't really pay much attention for the next part as I passed a few more fields and a couple of farms and before I knew it I had another runner in my sights (Nigel Aston on his 8th BS run!) as we hit a road section near to an incredibly fake looking hill, almost looks like it is man made as it looks shaped like a pyramid! I caught the other runner at the CP Earl Sterndale, had a bit of a snack and moved on down the road proceeding to overshoot a turning although I realised within a few seconds and backtracked to find myself with Nigel again. We chatted briefly he had completed the
race numerous times so I assumed he would know his way ok and I pressed on. There was a slightly slippery off road section before a descent which was just wet enough for the road shoes. I reached a small cottage (Cumberland Cottage) which was up the muddy hill, with a small gas lamp and some treacle sponge cake which I quite enjoyed while I changed my socks over and tipped out nearly enough gravel to redo a driveway.

I reached another road and switched on my headtorch and a little flashing bike light for the back as I passed Nigel for the final time. Although very, very quiet roads in the middle of somewhere I didn't fancy ending up like any of the roadkill around. I proceeded to take a couple more wrong turns, none costing me more than a couple of minutes although it would have been very frustrating had I been racing for a position! The route headed uphill and then uphill some, there were a few lights visible around and about in the distance but nothing resembling a town. Eventually as I passed over the hill there was the sight of, I guess, Manchester the orange glow in the distance. I descended quite quick to the Cat and Fiddle road near Walkers Barn and then moved on down a farm track and over a few fields weaving around a few gates, styles and fences before dropping down into a bit more of a town for some more confusion. I got myself in the right direction and proceeded on. After a few confused looks in the town I got myself onto the Macclesfield canal and began bridge counting upto the next CP which I found a long way around into. Some nice cake and a quick
stamp leaving me with one final section to the end.

The last section follows a good path, the Middlewood way for a couple of kms which felt like it was slightly uphill but nothing to worry about. I came off the path just in time to startle a young couple coincidently tucked away in a small, secluded layby, probably not the best evening for that being a steady flow of runners throughout the whole night! By now it was near 23.00 and I had a couple of kms to go. I picked the pace up on an easy unsealed road section before reaching the main road all the way back to the finish in 11hours 15mins 95km, 10th position with just under an hour of non moving time (ie eating like a pig at CPs). This left me pretty confident that I should expect to be under 24hours at the worst for Ultima Frontera 100miler.

There wasn't many other runners back to my surprise. Having not really exerted myself too much I felt ok at the end. I got some layers on and had my cooked breakfast (a little bit strange at half 11 on a Saturday night in a village hall kitchen!). I chatted to a few of the other finishers who had previous completions on the race and a friendly bunch. I had a shower using a bucket of water without getting the floor wet (figure that one out) and got changed. Although there was plenty of food going around for finishers I fancied something a bit more substantial so I jogged out of the hall and along the road in the direction of some sort of food. Being now past midnight there were a few takeaways that had already closed and I continued on for 2.3kms until I found a takeaway that was open! Even the yellow arches were closed (quite glad I wouldn't have been to enthusiastic to force any of that down even after running that far!) I settled for a good meaty pizza and jogged back to the HQ and I wasn't sharing with anybody! After another hour or 2 I called it a night and dragged my sleeping bag under a table and went to sleep for a few hours.

At around 6am I got up and drove home after a round of toast and wolfed down a good breakfast before nipping out on the bike for a steady 50km. Lunch at mums and a slightly shorter 44km ride home. A good weekend! Very keen to return one day and push for a decent time! Find the entries for next year here!
http://www.bullocksmithy.com/

Lakeland 100 recce 1, Dalemain - Troutbeck

2011-12-01T17:00:00.001Z

The first bit of a recce for the Lakeland 100 came about very, very last minute. It would be my longest run in a month since UF160 I had taken it easy running wise. Just as I was shovelling down one last feed for the day the phone buzzed with a text from a friend late one evening;
'Guess who has an interview in Scotland tomorrow!?' and a reply from me
'Great stuff can I hitch upto Penrith motorway junction? What time shall I get to yours?...Oh, and well done on the interview!' and it was sorted!
Next morning I popped out of bed at a time I tried not to notice involving the number '4' and packed up some gear in my 'Golite' pack, went into work for a couple of hours then escaped ready for action!
Anyhow just under 2 hours in the car and I was deployed just off the M6 at Penrith a couple of minutes before noon!

The plan for the day was to recce the section between Dalemain (halfway point) and Ambleside, mainly steady jogging and walking to try and remember the route as much as possible rather than race past all the turnings and not remember any of the course! A short jog down the road and I came across Dalemain estate. Jumped over a style and set off following what I figured to be the course. At the time the weather was pretty average, a bit of wind and dull and cloudy. I enjoyed a relaxed jog along the fairly wet ground for a few kms before arriving with wet feet in Pooley Bridge, weather temporarily looking a bit brighter! Apparently my trusty Saucony Triumph road shoes aren't very waterproof when you cross a boggy field, who would have known!?

There is a road section from PB up a small road that turns into a good track after a couple of k's on a slight gradient (so that's why I came in road shoes?). It was pretty straightforward at the time and all going well. I imagine it will look a bit different around here during summer probably covered in ferns etc! I descended steadily down the stream (bridleway) all the way to Howtown, it had begun raining quite enthusiastically! Grip wasn't really an issue on the stoney path. On arriving I had a little wander around trying to guess where the checkpoint might be before heading off to being a good bit of a climb, which looking at the profiles was to be one of the biggest on the course and certainly the biggest for my afternoon plod!

As I progressed down the valley I could see something in the distance resembling a huge, illuminous orange, sausage! When I got close there were a couple of well wrapped outdoor pursuits instructors tucking into their sandwiches with a stack of about 20 backpacks. It was some sort of survival bivvy the nippers were testing out, hiding from the rain and ever increasing 'stiff breeze'. Carrying on up the climb it lasted a bit longer than I expected but found my way upto the top without any issues. The wind was pretty intense slowing progress but I wasn't in a particular rush so didn't get upset about it.

Next up was generally a good open section down towards Haweswater with a few spongy patches and only one instance of leg disappearing into the ground. Things got a bit more slippery on a wet grassy slope just before joining the lakeside path, resulting in a spectacular display of my gymnastic abilities although my extension and style in the air might have lacked any technical skill, required for a high score! As I got to the lakeside path which is mainly stoney and at the time wet, light began to fade. As I was approximately straight over from the Haweswater hotel I contemplated swimming across the lake, hoping my credit card was as waterproof as my phone. I resisted although it might have been drier in the lake than running around it! Again no major trouble as I reached where the Mardale head CP would be, in total darkness. I couldn't really see the climb out so I trudged up hill and onwards for Kentmere over Gatesgarth pass. I was really battling into the wind and even walking up the hill I was finding the gusts almost stopping me. It became a bit of a miserable section as before the top of the hill I reached clouds sending my visibility from 'limited' down to 'pretty bad' and then later, just 'bad'.

It was not much good really as I couldn't see anything apart from blackness, no sign of lights in the distance even until I reached Sadgill with a little bit more of a climb before Kentmere. Progress was pretty slow around here as I tried to look out for as many landmarks as possible to help remember the route, luckily I should be passing here in daylight! There is a bit of a climb up Garburn pass, short and sweet followed by a nice easy descent into Troutbeck. At this point I decided there was little point recceing when I couldn't see anything more than the ground infront of my feet and ran at a good pace along the road back into Windermere ready to get the train back to Warrington.Plenty of confused looks from the other handful of passengers waiting at the station as I stand there covered in mud changing my top for a slightly drier one and doing my best to wash the mud off with said wet t shirt from earlier. Due to a slight error in timing I ended up with a bit of a wait in.... errrm...... Oxenholme (well known for having the coldest waiting room in the world!) for the connecting train.

I didn't manage any photos on this trip but to be honest the majority of the time I couldn't see anthing and relied heavily on the map and compass to confirm I was on the right lines. I deliberately didn't use the pre marked gps file as I would rather practice not relying on it, just incase. Come race day this section will be so much easier despite the previous 50miles I will have run as I will know the route, hopefully have some visibility and surely the weather wont be so bad, right?!

Nottingham ULTRArace 50km

2011-12-01T13:05:00.001Z

Nottingham Ultra 50k

This was the last race of the series and one of the 'short' ones. Not a whole lot longer than a marathon really, well, only another 8km! I travelled down the day before did a steady 10miles with Natasha
and met up with the gang for a good feed, I settled for a lasanga and a large pizza, one or 2 slices survived and became the pre race breakfast! After a quick look on the championship table beforehand
I realised that I would have enough races to qualify for the championship and could potentially become 3rd overall after my previous win at the Peaks 40mile ultra. Training had been going well leading
upto the event, a hilly half marathon and a 10k race the previous weekend along with a few speed sessions here and there for good measure.

The race was smoothly organised, typical for an ULTRArace event. Meeting the bus at the finish line on the morning of the race and the bus whizzing us all up to the start line in Blidworth just north of
Nottingham following the Robin Hood way for a large chunk of the route! We all collected our numbers and had a bit of last minute breakfast in the form of a 9bar, before lining up at the start ready for
'battle' it looked a little like a scene from Braveheart as 108 runners spread across the start line.
After a quick pre race briefing we set off at a steady pace although I don't really pay much attention to what is behind me but there was 2 runners infront of me that I kept up with quite happily as we moved steadily along the course.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ultraracephotos/sets/72157627732795763/ The official photos!

Shortly before the first checkpoint 2 chaps caught me up with quite an enthusiastic pace down a small hill though their pace slowed back down on the flat and I moved past once more. I passed the first checkpoint swiftly, there was a lot of support and encouragement from quite a lively CP! After travelling around a country lane following the tape and UR stickers I turned up a small path to hear a runner behind shout 'Hey its this way'. I shouted back something along the lines of 'follow the signs' as I was on the right path.

Quickly arriving at the 2nd CP which Jen had under control I passed through quite swiftly and we moved through some woods where I caught up with the leader Mark Davis, who was familiar with the area being relatively local but wasn't feeling 100%.We chatted for a few minutes and the path entered some more open fields before hitting Kimberly. I moved on ahead to the next CP which was just on a short road section.

There was an incredible amount of excitement which was great to see as I grabbed a handful of gummy sweets and carried on at a comfortable pace.The course was straight forward to follow then I came to a bit of a trickier section nearing CP4 still managing to follow arrows through another wood before spotting the CP at the bottom of a small grassy hill and moving swiftly through not really needing to stop for anything, so, I didn't.

The final 10k cut through some houses and into a park, there was a long straight section down a tunnel of trees after skirting around Wollaton Hall which could have made a good postcard! There was a short section down a main road to the canal which was then to be followed until about 2km from the finish.I relaxed a little by now as I didn't expect anybody to be all that close behind. My mum had come down to watch the finish and for a weekend away so i gave her a quick call saying I would be up at the castle in about 10mins. Just then I heard something coming up behind me, just as I was about to wake up from my lazy pace and pull away I realised it was a cyclist who informed me there was nobody behind. I turned off the canal and followed the last km or so to the road leading slightly uphill to the castle.

I reached the line to see Rory and Jen along with the folks at 9BAR and Jo Kilkenny along with some other families waiting for their runner to get home! Final time was 3hours 43mins averaging about 4.20 something per km and around 20mins clear of 2nd place apparently 10mins quicker than the previous years course record.

It's quite a quick course no major hills to worry about and it was pretty well marked too!

After the race then the fun and games started!! I was hitching a ride home with mum who decided instead of bringing the car over to the castle and using the free parking, left the car on the other side of Nottingham. About 25mins after I finished I noticed she had vanished, I gave her a call and told her to come back for the presentation for the end of the Champs. Instead of bringing the car, she somehow drove it further away rather than closer to where the finish was and parked it in a side street to prevent getting lost driving into the one way system. Only problem being she didn't remember the road name or any nearby features and left it in a 'home made space' IE not a propper spot!

The result.... I had to jog up and down each street systematically until I found the car with a big fat parking ticket on it for creating a space! What a day!!
Results below

http://www.ultrarace.co.uk/events/downloads/results/2011-the-nottingham-ultra-results.xls