Shropshire 3 Peaks - Beyond Marathon

After a couple of months racing and training in Europe I had a spare weekend before I came out to France to hold one of my trail running coaching holidays and it just nicely coincided with the Shropshire 3 peaks race. 40 miles with just over 2000m ascent. I know the area quite well after doing the Apocalypse 100 and 50 mile and also The D.O.N in the same area. Although I didn't specifically recce the route at all but I found that I knew more than half of it from those events.

I like the idea of a linear route and got entered. Soon enough race day, 4 am alarm, in the car at 4.30 and in Ludlow at 6.05, time for a quick drive around the finishing miles and a few laps of some small back roads to find the Rugby club and get registered. Bus to start, all on time and we're gathered just after 8am to hit the trails.

I ran with the Garmin which I'd loaded the route on although didn't really need it initially as the route description was great. Pretty much a few minutes along a narrow trail before it opened out into fields and tracks and small country lanes to reach Stiperstones village and the first bit of ascent. The first climb is about 3km gaining 250m so over before you know it. As I jogged up the views over Shropshire came into view and I have to say it was pretty stunning! I had the Stiperstones ridge to myself and knocked out the next fast 5km section at a good pace before another gradual climb of 3km gaining about 200m up on to the top above Carding mill valley. I descended pretty fast and hit the first checkpoint just over 1 hour 20 for 17km and carried straight on to the ascent of Raglan (not one of the 3 highest peaks but a nice addition) This is probably the steepest climb but it's barely even 1km long so over and done with pretty quickly before some more fast kms to Eaton and up on to Wenlock edge and the 2nd cp at Wilderhope Manor.

One of the volunteers cars wasn't too keen on making it to the 2nd checkpoint so a bit of quick thinking and Wendy was ready and waiting for me with some water before following the route from The D.O.N in reverse (pretty much) to get to Brown Clee hill. I got a bit confused after the hill and spent a couple of minutes figuring out what trail to take about a km later as I'd realised I left the route description at the previous checkpoint. I got the gps out and checked the map before making a second mistake not long after as I ran down a farm track that was parallel to the footpath and reached a dead end. Just a careless mistake to be honest when I realised.

I was closing in on the final cp and also the final hill. It was perfect weather. Not seen a cloud so far and it was nice and warm now in the sun. I stopped for a quick chat at the final cp and I was now in totally new trails that I'd never been on which was quite exciting. I was told the gap behind to 2nd was likely to be over an hour by now though I looked at the watch and thought I could still make the sub 6 hour time. I made my way steadily up the climb and passed a few walkers here and there. You're again rewarded with some fast kms as it's pretty much downhill all the way to the finish over the final 10km. For me the trickiest bit to navigate was the final couple of kms of fields. The signs are there and the route description was pretty spot on it's just a little bit fiddly looking for styles and gates in the fields and hedges. Some lively cows just near some sort of big water pipe/ river that decided they wanted to run around in circles with me until I spotted the gap in the hedge to get out of the field and hit the final road section down into Ludlow and through the town. I pushed quite hard over the last part to try and sneak under the hour. I knew it would be close but didn't look at the watch and just ran.... At least I was 5minutes off the hour and not 1 minute off! 6 hr 5 min all done. I was happy with how the legs did, a bit of lazy nav cost me those few minutes.

After the finish I grabbed a shower and plenty of food and drink and waited just over an hour, as long as I could but had to get back up home for dinner out and a flight after that and so didn't actually get to see anyone else finish. The 2nd and 3rd runner came in together just as I was driving out.

It's a great route taking in many of the Shropshire highlights! There are some great trails indeed. It would make a good first ultra providing you're able to do some easy navigation and have basic map reading skills. Mostly good trails and runnable with a few climbs thrown in there to keep you entertained! If you get the chance to do this route I hope you get such beautiful weather too!
Thanks to the team for looking after us all and well done all who made it out of bed so early to take on the race!

Apocalypse 50 mile ultra - Beyond Marathon

This weekend I took to Shropshire, probably most famous for the Iron Bridge, Long Mynd and River Severn.... But.... To many new and seasoned ultra runners of the Apocalypse, it's now famous for...
Carding Mill Valley - the race start and finish near Church Stretton. 

Pole Bank Trig point - the first 'summit' and checkpoint, 2 miles in when everyone gets confused as to why there are people running back towards them on the short out and back.

Corndon Hill - about 12 miles in standing at 513m, nice steep descent before some fast kms leading to the...

Apocalyptic Woods - with the path that looks like nobody has ever been there before, it's actually ok once you know where you're heading.

The Stiperstones - a rocky ridge lasting for a few kms.... or if you Google it, ''a wild ridge of quartzite tors surrounded by a sea of heather'' It's no Crib Goch, call it a rocky path then..

The Red Lion Pub - the 3rd and 4th manned CP (30/40 mile points) ideally fitted with a pub garden, ideal for basking in the sun and consuming vast amounts of sugary food.

Earl's Hill - the short sharp climb at about 37 miles, jog-able if you're really keen, or a quick hike will see you up it, great views off the top!

Wilderly Hill - a gradual uphill through fields for 3 miles, just where you want it at about 42 miles

Those running the 100 mile will probably have enjoyed other areas like the Wenlock Edge. (I did the 100 mile race last year, some slight course changes have been made since then reducing the elevation a little although I still don't think it would be called an 'easy' 100 mile. Is there such thing? Anyway...

Compared to last year the ground was more dry and there was a breeze to keep the temperature feeling a bit cooler. Some of the fields were a bit more rough on the ankles with the ground being hardened though I prefer it like that. I almost kept my feet entirely dry by tip toeing around the mud where possible but sacrificed one foot about 26ish miles in. I'd say conditions were ideal!

***warning technical stuff on pace calculating for my race if that sounds a bit boring just skip ahead  ;)  ***

To figure out a rough idea of timing and what pace I'd expect, I had a quick look at the route to see it was pretty much the same for 40 miles as what I ran last year in the 100 mile.
It's a 50 mile course with 2500m of elevation.
I ran 34 miles last weekend with about 1000m ascent in 4hours 33 mins -  felt comfortable, marathon split was 3.24 I think from memory.... So an extra 16 miles, an extra 1500m of ascent and about 8 miles of the route was unknown territory.

I usually knock trail marathons out with between 800 and 1200m of ascent in 3 - 3.5 hours on similar ground. I decided two x 4 hour marathons would = 8 hours and 54 miles.

This leaves a little bit of room to play with for checkpoint time, opening hundreds of gates (well quite a few), reading the map/ directions, toilet stops, taking photos and if the course is slightly long on the gps etc

I had a quick look at roughly what time I was hitting the cps last year
10 mile 1.23  
20 mile  3.02
30 mile 4.54 - really felt the heat here and invested time in sitting in a river to cool down and get hydrated at the cp
40 mile 7.13 - I knew if I had a good 30-40 mile section this would come down a lot!

*** technical stuff over for a bit ;) ****

So with 8 hours as an expected time including a 'safety net' I had a good idea of what to expect and could run to what intensity felt right for the race. 

On the morning it was ideal weather with a little breeze, kit check and registration was all fast and efficient and after catching up with some friendly faces it was time for a short briefing and the start. If you've every done a Beyond Marathon event you'll know how good their organisation is! 

There was a small group of us at the front leading out of the valley as we ascended then proceeded along the good track to the first self clip checkpoint (you have a tally card that you need to hole punch occasionally) before turning around and retracing the path for a few hundred meters and hanging a left onto a nice descent. Legs were enjoying the hills and within a few minutes I remember I noticed that I couldn't hear the gates been opened or shut behind me but kept my eyes on the map and did my best to remember where I was going from a year ago! Before I knew it I had reached cp 1 @ about 1 hr 16 min about 7 mins quicker than the year before.



I moved along after topping up my water bottle and grabbing a handful of jelly babies, Corndon Hill was in the bag pretty quickly and I was dropping some fast miles over the other side. I got a little confused not long after as the original course went through the grounds of a large country house on a footpath but was changed before the race last year as the footpath was hard to find (on a previous recce i spent a lot of time walking around looking for it) after a moment checking the written route description I remembered and set off on the quite country lane around and on my way back to the now 20 mile cp. I was told I had approx 10 minute gap on the next runners at the 10 mile point and continued on for the Stiperstones. I thought someone might have at least moved the rocks for us this year. I imagine it'd be interesting when wet though the nice dry conditions we had were ideal. I didn't stop to sit on the Devil's Chair this time and on I went. I think it was about 3.56 when I passed the marathon distance putting me bang on schedule for 8 hours I thought.



Once you make it over the small hill it's quite fast underfoot down into the 30 mile point which I hit around 25 minutes faster than I did last year. I topped up my water and got to it dropping in just under 7 min mile pace on the flat sections I was feeling great. I got to the self clip and thought I'd lost my tally card and was just debating what to do when I did some more rummaging and found it had squashed into the corner of my waist pack. Phew. I took it steady on the next section leading up to Earl's Hill as I was keen to avoid my legs having an Apocalypse of their own. After here I could remember the route all the way back to the cp or so I thought. After turning the wrong way at the bottom for a minute or so I got the map back out and realised my mistake. Quickly back on course and off through the forest before a fast mile or two road section into the 40 mile cp in 6 hours 15 mins. Nearly an hour ahead of last year. I didn't hang around at the cp and a quick look at the watch suggested I could be between 7 hours 30 and 8 hours somewhere depending on how the next 10 mile section was. 

I followed the map closely and had the written route description to hand also. Some of the grass in the fields was pretty long which would have made for wet wet feet if it had rained but I couldn't help but notice the next 5 km section crossing quite a lot of contour lines on the map. It looked a long gradual uphill stint and it was just that! A few paths turned off here and there but we just maintained a straight line along until hitting a country lane and another self clip. With most of the elevation in the bag now it was about 5 miles to the finish and I had 40 minutes to do it to beat the 8 hours. 

All was good until I got to a patch of trees with a gate through the middle, I went through and then through the next gate but on the map it suggested I should have been passing the trees to one side. I back tracked a few minutes and there was no path going anywhere else so I read the written description and it said I was right the first time, quickly back through the gates and I put my foot down over the last 2 miles to pick up the track down into Carding Mill Valley again. I didn't look at the watch just ran as hard as I could to try and stay below the hour.... too late! 8:01:32  I clocked in. 

I had a really nice run, enjoyed it from start to finish, even those pesky 93 seconds at the end! Mentally I think because I was 'only doing the 50' compared with last time I ran I knew I was running the 100 miles everything felt easier than last year and with the conditions being slightly better, everything just seemed to flow. Had I been a bit slicker with the directions and got my foot down a bit more there's a small chunk of time to be sliced off in similar conditions without any extra effort.

The race itself is fantastic. All the crew as usual couldn't be more helpful and it was great to share the weekend with so many enthusiastic runners and helpers! Well done all! Same time next year perhaps? 

Peak District Sky Race 2014

The first running of the Peaks Sky Race organised as a joint effort between Beyond Marathon, Billy Craig and Mr Bethell, between the 3 of them they have thousands of miles worth of racing experience all over the world and each know the Peak District like the back of their hand! It was bound to be a great day from the start!

The route was marked, 30 miles, starting and finishing in Buxton with a decent amount of elevation considering there are no huge mountains in the Peak District. The markings were pretty good on the whole just a couple of places where they had perhaps wrapped around things with the wind and made them less obvious but aside from a couple of extra km all was good! I entered very very last minute and so hadn't even looked at the route on the map until the day of the race. I did Lakeland 100 the previous weekend so this was just a steady run really for myself, I had no intention of trying to chase anyone at the front end.

200m in and we go uphill

 I've done over 1000 miles of running in the Peak District myself in the last few years and still hadn't come across the majority of this route so it was great to explore some new areas! A casual start meant I got to catch up with a few people I hadn't seen in a while which was great and it was fun to be able to be running in such a big group without smashing my legs up the first climb.

Due to a few bits of missing markings here and there I bumped into various runners on more than one occasion. Had I been trying to race I'm sure I would have lost places not knowing the course! If it's an important one to you - best recce as much as you can!

Some highlights on the course included Axe Ege, The Roaches, Shutlingsloe - very funny the ascent is a bit steep towards the top , Shining Tor - quite the opposite to Shutlingsloe, very gradual uphill, perhaps made more famous with The Hill Ultra, and Burbage Edge one of my favourite routes through the Peak District!

Bag pipes on the first slope!

 After a couple of cp's I settled down to a similar pace to John Danahay who's a speedy guy by the sounds of it working his way up into the longer distances a photo of us here crossing the line
http://skyrunninguk.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/G0000C0w4jnBhP_Q/I0000h2JcnMnpE2A/238#.U-DTqu7fy2s.facebook
We ran the last few miles together and came in around 6th and 7th or 7th and 8th I think? No sprint finish required

Mr Frank enjoying himself!

Just before reaching the Cat and Fiddle

Out 'n back to Mam Tor

At the end it was nice to get a hot shower and plenty of food and cups of tea followed by a massage and lots of laying about in the sun. Overall a great day out and a nice medal for finishing too! One to look out for next year!

Apocalypse 100 mile ultra - Beyond Marathon - 1st place

That was a warm one!
In brief.... 22 hours 28 min (I think),
101 miles,
4700m ascent,
1st place,
12 finishers (29% finish rate.... 83% finished the 50 mile option)
Checkpoints approx every 10 miles (drop bags at 30/40 and 70/80mile)
Starts and finishes Church Stretton, Shropshire.
Weather... 20 odd degrees sun, not much wind, or shade.
The route... roughly to give you an idea. made up with 1 big loop and 4 smaller loops and starts and finishes with a 10 mile stretch to the centre at Church Stretton.

The route layout - actual map was a little more detailed ;)

In the lead up to the event I'd been in Birmingham for a couple of weeks on NLP and Hypnosis training courses so managed to pop over to Shropshire (about an hours drive) for a couple of weekends. It worked in quite well. I'd been over the whole course aside from a few minor sections that had been amended to keep the route off roads as much as possible. I did take the Garmin Etrex 20 handheld gps with the updated route on although there were only a couple of points I actually got it out. There was a really well written set of directions which I read through the week before the event and also a pre marked map, I never got either of these out during the race. There were a few bits of reflective tape out on the course here and there but on the whole it was unmarked.

Recces...
One weekend was Saturday - first 45 mile, and then Sunday 3 of the 10 mile loops
The second was Fri night 10 mile loop, Sat last 30 miles + 8 back to car
and the 3rd I did Fri night 10 mile loop, Sat 50 mile (none of the loops but the whole of larger loop)
The day before the race did the first 5 and last 5 miles at an easy pace with some walking

The road to mile 92

As for the actual race I'd woken up pretty early in the hotel and had my bag packed up and drop bags ready. I've been running with a Nathan race vest most of the year so decided  to use that but also took a Salomon waist pack just in case. Registration and kit check was really smooth as always, we were given the option of not carrying spare layers and waterproofs given the forecast provided they were in drop bags, so with that in mind I re packed and carried the waist pack with 1 bottle in and the rest of the compulsory kit and gps then left my race vest set up in the 40 mile drop bag so I could swap there.

9am start came around pretty quick and after a short briefing outside the Carding Mill Valley Visitor Cafe we were moving. I pretty much led from the start and was first into the first manned CP at 10 miles with eventual 2nd place finisher close by. The first of 4 10 mile loops would bring us back to this CP before heading along the Striperstones towards Longden Common and the pub which made CP 30 and 40 mile, There's a great view off of Corndon hill and as I was travelling so light progress felt easy, it wasn't long before I'd made a gap and started to build a lead.

Nice views off Corndon Hill!

After that loop we took on the Striperstones which is essentially a long ridge with a stoney path along it which was nice running before hitting some fields again and a little bit of country lane before mile 30 which seemed to arrive quite soon. I had a couple of cups of water and a cup of coke, topped the bottle up and was on my way pretty handy, on the whole the 2nd loop is quite easy going. It was warm from the start but It hadn't really bothered me initially. Kept the water dripping in although started to get very hot around 35 miles. I got to the self clip checkpoint around mid 30 miles and had to budge some cows out the way which had taken a liking to the fence post it was attached to and knocked it down. Just before Earls hill I went down into a stream and cooled off and refilled my bottle from it before a steady ascent up the hill. I didn't move all that quickly after the hill as I could feel myself heating up so just as we went into the woods I sat myself down in another stream for a few minutes and just enjoyed the cool water. I topped my bottle up again and moved on slowly through the shaded woods for a couple of km before running it back into the 40 mile point.

Arriving at the CP runners were sprawled out all over the pub garden (their 30 mile point as the loop came back to here at 40 mile before 50 mile runners headed back to Church Stretton and 100 milers headed over towards Wenlock Edge) I got a little pot of rice pudding and fruit from my drop bag and washed it down with a couple of cups of water and half an orange. I really didn't feel like any food that wasn't juicy so swapped my tracker and a few things from my waist pack into the race vest and set off out of the CP towards halfway. I don't usually stop for much time at all at CPs but spent a bit of time here getting water in and cooling down which I think was time well spent.

I ran well over to Dorringon to cross the A49 and grab an ice cream from the shop before heading off along the country lanes to the 50 mile CP. I bumped into a guy called Richard out for a 20 mile run along here (think he was 7 miles in) so I kept up with him until we parted ways after a couple of miles. I was still feeling pretty good but very warm. It's about 12 miles to the CP and it did seem to take a little longer. A bit of a drink but no food for me here and I made my way along the Wenlock loop which was partly shaded, although no real hilly bits along here I stayed at a steady pace as I had a bit of a bloated kind of feeling as if my stomach wasn't letting anything through and I could feel water sloshing around. It was about now also that I stopped lying in streams that I passed as temperatures had come down a little and I didn't want to end up staying wet once it cooled down and went dark.

Back at mile 60 and the CP I lay down and did a few stretches whilst munching down some strawberries which were the best thing I'd ever tasted at the time, I was well looked after there! (btw DID I mention how awesome all the supporters and crew were too????) I even managed a biscuit too. I set off after a cup of coke and from here it turned into a wildlife adventure along the Edge as the light began to drop and darkness arrived. All along Wenlock edge the bushes were alive with rustling badgers, foxes, rabbits, deer and rodenty looking things and the trees were bustling with owls and pigeons and bats! It was quite exciting seeing the eyes reflecting back off my torch in the darkness. It went quite quick and before long I was looking out for the 70/80 mile CP and the start of the final loop!!!

Some enthusiastic cadets were manning the CP and had some burgers and hot dogs on the stove (I declined as there was no way I felt like eating anything except custard and some fruit) before heading off into the darkness. This loop seemed to have 2 climbs which felt flat on the recces I did, but I could tell I was going uphill by now! The last part of the loop up to Flounders Folly Tower I had a brief wave of tiredness and some minor hallucinations (seeing people and hearing people following me etc) A quick moment to admire the tower before heading down the steep descent which was one of my favourite bits of the course then down to the CP again where current 3rd place was although he had made his mind up to drop out. I wolfed down a bit of rice pudding and was feeling really good at the thought of a final 20 miles to go and dawn approaching. I thought the flapjack looked really nice but could only manage one mouthful. I picked up my gloves from the drop bag and swapped the torch batteries and grabbed the mp3 player (hadn't run with it in a race for a while but it was good to take the mind off the next 5 miles) shortly after leaving the cp I was crossing a field heading to the A49 and had a strange feeling as if the ground was shaking I glanced back and caught the eyes of a herd of blood thirsty young bulls reflecting back at me, they carried on following me to the gate, probably a bit excited by a bright coloured, reflective visitor that looked like easy prey.

It seemed around here the tracker I had, had paused itself and didn't come back on, so I put the occasional Facebook update that I was still moving despite the tracker as I had got quite a few texts asking why I wasn't moving even at such an hour in the morning! The text support was amazing by the way! Thanks everyone!! So one CP to go I felt ok and knew the way, progressed on quite well and daylight began to emerge. A few over grown bits of fields to battle through slowed me down somewhat but kept on going until the 92 mile CP. It was great to reach here knowing that I had 10 miles or less to go. A cup of coke and a bit of a water top up and I got going once more, stomach was feeling good again just didn't feel like eating, although energy levels were fine so I just kept moving. I'd been over the last 5 miles the day before the race so knew the distances now and just kept ticking along, for some reason I wondered if I was being caught so made an extra effort to run from the farm, right back up and over the Long Mynd. I dumped what was left of my water bottle over my head and began the final mile or 2 descent down to the finish line. I felt quite relieved knowing it'd soon be over and I could get back to the hotel and sit in a cold shower.

Wendy was down at the finish with open arms and a nice big medal. Soon Richard appeared with a race nice looking trophy and after a photo I sat down for a cup of tea. I guess I stuck around about an hour before heading back to the hotel where I managed a little bit of breakfast. Thanks so much for the support! A really well organised series of events. Look out for 12 Labours and The DON coming up this year on the Beyond Marathon site!

Shower with a seat!! Holiday in - the Ultra Runners Choice ;)

Some things that helped me in 'the heat'... If you live somewhere hot you're probably laughing that 20 odd degrees is considered heat I know!
Linger in the shade if possible... eg cross over the road to get the shade of a hedge,
Sponge or just tip water over yourself but possibly try and keep it from dripping into your shoes and your feet getting wet.
Keep hydrated and practice drinking on your runs
Stop and rest if needed, it might cost you a few minutes there and then but in something like an ultra can make the difference between finishing and not!
Try to acclimatize as much as possible.
Adjust your race plan accordingly, I backed off the pace I wanted to run at and was glad I did!


I finally finished at 7.28 on Sunday morning with 2nd coming in around 10.18am and 3rd just before 3pm I believe.

Route and results below!

http://beyondmarathon.com/apocalypse-100/apocalypse-100-route/

Peak District 100 RRR (race route recce)

Rumour has it that a NEW 100 mile ultra will potentially be breaking into the UK next year and it looks to be epic! Here are a few piccies from a 55 mile run around part of the course. 

A stunning mix of flat fast trails, some single track, cracking views and the odd hill ;)

To find out more details as they are released head to http://beyondmarathon.com/ where you can also find a range of other popular ultras they organise and also their world wide ultra map! (I've yet to take part in a race with organisation as good as theirs)

The feet stayed nice and dry all the way around in a spell of good weather and I loved the mix of terrain. If you are looking for an intermediate race to build up to the event I'd recommend you check out the Dusk til Dawn races (an over night 50 mile in October or the Daylight version in May)

I can't wait!

http://beyondmarathon.com/

Dusk 'til Dawn 50 mile 2012

Here's an interesting one! I'm writing this now to help me stay awake until tonight so I don't end up 'jet lagged' as I didn't sleep after finishing the race at 1.47 this morning, sleep didn't appeal.
 http://beyondmarathon.com/wordpress/dusktildawn/

A 50 mile circular route from Castleton in the Peak District with Checkpoints every 10 miles and intermediate vehicle marshalls between those. Also 4 token buckets (We had 4 tokens with our race number to drop into 4 buckets strategically placed around the course to prevent any short cutting)

This weekends run began at 'dusk' on Saturday. Which meant we had maybe 20 mins before we needed torches. I don't have much idea on my timings during the race as I didn't check the GPS I just ran at what felt appropriate. The goals for the race were 1. Stay on course, 2. Keep moving forwards and 3. Make the most of easy terrain the time limit was 14 hours 6min until dawn.

The race was organised by Richard and Wendy from Beyond Marathon and their team of excellent marshals and crew who looked after us throughout the night! Massive thank you to them from me and the rest of the competitors! We began with the most detailed and precise pre race briefing I have ever witnessed! At the end of it I felt like I had already run around the course and knew the location of every bit of mud and loose rock in the Peak District! Thanks Rich! Hope this happens again and get your entries in guys well worth it!

The start was a few minutes walk from Loosehill Hall YHA in Castleton and began with a moderate ascent  at 17.42 then a small loop back down to Hope and back to Castleton and onto Cave Dale. I started at a steady pace and quickly found myself at the front. It took me a couple of miles to adjust to the scale of the map and I took a few wrong turns which were quickly rectified allowing 2nd position to catch me briefly before we got the torches on and headed back into Castleton. It was a great sight to see all the head torches descending down from Loosehill as the darkness fell.

The gap behind me began to open once again as we had a couple of miles following Cave dale along the Limestone way which was difficult to get wrong. I got a glimpse back as I went over a style and could see 2nd position in the distance and nothing beyond him. I felt like I had started pretty comfortably but resisted the urge to check the watch. Approaching about 10 miles I hit the first checkpoint and there was no sign of 2nd behind me which I was surprised about. I had expected to be in a group for at least the first few miles. The recent speed orientated training must be working!

From here to Earl Sterndale and CP 2 passed rather quick with some good ground on the whole, a few fields to cross between the tracks and minor roads. I think it was a short sharp climb at Priestcliffe which had a sign part way up saying 'Nearly there' and then as I jogged past around the corner another saying 'Just kidding' the Grim Sweeper clearly has a sense of humour! As I reached the CP I caught them off guard as the building was still locked I popped in to get my time card stamped and moved straight out and carried on. You  can spend a lot of time at CP's if you mess around, I prefer to get in and get out! At this point I was apparently around 10 min ahead.

The next section of the course felt the longest to me for some reason. I was still moving well and was really enjoying the silence running alone through the night with no wind and a clear sky. There was bits of ice forming on the high points of the course. After a couple of field crossings and some long tracks I made it to a road section and heard a car coming in the distance. This would be Richard the race organiser who just missed a gymnastic display as I was looking at the map tripped over something and ninja rolled into a pile of grass that had been through a sheep and digested into a beautiful smelling end product. 'Your going to fast' 'I'm having to open the checkpoints early to keep up with you' Richard shouted. He was on his way up the course to lay out some extra glow sticks and reflective tape that guided us around the route! It was actually very well marked which was a bonus! There was a highish section running close to the road passing Cat and Fiddle pub and I could see the light from there in the distance as I edged closer to...CP3!

I arrived, topped up my water and got back to it after a quick photo. Still no sign of any lights behind me which I thought was strange with some long open sections there were some good runners on the start line and I was surprised I hadn't been caught up.

I was feeling fine and kept the pace on up to Shining Tor (?) where there was a bucket for our tokens, to prove we went here. The stretch from here along the paved track would probably have great views during the day time as the course headed for Taxal where the Grim Sweeper aka James and Wendy were waiting in the lay by. From here the route was similar to the High Peak 40 so I recognised parts of the course and moved quite well along the course. I got a text a few miles later saying 2nd place had reached the cp 29 mins behind me which told me I was pulling away despite maintaining a similar effort.

Some decent climbs popped up in the last section as I made my way to Chinley to the final CP where I had a quick chat to some more awesome crew and a drink before making my way up along and down the valley. I knew I was closing in on the final section which I knew well and could motor along to the end. The cloud began to close in and the temperature dropped as I climbed towards the final vehicle marshal I was pretty confident if I just went steady and didn't do anything silly I knew the course and had plenty in the tank. Visibility became pretty limited as I headed for Mam Tor. My hands were going numb with the cold, at this point I still had shorts and t shirt on but I knew I would be sheltered and descending into the finish within a couple of km and so just powered on. I wouldn't like to spend much time up there on a night like that! I knew it was incredibly unlikely anyone had gained any time on me during the last section as I didn't hang around and kept a steady run without doing anything too risky like flying down a hill.

I spotted the last bucket for tokens and popped it in and made my way down from Hollins Cross, comfortable with the route from there I plodded down to the road section and then let the legs go with a pretty speedy final couple of km to Castleton and around to the YHA. As I hit the long driveway I gave Richard a quick call to make sure I didn't catch them by surprise and ran up to the finish. I rolled in 8 hours 57 according to the Garmin with 50.1 miles,  second place ending around 1 hour behind that.

During the race I actually had very little food a handful of jb's, a slice of banana and a handful of crisps, I started with 2 600ml bottles 1 with ORBANA (I am trailing their new electrolyte energy drink and will be reviewing soon) and one with water, I drank both of those by 30 miles and filled one up here and also again at 40miles and added another sachet of Orbana. Post race I had about 5 cups of tea and 3 or 4 pints of water which did the trick. I had a scoop of soy protein along with a few snacks while breakfast was being prepared. Recently I have been using a few other things from Natures Sunshine which I feel have helped keep the training intensity up with minimal soreness such as omega 3 fish oil tabs and SynerProTein. If you have any questions about these or want some yourself pop me an email or you can order them through the link.

1.47am finished 50 miles!

http://beyondmarathon.com/wordpress/results/ RESULTS

Some thoughts... more reminders for me but they may help you plan to do a similar race.
The start time was a little different to normal and I didn't eat all that much during the day of the race after lunch but grazed through a few 9 bars during the afternoon. If I was planning to charge round as fast as physically possible I would have needed a bit more food on the go.
The Duracell batteries I used although they were new at the start didn't perform too well and were fading rapidly in the final 5 miles. I have used this same brand before and been fine maybe I had a bad batch?
Shoe wise I ran in Saucony xodus 2 which were about right, on the whole the ground was pretty good, a few slippery descents here and there but nothing all that bad, a large amount of track/road so wouldn't have liked to wear any of the real gnarly fell shoes!
Hills felt pretty comfortable and the speed felt fine suggesting training is going well despite a reduction in the long runs over the past month.
For some reason the data cleared off my watch between finishing the race and getting home so I can't see what my pace was like over parts of the course which is a shame. Will look into this.
Running entirely on feel and without constantly checking pace, on this occasion worked very well and time passed quickly.

www.charliesharpe.co.uk