Warrington Way 40 mile ultra 2015

Being from Warrington the idea of running an ultra that passes within a couple of miles from home was quite appealing. On the other hand though, part of me was thinking 'Hmmm... Do I really fancy running 40 miles around Warrington...?'

I had a look at the route map posted online and recognised about 75% of the route from various training runs in the past few years. I didn't really know any of the last 10 miles but went out and did a few recces in the nice dry, sunny Autumn weather. The first thing that struck me was how flat the route is (compared to my typical races these days). Also with the route being so dry even across the fields it made for easy running at a good pace. I also noticed that even though it was stressed that you should be able to find your own way, on the day it was to be marked really well with tape. I decided after recceing a few parts in such nice conditions I'd get an entry. More on those conditions later!!


Having covered all the route in advance I knew what was coming and wouldn't need to get the map out on the day and could just focus on running. I reckoned that a sub 5 hour time was comfortably achievable. I was initially thinking somewhere just under the 4.40 mark would be my aim. Then it rained on and off for a couple of weeks and in a final recce run a few days before, even running 7 min mile pace was taking a bit too much effort over the fields. I came up with a rough schedule to hit each 10 mile checkpoint considering where the worst of the mud was and fields, elevation etc
(predicted times)
10 mile = 1.07
20 mile = 2.20
26 mile = 3.03
30 mile = 3.35
40 mile = 4.50 Finish!
*The last 10 miles have the most fields and most of the elevation comes between 27 and 30 miles.

So on to race day.... I could hear the rain outside when I woke up. I did a warm up before leaving home for 6am registration. After arriving and parking there was water running along the road and it had been raining hard for some time now. A quick and painless registration before a briefing in which we were told of a small diversion at mile 18 giving us an extra mile and then gathering on the start line just as it was turning light at 7am. The weather actually wasn't that bad overall once we got running, after a couple of miles of rain it was showery on and off though I had a good patch of sunshine when I finished.

I was straight to the front from the start and over the first few miles relaxed into an intensity that felt right. I'd been totally alone until nearly 9 mile when I heard some breathing and footsteps behind. It was Mat another local runner. We chatted over the next few miles and cruised straight through cp1 in 1hr 6 min 58 sec.... 2 seconds faster than I expected! No complaints. Shortly after the cp was the second longish field section where it can get quite muddy but we moved over there taking in the sights such as the M62 and B&Q and it wasn't as muddy as I expected. I slowed slightly to have a quick drink and a gel as we passed Buzzard Alley (that's where a Buzzard swooped me and cut the back of my head a few months ago) Mat moved about 5 seconds or so in front briefly and we were back together into the next section of fields before heading toward Burtonwood Services.

I don't think there was a quick way to run over the paths in that field so we just did our best and kept to it. The majority of the next few miles from mile 14 all the way to the 2nd cp at mile 20 is on farm tracks though we had the diversion to follow which meant we would arrive at cp2 at 21 miles. Just as we crossed the A57 at Bold Heath Mat dropped back and shouted something along the lines of see you at the finish. I turned to see he was ok and waved as I continued on to reach the cp in 2 hours 22 min so 2 minutes behind schedule but having done a mile extra. There was a lot of cheering as I passed and headed on toward Fiddlers Ferry and the Trans Pennine Trail.

As I was running alone my mind was drifting around in a trance, I did wonder where the relay runners were, I'd expected there might be a few ahead of me by now. Before long I realised I was almost at marathon distance and glanced at my watch to see it pass at 2 hours 58 mins. Next up is Moore Nature Reserve and the path drops down to the right down some stairs to weave along the path before starting with the gentle hills that make up the majority of the elevation. I was focused on getting to the next cp at 30 miles and I thought if I could get there with 1 hour 20 to spare as a worse case scenario I could average 8 min miles over the last leg and still make sub 5. 

I felt like I was working a bit harder to maintain the pace but in reality it is slightly uphill over that section as you pass the Appleton Reservoir behind Walton Gardens. Once across the fields and closing in on Hatton the pace came back ticking off 50km in 3 hr 36 min and passing the final cp in 3 hours 40 mins. I knew I was 5 minutes over my estimate but having followed the extra mile detour I thought I must actually be running just a bit quicker than my estimates. There were plenty of fields to come but I knew the route in my head and was expecting the mud that was to come. Behind Spooky world the infamous cow slurry did not disappoint. 

I was closing in fast on the M6 crossing and managed to leap the electric fences clean, as we crossed the sheep field. After getting out on the A50 road crossing I knew there were only 3 fields left before the woods and the first two were fairly straight forward. Some friendly cows in the 3rd came with me although they hadn't quite figured out how to use the style at the other end of the field. I glanced at the watch knowing I was within about 10 mins of the finish line and pushed on passing the Lymm Dam and down the Dingle before popping out in the middle of town getting some strange looks as I darted across the roads past the memorial and up the cobbled street toward the finish.

4 hours 51 mins for 41 miles... That'll do! Really happy to have been able to take part in the race and I think Kieran and Lymm Runners have done a great job of putting together the race and making use of a lot of tracks and trails that I'm sure a lot of local runners, never knew existed! In terms of organisation it was pretty much spot on... Can't think of anything that would need changing? I got some fantastic support around the route which was amazing and a huge boost! Going from what I heard after the race a lot of people had pushed themselves to new limits which is awesome too!



So was it muddy? ...

...
Getting there!


Jump over to www.charliesharpe.co.uk for free training videos and the latest race reports.

How To: Prepare Your Body For The Dragon's Back Race

''The legendary Dragon’s Back Race™ follows the mountainous spine of Wales from Conwy Castle to Carreg Cennen Castle. This incredible 5-day journey is approximately 300 kilometres long with 16,000 metres of ascent across wild, trackless, remote and mountainous terrain. It is not a trail race.''

Ian Corless photo

So what does it take to finish it?
Do you need to be super human? Running since birth? Using a compass before you could walk?
Have legs carved out of rock? Maybe such characteristics could help, but in a word, NO!

I think finishing the Dragon's Back comes down to 3 things.
A - How much you want to finish.
B - How well you look after yourself during the race.
C - How well conditioned your body is to the long days on your feet.

In my first multi stage race (Gobi Challenge) in 2010 I was probably one of the least experienced entrants and didn't really run much before that (it was my first running event) but I had practiced doing long 2-3 day hikes on tough ground carrying my pack along with strength training for my legs. In the race I relied heavily on determination to get me through. I was mid pack and I had to really work for that finish medal. I REALLY WANTED to finish! I didn't care if it meant I was the last finisher.

Some questions to ask to help you focus your training time effectively and best prepare for the DBR  ....
What is your aim within the race?
Where are you at right now?
What type of terrain do you usually run on?
What experience do you have in the mountains?
How confident are you navigating remote and often trackless areas potentially in the cloud?
How tough are you mentally?
What kind of state you want to be in at the finish?

Essentially you need to define your areas of weakness and figure out what might be holding you back from finishing the race. Get used to the kit you plan to use, practice with it and refine it, consider your fueling strategy, get some long days out in the hills to experience the terrain, someone who has been crushing loads of fast miles on the road wont necessarily be in a good position for an event like this.

Ian Corless image

In terms of getting your body ready for the event which I'm covering in this article here's the process I'd go through.

1 - Assess running form and technique
See what your technique and form is like when running. If your technique is very poor then any training you do will stress the body more than necessary. Similar to driving around with your brakes partially on in the car. I don't think there is one global running style that suits everyone but it makes sense to make some small tweaks. If there was something simple to at least keep you upright and more relaxed for example, keeping your eyes up and looking a few steps ahead rather than looking straight down to the floor when you're on runnable sections or keeping your cadence up when ascending and reducing your stride length, perhaps becoming more aware of your foot placement when descending, landing with your weight over your foot rather than your foot being far ahead. These findings could help improve your running without having to add to your training time. Also if you can place less stress on the body that's great to reduce the chance of an overuse injury.

2 - Define any weaknesses or imbalances.
If you've got a problem area that keeps causing issues, maybe preventing you from training or maybe just something a bit stiff or niggle-y, it's worth seeing someone who knows what they are looking for and getting help fixing it. It could be that the ITB keeps bothering you causing some pain, or an aching hip that comes back when you increase your mileage. Simply stretching and massaging something that constantly bothers you is only a temporary fix. Find out why that's happening and learn what you can do to get the body in good alignment.

Most of the non running training I do when racing a lot is keeping things mobile and ensuring that my body is working smoothly and in good alignment. Again it's a way of reducing the stress on the body, you might be strong enough to get through 40 - 60 miles a week without any pain but perhaps some tightness, consider the race length much longer than this, it's difficult to mask an area that's hurting for that long. Worse still you could end up putting more stress on to a different area of the body in order to compensate causing a chain of issues.

3 - Build your training up gradually!
I know, I know, ground breaking statement right?! Not really, whilst we all know someone who just went out and started running and did their first ultra with no training. I've not seen anyone come up with the magic number of miles to train per week or month. The nature of the DBR means some long days out in the hills, 5 days in a row to be exact. Over the past few years I've used back to back long runs regularly in my training and since I started them, my stamina in ultras has grown and grown. It depends where you're at right now but you might start going out for an easy paced hour the day after a marathon or perhaps something like the shorter mountain marathon type events where you're doing 3 to 4 hours in the hills back to back. If you're planning on entering the next Dragon's Back then it's likely you've already got some sort of base of running or hiking fitness. I used some of the national trails in New Zealand to hike over a couple of days as part of my training for my first stage race. I learned a lot! Nowadays I pick a couple of trail races on the same weekend such as a marathon and a 40 miler I did one weekend or my own planned routes in Snowdonia.

4 - Practice makes perfect?
Providing you practice something specific to the race of course! Can you switch some of your runs and include more running on hilly or rough terrain? Squeeze in a few trips to the hills to recce the area of the race? It doesn't have to be every run. Once a week near where I live I can drive 30 mins to some small hills and if I really try I can get over 500m of ascent in a couple of hours. Not quite up to DBR standards but making the most of what's available! The weekends I try to get to somewhere like Snowdonia to train on some real hills or do a race (generally I pick the hillier ones) but the rest of the week days I have to make do with either flat road or canal path type trail. I can use these days to either work on my speed or recover either with easy running or some cycling.

In summary.
First get to grips with where you honestly and realistically are, right now. Ask yourself what areas will be holding you back the most. Weight, navigation skills, stamina, confidence?
Now it's time to make some decisions.... Decide which area will have the biggest impact on you and set to work improving that aspect first. Speak to a relevant person if needed. Your friends mums taxi driver who was 'reet good at that there cross country at school' might not be your best bet! It could be a physio, coach, navigation expert, past competitor or something totally different.
Break down and list the steps between where you are now and where you want to be and then....
DO SOMETHING STRAIGHT AWAY.  Sitting there all motivated is great but wont get you through it alone! Start doing something right away that will help you toward that finish line!
Be consistent, keep focused and listen to the body.

You can read my own personal experience of the DBR on my race blog at www.charliesharpe.co.uk
There is also a free video series and other articles you might enjoy!