Its Christmas Day, I have absolutely no idea how it happened so quickly again !
A huge Happy Christmas and New Year, here's to all the people we love and have around us, and all the people we might not get to see at this time.
Good luck for the New Year , and keep going!
Well, tomorrow I was hoping to participate in the Cheviot ultra, a 54 m trail event in the Northeast. Unfortunately for us, despite the best efforts of the organisers, it has been cancelled due to issues surrounding the ongoing storm damage in the area.
I think the organisers are truly gutted to have to cancel : after two years of postponing and changing events due to the pandemic, this feels a pretty harsh blow for them. It reminds me again how we have to be prepared for absolutely anything in this field.
We are still hoping to run a bit tomorrow , to use the time as a training day for future events . Will take pics : it is gorgeous and wild here, very very beautiful . Roll on the Cheviots, hopefully.
Luckily, a later start for us on the final day. Woke up with a better mood than last night, partially due to finishing all my hot chocolate drinks in one sitting . Last stage, only 25k. Maybe today I'll hit the jackpot and actually finish in the daylight.
After another sort out of food, then rucksack, then food, then socks, finally tent...we set off at the gorgeous time of ten o clock. Once again, I found Sarah and the poor girl had no hope of shaking me off. Back along the Loch path - was it really this muddy and hilly the other day ? Not sure. A beautiful flat gravelly
Sarah turned into ultra-and-slightly-competitive Sarah at the bottom of the mountain, and decided we were changing gear into ultra march to cover the final flatish three miles. I gratefully followed, still sticking to her like that irritating bit of chewing gum on your shoe that you cant get rid of.
One slightly scarey moment involving some Highland cows with very sharp horns wondering why we were marching across their ground. No fights though, phew.
We saw camp and cheered up. We even saw a few marker flags, which made us cheer even more. And....the end. Six hours and about a half. Alot better. Followed by lager and pizza.
Marvellous stuff. Adventure indeed.
After a pretty dubious nights sleep, day two started with the thought of 42 km mountainous terrain ahead. Aha, I thought- shorter than yesterday so maybe I'll get through the finish in daylight and with a chance of listening to some of the talks. How wrong can one person be in life.
I had the luck of starting behind two other women, Sarah and Megan. We stuck to each other like glue. We stomped, fell, swore, got lost, together. Three became four at the top of a boulder-strewn mountain. It took us over six hours to get through the first 15 k- things were not looking too sparkly for us.
The four of us became the fab four for a while : a few running stories told, a fair few more falls in the peat. We decided we had no chance of completing the day, so planned to pull out at checkpoint two .Bizaarely, some of this was caught on video, our girlie bad moments- so might not look too good on the BTU promo video . However, after being promised a nice track to follow to the end, only 12k which any fool could manage, we stayed in the game and took our tantrums to the finish.
All our fears were probably realised. It got dark, the promised track was a peat bog leading up a mountain, we were exhausted, we couldnt see the markers, it was hideous. At this point four became six and we decided our best policy was to stick together across this challenging terrain. After taking yet another wrong turn, we got a message on our trackers to turn around and backtrack. Also to keep following the pylons : er,, hard to do this in the pitch black on a cold mountainside . Swearwords were uttered, medicines shared, somehow we continued. We ended up splitting up into smaller groups to move quicker down the mountainside. Move quickly, try and stay warm.
At last vague lights in the distance. A stroppy end to the day. I couldnt even find it in me to hug my favourite medic, when she had done nothing but be really nice to me in this event and the ice ultra. Thats what fourteen hours of getting lost can do to you.
Guess what....already, I look back on this with fondness. Ah, ultra adventures.
Race registration and kit check was reached by ferry. A pretty unusual way to get to a race start, maybe . We camped for the duration of the event over two base camps. With a backdrop of Highland hills, Lochs, howling winds, hammering rain, deers calling. Wild .
Day one, approx 50k.....started off road, undulating, amazing sunshiney views . Changing into trails, then rapidly deteriorating to peat bogs ( I still have the evidence of this ingrained under my nails, yuk). Checkpoint at 25k, then the real off grid route began....trails, spectacular hills, long mountain climb, further checkpoint, then the longest ever undulating slippy muddy path along the Loch to camp. Did I fall over .....at least a hundred times. Did I worry about falling in the Loch....oh yes. Did I wonder what on earth I was doing when I couldnt see anyone else on the course in front or behind in the dark ? Oh yes. But I did buzz as I got to the finish , got hot water for my food, and tucked myself smugly in my tent to listen to the rain and wind again. It took me approx 11 hours. One set of soggy running kit down.
Well, this long anticipated event is the first time the event has been carried out, a new event from BTU. Even trying to get close to the event start is a bit of an adventure in itself.
It is 125 km over three day stages, on a small island Knoydart, accessible from Mallaig. Semi self sufficient : carry all food and medical kit, filter own water throughout the day: camping at nighttime. It looks pretty wild, to be honest.
The event itself looks so well organised. I think the BTU team are probably more excited than we are that its going ahead, due to the disappointments of lockdown postponements. Quite brilliantly, there are organised talks each evening by ultra runners, event organisers, or local conservationists. More brilliantly than this, there is a strong emphasis on supporting the environment through this company : they are working with the Knoydart woodland trust to promote woodland replanting, plus local trail maintenance. You just gotta love 'em.
Definitely an adventure : already a resilience test as the local trains have been cancelled on the way home.
Exciting exciting. Amazing to track down running kit and start sorting running packs and kit. Oh my.
The race, organised by Albion Running, is approximately 50 miles long, with a 30 m option. It starts at Ham Hill Country Park, weaves along the Leland Trail then the Lands End trail, in to Glastonbury. The route is steeped in history and goes up to Glastonbury Tor during the final leg : awesome.
I shared the pleasure of this day with two chaps, both seasoned long distance runners, Sean and Chris. I enjoyed immensely the company, chat, pacing, and buffers against the inevitable emotional lows. Sightings of Glastonbury Tor were magical, as was a teeny glimpse of the festival site also. We were plodding along right at the back of the race competitors : it was dark and atmospheric when we reached the top of the Tor with magnificent views of the area. Coincidentally, a Van Morrison concert was being held in Glastonbury Town that evening, so we got to run down the tor and through the town with an unbelievable musical accompaniment. I don't think this could have been planned to be a more perfect way to end the day. Fabulous.
The route accumulates around 4,000 foot of overall elevation - pretty much ouch. Five much appreciated checkpoints, also much appreciated course markings. We finished just over thirteen hours, that will certainly do me proud. For some runners, it was their first 50 miler : their finishing times, way faster than ours, are hugely impressive and something that should be shouted from the rooftops. If we can do this, we can do anything.
Green man green man green man
Apparently I am a Woodwose for completing, YIPPEE
Note to self : a Woodwose is anyone who completes the community forest path which circumnavigates Bristol. From what I can gather, they are also said to haunt medieval forests. To be fair, I've always wanted to be one.
I swear there's more hills running the route in this direction. My feet think so, anyway.
The course is, as said before, pretty challenging! Some scarey terrain underfoot, easy to stumble and fall. I'm not quite sure which was worse: stomping up the mountains or trying not to slip on the way down on the other side. Flat seemed to mean gnarly or rocky, all of which demanding concentration. There were a few tarmac areas... Somehow they are not standing out in my memory.
It seems to be slightly longer than the 55k, we came in at 36.1 miles apparently : certainly value for money with this event. An accumulative 7,000 ft ascent, incorporating three beautiful mountain passes.
I finished in 10.35, which put me at a 226 position out of 311 finishers. I'm sure this is nothing to write home about to anyone else, but I was chuffed. I managed to finish the route still trotting and listening to interesting stories from another runner, : the best way to get in. Fab.
I finished 10.35, to be honest I was pleased with this. Depressingly, we saw a couple of elites finish the 100k before we had even hit our start line - they were powering in at nine and something hours : how, how, how can they do these superhuman times, incredible.
Loved this day. Many good memories of previous Lake District events came flooding back, was good to be out there today.
Favourite beautiful moment had to be looking back from the top of the longest climb I had attempted for a while, Helvellyn, amazing. Favourite comedy moment was trying to take a dodgy selfie when a work colleague ran past : huge congrats to him, first ultra and a superb finishing time.
Buzzing. Absolutely buzzing.
Arrived in the slightly moody and hugely beautiful lake district for a stab at the Lakeland 55k tomorrow. Stunning, stunning place. Did I ever say that its good to be able to breathe?
I use the term 'run' quite loosely.... Maybe just propel ourselves forward is a more accurate description.
The course followed the Norfolk coastal path. Flat, a mixture of trails, sand, boardwalks, promenades. The latter third was awesome with the sea in sight and sound to our right, and the gradual sunset over the sea.
The idea of the race was to try and make it back before sunset : the sun went down on us in our last painful 5k.
Meeting up with an old running friend was an absolute blast, to share the day as well as previous running stories. The fact that he had the patience to stick with me and my still-a-bit-injured-very-slow-plod for the whole event was a testament to his level of stamina in itself.
The race incorporated four checkpoints for extra water and supplies on what turned out to be a pretty hot day. The support from the race marshals was phenomenal.
Loved this race, loved this day.
Just finished the 35 mile sunset Ultra, a beautiful race on the Norfolk Coast. What a buzz. Pics tom
A flat race: the winner finished in approximately five hours fifteen. I have no idea how. I think many of us felt that it was perhaps harder than normal : no preparation with recent events due to cancellations, it felt very much like the first time of attempting this distance.
Yikes.
My legs got tired too quickly for my liking, with the classic schoolboy error of setting off too fast. Plodding commenced quite quickly, the ultra gear. A huge piece of luck for me : I hooked up with a chap running a similar pace quite early on about fifteen miles. After having a little moan between us, we went in to a run / walk strategy that he timed like a metronome. We were aiming for 13-14 minute miles to complete, so would walk (well, hobble) for 0.6 of a mile, then jog (well, shuffle) for 0.4-0.5 of a mile. Honestly, it worked a treat. The miles just ticked by. In between our attempts at 'running', we put the world to rights and this in itself was interesting. So, how lucky for me to have bumped in to this chap.... My race would not have been anywhere near as enjoyable or achievable without him.
The end came after 9 hours 32. I certainly didn't feel as if I'd had a 'good' race: legs way too sore, rubbish injuries rearing their heads. But, but but.. I didn't expect to, either. First event back, my aim was to complete, I was chuffed to get there.
Still buzzing. And still wearing the tee shirt, with pride.
