Written by Steve Hayes - https://stevedavidhayes.wordpress.com

I had been made aware of the race after a friend Mike Ward had attempted it in 2012. I knew Mike was a tough athlete having completed several Deca Ironman races and followed his progress with interest, long before I was into long distance running. I was amazed that he dropped out after around 52 miles. In that year, the races first, no runners finished the race. I then followed the progress of the 2013 race in which one person finished out of the seven starters. In 2014 I was again amazed to see only one finisher out of the seven starters. This time, a hero of mine, Mimi Anderson. She became the first woman to win (or complete) the race and set a new course record of 41 hours and 34 minutes. I was amazed at the low finish rate and at the time was silly enough to be in search of the “Toughest races” rather than races in which I would enjoy the route, scenery etc. I signed up in April 2015 but following a lovely experience in the Romanian mountains I decided that life is too short to run around in circles and I would cancel my entry and focus on more scenic and appealing races. I couldn’t get my money back from the race so I left it in limbo for now and gave it no further thought.

To explain the race briefly, it’s a looped course in the hills/mountains surrounding a small village called Vasa, about a 30 minute drive from the second largest city in Cyprus (I think), Limassol. Each complete loop is a figure of 8 and made up of a small 7km lower loop and then a longer 14km upper loop. After each figure of 8 you return to “basecamp” for rest, food, support and have your time taken. You can do what you wish at this point. The weekend consists of several distances – 7km (one lower loop), 21km (one entire figure of 8 loop), 50km (two full loops and then the lower loop again) and the 217km (10 full loops and then the lower one again).

Following a race in Brazil (Jungle Marathon) in October I returned and immediately knew I needed to get a race booked for late 2015 or early 2016. I hesitated over the Spine Challenger as I’ve previously done the full length Spine race and don’t usually like to return to races as there are so many available but eventually decided that seeing as though I had paid for Cyprus I would go and give it a crack. The challenge would be huge as my longest previous single stage race was 102 miles along the Cotswold Way which I finished in around 28 hours. This race was 33 miles longer, considerably hillier, around 8000 metres of vertical ascent versus 3000 metres in the Cotswold Way and it would be on a looped course so mentally very tough. This race used to take place in July when the Cyprus heat would soar in excess of 40 degrees which is probably the main reason for the high DNF rate as there is very little shade on the course. This year the race would take place in Winter (January) and the weather would be a lot cooler but this posed it’s own challenges as the temperature fluctuated from the mid 20’s (felt hotter) to low single digits. A huge variation.

Prior to the race I felt pretty good. I had had a good 2015 and raced around 700 miles on foot with the Dragons Back and Jungle Marathon (260km) being the main highlights. I returned from Brazil in early October with few injuries and feeling quite good so I took the rest of the month off and started training again in November with a plan of getting two solid months training in and starting to taper around Christmas. This all went well and I don’t remember training so consistently before. Smoking was still my main inhibitor and I battled to try and give up, eventually doing so just before Christmas. I managed to get a few gym sessions in to strengthen my legs without adding too much bulk and focused on trails runs and hills. The majority of my sessions were around 1 hour to 1:30 in duration and would cover between 6 and 10 miles. Once a week I would do a long run but never more than 4 hours or 20 miles as I just didn’t have time. I spent a lot of quiet time visualising the race and focusing my attention on Cyprus. After Christmas I concentrated on trying to shed the weight from all the over indulging in wine, beer and food but also trying to taper. I wasn’t too worried about the added weight as I knew it would come off during 45 hours of running which was the cut off and what I was expecting to do the race in following my previous performance. It’s worth noting that I had secretly been visualising doing a lot better than this but my philosophy was “expect the worst and hope for the best”. In the two weeks prior to the race I had four sports massages with my massage guy Maximum fitness which worked a treat and aside from a new Achilles issue I didn’t have many concerns.

I kept the race quiet as I wasn’t 100% I would finish due to the high DNF rate previously but I had said to myself that nothing barring injury was going to stop me finishing. I would prefer to get the race done and then tell people about it.

I left work on Thursday 14^th January and headed for Jersey airport, Gatwick bound. I spent the night in a Yotel pod and got an early flight to Paphos the next morning. Picked up the hire car, happy to see that I didn’t have to adjust to driving on the wrong side of the car or the wrong side of the road and headed for Limassol. I bypassed that as I wanted to find the location of the race as the mandatory briefing would take place in a couple of hours. I found what I thought was the start line which was a park in a small rural village in the mountains. All very peaceful and quaint. There didn’t seem to be anything other than houses so I headed back to a village I had passed about 5km away which had a little shop so I could buy some lunch and stock up for the weekend. As usual, I was in holiday mode and couldn’t resist buy a pack of “Holiday cigarettes”. This has got to stop!!

Shortly before the briefing I met a couple of very friendly English lads, Malcolm and Kevin and then an ex pat based in Cyprus called Paul. After I had hung my Hammock in what looked like a suitable area, we headed to the briefing together and I was happy to have made some friends. Kevin and Malcolm were also signed up for the 217km. At this stage I had no idea how many people were racing in each category or who.

 

Home for the weekend next to the worlds worst football pitch

The briefing went without issue and consisted of runners from each distance listening to Mike Rivers the race director explaining the course, the do’s and don’ts etc. Emphasis was placed on the temperature and weather over the weekend. The large fluctuations were clearly a concern. I collected my race number and was given some dodgy looks along with the other 217km runners when we went to get our numbers. Clearly the majority were racing the shorter distances.

Following the briefing I headed to the other side of the “Football pitch” to have some dinner and prepare my gear ready for the next morning. I was surprised to be the only one camping at the race start and half way through my evening sandwich the race organisers, Michael, Eva Nicola came over to investigate why someone was camping at their race venue. They had no idea I was a runner. Once I’d cleared up that I was running and planned to sleep in my hammock I spent about ten minutes convincing them that I would be safe and warm and knew what I was doing. The Mayor of the village came along to see the “weirdo smoker” in his hammock and introduced me to a couple of young lads that seemed to be security. They would spend their night watching “movies” on their laptops on a picnic bench very near where I was planning to sleep. Once I’d assured everyone that I would be safe, comfortable and warm I was asked to keep an eye on the security guards and to inform the Mayor if they weren’t working hard I finished sorting my kit and headed off to bed in my Hammock.

After a pretty good but cold sleep I woke at around 6am to some commotion as racers and organisers started tripping over my guide ropes and making lots of noise. I stayed in bed until about 7am but had to get up for a pee. The little picnic area/park thing that I was staying at was coming to life and getting exciting. Lots of local racers with various distances on their race numbers. I was trying to spot the 217km runners but could only see a few, including a Facebook friend and previous runner (DNF’d in 2013), Debbie King. The race wasn’t due to start until 10 so there was a bit of hanging around, especially as I had sorted all of my kit the night before. I spent the morning getting my head in the zone, getting changed slowly and absorbing the atmosphere. There was a medic at the race that was doing some testing on immune systems and ultra-runners getting illnesses after races or something like that. She had asked at the briefing for participants for her study and all she needed was to weigh me (83.8kg clothed and shoed) and take a saliva sample. At around 9am, the local bishops/vicars/priests attended the area to bless the race and I assume, the racers. All very nice and cultural and quite unique. At about 9.30am we left the area for a short walk of about 2km to the official race start. I was packed, loaded with bag on and all the gear and nutrition I thought I would need for the first 21km/13.1 mile/half marathon loop. We all walked and jogged down to the race start and waited for around 15 minutes in the warm Cyprus sun, waving at the Drones until the countdown from 10 and then we were off, the start of what I had told myself would be 45 hours of non stop running, walking, eating with a bit of discomfort thrown in there.

Lap 1 was all very sociable with the mix of distances. The shorter distance runners obviously going out a lot quicker and I maintained the mind set that it would be a long old race. This first lap was always going to be a reconnaissance to assess the terrain, learn the route and see how long it would take. I was hoping to do each lap in around 3:30 – 4.00. A slow half marathon but it was hilly and I did have 10 of them to do. I felt really good on lap 1 and spoke to lots of people before coming into the basecamp after around 2 and a half hours. A lot quicker than I had thought and I didn’t feel like I had overdone it although the thought of 9 more was pretty horrifying. I had to cross the finish line of the 21km so that the timekeepers could keep track of each lap time and how long the breaks were. The organisers wanted the opportunity to be able to check on the health of the longer distance runners after each lap. My plan was always to rest as little as possible. It was great returning to basecamp as it was the 21km race finish it was full of people clapping and cheering so gave me a real buzz and a morale boost. I ran sprightly to my car, grabbed some more food, filled my water bottles and headed back out with no idea where I was placed. I think my break was less than a couple of minutes.

 

The next few laps all kind of blur into one and I don’t remember much about them but the field thinned out with the 70 odd 7km and 21km runners all finished by around 13:30 and then the 50km runners finished by 18:30 by which point it was now dark. I was running well still and keeping my lap times to around 3:30 I think. I wasn’t keeping an eye on my pace or timing but ran by how I felt at the consistent speed of 15 minute miles that I had done in training. I had been keeping my breaks to a minimum still and don’t think I wasted more than 10 minutes at basecamp. I would have a routine of having a pee and stocking up on food whilst I was out on the trail so I could just run in, grab some more food, fill my bottles, grab my head torch and an extra layer if required and head out as quickly as possible.

By this point, Kevin had dropped out after a lap and a half which I was gutted about and Malcolm was also mentioning packing in. I still had no idea which lap I was on and I hadn’t run with anyone for a long time but I carried on plodding into the chilly Cyprus night with my head torch blazing. Another lower loop and then another upper loop….great. Generally, the course consisted of around an hour of decent which was punctuated by base camp and then two hours of gradual and steep ascents. The ascents were fine, an excuse to walk but certainly killed your average speed. The descents were torturous and never ending. I had injured my right knee on my second lap of the lower loop and at each basecamp visit I had tried quickly to massage my quads with my stick roller and attempted to tape my knee up but I couldn’t get the tape to stick which is a first. I must have been sweaty but Eva, one of the race directors was adamant I should shave my legs. Not happening I’m afraid Eva! Anyway, I carried on plodding and tried to ignore the increasing pain in my knee.

In the early hours of the morning I was told my Debbie’s partner Simon who was expertly crewing for her that the leader, a highly experience American runner (I think this was his 30^th 100 mile plus race and he had completed Badwater) was having a sleep so if I kept going I could overtake him. That was fantastic news so I asked Simon how many other people were in front of me to which he replied none and I replied f**k off! I was in shock, I had never been in the lead before so off I bounced, down the road to start lap number 5 or whatever it was. I took the opportunity to call most people I know to let them know that I was in the lead but it would probably be very short lived as the American chap, Jared was a much quicker runner than me and I’m sure his crew would be waking him up and getting him ready to chase me down. Nevertheless, I felt great and kept doing what I was doing but perhaps with a bit more urgency. Looking like the thrill of the chase to get you going. I was running with a permanent smile on my face but constantly looking over my shoulder with my hand over my head torch so he could see me. I was playing dirty tactics.

The high point of the race – one hour of brutal steep descents to follow

Close to basecamp I had a pee, stuffed my face and planned what I would need from the car. Nothing really, just more food. I didn’t need any extra clothing as the single base layer I was wearing had been fine all night. I did need batteries though. I was being tactical and saved a lot of energy for my run into basecamp and virtually sprinted in, grabbed my food and sprinted out within a matter of a couple of minutes. I had a bit of banter with whoever was there and tried to be as joyful as possible in the hope that the American crew would tell their runner that I was in great shape and getting faster so he would lose hope and give up the chase. I sprinted out of there and got about 1 km away before realising I didn’t get any batteries so had to return all the way back up the hill to get more. Very annoying but I’m glad I remembered. The course was technical and the night dark so they were required. Again I managed to keep up the pretence that I wasn’t hurting at all and was full of energy. All a lie obviously. I had been told Jared was an hour behind me and gaining.

Daylight came which is always a relief at around 06:30. I could change back into a T shirt and ditch the head torch. I was now carrying lots of food so that I didn’t need to stop at all at basecamp, all part of the tactics and the act I was putting on to stop Jared from chasing me and leave me in pole position. Again, I sprightly bounced into basecamp but this time was told that Jared was struggling a lot. He had lost an hour sat in a car on the lower loop and now the medics were with him. He had lost at least a couple of hours on me. I was gutted for him and genuinely concerned for his health as he was obviously a very high calibre of runner. On the other hand, I was amazed, shocked, stunned and overjoyed that I was still in the lead and had lapped all of the other runners so providing I could keep going without my knee getting any worse, I would WIN my first race!!!!!!

As I left the road and entered what was probably my 7^th lower lap after about 25 hours of running, I saw Jared with the Medics. By the time I had completed the lower loop (about an hour and a half) and started the ascent of the upper loop Jared had gone and I had guessed he had been pulled from the race. When I saw him he had a foil blanket around him and his crew members were rubbing his back. The thrill of the chase was over, there was no rush, I had it in the bag, I could take my foot off the gas, I could chill out. I started to walk and think I walked the entire lap in about 4 hours. I got to basecamp and again continued with my act that I was fine. I now turned my attention to course records and enquired as to the course record set by Mimi in 2014 (albeit in the Summer with much higher temperatures). I didn’t want to wait around whilst the organisers found out the course record time so I asked them to text me. It was 41 hours and 34 minutes and I was well on target to finish it and set a new (winter) course record.

I continued plodding with a mixture of walking the ups, running the downs and the flats but my knee was painful and the downs were now walks. I could run the flat bits though of which I think there were about three small sections on the whole course. So walking race it is then. As I headed out on my 9^th lap, again I got around 1km into the course before remembering I would need my head torch as it would get dark about half way around so back I went, pissed off again at having to waste energy and retrace steps. It was great to be on my last lap but as I was plodding and doing some maths I realised that 10 x 21 = 210km and this race is 217km so then I remembered that I had to do the lower loop again. I was gutted. I hated the lower loop by now. On my last few laps I spent a bit of time with a local runner called Sergio and Debbie. Both had ran in 2013 and were back with vengeance. Nothing was going to stop either. I stopped for a chat with Steve Muir at some point towards the end of my day. I was very impressed that he was running this race in Vibrams (barefoot) and he is a Vegan with only a couple of years running experience following back surgery. Very impressive. The only other runner still going apart from me, Steve, Sergio and Debbie was a Greek chap called Athanasios. He was a quiet lad, probably due to a lack of English but he was plodding on and kept going. I had heard that he had pulled out at one point but this turned out to be a myth. Like the other runners, he had just gone for a snooze in his car. I think all of the other 217km runners were having rests after each lap. I preferred not to and to name sitting down “the seat of doom”. I had no intention of resting and wanted to test myself and see how long I could keep going for. I think I had a seat on my 10^th lap on the lower loop and had a chat with a few of the marshals that were doing a great job of keeping us safe, fed and watered. The pressure was off by this point.

After my last lap I just had to keep going and do the lower loop again. It was a great feeling to know that I didn’t have to do the steep and unrelenting climb up to the high point of the course and even more pleasing to know I wouldn’t have to do the descent again. Just one more lower loop which I knew would take around an hour and a half which it did. As I neared the top of the lower the loop and the junction with the upper, I could hear lots of voices and see the odd head torch. Around 15 runners, marshals, medics, locals had come out to run with me for the last 500 metres back to the start and ultimately my finish line. I was flying at this point and had just a feeling of lightness in my legs. Victory was carrying me on and a few of them were struggling to keep up. I’m sure they were just saying that to make me feel good but I was even running the “ups” and I never do that. I ran the last 100 metres with Mike the race director and mentioned to him that I would probably get emotional. I didn’t get teary which is unusual for me at the end of a big race.

I crossed the line in a time of 34 hours and 38 minutes, setting a new course record and coming in 1^st place.

 

 

 

I was quickly whisked away for photos with the local mayor in front of sponsor banners and bizarrely holding a bag of crisps. Anything for the sponsors. I was wrapped in a foil blanket which I shrugged off and some ice put on my knee to take the swelling down. After a good chat with lots of interested people and lots of photos I headed off to get changed in the public toilets before returning to the camp fire to warm up and enjoy one of my expedition meals and a beer. I gave my saliva sample to the medic and was weighed. Now 81.8kg. I had lost 2kg during the race which was less than I had hoped and surprisingly less than most of the 50km runners that took part in the study. I had been stuffing my face for 34 hours. I have quite a strong stomach and can eat most things on a race. My race nutrition consisted of:

• High 5 energy drinks
• Gu gels
• Accelerade energy gels
• Nuts
• Jerky
• Shotblocks
• Snickers bars
• Cliff energy bars
• Percy Pigs (essential)
• Apples (provided at aid stations)
• Locally made tomato pizzas (from basecamp)
• Honey cake (from basecamp)

I came back from Cyprus with loads of left over gels and bars. I really need to work on my nutrition strategy as I never know how much food to take. I always take too much.

No wonder I only lost 2kgs!

After a meal, beer, cigarette and a bit of banter around the camp fire I headed off to the little old school that was in the vicinity and the main indoor part of the race hub. All of the food and water came from in here. I had a bit of a snooze for a few hours and woke up just in time to welcome 2^nd place Steve Muir across the finish line at about 04:30 on Monday morning. I then stayed up to welcome the other three runners across the line with a special mention going to Debbie King who really ground out a gnarly finish. She and her partner Simon were worried about the cut offs and we were all waiting patiently on the edges of our seats to hear of her imminent arrival.

Debbie King – Hats off, awesome running, true grit and determination

• 1st Place. Steve Hayes, U.K – 34:38
• 2nd Place. Steve Muir, U.K – 42:33
• 3rd Place. Athanasios Krigas, Greece – 42:50
• 4th Place. Sergio Nicolaides, Cyprus – 43:59
• 5th Place. Debbie King, U.K – 44:16

I went back to my sun lounger in the school house for a snooze for a few hours before waking and realising the place was deserted except for Debbie, Simon and a couple of very wet stray dogs that seemed adamant to share my sleeping bag with me.

Me and a dog

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the sights of Cyprus which is a lovely country. Monday night and the celebratory evening saw me get rather drunk on one of the Sponsors draft Prosecco which went down very well. Thank you very much. All in all, a great race that I’m really pleased to have had a go at. I firmly believe that my course record won’t last long and think a time of sub 24 hours is achievable in the winter. I can’t comment on the summer race. My strategy worked well for me. Keep eating and keep moving in the right direction. I had a plan to break the race down into lots of 3 and after every 3 laps which should have been 9-12 hours I would have an expedition meal. As it happened, I just didn’t want to stop and my plan of focusing on three laps didn’t work either as it was just too long. I ended up just focusing on one lap at a time. The basecamp visits after each lap really spurred me on and gave a huge boost of morale. The only downside to the race was the crappy medal and trophy which I have spoken to Mike about but that is the only downside. The race is fun, the organisation efficient, friendly and professional. The village of Vasa is a wonderful place with great inhabitants and a wonderful Mayor. Michael, Eva and Nicola are all fantastic and welcome you to their race with open arms.

 

Event organisers, Michael, Eva and Nicola

The support was incredible and I leave Cyprus with a whole new bunch of friends and connections. Thank you Cyprus x

Not the biggest or best Trophy in the world but it’s mine and has sentimental value.  Heaps!

My injured knee is improving slowly after several Physio appointments, ultrasounds and short wave therapy but I very much doubt that it will be healed before Transgrancanaria in four weeks’ time

A huge thank you as always my go to my sponsors Mercury Distribution and Dolan Hotels

http://mercurydistribution.com/jersey/

http://www.dolanhotels.com/