Written by Melissa Arkinstall - http://www.run247.com/

This has to be by far, the biggest medal that I've ever received in all my years of running and triathlon....I think that it's bigger than an Olympic medal! "You're going to have to earn one of these the hard way"... said Lindley Chambers, Race Director at Challenge Running (www.challenge-running.co.uk). Hey, he's not kidding, but I smiled all the way through the task.

Chiltern Ultra Way medal

This is the first year that the Chiltern Way Ultras have taken place. There are two distances, 100k and 214k, both following the National Trail known as the Chiltern Way. The full route goes from Hemel Hempstead, Chalfont St Giles, the edge of Marlow, Hambleden, Bix Bottom, Ewelme, the Ridgeway, Stokenchurch, Great Hampden, Aldbury, the Dunstable Downs, Sharpenhoe Clappers to Harpenden and back to Hemel Hempstead; with the 100km race starting in Little Hamden winding clockwise back to Hemel Hempstead.

So, what is the route like? Well, you are running through an AONB for the majority of the race, so with the exception of a couple of streets around Dunstable and Luton, this is proper trail running turf. The scenery is stunning, rolling fields, farms, woodland and a stunning loop over the Dunstable Downs, all punctuated by quintessential English villages (willpower required to resist a pub stop)...and only a couple of brief encounters with the M1! It may not have the climbs of the Peaks or Lakeland Fells, but don't be fooled, the course is 'lumpy' (approximately 5000ft of ascent on the 100km race), and I think that this took a few competitors by surprise. The majority of the trail is in good condition, but there are occasional deep plowed fields and 'bramble alleys' to negotiate. Fine for road shoes on a dry day as we had, but if you were running this event after a soggy week, something a bit grippier would be well advised.

Chiltern Ultra Way starters

NOTE (please).... You must, must, must be able to read a map (and remember a compass!), as although the trail is signed, some way-marks aren't obvious or are overgrown. This isn't a fast course where you get your head down, follow the arrows and run; it is constant navigation, but not of the mountain marathon variety! However, don't let this put you off, I am not the world's most confident map reader and I was slightly worried at the start by tales of the 214k runners adding some huge mileage to an already big day...and night..and day! However, with a marked OS route blown up so that you can see every turn, with a bit of care, you'll soon be whizzing across the grid lines. In fact, all the concentration on map reading actually makes you forget how far your legs are running and adds to the sense of achievement at the end. GPX files are also provided and are a really good back up, but, battery life is finite and given the nature if the course, there is a definite (214k) and very good chance (100k) that you'll be night running with a spent GPS.

A great little confidence bonus was that we were all given 'trackers' to attach to our race packs. This meant that

  • a. Lindley can have a giggle watching all his runner's 'signal dots' dashing around doing random detours on his phone
  • b. supporters on the course can see when you are nearing a checkpoint
  • c. If you did get epically lost, you can make a call and be directed back onto the route, phewee!

There are checkpoints approximately every 25km, manned by lovely, happy (despite being sleep deprived), volunteers, who will help sort out water bottles. Medics are on hand to tape feet and feed you an array of goodies, my favourites of which included Freddo Frogs, Hula Hoops and my favourite, pink cake at CP3 (8 for the 214k).

The race HQ is at Feldon Lodge in Hemel Hempstead. An ideal base where the organisers will be ready cooking up hot dogs, bacon butties and for veggies like myself, tomato soup and peanut butter on toast for the ultimate post race comfort food! There are bedrooms so that you can grab a few hours of shut eye before driving home and if you are lucky, you may even get the Rocky theme tune played as you come down the long driveway into the finish!

Chiltern Ultra Way joint first ladies - Melissa Arkinstall and Kate Rennie

The first running of the race had a small field and quite a few DNFs ...only one person made it round the whole 214k!! So, the gauntlet is well and truly thrown down to those who want a real challenge in 2015, when the organisers are planning to make the event bigger and even better! I'm definitely putting this one on the calendar next year...hope to see you there!

To find out more about the Chiltern Way Ultras please visit: www.challenge-running.co.uk/chiltern-way-ultras

Written by Debbie Brupbacher - http://macrunningadventures.blogspot.fr/

Starting UTMB this year was going to be hard.  Just a week before the start I was off work with a stinking cold.  I tried to do everything to recover but I did not quite do it and it resulted in me DNFing at Courmayeur.  

On Friday of the race I was in 2 minds whether to start as I was still blowing my nose and had the occasional cough, plus I didn’t feel 100%.  If there is one thing that I have learned from starting UTMB, you need to be 100% fit if you are going to finish.  With my my cold I wasn't fully focused and forgot a number of things, I also didn't come to Chamonix early enough so was rushing to sort myself out and I prefer the calmness to get myself ready.  These were signs that I neglected and in hindsight were indicators it wasn’t going to be my race this year.
Looking back now, even though the cold had not fully disappeared,  I am glad I did start.  It gave me the experience of what UTMB will be like and how hard the full race will be and that it should not be considered lightly.  I want to come back with full focus on this race and finish. Crossing my fingers I get in for 2015!

 

As help for others and to remind me for next year here is what I took on the race with me:

·         Salomon S-Lab Advanced Skin 12 litre backpack

·         Water bottle : one raid light with feed tube and one soft flask from Salomon
·         Black Diamond ultra distance trekking poles.  They are super light and fold up nicely so can be tucked away, although I think I would use them for most of the race as they help both on the up and down especially when the quads are finished with the steep downhills.  
·         Lights Petzl TIKKA XP²- used the first night.  I had forgotten to change the batteries from the West Highland Way race and they quickly died, so ending up changing batteries on top of Col de Siege. Not the best idea and another indicator I wasn’t myself. I used this headlamp the whole night and with the new batteries it was sufficient.  The first night you are still fairly close to all other competitors so you have shared light. 
·         Lights Petzl Nao - I was planning to used my Nao  for the 2nd night when I thought I would be more tired and would need more light to guide me, but didn’t get to test this.  I might ensure that I have a second rechargeable battery so I can ensure continued bright light                 
·         Hoka stinson
·         Socks: drymax
·         Forgot the vaseline
·         Salomon 3/4 lengths tights....decided to wear these for the whole race.  But it was hot and I think I would have been too hot to wear these during the day.  They were perfect at night (around 7c)but if the weather is fairly warm 24c during the day I would opt for shorts as you can put on the longs for night as you have to carry them anyhow!!! 
·         Started in long sleeved pink Laufuma top thinking it would be easier for night.  If nice conditions are expected I would start with a short sleeved top.
·         Raidlight long sleeve top
·         Mountain Hardwear dryQ waterproof
·         Mountain Hardwear ghost whisper :  I wore it but it got quickly cold so I but on my waterproof
·         Waterproof trousers :  Marmot
·         Mountain Hardwear warm hat
·         Mountain Harwear stretch gloves.  They got wet a little and I was very cold so I just covered them with my Raidlight waterproof gloves.  These are amazing...lightweight thin at 40g.  I haven't tested in wet conditions, they are so light that I think in wet conditions they might not be so effect.  They are however great lightweight gloves when the weather is good. 
·         I wore a buff and carried a second
·         Carried a spare pare of socks which I did not use.  If dry conditions are expected I would not take these again. at least not for the 1st half.  Maybe I might take them in the second half.  If it is wet I would certainly carry a spare as I experience in WHW, blisters come easy in wet conditions.

 

What did I eat
I had a bounce ball, nakd bar, energy gel x2, baby fruit packet, cliff jot jelly strawberry x 2, GU energy drink.  At every drink stop I had soup at the aid stations, coke and some bread and salami.  I had a great cuppa tea after Col de Siege which was great.  I had no stomach issues but was only out for 16 hours so early days

 

What I took to Courmayeur
And would bring again :
·         Tube of chocolate desert from the super U...amazing treat and makes you smile
·         Fresh Nectarine

 

I should have had but didn't pack :
·         Electrolytes
·         Salt tablets
·         spare clothes - a definite if the weather is unsettled , both long and short
·         change of shoes

 

 What I would want from Crews at Vallorcine or Trient
·         Some fruit - pineapple, Melon, tinned peaches
·         More choccie desert

Written by Debbie Brupbacher - http://macrunningadventures.blogspot.fr/

Standing at thestart line of the Grand to Grand Ultra I had a feeling of trepidation.  I was about to run 273km completing 6 stages over a mix of desert and other terrain including hard packed sand, soft sand, sand dunes, forest trails, shallow river crossings, rocky roads and slot canyons.   I knew I could go the distance but I was scared of the sand running. Living in a land-locked country I did not manage to do specific sand training and was worried how I would cope with this.  Additionally in the last month before the race I had a couple of colds, so apart from running the 1st part of UTMB (Chamonix to Courmayeur) I had done very little other training.  I only hoped that I had not lost my fitness during this time and the fitness I had gained during the rest of the year would carry me through.  
View from the start
The view from the start of stage 1 was breath-taking.  We were overlooking the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at a height of 1,629m. Ahead was a mixed course that would test me to the core, on route to the pink cliffs of the Grand Staircase at 2,636m (8,658 ft).  The organisers would only be providing our tent and water.  Each competitor was assigned to a specific tent and each tent had Native American names. 
 
The Apache crew!
My tent was called Apache and I was lucky enough to be sharing with a great group.  In fact I already knew 2 of the tent mates, Lee & Angela.  I ran with them last year at the Manaslu trail race in Nepal and it was great to see them once again.  One of the best aspects about doing races like this is that you grow the friendships you have and get a chance to build new ones.  Ours was a real Expat tent with Lee (English living in Dubai), Angela (Irish living in Hong Kong), Glen (Korean living in Canada), Louise (English living in Dubai), Pascale (Dutch living in Dubai) myself (Scottish living in Switzerland) and Steve the only one living in his home country of Belgium.  They were a great group of people that became my support during the week, people who I could cry with, cuddle with and share all race goings on. I miss them and send my love to them all.
 
 As the organisers only provided the tent and water, we had to carry all our gear for the next 7 days to be self-sufficient; this meant that my pack was full and heavy,  as it contained my sleeping bag, sleeping mat, jacket, long pants, warm top, hat and all my food (running food including breakfast, lunch and dinner).  It weighed  around 9.5kg.  A little too heavy for my liking, but knowing that it would get lighter as the race progressed was very motivating.
 
Stage 1 was tough.  I set off at a very conservative pace.  I watched some of the racers run off so fast and had to hold myself back not to get caught up in the net and be pulled along.  This stage was my warm up so I wanted to go slow and with my heavy pack I couldn’t move fast anyhow.  The course was very flat and the least inspiring of the races stages.  I was following a track where I could see fellow racers in the distance.  For the first 20km the route was runnable, then we hit a cactus field which slowed everyone to a walk.  It was so hard to navigate through this field as the focus was on concentrating where to place your feet and not about running.  For me however it was a welcome relief to focus on something else and stop thinking about my heavy pack.   I finished in good spirits and was surprised to find I was 4th lady, with the 3rd lady only around 5-10 minutes ahead.
 
The route on Stage 2 
On day 2, I managed to overtake the 3rd lady and move into 3rd position.  It was hotter as we had less wind compared to the previous day, which made the latter part of the 42km stage fairly tough.  The route meant that I saw the camp from about 15km away and it seemed to take forever to reach. It kept taunting me as I slowed in the heat of the day following the long flat boring route.  I walked and ran as best as I could, using my mantra of “running will get me there quicker” and out of the sun to lie down and relax.  I focused on these thoughts to get me through the tough parts, in addition to remembering the words of my daughter “Go Mummy Go!!”
 
Day 3 was the longest day.  Most people were afraid of this stage as we had to cover 87km but had 34 hrs to complete it.  I knew I could do the distance and as I love running in the night I was looking forward enjoying the time in the darkness.  I was however afraid of the amount of sand that we had to cover.  75% of this day’s course was sandy, with about 5km of sand dunes.    As it turned out this was my best day and I had lots of energy and was super motivated by the mixed terrain the course had to offer.  Although there was vast amount of sand there was also a good mix of uphills, downhills, tracks and even some tarmac.  My best bit however was the route through the dense vegetation.  I danced my way between bushes, cacti, trees and darkness while following the little lights that looked like a chain of sparkly Christmas lights guiding me to the next checkpoint.  This was my best stage and I came 11th overall.   I finished at 11:30 in the evening which meant I had the full night and the whole next day to recover while most of my fellow runners would be running/walking throughout the night.
The sand dunes
I had now completed 178km which was about 2/3 of the course and my feet were taking a battering.   With all the sand running I had managed to get some great blisters on both heels and around 7 of my toes.  While I was running I didn’t really notice the pain of the blisters but once I stopped and took off my shoes I could feel the pain.   Walking around camp was difficult and I began to wonder how I would manage to run 95kms over the next 3 days. 

Me with the legendary Ray Zahab
These next 3 days were my hardest.  I had a great rhythm going and my body was used to the distance now, however I was starting to lack energy.  I had initially blamed this on my time of the month which had un-expectantly arrived, however, this normally would affect only one day and not drain me more each day.  So I thought that my unexpected arrival combined with a lack of sleep was not helping me recover effectively.  It’s hard sleeping in a tent with 7 other smelly people who haven’t washed, who snore and get up and down during the night to make trips to the toilet.  Additionally as the race progressed the nights got colder, so we all started to get closer and closer to warm ourselves with each other’s body heat.  With the cold, the nightly movements and increased closeness of my tent mates, sleep was hard to come by.  I however must have slept because in the morning I would listen to the tales of the nightly escapades of my tent mates and realise that I had actually slept through most of the night. 
 
The slot canyon
As if my lack of energy and blisters were not enough, I also noticed that the muscle in my left thigh was sore.  This wasn’t making my running any easier but I kept pushing on just focusing on getting through to the next checkpoint and then to the next one.  It worked but when I crossed the finish line on stage 5 I cried, as I was utterly exhausted.  I walked into the Apache tent where Lee and Steve were relaxing and burst out crying.   I had found it so hard to push myself through the day as I had no energy in me. I was hanging on to the train of competitors as we weaved our way through the slot canyons.  The environment was stunning and it was like nothing I had experienced before.  I would usually get energy from this terrain, enjoying the rock formats but today I drew no inspiration and couldn't keep up with the train so had to drop back.   I did everything I could to keep going, so when I entered the tent the relief from finishing just all came out.  Thankfully my tents mates were there with big cuddles and tissues.


After pushing myself through stage 5 I had no idea how I was going to make it through stage 6, the last day.  I was just so glad it was only 12.3km’s.   On the morning of Stage 6 I woke feeling exhausted. The night had been freezing cold yet I had been overheating. I had been feverish, super-hot one minute then very cold the next. I got little sleep and when I did, I would wake up sweating. I told myself that I just had to get to the finish line. I was in the last group starting at 8am, which meant we started in daylight and it was a little warmer than for those who started in the first group at 6am. 

Pink Cliffs on route to the finish


The group started slowly and stayed together but I found it hard to keep up with them, which was disheartening.   The blisters on my feet hurt, my leg hurt and I felt shattered. I adopted a run walk approach which eventually turned into a walk only approach!  By now I was second last but I eventually I caught up to some other competitors.  They were moving slower than I, so I managed to overtake them and caught up to Yuri.  I stuck with him running and walking when he did and we stayed together for the last 3 or 4 kms.  It was great to chat with him and took my mind of me.  We crossed the finished line together and I don’t remember much apart from bursting out crying again, whilst hugging the fantastic organisers Tess and Colin Geddes.  Then it was hugs with other competitors whilst still crying.  The rest of my “Apache” tent mates were waiting and we had a group hug which just brought more tears.  


I did it.  I had completed the Grand To Grand ultra-marathon and even though I suffered through the last few days I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my adventure. I loved the terrain, my Apache tent mates, the volunteers who energetically managed the checkpoints, the camp crew and of course Tess & Colin for putting on such a fantastic race.   I even surprised myself by coming 3rd Lady and 15th overall in a total time of 41hours 21 minutes. 

I found out later on that day that one of my blisters had actually become infected and the infection had spread all the way up my leg.  This was what was causing my exhaustion and sore leg.  Thankfully the medics were still around and were able to give me antibiotics to help clear the infection.

I am often asked what I think about when I run and thought about this question a couple of times during the race.  Sometimes I think of nothing.  Kilometres went by and I had not had a real thought apart from being completely in the moment.  There were other times when I was trying to convince myself to keep running, thinking positive thoughts.  Sometimes just a few positive thoughts helped to get me motivated again, like being truly grateful for taking part in the race or being lucky enough to enjoy the beautiful scenery or meeting fantastic competitors from all over the world.  

This race taught me that when times are hard you can still reach your goal, it just might require more effort or a different approach but with your own belief that you can do it, you can make it happen.   When I think about my hard times I realise that they are insignificant in comparison to some others in the world.  This is one of the reasons why I dedicated this run to helping a charity close to my heart, The Gracias Foundation
 
Gracias’s mission is to empower vulnerable and impoverished women and children with holistic resources to lead dignified and self-sustainable lives. They work with small grassroots organizations that are already catalysing social change in their communities but just need an extra boost to maximize their impact – like the safe house in the Congo that heals young women and girl survivors of sexual violence, or the youth home in Ethiopia that cares for adolescent orphans living with HIV.Their philosophy is that lots of small acts of kindness can add up to big mountains of change.  And giving from a place of gratitude (not guilt) can transform your own life and the lives of others.Please feel free to support their projects by donating on the link   on the right hand side . 100% of donations go directly to project costs.  www.graciasfoundation.org

Written by Debbie Brupbacher - http://macrunningadventures.blogspot.fr/

As I sit in my warm living room trying to put a few paragraphs together of my race, am I finding it hard to start trying to describe this mammoth experience and all that I went through.  It is so overwhelming knowing where to start, and it has been stopping me from writing.  So I decided to do it in a format of a question and answer session, and use the questions people often ask me when we get chatting about my endeavours. 

At the start in Edale
I ran this race to support The Gracias Foundation. Gracias’s mission is to empower vulnerable and impoverished women and children with holistic resources to lead dignified and self-sustainable lives. They work with small grassroots organizations that are already catalysing social change in their communities but just need an extra boost to maximize their impact – like the safe house in the Congo that heals young women and girl survivors of sexual violence, or the youth home in Ethiopia that cares for adolescent orphans living with HIV. Thanks for taking the time to donate using the link on the left hand side of the page.

 

Why did I choose to do this particular race?

I entered this race to give myself a challenge between seasons.  However when I entered the race I thought it was 268km and it was only after I had paid and started to read through the details of the race that I realised it was 268 miles.  This was a bigger challenge than I thought and was the first time I got really scared and would not be the last time.   This would be the longest race I would be attempting and I had trouble fathoming how long the distance was and whether I could even complete the distance.

Sunrise at Walshaws Reservoirs
However, there was another reason why I wanted to do this race; it’s also a reason why I enjoy taking part in Ultra races.  It’s to get back to nature and experience something unblunted and real. To experience the pain of pushing myself beyond my boundaries but equally the joys of seeing the beauty of nature, feeling the lowest of the low moment and some great high moments and seeing sunrise in the mornings.  I like to feel all the emotions of real nature, which are often supressed in the world we live in today.  I like to escape from the TV, the i-pad, the internet, work and budgets and all those homely comforts I enjoy.  It about going back to basics,  being in the moment and experiencing what nature has to offer whether it is good or bad.

What is the Spine race?

It’s classed as the most brutal race in Britain and it lived up to its name!  The race is 268 miles (431km) in length and I had 168 hours (7 days) to complete the course.  This was not your normal ultra-race and had many differences comparing to your standard Ultra.  

Firstly this course was not marked, so I had to use a compass, map and GPS to follow the route.  The route is the Pennine Way and a large part of it is sign posted, as it is a hiking route.  However don’t be fooled into thinking it is just as easy as following the sign posts. Very often there are no sign posts and you are left to follow a loose path which might be clear in daylight however in the dark following the route can become very difficult.  This meant I would need to ensure my navigation skills were on the mark as I didn’t want to waste time and energy getting lost!

 

Pub Meal from Hare & Hound at Lothersdale
Secondly there were no water/feed stations catering to your needs every 5 or 10kms.  There were however 5 checkpoints which were approx. 70km apart, therefore I would have to carry enough food and water to last between checkpoints.  It was only at these checkpoints would I be able to get access to my drop bag, extra clothes, hot food, tea and a bed, however we were allowed to make use of local services such as pubs and shops, if we passed them when they were open.  This was one of the best rules in the race.  You cannot believe how great it is to arrive in a little village after being out for 10 hours in the wilderness.  To sit in a warm, dry pub and order some hot food.  It’s like feeding all your senses with the most amazing things possible.  As this is now the 3rd year of the race, the locals were not fazed by my muddy tired appearance and hardly batted an eyelid when I stumbled through the door to order a dish that I had been fantasizing about for the last 3 hours. It’s like heaven and Christmas all rolled into one.

 

 

 

Thirdly most ultra’s finish within a day or two of the starting time so sleep deprivation is limited.  As this race lasted up to 7 days, sleep deprivation was going to be something I would feel and have to overcome.  In fact my sleep strategy would be major part of this race and getting it wrong could mean I might not finish.   In total I had roughly 13 hours sleep which was about 25% of what I would have in a normal week. While I did have times where I had hallucinations and sometimes was falling asleep walking along a path only to be woken up when I waded through a large puddle, I felt this was roughly the right amount of sleep and think that I could have done with a little less, if I was to push myself harder. 

 

Some of the Muddy trails
Fourthly and finally the running ultra-scene and races normally take place in the summer or early autumn months so you can make use of the long daylight hours and warmer weather.  This makes it all the more pleasurable to see where you are placing your feet and enjoy the wonderful beauty around you.  The Spine however is held in the middle of the British winter where I would have approx. 8 hours of daylight each day, so the majority of the race would be ran in darkness.  Additionally for those that know Britain and its weather, winter is not the best time to be running around moors and mountains in the dark.  In fact before the race, Britain had endured a very wet start to winter with much of Britain seeing extreme flooding. This meant that the course was going to be very wet and muddy, not the easiest of running conditions and something my feet would not enjoy.  We also got to experience the best of Britain’s changeable weather with gales, hale, snow, rain, but were luckily enough to see some sun.



What was the best part? 

There were so many good parts to this race, so I will give you some of the highlights of my race: 

No sooner had we started and the heavens opened.  I saw a lot of people stop to put on their waterproof trousers.  I had polar fleece pants on and was moving fairly quickly so decided not to bother with mine and it was a good decision as I didn’t feel cold at all on route to CP1.  I stayed warm even when it started to snow.  I secretly had been hoping for snow during the race, as I love running in the snow.  I was so happy that I got to experience some of the race with snow.  It made me smile and I got energy from it falling from the sky.  Smiling is always good on a race like this, it creates positive energy and keeps the forward momentum.

 

 

I loved the route from CP2 (Hawes) up Great shunner fell.  At this point I had teamed up with Karl and Ed and it was beautiful morning with the sun shining.  The views were stunning and the terrain was fairly dry with a great firm path.  From the top I was skipping down the hills on an easy runnable route towards Thwaite.  This gave me energy and another smiling moment.
 
Me and Karl 
Me and Ed

 

The route from CP3 to CP4 was fantastic.  The path along the river going passed low force and high force was firm and dry, we passed many waterfalls and again the sun was shining.  We had to cross a few boulders and continued further up the river to the magical falls at Cauldron Snout.  What a great sight.  From here to Dufton was a long trek via High Cup Plain.  I believe this was my best moment.  I was still with Karl and Ed but at this point I was ahead marching through the snow to High Cup Plain.  I began singing to myself and made up little songs of the race, they were basic but I sung them over and over.  Then I just hummed the tune or la la’d to the tune.  During this whole time I was singing out loud, with the biggest grin on my face. Here I was in the middle of nowhere, taking part in the Britain’s most brutal race, hiking through snow, singing to myself and I loved every single minute.  I even took time out to stop and make little baby snowmen on the bridge.   Feeding my inner child!

 

 

Cauldon Snout

 

 

High Cup Plain

 

In Dufton we were told the conditions on Crossfell were harsh.  The wind was howling, it was dark and there was a lot of snow. With such tough conditions we were advised to team up, so Karl, Ed and I teamed up with Gary, John and Steve.   I was really nervous at this point.  I had not experienced being up a mountain in the dark, having to find a path through snow, while the wind was howling and being sleep deprived.  This was new for me and I was so scared of getting Hypothermia and having to drop out that I was being super cautious with what I was wearing and ensuring I had enough on but not too much where I might overheat and then the sweat makes me cold.   Massive thanks to Karl and Gary who took the lead of the navigation and the rest of us followed in single file behind them, sometime in thigh deep snow. 

 
 As I got used to being in the conditions I started to enjoy it, which was good as there were 4 summits, Green Fell, Knock Fell, Little Dun Fell and Cross Fell.  Each time I thought we were there we would go down a little and but up again.  The one thing keeping me motivated was making it to 

Greg’s Hut.  Waiting at Greg’s Hut was P&J’s Noddle bar with Kat, John and someone else (sorry can’t remember the name but I bet it begins with a P) who looked after filling us with hot noodles, cups of tea and coffee, biccies, chocolate and Kendal mint cake.  The time we spent there was amazing, all cosily gathered around the fire.  Whilst this part of the race pushed me the furthest out of my comfort zone, it was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying having managed through and making it to Alston (CP4) without Hyperthermia.

 


My Kit at Checkpoint 1…making use of the space
A great part of the race that I cannot miss out, are the Checkpoints.  Most checkpoints in a race are basic, where they are designed to allow you to quickly come in, restock on food and return to the race.  The spine checkpoints are completely different and feel like luxury.  They are a haven for hot food, multiple cups of tea, a mix of snacks and the best feet fixers I have met!  My feet suffered badly during the race so I can attest to their first rate service, which was often done while they were sleep deprived themselves.   The checkpoints were where you got access to your drop bags to changes clothes, restock on food and have a sleep.  In most of the checkpoints there were beds and it was fantastic to grab a couple of hour’s kip after being out for nearly 24 hrs.  A massive thank you to all those that helped out at the checkpoints and words cannot describe how much us runners  appreciated your support.
My feet at the end…taping as a result of the excellent Medics…thank you!

 

Another big thank you was to Sharon Dixon who let me use her car for a nap at Byrness.  At this point in the race I was completely exhausted and sleeping as I walked along the paths.  I do really mean I was sleeping.  My eyes were shut and I was moving forward or sideways and suddenly I would wake up again.  We didn’t stop as Karl assured us we would be arriving at Byrness very soon.  When we arrived at the car park I fell to the ground and just wanted to sleep.  After much persuasion I got into Sharon’s car and had the best 10-15 min nap of my life.  It is amazing what a power nap can do, it really picked me up and energised me for the next leg.



What was the worst part?

My first low point and probably my worst, was going up Pen-y-ghent.  It was very windy, the rain was lashing down and we had to scramble up rocks.   I got very dizzy.  I was seeing little spots in front of my eyes, which wasn’t a good thing when scrambling up rocks.  Once at the top I tried to eat more bars to give me energy as I suspected my blood sugar was low.  My stomach wasn’t happy with this as it didn’t understand that I was doing a race and it should expect to be digesting food every half hour or so.   From here it didn’t get any better.  I still had more than 25km to get to Hawes which was the next Checkpoint.  My stomach didn’t want to digest anything but I knew I had to keep eating or I would pay for it later.  I tried to each a little every half hour.  My stomach continued to plague me, I was still a bit dizzy, I felt exhausted and disorientated.  Thankfully the route was fairly easy to follow up the cam road which went on for km after km.  I was with a group of around 7 people and me and another guy followed up the rear.  I was plodding away, barely holding on, but at least I was moving.  I kept moving forward believing it would pass.  It probably took 4 or 5 hours to get to Hawes and it was only in the last hour did I begin to feel a bit better.   I was so thankful to get to Hawes, where I could sit down, get some hot food and get into my sleeping bag and get a few hours kip before heading out again

Another one of my low points was moment where I split from Karl & Ed after Windy Gayle. Karl, Ed and I had been together from CP2, so had spent a good part of the race with them, almost like a small running team.  However I felt totally empty of energy, tired and overcome with the task at hand.  I was having trouble breathing when we went up hill and had developed a slight cough.   I was moving slowly and I was trailing behind both Karl and Ed which meant they had to keep stopping to wait for me.  I could tell they weren’t happy with the situation and it came to a head when Ed shouted at me that I needed to keep up.  That broke me, I burst into tears and shouted some stuff back, I was very emotional and was just trying to keep it together to get to the end (in fact re-living the moment brings tears to my eyes even now).  I had around 18kms until the end so not that far but I knew it would still take another 3 or 4 hours.  We carried on and I mulled the situation over in my head.  I eventually stopped and told the boys to carry on without me.  I couldn’t keep their pace anymore and didn’t want to hold them back.  After being together for so long , they were reluctant to go but on the other hand I could tell it was what they wanted to do.  Eventually after talking through the situation and ensuring them I would be ok, they both went off together towards the finish, leaving me upset and alone.  I was feeling very sorry for myself and had a big cry. My feet were hurting, making it hard to move and I was focusing on the pain which was also slowing me down.  This was my lowest point, I gave my sister a call something I never do during races, but I knew she was at the finish waiting for me to arrive.  I chatted and cried to her probably making no sense what so ever but she was great, she was super positive and gave me encouraging words to get me moving.  I don’t know if it was what she said or just hearing her voice but it was the encouragement I needed to push forward.  I had been walking since CP5 and had not done any running, so I decided to try and run the downhills, something I always love doing and something that brings me energy and smiles.  The only problem was that my feet hurt so much it was going to be a hard task to tell them to move from a plod to a run.  The first few attempts were hard, but I persevered and used the pain to give me energy to get to the finish sooner.  I was now running the downhills and some of the flats and it felt good.  I had a smile on my face and I was enjoying the race again!   Races like this give you hard negative moments, sometimes for hours at a time but I always keep in the back of my mind that there will be positive moments to come and I will get out of the bad times.  Whilst these moments are often the worse part of the race, having them makes you stronger and provides you with an experience of what you can cope with when times get tough, making those good moments all the more enjoyable.   

 

 
How was the navigation, did you make any mistakes?

I don’t remember a lot of the journey to CP1 so that means I was going well and feeling good, however the bits I do remember were the silly Nav errors that were made and where I wasted about 1 hour going back and forth on Castleshaw moor.  I was with Andy and it had just started to get dark.  I had not really used my map yet and I had been following the queue of people but at this stage the queue had disappeared and with the darkness setting in it was necessary to use my map.  Andy however had done this route before so I made the assumption he knew where he was going, my first mistake.  My second mistake was to not get my map out and check where we were and where we were going.  The frustrating part was I had read about the route and marked my map that there was a specific right turn I had to make which was tricky so I should be aware.   We went straight on and somehow we ended up on the Pennine Bridleway instead of the Pennine way (Yes they are different).  We managed to get to the A640 and realised our mistake so set off back up the road to get on the right route.  However mistake 3 came about when I trusted Andy’s GPS instead of my map.  I knew the turning we had to make was beside a carpark but we took an early turn as according to the GPS it was within 5m correct.  This took us down a path which led again to the Bridleway…..ouch.  Now we were frustrated.  I took over the nav, realised where we were. We had 2 options;  go back down  the route we had just come and find the right path further up the road or to go cross country and get back on the Way.  I preferred the latter option as we had a great handrail of a stream to take us there.  This was our choice and it worked perfectly. Back on route and back to nav.

Written by Sam Robson - http://constantforwardmotion.blogspot.fr/

This weekend I took part in the inaugural Piece of String Fun Run (billed as the "world's most pointless race"), a novel idea for a race from the fevered mind of James Adams and co-organised by James Elson of Centurion Running to run in parallel with the Winter 100. The main concept for this race is that when it starts, none of the runners actually know how far they will be running. The race organisers devised 5 routes of different lengths, ranging anywhere from 100 meters to 1,000 miles, and one would be picked at the start of the race. 
 
To enter, runners were asked to send in photos of themselves looking as miserable as possible, and the organisers picked the 16 most horrific looking. Whilst I don't have any photos of me looking miserable (at least not running-related photos), I had recently performed a toe-nail-ectomy with a pair of pliers (as you do) and documented the process. If you particularly want to see it, just scroll right down to the bottom of the post - my feet have never been my sexiest feature! The starting listis an amazing "who's who" of ultra-endurance athletes, with world record holders, deca Ironman triathletes, cross channel swimmers (there and back again), and... me. James did say that there was one "sacrifical lamb" in the list - I suspect that I know who that was!
 
The race route was devised in such a way that we would be given a section to run, head off and run it, then either be given the next section or else be congratulated for finishing. The race itself is held in Streatley at the intersection of the Ridgeway and Thames Path National trails, with access to several other nearby trails including the Chiltern Valley Way. This gives plenty of scope for keeping these loops interesting and varied.
 

Peace of Mind

The main idea here then is psychological. The only information that we had been given was to be in Streatley at "midnight on Saturday"*. We had no idea what kit we would need, whether we would need provisions, or even whether we need the next week/month/year off of work! And then when we actually start running, how do we pace ourselves? Do we set out fast just in case the distance is short, but risk burning out? Or do we pace for a 100 miler and end up with the slowest 5 km time in history?
 
Every piece of running kit I own - just in case!
My approach leading up to the race was quite simple; just don't think about it! I figured that mind games don't work if you don't over-think things. So I went into the race with the expectation of running a really, really long way, aiming to run at whatever pace felt comfortable. I didn't use my Garmin, aiming instead to run on feel alone. And I had about 60 hours worth of audio books to keep me entertained - my brain is not a place I want to be for a long period of time with nothing to distract it! In  terms of kit, I had no idea what I would need, so I ended up just taking everything I own to be on the safe side. As it turns out this was not much in comparison to a lot of other runners!

 

Since we would be starting at 00:01 on Saturday morning, I had originally planned on taking Friday off to spend the day sleeping. Unfortunately I ended up having to go in for a meeting, so instead was up at 6am - 18 hours before we would even make a start. Bugger. I turned up at Streatley and met up with Mimi Anderson and Alex Flynn, two other amazing runners who had signed up for this amazing/stupid race. Alex is an amazing guy who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and currently works incredibly hard to raise money for research by taking part in endurance events around the world building towards running 10 million meters. He is running in Shanghai in a week, so had decided to pull out of the Piece of String race to make sure that he was fresh.
 
Mimi and I headed off to the Morrell Rooms, which would be the base of operations for the weekend. We just caught everybody heading out for a curry, and managed to get into the hall to start our prep. I noticed that James had his über secret case containing the race information with him at all times - I'm surprised that he didn't have it handcuffed to his arm!
 
People gradually started to arrive and we all got ourselves set to go, whilst still not really knowing what we letting ourselves in for. There had been a few people who had pulled out of the race, and in the end there were 10 runners taking part in the first Piece of String race. We wouldn't need drop bags as we would be frequently returning to the main hall, so that kept things simple. The weather had been pretty terrible all week and so the Thames was looking pretty scary and had burst its banks in several locations. Coupled with the fact that even worse weather was expected all day and night on Saturday, the race organisers were desperately adjusting the race routes to limit the time spent along the river for both the Piece of String and Winter 100 races. This caused a few issues, limiting the sections that could safely be run without fear of a runner collapsing into the rushing waters in the middle of the night. 
 
Not all of this is river... 
As the start time of 00:01 approached, we had our race briefing (basically consisting of "please don't die out there") and were assigned our fate. As the only person to send in their photo late, I was given the "honour" of condemning my fellow runners. I had the choice of 5 envelopes; one with a ball of string, one with a g-string, one with a sciencey string-theory image, and two other string related images that I can't remember. I got a little Derren Brown about this, wondering if they would have put the worst one into the envelope most likely to catch my eye, so avoided the g-string and went for the sciency one. Of course, knowing my geekiness they could have been banking on this... James Elson's little smirk as he opened it didn't do much for my confidence. 
 
With a sudden lack of fanfare, we were told to "get going" and headed out into the night along the ridgeway until we found the checkpoint, where we would be given our next instructions. My one and only game plan at this point was to be the first into the first checkpoint, just in case that would be the end of it! I found myself running with Wouter Hamelinck who I had run with previously at the SDW100. We were also caught up by Peter Cusick and kept up a good pace together. I had cheated slightly and had the Winter 100 route on my Garmin which made navigation a bit easier for this section, and I was able to stop Peter and Wouter from missing a pretty abrupt turning. Although after this I dumped the watch and stuck to using the map. 
 
After crossing under the A34, we saw the lights of a car up ahead. A slightly cheeky little sprint meant that I just made it there first - but this was not the end. Not by a long shot! I quickly topped up my water  and said "hi" to Jennifer Bradley, and we turned around to retread our steps back to Streatley. Wouter and Peter were looking really strong and pushed on, but I decided to hold back a bit now that I knew that we could potentially be in for a long haul. Racing this type of event is odd because on the one hand if you want to win, your only option is to always be in front. But there's no point in being in the lead if you don't finish. It's a toughie. From here on in, I was on my own.
 
Ready and raring to go! Photo courtesy of James Adams.
Our next section was a nice pleasant run around the Chiltern Valley Way, incorporating a few little hills, some woods, and some trails. The wooded sections were pretty difficult to follow at night, as the "path" was more a case of following the bit straight through the woods with slightly fewer trees. Arrows painted on the trees helped to keep us on track, but it was still easy to lose your bearings in the pitch black. At one point I found myself following what appeared to be the path, but abruptly ended in a clearing with signs of delinquent youths. I could just about make out the road, so simply set my compass to make sure I was going in the right direction, ploughed straight through, then followed the road around to get back on track. As it happens, I was only off by a small amount, so must have just made a small mistake. 
 
As it turned out, our next task was to run the same section again, so I would have an opportunity to correct my mistake. Well, you would think so anyway. But I actually ended up cocking things up and ended up out on a different road than the one I was expecting. A little backtracking soon sorted the problem. 
 
I returned to find out that quite a few people had already pulled out. Lee Chamberlain had unfortunately suffered some stomach issues early in the race, and a few others I believe were pushing the cutoff points. People were starting to arrive for the Winter 100 and it was great to catch up with a few friends like Jo KilkennyMark Cockbain, Drew Sheffield, and Allan Rumbles who was out to be one of the first to complete the Centurion Running Grand Slam. The buckle you win for doing that is pretty damn immense, and I'm intrigued to know if it is actually usable on a belt. They would make fantastic plates though.
 
Next we ran a section incorporating both the Thames Tow path and the eastern side of the Ridgeway. Despite a diversion to avoid the worst of the flooding, there were several sections where getting through involved wading knee deep through the Thames. Wouter and I just ploughed straight through, but some of the other runners chose to find diversions and run whatever sections they were able to. It was around this sort of time that the weather that we had been warned about started. It wasn't too bad, just a little drizzle. But it was only set to get worse as the day progressed. Still, for a race called the "Winter 100" I can't help but think that this is the perfect weather! On the return leg, I caught up with Peter who had injured himself a few weeks earlier and was now having problems getting moving. After checking that he was okay and didn't need anything, I continued back towards Streatley. I was surprised to find that Mimi, Mick Barnes and Chris Ette had gotten in before me, having chosen to not risk being dragged out to sea in the raging flood waters of the Thames. 
 
Our next little jaunt followed the start of the Chilton Valley Way, before diverting off north east onto the eastern section of the Ridgeway again. This section was good fun, and involved some surprisingly tough hills. Navigation outside of the woods was going well, and I was plodding along quite nicely. I had started the day already feeling quite tired, and felt like I was coming down with a cold. Not a great start to what could end up being the longest distance I have ever run. But so far things were going well. My legs felt great, and whilst my chest ached it did not feel any worse than it had when I started. The Winter 100 was in full swing and as I approached the checkpoint at Wallington I passed Jo. She was looking good, but was having trouble with her knee so was thinking of pulling out if it didn't get any better. I arrived at the aid station to find Ryan Brown (winner of the SDW100) in full Santa Clause regalia. After a quick chat I headed back out for the return leg. As I later found out, we were supposed to have been sent on a different route for the return leg, taking a more direct route along the Thames path. However neither Wouter nor I were told this so ended up doing the full reverse section. Doh!
 
Winter 100 finishers' buckles (left and middle) and Grand Slam buckles (right). For scale; the normal buckles are bloody huge!

Piece of sh*t

I'm pretty sure that there was another section but I don't remember what it was... In any case, by this point it was starting to get dark and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up to me. I decided to sacrifice a little bit of time and went and laid down for half an hour to recharge. I was also soaking so decided to change my clothes to a fresh set. It's amazing the difference this made, and when I left for the next section I was feeling really positive again. Unfortunately, this section was bloody tough, for several reasons. Firstly, since it didn't follow a particular named path, it was easy to take the wrong footpath and end up off course. Secondly, we were back to running through the woods in the dark, and this time for large periods of time. And finally, the weather was particularly horrendous by this point, turning most of the forest routes into an unrunnable bog. Between having to check and recheck my navigation (using a "waterproof" map case which proved to be anything but), and being constantly stopped dead in my tracks by the sludgy mud, running was almost impossible. This in turn led to me getting colder and colder, and hence more and more miserable. I was not having fun. 
 
When I came into Nuney Wood, I was finding it difficult to work out my precise location. I had my iPhone with me, so used the Maps app to try and pinpoint my location. Unfortunately, the app does not automatically orientate itself to North as I expected, as I found out after running in the wrong direction trying to find the path that I should have been on. By this point I was cold, tired, pissed off, wet, and generally not having fun. Annoyingly my legs were really not tired at all - I just felt like I couldn't use them. I phoned James Adams to let him know that I was having issues and was thinking of pulling out, and he told me that Mimi, Mick and Chris had gotten off course and so this section was going to be a bit of a write off. He said that if I wanted to carry on, I could head back along the roads. Two of the aid station crew, Jany and Matt, were kind enough to drive along with me to make sure that I wasn't taken out by a car along the way. 
 
Once I got going I started to feel good again. I was still wet and tired, but I was able to move and keep my body temperature up. In fact, I was moving way better than someone who had just run over 80 miles had any right to, with a nice fast pace that got me back into Streatley in no time. There was only one small moment where I very nearly fell asleep on my feet, but luckily the oncoming traffic woke me up...
 

Piece of cake

I arrived back into Streatley, walked back into the Morrell Rooms, and saw Wouter sitting there with his shoes off. This was it! I had made it to the end. And not a moment too soon as the lack of sleep was really taking its toll and I wasn't sure that I could go on for another loop. 
 
Yeah right! 
 
As if it would be that easy. Wouter was just taking a breather before heading back out again back along the Ridgeway. I decided to have some soup and try and psych myself back up again to get back out there, and saw Jo had decided to pull out to avoid damaging her leg further. It was a shame for her, but no doubt she will come back stronger for it. She's aiming to take on the Viking Way again next year and give it a right good pillaging! She saw me fall asleep and nearly fall off my chair, and gave me a good kick up the arse to get moving.
 
So off I went, back along the Ridgeway, with a disturbing sense of dejá vu having run this exact route more than 24 hours ago. But now the weather was much worse. I have never encountered winds as strong as those that had built up around the Ridgeway, and found later that it had resulted in a few missing gazebos throughout the day (I like the idea of the gazebos running free along the plains...). Annoyingly it was well and truly a head wind, making running into it very tough going. It was also very rainy, but as long as I could keep moving and avoid cooling down it was fine. Unfortunately, between the wind and the churned up bog that had resulted from runners going backwards and forwards along the route, and my increasing inability to ignore the fact that I had not slept in 48 hours, I was finding it difficult to do anything more than something of a zombie shuffle towards the next checkpoint. One problem with being able to see the checkpoint from a distance is that you never feel like you're getting any closer to it! As I approached the checkpoint I passed Wouter, who was still going at a hell of a pace and heading back towards Streatley. Obviously this wouldn't be the final section then.
 
I arrived at the mini checkpoint to find Luke Carmichael and Paul Rushden waiting for me. I noticed that I had stupidly left my water bottle back at the Morrell Rooms, so Paul very kindly leant me one of his own. My next task was to run a little 10 km loop down through the village of Compton to make up for the discrepancy in mine and Wouter's distances. But before I did, I had to rest briefly, and was kindly accommodated in the car for another quick half hour break. Once again, this had a huge benefit, and I set off down the hill at quite a lick (although this was mostly because it was bloody freezing otherwise). Whilst only a small village, finding my way along the exact footpaths was difficult with the scale of the map, but I just made my way out to the outskirts and went from there. I came back to Luke and Paul expecting to be told to make my way back to Streatley, but instead was told to continue along the Ridgeway for 2 miles to the next checkpoint. Okay then, I obviously need to do 2 miles and then head back to Streatley. As I ran under the A34 again, and saw the lights in the distance (more than 2 miles away I might add!), I again had that weird dejá vu feeling. Running towards the checkpoint was tough going, as the wind and slight incline made it feel as if I was getting nowhere!
 
The wind was so loud that I couldn't hear a thing, and with all of the headtorches I couldn't see anything either. I ran right up to the van to get out of the wind and was finally able to take in my surroundings. James Adams was there.
 
"I guess you know what this means, don't you?"
 
Actually no! Since I had started falling asleep on my feet, I had arrived into every checkpoint hoping it was the end. But this was the one checkpoint where I knew it wasn't (having seen Wouter earlier). Shows what I know.
 
Yes indeed, after over 30 hours of running, I had survived the inaugural Piece of String Fun Run. In fact, of the 10 runners who started, only Wouter and I hung on till the bitter end. A lot of people have called this race the "Barkley" of the UK (and the low completion rate might add to that comparison), but this isn't really fair. Firstly, despite the effects of the rain, the Piece of String race is run over what, in Barkley terms at least, are several orders of magnitude easier than candyass trails. And secondly, whilst Laz (the race director at Barkley) actively wants people to fail against the course, James genuinely wanted everybody to finish. It must have been really difficult to remain silent about the length, either when trying to convince someone in pain to carry on (whilst knowing there were another 200 miles to go), or when pulling somebody out (knowing that there are only 2 more miles until they are finished). 
 
But realistically, that's the game. The main thing that kept me going no matter how I felt is the knowledge that, if I pulled out only to find there were only 5 miles to go, I would be really pissed off. More to the point, my wife Jen would be pissed off because I wouldn't be able to shut up about it!
 
Surprised to find James at the end! It's probably best that you can't see me at this stage. Photo courtesy of Jany
 

Piece of piss?

So what did I do right and what did I do wrong? 
 
First the right stuff. Well I guess the most important thing is that I ran until I was told to stop. That's somewhat important. All the way leading up to the race, I think that I had the right mental attitude; just run! I wasn't thinking about times or distances, and was planning on it being stupidly long so that if it was short it would be a nice surprise. I think that this is probably the most important mental aspect. Also, the weekend before I had held off on my usual competitive nature and pulled out of the Likeys Brecon Beacons ultra after the first lap to make sure I came into the Piece of String nice and fresh. Finally, it helps having people who can give you that swift kick up the arse that you need if you start moaning.
 
But it certainly wasn't my best race ever. Wouter stonked through like the running machine that he is, but there were times when I was hanging on by my finger nails. Whilst James has decided to not publish times and positions, merely saying that there were 2 finishers, I can safely say that Wouter won! I started the race with a lack of sleep which proved to be my major downfall, and annoyingly I have also been coming down with a cold for the past few days. If you had asked me how I felt about the race a week ago I would have said that I felt great. If you had asked me on Friday, I was worried. In that regard I am glad that I managed to push through the bitter end despite this, but I would prefer to have started feeling fresh. After about 60 miles, I started hoping that each loop was the last one.
 
And this is not the way to run this race. If you start thinking about the finish, you might never get there. Get comfortable and run until somebody says stop. In some regards I might even say that this is the most pure form of race. No pacing strategies. No timings. No GPS. Just running to the best of your abilities for as long as you can.
All things considered I had a lot of fun. I got through an entire volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, got to run through some nice trails in a different part of the country, got to meet some great people, and got to take part in and complete a race that is the first of its kind. I feel a lot better today than I have any right to. I've still only slept for about 4 hours in the last 74, yet don't feel particularly tired. My legs are a little stiff, but only as bad as they feel after my usual 30 miler. And I have one small blister to show for my troubles. But hey, you'll get no complaints from me!  Would I do it again? Yes, of course! The weather couldn't be crappier, and barring some kind of injury I don't think I could start off feeling any worse. Plus, there should be some great pictures of me looking miserable now for next year's application!
So how long is a piece of string? That's going to remain a secret I'm afraid, but needless to say that this year it was a really, really long way. Next year? Who can say! You'll just have to enter and find out.
 
 

And finally...

It was a shame that I didn't get a chance to see more of the Winter 100, but it seemed like it was going well despite the tough weather. There was certainly a large dropout rate which was unfortunate, with only 32 finishers out of about 100 starters. The men's race was won by Richie Cunningham in 17:14:10 (walking away with one of the spanky new Centurion Running trophies - I want one!), with Nick Weston coming in second in 18:01:17 and Martin Bacon taking third in 19:04:39. The ladies race was won by Jean Beaumont in 20:23:46, with Wendy Shaw in second with 22:58:25, and Nichola Newton in third with 27:40:00. Congratulations to everybody that raced this weekend - I hope that you're nice and dry now. And a huge thank you to James and James for organising the event, and to everybody that volunteered their time to make the event so awesome!
 
Want!
 
 
 
* This in itself was a psychological minefield - is "midnight Saturday" the midnight between Friday and Saturday, or between Saturday and Sunday? This is another example of the Gremlins paradox - when the hell can you feed a mogwai?!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The picture that I sent in to enter this mad race! I lost my nail years ago through doing Tae Kwon Do, and this monstrosity grew back in its place. I finally got sick of it and yanked it off!

Written by Nicki Edwards - http://fruittlooprunner.blogspot.fr/

Wow what an epic weekend in the Chilterns.

 
Maxine picked me up at 5am Saturday morning in the pouring rain and we set off to Hemel Hempstead and race HQ. I had been practicing some relaxation techniques in the few weeks leading up to the race and although I was nervous, I wasn't as stressed and panicky as I am normally, managed to eat well in the lead up and was excited about getting started. Fortunately the weather improved and it turned into a lovely day for running.
 
There were only six crazy fools taking on the inaugural Chiltern Way Ultra  (214km version) the 100k event would start on Sunday morning. We were fitted with trackers, given 58 pages of maps to follow and at 9am we were on our way.
 
    David, Steve, Graham, Mark, myself and Glyn ready to run! 
 
The first leg was about 15 miles and all went well, navigation was going ok, I was really pleased to actually be able to interpret the maps and if nothing else this weekend my map reading skills have improved massively, it wasn't very long ago that I was convinced I couldn't map read so throughout my run I used the maps with my GPS for checking if I wasn't sure. The Chiltern way is a well walked path and pretty well waymarked. I was grateful for my GPS and it saved me from making any major navigational errors.
 
I was happy in my running, maintaining 12 minute miles which is what I wanted in the early stages. My nutrition was under control and it was the start to the race I wanted. I was smiley and happy that I was able to spend my weekend taking part in this adventure.
I reached check point 1 only 5minutes later than my predicted time and was happy with that as well inside the cutoff. Was good to see Lindley and Cali, a quick photo, food, drink and I was on my way again.
     Cali and myself at Cp1
 
Leg two was 16 miles. 
Again it went well, legs felt good, my annoying left heal was niggling a bit but I ignored it and refused to let it spoil my run. I was running well, coming out of High Wycombe Golf course I saw Mandy and her daughter waiting for me for a hug and some support, was a great boost and i looked forward to seeing them again at CP2. This section was getting hillier but I was still on track, walking the hills briskly and running the downhills and flats. I arrived at CP2 at 5:15pm and Maxine taped a couple of hotspots on my feet, while I ate and had a quick chat with Mandy and Lucy. Apparently I was getting lots of support via FB, I had made the decision to only take a very basic phone with me so had no idea what was going on. Abbi was updating my progress and I was left to focus solely on my running. 
 
Leg three.
Another 15 mile section and I knew it would start to get dark during this one so I tried to maintain a good pace while it was still light. It was all going well, legs were still feeling ok, feet were good and mentally I still felt strong. As darkness fell I stopped sort my headtorch, and make sure I was visible. My pace slowed (too much) but I was still moving at a decent pace that would get me to the next CP within the cutoff. I hadn't factored the cows into this though, I was in a field and I could here 'mooing' and then everywhere I looked all I could see were eyes, in front of me on the path. They weren't happy and began moving towards me, so I did what any sane person in the dark surrounded by agitated cows would do, I spied a barb wire fence that looked as though people had been though before and I leapt though it. The cows continued to stare and stamp but at least they now the other side of the fence. My only problem now I was in a small wooded area full of brambles and stinging nettles! I decided scratched legs were preferable to 'death by cow' so I battled though the undergrowth and managed to get out the other side of the gate away from the scary cattle. I was quite pleased when speaking to some of the other runners later that they had had the same issues, Glyn had also taken the dive through the barbed wire way out! I phoned my children after this, just needed to hear a friendly voice, it helped lots, I pulled myself together and carried on. 
I think with the dark and dramas I hadn't eaten properly during this leg and ran out of drink a couple of miles before the CP. By the time I arrived just before 11pm (and the cutoff) I was feeling a bit light headed and sick. Brian, Cali and Frank were at this checkpoint and also one of the other runners, Graham who was having stomach issues. I had a very welcome coffee, some soup and Brian made me up a bag of food to eat as I went. I was struggling to force food down but knew I had to and also knew I needed to seriously speed up to make the next cutoff.
 
Leg four
Brian walked us out of the CP and as we walked up the road another runner came from the opposite direction, it was Glyn who was having a navigational nightmare and had spent 2.5 hours running in a big circle. So Graham, Glyn and myself set off, I spoke to Lindley, who gave some good advice and I was determined to make the next cut off. For an hour or so I managed to keep up a good pace, Graham dropped behind and Glyn and I with maps and the GPS managed to more or less keep on track. Then the light headedness came back, and I really struggled. There wee some steep hills and I could only manage a few steps at a time before becoming very breathless and dizzy. I had to push hard to just keep going at this stage, several times all I wanted to do was sit down. I felt like I would never reach CP4. Glyn was great at encouraging me to keep going and I was really pleased I wasn't alone. This was the point where I decided I would pull out at the CP, I was feeling awful and tripping over everything. We eventually made the check point and that was the end of my race. Glyn continued on and I leant him my GPS. 
 
It was a tough decision but I had had several moments when I thought I might pass out, real or imagined I don't know, was I just looking for an excuse to stop...
At the time of pulling out I was certain it was absolutely the right thing for me to do, now there is that voice inside wandering if I gave up too soon, I don't know, just as I don't know if my feeling unwell was real or imagined, but that is the decision I made and I need to live with it, learn from it and move forwards. 
I am disappointed not to have finished but know for as long as I could I gave this race 100% effort, I pushed hard at the start and I am proud to have made 65 miles. My legs are telling me today that I worked hard! 
 
So out of the six of us who started, only David Pryce finished, I was privelaged to be there to see him cross the finish line, awesome running.
 
I had a good chat with Lindley afterwards, sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself, I am lucky to have a coach who understands me as a person, can see my strengths and weaknesses and is committed to helping me improve. Still the best decision I made for my running this year. I have learnt so much not just about running or running stupid distances, but about me as a person. 
 
I have to say a massive thank you to Lindley, Maxine and all the checkpoint volunteers, you were all amazing and couldn't have done more to help and support throughout the race. 
Thank you also to the other runners, it was great to meet you all and hope you are all recovering well. I also had awesome support from friends and family, the text messages were brilliant and I was overwhelmed by the support I'd had on FB whilst I ran, thank you everyone.
 
Finally Challenge Running events are awesome, I would recommend anyone looking for a challenge to take on some (or all) of their events. Fantastic races run by runners for runners. There is no denying they are really tough events but extremely enjoyable and superbly organised. I feel really privelaged to have been involved in this first running of The Chiltern Way Ultras, have a feeling it is the start of a really special race.
 
Have a great week and happy running xx 

Written by Neil Bryant - www.ultrarunninglife.com 

My year had started off really quite manicly with the Spine, quickly followed by the Frostskade 500. Due to the financial and time commitments this demanded the rest of my year was going to be relatively quiet. At the end of June I had the Mont Blanc 80km because it is a local race so no travel or accommodation expenses. At the end of the season I have the Trail des Aiguilles
Rouge which is another in valley race, but that was it. I was absoloutely fine with this as I knew that there would need to be some sacrifice for the start of the year. That all changed when I got an email from Richard Felton from Profeet to say that I had won a place (I entered a draw a month earlier) in the Swiss Irontrail in Davos. The race was to be held mid August and included
a 21km, 41km, 81km, 141km and the daddy, the 201km. Which race should let the organisers know you'd like to do, asked Richard. There was no question in my mind that it had to be 201km so that is what I said.

Now I had said yes to this thing I thought it was time to check out the stats from the website. A smile crept across my face as I read about it. 11,480 metres of ascent! Certainly not the biggest out there but far from a flat race. It passed through many towns and villages too which would make it a bit of an exploratory adventure. I didn't even know where Davos is. Switzerland is not a
large country and I live within a few miles of it, but when I checked it was over the other side. I live near the West, Davos is in the East. It would be around a 6-7hr train journey.

Work were incredibly understanding and gave me three days off for it and with little time to spare, the Irontrail package arrived which included the Swiss Ticket. This is a great part of the entry fee in my opinion. The Swiss Ticket gives you free public transport from your point of entry into Switzerland to Davos, then back again (not flights).

As usual my preparation was minimal, though I felt mountain fit. The race stats didn't scare me and the distance was exciting and new. I felt as though it would be a distance I would be more comfortable with. THe cutoff was a very healthy 66 hours which I felt was very doable and barring incidences, I felt was well within my abilities. I also kept in mind how difficult and how slow I
was moving at the UTMB and this was over 30km further with around 2000 metres of extra ascent (and descent) so this was never going to be easy!

The weather in the Alps this Summer has been patchy if I was to be very positive about it. We've had lot's of sunny days, but there have possibly been equal amounts of gray, rainy days. The weeks leading upto race day didn't disapoint either! Plenty of rain in fact. I wonder if the trails I'd be on in Switzerland would drain as well as the trails here in the Chamonix valley. I generally
am ok with a bit of foul weather as I believe when others start finding it difficult I excel. Then again, 201 km is a long way and if the weather slows things down it could be a very long day in the mountains!

I got my transfer to Geneva Airport train station early on the Wednesday morning, stamped my ticket and boarded the first of three trains. This was all very Swiss, being very clean, and perfectly on time. On the final train I got talking to Hideo, a chap from the UK who was running the 141km race and Anke, a German lady who was in the 201 and had successfully completed it the previous year too. As we got closer to Davos the landscape was jutting up all around which to me was far more pleasing and beautiful. It had been raining for most of the day and there were huge amounts of water on the ground. A river was very close to bursting it's banks and looked as though it had a litle already. Then we heard an announcement over the tannoy informing us
there had been a landslide which had blocked one of the lines. I don't think I would be keeping my feet dry for long!

On arrival I went on a cafe hunt as there was only a short wait before I could register, this is where I bumped into Mark and Fiona. I believe I first bumped into this lovely couple a few years back on the Canary Islands for the Trans Gran Canaria. They (sensibly) don't really use the internet so it's really good to catch up with them as it really feels like you have news! Once
through registeration, I walked off to find my accomodation which would be a hostel for the night. The race didn't start till midday the next day so there would be a nice leisurley start to the day which would make a change. I wouldn't even need to set an alarm! I ordered a pizza and had a really nice local beer as I relaxed down stairs in the common area. I was in a six berth room
but there was just another couple in there from Finland. When I decided to call it a night, I was surprised to discover that the Finnish couple had already gone to bed!

I woke with no alarm in the morning which always fels a treat and crept out of the room trying not to wake the Finns who were still sleeping. The breakfast buffet was included in the accommodation, so I sat there and ate more than my share of cereal, ham, cheese and bread till I felt a bit bloated. I now had to go and pack my bag and get changed for the race.

With just over an hour before the off, I shouldered my bags and began the 20 minute walk into town to the HQ and start area. The previous night I had got quite wet walking to the hostel, so it was nice that it was dry on the stroll in this morning. For the 201km race we had two bag drop points. I very rarely bother with bag drops, but for some reason I decided to use the second
one at the 140km point for a pair of shoes (Salomon Ultra 3 SG) and fresh socks. I doubted I would need them as I very rarely remove my shoes during races, and I think I have never changed shoes.

I met up with Mark and Fionna and then met Carmine de Grandis who I had spoke to a few times online. Always nice to meet people properly! We missed the briefing and then the small field of around 150 were off.

We briefly passed through town and were soon on a gentle incline up which meant I could still run at this early stage in the race. I felt very fresh as I had taken nearly two weeks off of any exercise at all, and I let myself enjoy this moment because not too far in the future things would be very different! I loved the fact that this was a more intimate affair compared to the UTMB. Don't get me wrong I loved the UTMB as I knew what it was and I accepted it's madness and electricity and let it flow over me, but I will always love the smaller races. I love being alone with my thoughts for long periods which I knew that with this size of field and stretched out over a course with a 66hr cut off, I would surely have plenty of 'me time'!

The first 10km or so was either road or very good trail. I was fine with this as it made it easier to try and find that 201km rhythm. Being wide enough also meant it was easy to pass people without accelerating. After a while the gentle incline rounded off and the first descent of the day begun. It was very short, but still I took it as easily as possible. I really was aware that this was a race of balancing speed with preservation. A runner caught me up here and chatted briefly. His name was Mohammed. He and his girlfriend had been over in Europe touring around for a while and this was going to be the end of their holiday. Minutes after the descent started the trail changed angle again as we headed up. I wished Mohammed luch and pushed on.

Although the route had mostly been uphill up to this point, it was now that I would say the hill begun. I happily left the wider trail and was suddenly on some beautiful woodland songletrack. This was a real fun section where I had to stay disciplined and not race off as it was such good. The trail soon got steeper and steeper till my hands were on my knees pushing hard. As I slowly
zig-zagged my way upwards the cloud got closer and closer. I could no longer see anyone ahead as they were already deep in the damp murkiness of the cloud. I too was soon deep within the gray cloud. The temperature had dropped plenty but I was still perfectly comfortable as I was working so hard.

I was wearing a brand new pair of La Sportiva Helios shoes which feel just so incredibly comfortable and have the most bizarre tread which I initially thought was a bit gimmicky, but in fact seems very effective on all terrains in all conditions, though this would be a real test. I wore shorts, my super soft La Sportiva Merino top with arm warmers. I was packing plenty of warm kit in my Salomon pack so felt prepared for pretty much anything.

Once on to the top I mistakenly followed some permanent trail markings downwards and after a few minutes I realised that this wasn't right and turned back and was soon back on the course. The drop down to Bergun was long, slightly technical in places and plenty of fun. I felt like the race had just begun mentally now as the first major climb was behind me. I was feeling good and was now back out of the cloud that had enshrined the peaks so I could look around at this beautiful new scenery. Taking in the scenery is a rather dangerous affair as you are running down a mountain so my view admiring was kept to a minimum. That's what the ups are for!

The descent was long but eventually I entered the town of Bergun and here was the first decent cp. I ran into the sports hall and scanned the food and decided on a plate of spag bol. I had decided to eat very well on this event. I was in no particular rush especially in these early stages. Set the foundations for the later stages. I was approached here as my GPS tracker was faulty. They had a play with it but it was not working, so I was told that I would be getting a replacement in 20km. Not ideal as this would mean that I would have had no tracker for the first 56km. Trackers are great for loved ones to follow you, but also can cause huge amounts of worry.

The trail after Bergun was nice but very wet in places due to all the heavy rain over the recent days. My feet were soaked and unlikely to be drying out much over the duration of the event which could make things painful. Before I arrived at Samedan in just over 20km, there was a large climb followed by a smaller (though still pretty large) then a nice little drop down to this first major CP with the first of our two bag drops, though I hadn't taken advantage of it. I felt ok at this stage but there was a soreness in my thighs which seemed a bit too early. This has happened before and I remained calm, but there was a whisper of concern in the darkness of my mind. My 15 months of living in the alps had been great for mountain fitness and the primary benefit was
that my quadriceps could take the huge downs that they couldn't when I was in the UK. I was cautious on the descents from now on and was very keen on my diet as I focused on electrolyte intake and simply making sure enough energy was going in. Other than that I just hoped that it was just a passing bad phase.

The two climbs that preceded the major CP where tough though energy levels were consistant which buoyed my hopes of a strong overall race. The descents where still tough on my thighs though and my hopes of this being shortlived sensation were fading a little. I was a little weary and grateful to enter the town and weave my way through the narrow streets following the tape
finally leading me to the sports hall which was the location of the CP. I walked in and reported my tracker immediately, handing it to a chap who said that it had been turned off for the entire race so far. I then grabbed a large plate of spag bol and some coke and sat down intending to make sure I ate and drank well but didn't waste time just hanging around. The pasta was gone very fast and I topped up my bottles before collecting a new tracker as apparently my original one was faulty. I took a handful of cheese and a piece of chocolate cake and walked out. As I was leaving I saw the 141km race runners in a seperate room registering. I believe it was around 2030 as I left and they would be starting at midnight so I had a 3.5hr headstart on them.
Once I had consumed the food in my hands, I stiffly broke into a trot. Mercifully the first km or two was along a flat section of cycle path that took you out of town straight to the base of the next 1100 metre climb.

It was on this climb where the final overall winner Denise Zimmermann was just a short distance ahead. I was not aware of here calibre, and stupidly assumed that if I kept my pace consistent on this climb I felt I would pass her. It was a rather steep ascent and as I worked hard with my hands pushing on my knees, Denise kept the gap, but then took her phone from her pocket and
started a five minute conversation. During this period she actually began to drop me. This continued till she had a second phone conversation where she again was not slowing at all or sounding out of breath, as I was puffing and panting like a steam train behind her. As she disappeared into the gloom of the quickly oncoming night, I switched on my Petzl and prepared myself for the first night alone in the mountains. Rough calculations were being bounced around in my head to try to calculate how long this thing was going to take. What time of day would I be finishing, if I were to finish? It was now a distinct possibility that I would be out for two whole nights. That may mean I would have to grab a little sleep somewhere.

I leaned into the next climb that would slowly and a little too painfully take me to the cable-car station Murtel. Here I entered the building feeling incredibly sore and tired, determined to have a little break before pushing on again. The altitude here was 2700 metres and although the night was beautifully clear, the temperature had dropped dramatically as I gained height. It was below
zero and although I was still not wearing too much the exertion on the huge ascents, created plenty enough heat to keep me warm. All except my hands as usual.

On entering the building, I saw the usual table of food, which I was alredy getting a bit tired of, but I forced myself to eat something no matter how unappealing. Then I noticed one other runner was already here. Mattias was having a lie down before continuing. I asked how he was doing and he said he was good but needed a little sleep and his hands were frozen so he was
trying to warm them. The temptation was too much then and my hands really needed to have some blood back in them before I set off back out there, so I grabbed a blanket and lied down. I was probably only there for around 15 minutes and I didn't sleep, but the calmness was soothing and felt wonderful.

I think it was possibly around this time that my competition / survival balance became a little weighty on the survival side. I don't like to DNF and if that meant finishing in a time a lot lower than predicted then so be it.

After my brief lie down, I got up and prepared to leave, putting my warm gloves onto my now warm hands. I thanked the crew and said goodbye. The initial section of the descent was very poorly marked but I found my way down with a whole load of soreness in my thighs, which did ease a little but I must stress only a little. My thighs were shot! I was shocked about how
quickly my legs had blown, but I really needed to just accept the fact and not dwell on it. The physical aspect was bad enough alone, so I really didn't need to add a negative mental aspect to it.

As I wound my way down the mountain in the dark, I was just over 80km into this race. Around 120km remained! I noticed a torch behind me, and when I looked again, it had closed up the gap considerably. I was guessing it was Mattias who I had left behind at the last station. Soon he was with me, and instead of pushing on without me, he stayed with me. Mattias is Swiss
and fortunately his English is excellent so we chatted away about how our races were panning out. The night was almost through as a faint glow appeared on the horizon. Below us we could make out the murky black of a lake surrounded by occasional spots of light. On the far end of the lake was a small town which was Maloja. This would be our next stop. Just before leaving the trail and we lost the markers and ended up wasting some time running through town trying to find the CP. Finally we found it. Another decent stop and I packed my Petzl away as it was just about light enough as Mattias and I left together to begin the next big climb out of town to Lunghinpass at over 2600 metres. It was quite fresh at this early hour but my hands seemed to be ok now.

I noticed a runner moving very fast behind and we guessed that it must be the first of the 141km race runners. He looked incredibly strong as he passed us. What I'd give to feel that fresh! As we neared the top the temperature really dropped and then it begun to snow. By the time we had reached the CP tent on the col the ground was covered. Mattias did a quick photo stop
and then we were on our way back down. Next stop - Bivio. I was certainly using the CP's well now making sure I was well watered and fed before I left each one. Mattias was certain we were in 6th and 7th place. I was amazed and wondered whether I could hold on to a top ten position. We were now past the half way point and it was all beginning to seem a little more likely that
I would reach the end.

There was nearly 30 tough km betwen Bivio and Savognin, the location of the second and last major CP with bag drop. This is where I had my shoes and socks. During this section my feet were getting very sore. It felt a little like huge underfoot blisters were forming but I knew it was the early stages of trenchfoot. The descents felt really bad as it would pull the skin back as I
braked, and sharp rocks were agony. There was such a long way to go this was not the time to ignore and push through, such is my usual tactic. If these blisters actually formed, it could well be the end. I needed a plan. With 10km to go till the prospect of a dry pair of socks and shoes, I slowed right down even though this was a fast section of the course. After 2 painful hours and
one torrential downpour of rain, I hobbled awkwardly into town.

Morale was a little low as I was a little dubious about removing my shoes and socks and looking at my feet. I sat in the first seat I saw as I entered the CP. I was smashed. There were showers here so I removed my shoes and socks and rinsed my feet off before drying them thoroughly. They were badly wrinkled up. There was too far remaining to ignore this. I decided to rest here
and let the skin air out before continuing. After messing about with my kit and eating, I found the quiet room and had a sleep for an hour hoping that when I awoke my feet would be in an improved state.Thankfully they were. I sorted myself out and put on my fresh socks and shoes before thanking the crew and walking out into the bright day. The muscle soreness had now faded a little and overall I was feeling more positive than I had for a while. There wasn't too much of the day left so I pushed on taking advantage of it before I would be plunged into darkness again.

The next section was undulating and took me through a few pretty villages which helped the km's pass by a little smoother. I think that even though there was still a sizeable chunk of the course left, I could smell the end which also gave me a boost. I overtook a few runners from some of the smaller races here which also helped. I knew that the next major CP at Lenzerheide
Was the start of the final major mountain climb up the Weisshorn.

My Petzl was back on as I arrived at the CP. I spent a little while in here making sure I was ready for the climb ahead, before leaving alone. It was cold again in the early morning, so I was happy to almost immediately get stuck into the climb. I zig-zagged my way up through the trees for quite a tiring while before the trail straightened out and roughly contoured around the
side of the mountain for a couple of km's. I broke out of the treeline and was instantly engulfed in thick fog. I struggled to find any markers as my Petzl just lit up the fog directly in front of me. The wind was weak but was enough to keep the fog moving and giving the occasional window of visibility. Half an hour later and the night was crystal clear again as I left the fog behind. I
could see lights ahead but nothing behind yet. I stopped and looked around occasionally and was stunned by the beauty of a silent electrical storm, completely encapsulated in a glowing cloud far, far away. It was silent and I felt relatively good. I passed a ghostly cablecar station and continued towards the light ahead which I assumed was the next station with a CP. I passed through the CP fairly quickly, keen to reach the top of the Weisshorn.

After a small descent I lost the trail for 10-20 mins. I could see torches over to my left but was unsure how people had got there. I backtracked and finally saw the marker I missed and took the good trail. It soon was heading up again and after around 10 minutes, the final section that would take me to the summit was in front of me. It was very steep and carried on for longer than I anticipated. There was a small amount of fresh snow on the ground again and the temperature was sub zero again. The very top was completely fogged out again and I really struggled to find my way down as it was so thick. The fog was just capping the top 100-200 metres so soon I could speed up and start to enjoy the descent which was long and steep. I passed a few runners coming down here. I was exhausted but was finding that reserve that is seemingly always there but I can't always find. I was really enjoying this and for the first time my pre race target of a top ten position was feeling possible.

I again stopped briefly at Arosa which was the last decent CP. There was just over 20km remaining and one last blip of a mountain on the profile. It was daylight now and the Petzl was packed away for the last time. It was sunny but there was some showers as I worked my way to the end. Although my feet were ok from the soaking from the earlier stages, there was now a new pain in my metatarsal. It felt skeletal this time and was forcing me to favour running on the edge of the foot to lower the impact on it.

A basic CP was at Jatz which was the low point before the final climb began. I had a coke here and started walking up the road before hitting the trail again. It was here that I started to really feel quite energised and as I pushed the pace up a little to test out this surge, I was surprised to feel that there was more! I was still walking but I felt great. All the stiffness and soreness had faded away and I was now quickly gaining on runners far ahead. I passed 3 runners and ahead I could see runners struggling up the steep final ascent that would take us to the top of Strelapass, the final ascent of the whole course. I couldn't wait to get stuck into it with this new found energy. Once I hit it, my strength held and I quickly passed 4 runners who were going the speed I was guessing I had been ascending for the majority of the race. After around 25 minutes of the steep final climb, I topped out and was then facing the final descent into Davos. I passed a few more runners here and one of them was in my race. My foot was slowing me a little but I was so close to finishing now I cared little about it.

The trail turned to tarmac and now my foot really hurt and my run was a bit of a hobble. I stopped to walk a few times, frustrated that my energy surge which was still flowing could not be tapped due to my foot. I just cared about the runner I just passed catching me back up, but every time I looked behind he wasn't there..

Town was soon in view and soon enough I was running along the streets with the descent behind. I turned onto the main street, turned into the square and crossed the line. I immediately told them my number as I wasn't wearing it due to it tearing off, and was told I was 9th in just over 47hrs. What a fantastic race! I loved the distance, and the mountains are just glorious. My performance was pretty aweful really, what with just feeling pretty crappy for the whole thing except the end, and my time feels pretty soft for what I think I'm capable of. Overall though, to come in the top ten is just brilliant. With 70 finishers and 74 DNF's it's obviously pretty hard too. I would certainly recommend this race even though there were a few issues with marking, lack of variety in the CP food and some problems with my tracker. I have emailed them some feedback as I believe they really want this race to be a huge success and will listen to everything. I may even like to return so I could put in a better performance. We need more mountain 200km races in the world!

It is over two weeks since the race now and my foot is still pretty painful, though the swelling has gone and there has been lots of improvement. Chamonix has been manic over the past week as it has been UTMB week which has been fantastic. It has been really nice to not be a runner and meeting up with friends. What a great sport this is! I have one more race this year which is a local on at the end of September. I will not run it if my foot isn't 100% and to be honest, although it does look to be a fantastic race over an amazing course, it won't matter too much really. It will soon be winter an then it's ski time!
Happy running.

Written by Richard Lendon - http://richrunnings.blogspot.fr/

 
Last year’s Lakes 10 Peaks was tough, very tough; a 73km route with 5600m of ascent. So when the Xtreme course was announced my immediate thought was “Why not?!”
“The Xtreme course takes things to another level! This 100km circular route, starting and finishing in Keswick takes in all of the 10 highest peaks as well as another 10 compulsory peaks including Blencathra, Clough Head, Raise, Fairfield, Seat Sandal, High Raise, Red Pike, Kirk Fell, Dale Head and Maiden Moor. This is a natural extension to the Long Course which follows a similar, but not identical, route to that of the Bob Graham Round. The tough terrain combined with nearly 8000m of ascent make this one of the hardest non-stop ultra distance races on the calendar”.
 
Sounded fair enough!
 
So let me simply state that if the “normal” 10 Peaks course is tough, then this is brutally tough but also so totally enjoyable!
 
The simple facts are that I finished joint 4th (joint 3rd male) in 21:25. Apart from smashing into the wall half way up Skiddaw (not to be recommended), I barely had a bad spell all day.
 
This was a bit of an on/off race for me. With a gap of only 4 weeks to the Lakeland 100, I was in 2 minds as the whether it was sensible to invest not only the physical effort but, more importantly for me, the mental effort into another tough event. My rather pathetic attempt at the Hardmoors 160 really made me realize that although my body may recover quickly, it takes far longer to recover mentally from these big events – from the mental preparation before the event and the mental effort during the event.
 
Family illness a couple of weeks prior to the race and the fact that it was Jade’s birthday the day before tipped the balance so I withdrew. Then a window of opportunity presented itself, and I reinstated myself on the Wednesday before the race!
 
I decided that the best way to circumnavigate the use of mental energy prior to the race was to not really think about it! So I went for the no taper approach. This seems to have worked previously in the Frostbite 30 (Dec 12) and this year’s Hardmoors 55. So having run just over 50 miles on Monday – Wednesday, I hadn’t spent all week with ever increasing taperitis! With Jade’s birthday dinner on the Friday evening, there wouldn’t be much time to psych myself up either.
 
I left Lincoln just after 10pm, arriving at Keswick shortly after 1am. I then curled up on the passenger seat expecting to wake up at around 02:30. Next thing I know is that the clock says 02:53. Race start 04:00. Oh well, no stress allowed today! I made and ate my porridge, went into the football club announced myself present, registered and changed. Quick hello’s with Andrew Hayes, Jon Steele, Annie Garcia and anyone else who was listening, and suddenly it was 03:55. Decided I’d better focus a little…….well, at least put my rucksack on!
 
And then we were off on the approach to Blencathra. Up Blease Fell, I was in a lead bunch of 8 or so runners as we peaked in poor visibility. Down Hall’s Fell Ridge, and out of the cloud, I watched in vain as several of the mountain goats sped off into the distance as I picked my way down – this was really demoralizing.
 
Down though Threlkeld and over the A66, I worked hard up Clough Head and recaught the lead bunch. Around the Dodd’s in clag, and approaching Raise, the call of nature called somewhat urgently and that was the last I saw of the first 3 runners.
 
I peaked Helvellyn with Bill Williamson whom I subsequently spent most of the day with. I lost some time going down to Grizedale Tarn but reached the top of Fairfield just behind Bill. This was to prove the pattern for the day with Bill pulling ahead on the downs and then me catching up on the ups.
 

 

Up and over Seat Sandal, my first new Wainwright of the day, we raced down to CP2 at Thirlmere. Then it was the long, boggy climb up to Greenup Edge and High Raise. We took the Bob Graham route up Bowfell, with me going a little off piste. Once on top, the clod had lifted and we started to pick off some of the long course competitors. Over Esk Pike to CP3 at Esk Hause where there was a food shortage.  Then up to the Scafell plateau, rapidly dibbing at Great End, Ill Crag and Broad Crag and then Scafell Pike itself.
 
I was feeling remarkably strong and full of running. Working hard up the ascents and then running nicely where possible.
 
Going up Lord’s rake to Scafell, Bill developed bad cramp. I waited for a minute but then pushed ahead. Not the greatest place to get cramp. Before exiting the ‘Rake’ my phone rang – I decided it was not the best place to take a call!
 

 

As I reached the summit plateau, there was Bill just ahead of me. He had taken a sneaky direct route - as though Lord’s Rake isn’t steep enough!
 
Down towards Wasdale there were a few darker clouds gathering and some moderate drizzle started. My prayers were answered and it soon dried up. After some excellent scree skiing, we reached Wasdale CP. The main excitement on arriving at any CP now was the thrill of not knowing what flavour of Clif Bar there would be on offer!!
 
After the nasty climb of Forehead Screes, it was up to Red Pike and my 2nd (and final) new Wainwright of the day. I was feeling good still and pushing harder on the climbs. Then it was swiftly round to Pillar. The run down from Pillar to Black Sail Pass was frenetic – I think Bill was making a final effort to shake me off on my weaker downhills.
 
Up and over Kirk Fell to CP 5 at Beck Head where there was water rationing in force. Great Gable was surprisingly quickly summited. It was a great to get here feeling so good. Then it was the pleasant run down to Honister YH, and CP 6. I passed on the hot food and had a Mars Bar and probably a Clif Bar!
 
Skiddaw awaits...
Dale Head and Maiden Head were soon ticked off, and we circumnavigated the summit if Cat Bells before heading onto Keswick. We ran well to CP 8 at Nichol End Marine, passing several Long Course runners. Still feeling pretty good, I had a mini-feast of Soreen and mini-Snickers. Probably a Clif Bar too!
 
On the way towards Keswick, Bill and I decided that it would be reasonable to finish together – we’d be running together since just before CP2. Shortly after, Bill hit a low patch, forcing us to walk for a while. Fortunately he seemed to eat his way out of it.
 
At the foot of Skiddaw, I was feeling pretty good but very much looking forward to finishing! A few minutes later the wheels fell off. I started to feel really nauseous and then I could feel the energy literally draining out of me. I really didn’t feel I could stomach any food, but given that I was virtually at a standstill and getting cold, I chewed on a few Clif Shots which helped a little. We stopped to put on head torches and windproofs. I braved a gel and by the time we reached Carlside Tarn I was feeling significantly better, and able to eat a little solid food.
 
By now, the wind had picked up significantly and the temperature had plummeted. On the Skiddaw summit plateau it felt bitterly cold, and my only though was to get down as quickly as possible.
 
Soon, we were running down into Keswick and the long-awaited finish at the football club.
 
Apart from smashing into the wall on the way up Skiddaw, I had felt really good the whole day. In particular, I felt really strong on the climbs. I’m not sure what happened going up Skiddaw as I’d been eating and drinking well all day – just one of those things, I guess. It does throw the whole business of the taper into turmoil. Having already run 50 miles in the week, I had no right or expectation for the race to go quite so well. Perhaps I was just lucky!? Either way, I was very happy with the day out, and it has left me feeling really confident about the Lakeland 100.

It was great to run with Bill. His knowledge of the 'good lines' was a real learning lesson as was the simple 'run on the grass' message

The Lakes 10 Peaks races are amongst my very favourites. A truly tough test in simply superb surroundings. If you like tough, if you like brutally tough, then you can’t do much better than this.
 
Thanks to Mark and Paul for putting on such great races, and to all the volunteers, often in remote places.
 
So next year……Lakes 10 Peaks Mega-Xtreme?
 
The route!

Written by Rich Cranswick - http://lejog2014.blogspot.co.uk/

T184 is an unsupported run along the length of the Thames from the barrier in East London to the source near Kemble in Gloucestershire. There are checkpoints every 25-30 miles where you get water. Nothing else. You start carry everything you need for potentially 4 days running, sleeping and eating.

 
The route
My race began with a LOT of planning. Numbers and spreadsheets are my thing so I had catalogued every piece of kit I have into categories, with weight and bulk. The idea was that I could then work out the best kit combination and the size of pack I would need. There was also a lot of information and chat on kit, etc on the t184 facebook forum, which I read and added to my notes, including the best bit of advice from the RD Shane Benzie.. It's not kit weight but kit selection that will make the difference whether you DNF or not.
 
The final decision was to go with a lightweight approach but with one eye on the weather. That meant I had to carry kit for a cold Saturday (the forecast was for 6c overnight) and a wet Sunday.  I’d done a couple of long runs with my Innov-8 RaceElite 24 and knew it was comfy with no rubbing and for easy access I’d bought a RaceElite 3 waist pack for phone, map & snacks.
 
Key kit would be for comfortable sleeping as I’ve done a lot of hiking over the years and found that I’m useless without decent rest. Pace drops, I start to make navigation errors, etc as soon as I get really tired so a decent warm set-up was essential. Due to predictions for the cold weather I went for a 4-season Sea to Summit bag at +4/-2c, a Rab Ultralight bivi and Sil Poncho / tarp to keep the rain off (and as an extra layer if it got really wet) with a simple cut-down foam roll-mat for a bit of comfort.
 
On the food front I decided to leave the cooking kit and freeze-dried food at home due to the higher calorie value of nuts, pepperami and chocolate. Plus I saved over 1kg and a load of space in the pack by going with a cold-food option. And it was instantly available. No stopping to faff with boiling water and waiting for food to hydrate.
Race plan. Out of the window by CP2
My race plan was a run/walk strategy for 20/5 minutes at 6/3mph. Day two would be the same but at 5/2.5mph and day three at 4/2mph. I had also planned two 8 hour sleep stops overnight to recuperate fully from the day. I wanted to treat this more as 3 days of 100k, and use the sleep break as a reward for completing that day’s task.
 
Kenneth Branagh giving us his
Richard III speech
On Friday morning 70-odd runners gathered at the Thames Barrier café. We collected a tracking device, make final kit checks, some of us peed, drooled and gave blood for a Kent Uni immunology study and at 10:30am set off. The initial pace felt comfortable and we quickly passed the dome, crossed under Blackwall Tunnel and jogged past Parliament. The crowds of tourists were a problem in places but a few minutes walking were going to make absolutely no difference in a race that has an 80 hour cutoff.
 
At CP1 I came in at just over 5 hours, a little ahead of schedule but feeling good. Seeing the sights on a running tour of London had been a great lift, and I was ready to get going on the next 26 mile section. During the day several people had met me through London and run or walked for a while, which helped to pass the time and boost morale.  
 
For the second section I’d been running with a group and had become unofficial group leader after telling them I knew the area well (I used to camp at Laleham while working in Chertsey a few years back). I soon proved my worth by leading us down the wrong route that resulted in a 3 mile detour, but made up for this with a water stop at the campsite with an 80’s disco and an interesting encounter with a group of slightly drunk ladies offering us wine and food. We all declined. Moses did want to go boogie, but we had other things to do.
 
We reached CP2 at Old Windsor around midnight. Everything was going fine but a lot slower than planned due to a lot of walking. 53 miles in and I was way behind schedule, but I was enjoying myself so much I decided to implement the Whenever Plan. As long as I was ahead of the cut-offs, I’d just run, walk or sleep whenever I felt like it. My decision was therefore to bivi down on the football pitches on the approach to Windsor for a good night’s sleep.
 
Saturday morning saw me back on the road at dawn after a lovely 5 hours sleep. I jogged for a couple of hours as I knew I’d been 4 hours ahead of the cut-off at CP2 so I was now behind. But with the average required pace 2.3mph I knew that with a morning of running, I could get that buffer back. I met Jamie Woods at CP3 in Henley who had droped due to blisters. Luckily so far my feet were in great condition. I was removing shoes and socks at every chance and airing them out which combined with the recovery they got while I was asleep seemed to be keeping them in tip-top condition.
 
Together with the Whatever Plan, I had now decided that I would use my food as a reward system, so I tucked in to the 2 pepperami that I would get at every CP, filled up with water and moved on up the river.
 
Throughout the day I was catching up to runners and jogging with them for a while, as many had just grabbed the odd hour of sleep so my 5 hours had put me well behind. On the approach to the 100 mile point at Streatley I was becoming increasingly glad of my decision to take these proper sleep breaks as I noticed that many were looking extremely tired and having difficulty keeping a conversation going. Approaching CP4 at Streatley I also met a Kate Hayden and heard that a good mate Chris Edmonds had dropped earlier due to shin splints, a recurring problem and one that he needs to get properly sorted! (hint)
 
Streatley became a graveyard. Runner after runner collapsed in a chair and handed in their number. Maybe having reached 100 miles they felt happy they’d done enough, maybe it was the realisation there were still 84 miles and two more days ahead, but the field slimmed considerably. Another to exit from the race here was Tom Foreman, with whom I’d run the PoS last year. He’d decided that running the race was too easy and started swimming upstream a mile or so back.
Selfie while runners fight over a pie

Off again on the path and I was now on sections I was unfamiliar with. Well, the path at least. I’d rowed the Thames in a “three men in a boat” skiff a few years ago with my wife, so was familiar with the towns, bridges and pubs. Unfortunately the latter were well out-of-bounds so I had to march past with my eyes averted to the beer and food being served. To be honest it didn’t bother me. That was a different world now, I had a race to complete.
 
It was also around this time that I began to realise people smelled of soap and laundry detergent. Everyone I passed on the path had a distinct “just washed” smell. I’m sure the same applied in reverse as I’d been two days and nights as a soap dodger and the baseball cap was beginning to crawl away when I put it down.
 
I carried on about 6 miles past Streatley and found a lovely road bridge to sleep under. I the night fisherman further up the bank probably thought I was homeless but thankfully he didn’t offer me any food, and by the time I woke and set off he’d gone.
130 miles rolled around at Oxford and I was still feeling good. No blisters, the nutrition was working well and thanks to a load of sleep I was running well, taking photos and generally enjoying the experience. By now I had settled into a routine of run/walk for the morning marathon, then walking the afternoon. The pattern worked fine and I was so relaxed I was almost in a trance at points. I can see what these Sri Chinmoy guys are on to.
 
Over the flat farmland coming in to CP6 I could hear rock music. As I got closer it appeared to be a bad cover band. I couldn’t remember hearing of a festival in the local area and was wondering what it was. Chris came out to guide me in and said the pub opposite had a live band. Great. I was planning to sleep at this CP and they have Disaster Area playing.
 
Luckily to boost my spirits Chris and Nikki Mills turned up to give me some abuse and drink coffee in front of me. Anna Buckingham also dropped in, so we had a shouted conversation for an hour or so. The band actually stopped 30 mins after I got there but Chris talks so much find yourself shouting just to get a word in edgeways.
 
To give the CP staff a rest I ambled down the road half a mile for another snooze under my tarp/poncho at midnight as I knew rain was due. I heard a couple of guys hike past at 1am and shouted a greeting from under my shelter. Unphased they just shouted back “Is that Cranswick?” - I might have been getting a reputation for sleeping.
 
Shillingford Bridge early on Sunday

As this was the last day I was up at 4am in full waterproofs for a trudge through the dark till dawn. Although the next checkpoint and finish were only 13 and 16 miles apart respectively, these felt like the longest stages of the race. The rain didn’t help as for the first time in the race I could do nothing to prevent wet feet. The one thing I would change is having a set of sealskins in the pack for a bit more comfort in the rain as for once my feet started to deteriorate. Not a problem on the last day but had it been wet throughout I’d have been suffering.
 
I’d been leapfrogging Nina Smith for a couple of days and we’d run together for quite a while. She’s a great person to run with as she’s amazingly positive and has run pretty much everything several times. Plus she’s a tough as nails and will drag you through the low points. We hiked in to CP7 at 168 miles and once again Chris Edmonds was there to walk us in. There was a packet of open biscuits on the table which unthinkingly I reached towards before remembering that this was unsupported and reverted to the usual 2 Pepperami and a handful of nuts. The CP volunteers were cruelly offering around a box of crisps amongst themselves so in retaliation I left them a present of my old wet socks as I changed into a dry pair for the last 16 miles.
 
Andrew Jordan came round to say hi and lend some welcome moral support, and I did the usual silly pose for the camera as he took a “leaving for the last stage” picture. As we got going we were informed that the back-marker James Penson was powering so we decided to try to up the pace, not because we were worried about position but more that we wanted a comfortable buffer on the cut-offs and realised we were slowing considerably.
 
Erm...
Through the endless lakes towards Kemble I was trying to keep up the pace, but we kept slipping back to 2-3 mph. We weren’t looking for a power finish, just to speed up a bit so we could get the suffering over sooner. As James powered past I asked Nina if we should tag on the back of his zippy pace, she saw I was eager to get a move on and kindly said she’d catch up. Which she did. Due to my excellent navigation we found ourselves going wrong and after his friend in Australia called to say we’d gone off-route and had to backtrack about half a mile, where we met Nina again who was about to make the same error we’d just made.
 
Eager to get this over with we marched up the last hill, over the railway tracks and broke into a jog as we came towards the final gate. You could sense the anticipation as Nina put in a burst of speed to get her to the gate first, with me tracking and James keeping close. At the bell (sorry, gate), we were jostling for position and I kicked past Nina. I asked “are we going for it”, she agreed so I gave it the beans.
 
After 183.8 miles and 76 hours I actually managed something resembling a sprint.
 
Then something clicked in my head.
 
This was fun but we’d run this together. Not just me, Nina and James. But all the people I’d run with. All the people I’d talked to, bantered with on Facebook and the 70 nutcases that queued to start the race on Friday morning with no idea what was about to unfold.
 
I stopped. We had to go in together.
 
I waited for James about 30 meters from the stone. He stopped and we made a gap for Nina to grab our hands as we ran it in together and collapsed on the stone. Finished.