Written by Tony Allen - http://kielder10.wordpress.com/
My inspiration and interest in the Lakeland 50 and her bigger brother The L100 was from fellow Club running Team mate Neil Bennett. After successfully completing his first Lakeland 50 , he wrote about his exploits in a Club e mail I happened to read .I guess It must have been 2009 at the time I was dipping my toe into my 1st marathon that was hugely challenging to my mind and at the same time this Legend had completed a gruelling 50 miles Lakeland Ultra and went on to conquer the Awesome L100 again and again!!
Neil Bennett Lakeland Legend
Two years ago after I had by now completed a number of marathons comfortably including all the Kielders , a trial marathon I thought at the time to be very hard . I decided to enter my 1st L50 and the short road to my L100 the following year was set, without me realising . Unwinding time to approximately Ten years ago, I did little exercise expect the odd dog walk or occasional cycle and being busy working for a prestige car retail dealership, weight started to pile on and with entertaining clients resulting in a very poor diet with many pub visits straight after workings ,things were not healthy. I needed to consider where I was going .
One December morn I was getting ready for work, sat on the edge of my bed and trying putting my shoes on, I had to regroup and hold my breath as I bent over again to attempt to tie my shoe laces (gasping when finished!), as my beer tummy was so large it was becoming a disability ! Enough . That day I entered my 1st Great North run and regardless of many doubters and betting against , I finished what I considered to be the largest running distance a human was capable of covering on Two feet . My time was Two hours and Sixteen minutes , not the fastest but I had the running bug and my body was starting to like my decision-making . My dream time was a Sub Two Hours and the following year despite ruining lots more of the same miles, I was only Twelve seconds faster . Ha ha , well a PB is a PB . I continued to enter the GNR every year and managed to improve on time year on year to date except for One hot year and am pushing towards a sub 90 min target.
The Red Arrows over the Tyne Bridge in The Great North Run
I got a little internet running savvy and started reading blogs and finding running websites and was soon to do hills and intervals and the reps between lampposts and all ,my stamina and speed started to look canny and increase , fitness and heath improving and weight reducing nicely . 2009 was the year I entered my 1st Edinburgh Road Marathon and stood shaking at the start , on the hottest day of the year with a time targeting of 4 hours , just missed out by only 5 minutes but finished , battered and exhausted and elated . Now this truly was the longest distance anybody in the world could possibly run and there was nothing left for me to attempt to smash , everyone knows that !! I was Now Marathon man after all ;0) .Running career over .
My 1st Sub Four Hour Kielder Marathon in my 4th wonderful attempt at this running gem.
2010 the legend that is Steve Cram launched Britain’s most beautiful and brutal Kielder marathon , around the stunning Kielder reservoir in its own lushness in Northumberland . I had seen a clip on the local evening news and I was in love at the prospect even though it would never be a PB run , so many hills and switchbacks , twists and turns and more hills ,sticking well over half an hour on the similar flatter ordinary road marathons of Edinburgh and the rest . Something changed in me and running times were not now the most important of things in my head all the time , at that time my running matured. As this was an October run it gave me Two Bi annual marathons to train for and kept my fitness at much higher levels .
Kielder Marathon in the rain 2011 . Caught on camera.
By this time I had just joined my local running club The Sunderland Strollers , an amazingly friendly club with very eclectic running tastes . It will be my fifth Keilder Marathon next month, my introduction into off road running and so proud to have finished 155 miles of Lakeland racing over the last 12 months too. Seriously if you are able to get there and try it , you won’t regret it , it’s a bit special .
A nervous briefing around 5pm. Pre Race Start.
Now I know most Lakeland blogs tend to get stuck into the actual run much quicker than I have attempted to, but I felt a little back ground as to how my running became about would maybe give you a little more understanding as to what drove me round my L100 to complete with The biggest smile imaginable . So now I was entering all sorts of crazy running things , all new and I Loved them all equally , XC on a Saturdays with the North East Harrier League, 2 mile Relays , mile time trials , Hardmoors marathons and last year a brilliant opportunity was presented to me to attempt my 1st Ultra The Oz Phoenix , a 33 miler across the Cleveland way in the North York moors in fierce heat just a few weeks before last years L50 that I was terrified and excited to have a crack at .
My 1st Ultra
The Yorkshire run started really well and up to 25 / 26 miles was not a bother . But my fitness and stamina wasn’t as bold as I would have liked and my team-mate encouraged me over the last tough miles with humour , sound advice and brilliant navigational knowledge so all I had to do , pretty much was put One painful foot in front of another and develop my 1st Black Toenails that were both to drop off ( so proud ) and finish , crashing out in a beer garden for the best tasting pint I had ever drank . I was now Ultra man (lol) thanks to my friend and my hard work , who sacrificed a huge chunk of a much better running time she would have rightly ran helping me to complete . I Loved that run regardless that I struggled, the people were so helpful and friendly , the cake stops were delicious and welcome , just so different to a road marathon experience.
The Crazy Strollers @ Wasdale Head CP3
The L50 last year was just a running / walking / flapjackeating and coke drinking dream come true . Finished just on 14 hours and loved every step but found last years heat tested my tenacity after Mardale Head to Kentmere to the limits . I was gaining strength mentally and physically with the more miles I had covered! The training had been perfect, I was lucky to be running injury free most of the time and now had a taste for something more than a little bit special.
Strollers in the Bling, some of our 50 finishers.
I had seen the Legendary L100 crew on the way , I verbally congratulated every single One I passed (or felt I had) , reading their name carefully and made sure they knew how Awesome I thought their efforts were. I didn’t tell them how fecking nuts I thought they were and reminded myself Never Ever to be so very stupid to ever consider signing up for a caper like that . And going to sleep a 50 legend I just couldn’t get their achievement and the accomplishments out of my mind . Idiots , but good on em , I slept well too .
Start of the L50 IN 2013
My Lakeland L100 was very special , some stories I openly share and others I may tell you over a pint when I’ve had One too, like the fact I couldn’t find the flush in the portaloos , desperate to bottle up and move on , finding it on the floor when standing up , then forgetting that a couple of check points up the road , as you do get a bit dizzy with stuff. My hallucinations were varied and bizarre as we know most others enjoyed equally strange mind tricks.
I still don’t consider myself a runner but I obviously am , I never thought I could finish a half marathon with enough energy to somehow keep on keeping on . So I still struggle to accept it wasn’t a huge hallucination and I actually completed a hard and lengthy and respected ultra marathon and to have so many nice compliments about the style that in that I finished really puts icing on that Ultra cake . Lou blogged a fascinating and wonderful account across the various sections that we traversed , never an intention to pair up , by either of us Two very determined and independent runners , but we did and equally had all the challenging colours and emotions a testing run that is the L100 bestows up on a runner. I have decided to have another attempt at the amazing Lakeland L100 next year if I am fortunate to get accepted , I Loved it with all my heart , think I’ve learned lots about myself . Such a very special running treat to be involved with too .
Strollers over Haweswater training for 2013 events
I love the training just as much as the event itself, getting up at 4am in a cold dark wet January day to jump into the shower and head off in the car to an off road challenge or practice learning and running over part of the Hundred plus mile route. Finishing the days shattered but they are just so very rewarding and bring you so close to nature , experiencing all kinds not many others do, very spiritual and wonderful, regardless of temperatures and elements thrown at you. I was very confident when I trained for the Fifty that I would finish, I had no doubt what so ever, but the L100 regardless of lots of my friends assuring me I would do it , I just honestly did not know if luck and legs would allow.
My longest training run was from Boot to Blencathera centre and returning around 34 miles in One go a few weeks before the run. Well that said it was matched with an organised event with Claire & co earlier in the year. I wanted to do some longer runs as we all did, but it’s just fitting everything in running wise with work and the rest, but I had run lots and what I lacked in running distance I had attempted to make up in running strength and in the month leading up to the taper by aggressively running 10 miles a couple of times a week with maybe a Twenty miler at the weekend.
I had suffered from a weak ankle causing discomfort in my Achilles, that and a painful hip after running longer miles earlier in the year and I knew if either was to play up, they could both take me out over the run well before the finish. But thankfully they were no problem and apart from the usual chaffing that had me and my mate sharing Vaseline that was extremely funny and painful in equal measures. You have to have a sense of humour being an ultra runner and shyness goes out the window after hundreds of miles and hours over the fells. I did madly go over on my soft ankle 3 times before Wasdale and winced at One of the falls, but running gods were on my side. So much luck, good and bad involved on such a large distance,
The great day had arrived, Harry kindly drove to camp and I had time to chill a bit before the start, I was less nervous than I expected and was keen to pretty much get going. My tactic was to break the run down in to 6 hour time intervals, ticking them off, and I had considered arrival times into the first Three Checkpoints but took on board Marc’s comments at the briefing about expectations and all and I was as determined to finish regardless of time, pain or anything if I could. We were off, I had the SP where the 30 plus Sunderland Strollers would be cheering myself Neil and Lou off on our way, and sure enough we got an amazing sending, Dan High Fived me with such force, I felt my fingers stinging well up the road to CP1.
Glorious sunshine and smiles, with such stunning views to match. So many brilliant blogs describing in detail the fabulous and testing sections we ran across, so I wont duplicate them. My high points were arriving into CP3 the Stroller run camp before midnight, completing the first of my Six hour blocks and heading off strong and full of beans up the Black sail pass. Running through the 1st nights in general , really on a high, covering ground well and in great spirits. I really enjoyed the section from Howtown to Mardale Head after nearly pulling out, I think the combination of cooler running conditions and satisfaction that the task was now achievable was very satisfying , again such beautiful countryside and so very peaceful and chilled.
I commented to Lou how unlike the hustle and bustle of the L50 on that downward section with less than a handful of runners to pass/passing us, as was my experience last year. And such a wonderful reception by the Spartans at Mardale with soup to match their smiles. Finally I Loved the last and final climb over Tilberthwaite, it was incredible how disrespectful myself and Louise were of the miles we had run, we obviously had lots in reserve and my Garmin had us from Checkpoint to summit in a respectable 29 minutes and we ran the descent , dancing over the rocks and reaching the tarmac as if we had just started a smaller fell race or park run. The feeling of pride was impossible for me to hide, and the same bunch of Strollers clapped and whistled us as we passed the bulk of them opposite the school gates, just before we collected our medals.
I had One or Two lower points , the painful feet after 70 plus miles was getting beyond a joke and when the cold rain joined my hallucinations on the way towards Kentmere and on to Ambleside , I think personally, that was the only time I felt a bit battered by things. I didn’t enjoy witnessing others being so viciously effected by the heat, in times like that I felt helpless, attempted to do what I could , offering words of encouragement ,but on the big L100 stage we all fight our own personal battle’s and kind words may be nice but you have to be self driven and your chance of completing is dictated to by your own inner determination.
Two very Happy L100 Finishers
Many people will be considering stepping up to the 100 from the 50, not sure if its 55 miles too far. I am not experienced enough to give any advice on that and it’s going to be something someone really wants to do, only we know that. It is a commitment in time and planning and I wouldn’t be put off by not getting round on the first or second attempt, what I will say is , it is such an amazing experience / event and a pleasure to be involved with . Good Luck all in 2015.