Written by Chris Mills - http://www.24fifty.com/

Marco Consani Winner Lakeland100 2014

At the end of the Dalemain loop

Running over Pooley Bridge

Running in to Ambleside

A rare moment of running

Tilberthwaite steps

Written by Marco Consani - http://marcoonrunning.blogspot.co.uk/

Its now two weeks since the Lakeland 100 race, an amazing experience that I will cherish forever. Here is my account of the race. A lot of it was hazy but it is still a long blog. I think when Marc Laithwaite said 7 I started to get nervous. I really hadn’t up until now. Training had gone okay, the taper perhaps too short though I had done my homework on who was racing. But at 7 seconds until the start of the Lakeland 100 I had a shiver. Was I really going to do this?
The Lakeland 100 is well known as one of the hardest Ultras in the UK with at least a 50% dropout rate and I had seen this first hand last year at the end when I went to see Debbie finish. I was used to the West Highland Way which although in the Highlands of Scotland is certainly far more runnable and far better suited to my style of running. But here I was at the start wondering if this was a good idea. I am sure everyone has these thoughts though and I know that Debbie would tell me to man up. The countdown reached 0 and we were off. The legs were stiff and I wasn't sure if running 4 munros the week before with Andrew Murray in support of his 10 peak challenge with Donnie Campbell was a good idea. Or perhaps it was the taper. No use worrying now as I was here now and running. By the outskirts of Coniston I was already in second place and a bit worried that perhaps it was too fast. Looking back at the race history a lot of people seem to run the start fast but Terry Conway the record holder had done the first section in 1 hour 9 minutes and 10th place at Seathwaite. I was sure I was on this pace but seemed to be in second place. Perhaps the heat had curbed everyones enthusiasm. It was at least 28C and there was even pictures in Facebook of someones car saying 33C although I did take this with a pinch of salt. Whatever the temperature it was warm and sweaty - not helped that we had lay around all day in the tent which made the heat now feel cold.

  

 By Seathwaite I was part of the lead group of three which consisted of Charlie Sharpe, Lee Knight and myself. The running went without a hitch, each of us taking turns to open and close the gates. This group would be perfect for me as I was still unsure about the navigation during the night section and this would suit my plan of trying to take it steady until the morning and then hopefully if I felt good start to race after Pooley Bridge. In the end though this didn't happen.

I was confident though that even this early on in the race that the winner would be one of us 3. Lee seemed to be breathing harder but was in good spirits, Charlie seemed to be taking it all in his stride - looking relaxed and fit. We stayed together as a group all the way to Wasdale. For some reason I was having problems and kept tripping over things and falling. The 3rd time coming into Wasdale was a sore one and as I hobbled a bit into the checkpoint I wondered if it was a fuel problem. I stayed longer in the checkpoint trying to get more food in me and coke which I wouldn't normally take this early in a race. Charlie was in and out very efficiently and was away like a shot. Lee came in slightly behind and then pushed me to leave the checkpoint with him. As Lee and I set off together I could see Charlie making a break ahead. (At the time I thought he was making a break although later when reading his blog Charlie had continued out of the checkpoint still chatting to us but Lee and I were no where near him. Charlie's blog)

As Charlie pushed ahead I worried as I needed him to help navigate during the night as he had done the race before and I really didn't want to lose sight of him, so I pushed hard to try to catch him. Feeling a bit guilty as I slowly left Lee I wasn't making any progress in catching Charlie when suddenly my calfs started to go the tingly way when cramp is near. This was really not good. Cramp in the first 20 miles of a 100 mile race isn’t going to get you very far so I had to let him go and I slowed down to drink more and get some electrolyte in. When I reached the top of the pass I looked down and couldn't see Charlie anywhere all the way down to the Black Sail Hut. I knew from the miles we had done already that Charlie was quicker on the rockier sections and downhill. I had to slow even more on the downhill though as every small slip or misplaced foot had my calf tingling and nearly shooting into cramp. I was annoyed to be affected by this so soon in the race but also happy that it was early on. I had time on my side to fix it and I was still confident that I had in me a podium finish. As I headed up Scarth Gap pass I had to use my head torch. Thinking that Charlie would be doing the same I scanned the route again for any sign of his but there was nothing. He was miles away and I was starting to think that perhaps second place was a good result for a first Lakeland 100. I was worried about the next section as I had had a nightmare on my recce run and that was in daylight. What would it be like in the dark? Again coming down the pass was a tricky affair with the tingly calfs still there but when I reached the water of Buttermere I had a second wind and started to get back running again. Fantastic I thought but this only lasted a couple of minutes when I yet again tripped and fell on the road. Dirty, bleeding and pretty well bashed up I got up to hear a massive cheer from across the water. Charlie had reached the checkpoint at least 10 minutes away, I turned to look at the path behind to see 2 torches gaining on me with the section I feared the most in front of me.

I was in and out of the checkpoint at Buttermere pretty quickly but also felt rejuvenated after a coffee that I had there. I had to get the next stage right or I was going to drop further behind Charlie. By the end of the woods though I had already had to check the Road book 2 or 3 times. This was hopeless and I was never going to catch anyone this way. Then I remembered what Debbie had said about this section - “Cross 3 streams up the scree and then along to the cairn with the sheep fold and then up” So thats what I did - I read ahead in the Road book and summarised each part. I remembered parts from my recce too which helped. After crossing the second stream I could see Charlies torch in the distance and this also gave me a push but he was still a long way ahead. The two torches behind certainly looked closer but I didn't worry. Ill keep trying to navigate myself in front of the two torches but if that doesn't work I can drop back to the two torches behind and they can help navigate and together as a group we might catch Charlie. I guessed that the two torches must be either Lee, Ian Symington or Paul Tierney all of whom had done the race before and would know where to go.  

Before long I was on top of Sail Pass, it was a beautiful night - inky black with millions of stars keeping me company. I switched off my torch to get a better look at them - Amazing. I looked back and seemed to have pulled away from the torches behind which really pushed me on. Unfortunately the torch ahead was no-where to be seen. I then managed to go wrong at Low Moss - taking the wrong path which then disappeared and having to retrace my steps again - wasting another few minutes and then more minutes lost when coming into Braithwaite and turning at the wrong sign post even although I knew I had to look for a bench. Even with these route issues though I arrived in Braithwaite to be told that I was 12 minutes behind the leader. With 70 odd miles to go in an ultra 12 minutes is not a sure lead. Its a long way and anything can happen.

Whilst creating my race plan I had spoken to Richie Cunningham who had raced the year before and asked his advise. He had said that his approach was to take it easy to Braithwaite and then hammer it to Howtown and then taking it easy after that. Richie is a better hill runner than me and I like flat running so I was taken aback by this plan. In fact after my recce I decided it might be better to keep something for the end instead. But now as I came out of Braithwaite I decided to change the plan and now push. The good thing was the next 8.5 miles I knew without the Road Book. So I started to pick it up and was happy to see the average pace on my watch drop. When I got to Keswick there was a bunch of spectators and one of them shouted out 9 mins behind the leader. I couldn't believe it - I had caught up 3 minutes in just 2 miles. This pushed me on more as I pushed round Lonscale Fell and caught a glimpse of Charlies Torch. This pushed me on quicker. Now I could see that the torch in front was now and then looking back at me and for the first time I knew that Charlie was worried.

I was nearly at Blencathra when I saw the first torches appear across on Lonscale Fell. I had made great time and now had a comfortable cushion between me and 3rd place. 4th place seemed to be a bit further back again. I wondered who it was and how they were doing. Up front Charlie had pushed because I didn't seem to catch up anymore distance. At the centre I was speaking to the fab Checkpoint staff just as normal when it suddenly dawned on me I was talking to a grown man dressed as a fairy. I wasn't even hallucinating yet but it gave me a laugh and as I left asking what direction do I go. The next bit I was back trying to navigate so I never gained anything but I did know the route from the Quarry to Dockrey off by heart so I decided to take my time until the Coach road and then hammer it (as Richie said) to Dockrey. I never saw Charlie's torch once on the way to the quarry but the moment I was past the farm I spied it ahead perhaps half way up the hill. This got me going again and I took off towards the fence using it to guide me to the coach road. I felt that I was gaining all the way up the hill but was a bit dismayed when I reached the road to see Charlies torch miles away.

I hit the road but just made sure that I kept a consistent pace. It wasn’t long though before I could see Charlie's legs illuminated from his head torch in front. His stride had shortened and he didn’t look as comfortable as earlier on the hills. This gave me another push that I needed and before long I had caught him up. Charlie heard the steps behind and said he was wondering where I had got to. Asking if he was okay he replied that he was just looking forward to the mountains again. Now I had a decision. Trust my dodgy navigation to Dalemain and run by myself or run with Charlie and then risk him getting away in the mountains again when there was no flat sections left for me to catch back up. I ran straight past Charlie. I felt guilty for a moment but then I remembered it was a race and I was here to try and win. When I passed him I felt relief that holding back had worked but I had still kept tabs on Charlie. I had learnt from the mistake of letting someone get too far away from me last year when I didn’t give Paul Giblin the respect he deserved in the WHW and thought that he had gone too hard to early only for him to beat me by an hour.

Into Dockrey and again a fantastic Checkpoint. The feeling of pride to arrive at a checkpoint first and feed from the supporters enthusiasm was overwhelming. They couldn’t do enough for me and I will have fond memories of all the checkpoints on the course. My main aim though was to be out of this checkpoint before Charlie arrived. When I left and crossed the road I heard the cheers as Charlie arrived. I had done it. I was leading and just had to keep myself grounded. I needed this section to go well. There is a lot of road from Dockrey to Dalemain and I remember cursing it during my recce run. Running long distance in a pair of Salomon Ultras that weigh 210g and are actually lighter than my racing flats that I would use for 10k running was always gonna hurt. I had started ultra running in cushioned shoes (although nothing like Hokas) and gradually found that the lower profile shoes actually gave me less injuries. When I ran the recce run I felt every mile of that road section coming up to Dalemain. I just hoped this time would be different.

First though I had to run Aira Force and then Ullswater. More navigation and the chance for Charlie to catch me. So I put the boot in down to the village of Dockrey - sprinting down the road to make sure he wouldn’t have a chance to feed off my head torch like I had his. Onto the off road part I looked round to see if I could see his head torch - nothing so far but I expected him any moment and for the next hour or so it became an OCD - turning round to scan for head torches. A horrible un-itchable itch. I was too busy trying to route find and look for Charlie and ran straight past the turn off and down the hill. Immediately I knew I had gone wrong though and ran back up… Concentrate Marco - Keep doing this and you will throw this away. I reached the climb round Green Hill, remembering Debbie telling me that the sunrise over Ullswater was beautiful. I took a break on the uphill to gaze around and wonder at the views. There was none though, it was still pitch black. I could see a big dark patch that must be the lake and is that a head torch through the trees? A head torch. Damn. I pushed up the hill, my quads screaming until I the path turns north. I scanned behind - nothing. I think I was starting to imagine things or seeing car headlights. I pushed on - remembering that I needed to turn right into the woods but running straight past the turn off. Everything was so different in the dark. Where is the bloody sun. Fighting back through long grass looking for the bridge and thanking God when I reached it.

Into the woods and startling something big when I reached them. Just a deer I shouted at myself - not an alien, flesh eating zombie, velociraptor or another runner catching me up. Out of the woods I start to see more light from the sun coming through and at last I am on open fields and I turn off my torch. It is still a bit dark but I don’t want to give anyone a bearing on where I am. When I reach the road I turn round - scanning for any light from the other runners. There is none. I take a look at the map and memorise the route to Dalemain. Left fork, right junction, left junction, castle, farm track, arch. And then I totally boot it again. I need a comfortable cushion before the hills. I am on road, the sun is up and I feel good. Dalemain is deserted. I half expected the Lakeland 50 runners to be there already but their race didn't start for another 6 hours or so. Running through the car park I hear a couple of cheers from people in their cars and then when I close in on the checkpoint I see a friendly face - my friend Thomas Loehndorf. He was on the course taking pictures. 

Like every checkpoint the guys here are fantastic and my drop bag was with me before I had even stopped running. I had a small bag full of all the food I needed for the second half, more nuun tablets, coke and red bull. By this time I had drunk my full of coke but the Red Bull was so so good. I remembered Debbie saying she spent 20 minutes last year here so I was determined to make the stop as fast as possible. 2 cups of coffee and some soup (I think) and I was off, with cheers from the checkpoint and Thomas behind me. I checked my watch and was less than 8 minutes. That will do I thought.

All the way up the hill I kept listening out for a cheer which would tell me when Charlie arrived. As I made my way to Pooley Bridge I hear nothing. Could I start to relax? Although I am certainly not a hill runner I was looking forward to the next few sections. Mostly because I had done them twice in recce’s and so I could put the Route Book and map away for a while. Towards Howtown was beautiful. The sun was up and I was now on my way back to Coniston.

Feeling good I was even not looking back as much as before. I kicked again down the hill, still worried that I would be caught on the hills. I think I startled the guys at Howtown when I arrived but they had everything ready for me. I was starting to get really sick of coke now and so was trying coffee and soup too. I then started the climb up to High Kop. I was walking well up the hill, although I didn't recognise him - I passed Ian Corless (host of the Talk Ultra podcast) who was taking pictures and then onto the small flat section. I tried to get back running again but could only manage a few paces. Then a walk, then a few paces. This continued all the way to the hill. I was trying to think what would fix it - what did I have in my pack. In my haste to leave Dalemain I had put most of the food in my backpack and only a couple of gels were accessible. I couldn't be bothered going in my pack so took a gel and then marched on. Half way up the last climb to High Kop my legs rejected any sort of movement and I came to an abrupt stop. Yikes. Okay I have time. I stopped and took my pack off and rummaged through it. There was nothing in it that I wanted at all. The thing is I know I have to eat so I start to force down bars and gels together. Washing it down with water, gagging on it but knowing that this will help. I am now hit with the worst hunger ever. I was so hungry but nothing I ate filled me up. I had never felt like this in an ultra where I was so hungry as I am used to a support team looking after me and they normally force feed me way before this happens. I turn around to see a small figure making its way slowly past the ruins in the distance. Is that a runner? I look for a while. It doesn't seem to move. Is it Ian or is is Charlie? I stare for longer - is it a sheep? I can’t even tell if it is moving anymore. I swear it was when I first looked but now I am not so sure. Is it a sheep or a rock? I am not staying any longer to find out. I pack my bag back up and swallow another retched bar. From High Kop it is fairly runnable so I push again using the downhill and new found energy to get going again.

During the recce runs I always struggled coming off the hill towards the bridge. No matter what route I took I always ended up having to battle through ferns and today was no different. Tracy Dean had shown me the right way too but the ferns were much higher now and I struggled to find the paths and markers she had pointed out. I wasted at least 10 minutes tearing a new path through them continuously looking up at the hill expecting to see Charlie bounding down towards me. If I do the race again I have to figure out a better way to come down here. When I finally reach the reservoir, which reminds me of the West Highland Way section on Loch Lomond in which I had learnt that even although you are running slow it is actually hard work and so just be patient and take your time. Still it seems to go on forever and my legs are becoming tired. I trip and fall - battering my knee on a rock and then rolling down the side of the hill trying to grab onto something to slow me down. As usual I find something and of course its thorns. Climbing back up the hill and nursing bloodied hands and a sore knee I push on, struggling to get my running form back. It goes on and on but finally I can see the car park at Mardale Head and all of a sudden cheers and the sound of cow bells across the lake. The last few hundred meters feel slow into Mardale and I wonder if the guys at the checkpoint are wondering how I can be the first runner. I am asking how far 2nd place is from me and I think the answer was 20 minutes.

Again the Checkpoint volunteers are superb. Soup / coffee fill the bottles with coke. I think thats what I did but things are starting to get hazy. I have no idea how many miles I have done or how many there is left to do. I have the route in my head, the long squiggly line on its way to Coniston and I still have a third of it to go. My head maybe on a different planet but I am enjoying the run as I start the grind up Gatesgarth Pass. I think this is where being a fast walker comes in handy as I again push the up hill, each step pushing on my knees with my hands. I often wonder if poles would be a good idea for these climbs but I would break my neck tripping over them. Running 24 hours on a running track hasn’t prepared me for the off road nature of this course which I am struggling to not bash my toes on every rock never mind throwing in a couple of poles to trip over too. Finally at the top and I have the nice long downhill to look forward to, but my knee is really beginning to ache and what should be a pleasant rest bite ends up a teeth clenching battle. I give in and take painkillers hoping they will ease it and then I battle more with each uneven boulder wrenching the knee in a different direction. While it has been a couple of weeks now since the race I must admit a lot of the rest of it is pretty hazy. The lack of food and sore knee taking their toll I suppose. The rest of this report won’t go into as much detail - you will be glad to hear.

I finally arrived at Kentmere. Well actually I am awoken from my dazed state by Jenn Gaskell screaming “Its Marco - I didn't know you were running today!!” I have to admit Jenn’s enthusiasm is infectious. I had met her a year ago at the Lakeland 100 when my wife had introduced me and then again at the Tooting 24 hour where after she pulled out of the race she had the unenviable task of counting my laps during the night but still she smiled and laughed with me the whole time. Today was no different and her enthusiasm woke me up from my haze and I started to think what I needed to get going again. “Anything savoury - no sweet stuff” I blurt out. Immediately they are giving me water and nuts. I choke on the water spitting it out all over the checkpoint and then can’t chew the nuts as my teeth are too sensitive and so spit them out. The checkpoint volunteers think I am about to be sick and follow me about with buckets. They give me pasta which I wouldn't normally eat during an ultra but it goes down so well that I guzzle the whole lot up. “How far is second behind?” I blurt out thinking that he must be catching me up by now. The timing guy is at the checkpoint and tells me that Charlie is an hour behind. I can finally relax I think and then more good news, Debbie is leading the girls race.

Coming out of the checkpoint I am finding it harder to remember where the route goes and have to ask Jenn for the directions. I do remember though that it is a hill all the way to Garburn Pass and with the knee getting sorer and sorer when I start running I am glad of the hill. At the top I have to push to get going again into Troutbeck but once going the pain subsides and I manage some good running on my way to Ambleside. I am sure its only 16 miles from here but the Garmin has run out of batteries and I am in the dark. Reaching Ambleside, I am again feeling hazy. There are certainly food issues and as I write this I am struggling to remember anything. Most of it feels like a dream that I am trying to latch onto fading memories. What I do remember is the Checkpoint crews. Everyone of them were absolutely superb.

In Ambleside I immediately recognise Clare from the recce runs who seems a bit bemused when I say I want to go into the checkpoint. I ask again how far second is behind me and again it is an hour and so I decide to eat and drink as much as I can. By now I am wasting a lot of time at checkpoints and Clare mentions that they had expected me at 10:30. It is now 11:30 and the food and knee issues are slowing me down but as long as I keep going forward I should be ok. I must have spent over 10 minutes at Ambleside before I start my hobbled run across the park. I feel so slow that I am embarrassed but I hear a spectator say to her kids that she can’t believe I am running so fast still. It gives me a push.

The trails are now getting busy and I am meeting people that know about the race or people that probably after seeing the state I am in - ask me how far I have ran and then probably don’t believe the answer. It doesn't matter anyway as the conversations and support get me going again. Although I am really enjoying these final sections it feels like I am going painfully slow. By now it is really warm which is also not helping. When I look back at my timings in these sections I am not slow but at the time it felt it. The distances between checkpoints are much shorter now but the time drags. Running towards Chapel Style I am awoken from my hazey slog by cheers from Paul and Vicky Hart. I can’t believe they are down here and the support helps push me on. Then another spectator cheers me on and I shout back that I am going painfully slow. They tell me that I am flying and no-one will catch me if I keep it up. This gives me another push and I manage to run non-stop all the way to the checkpoint. Chapel Style was the first place I sat down since the start. Just a couple of minutes. The settees where just too inviting. At every checkpoint since Ambleside I am asking for pasta but none had any so I was just drinking soup and again Chapel Style was the same. I haven't eaten anything from my rucksack since High Kop and now surviving on whatever I find at the checkpoints. (at the end of the race I was carrying not just the 400 calories emergency food you are required to carry but another 2000 calories of uneaten food and gels.)

The run towards Tiberthwaite was warm, very warm but by now it was starting to dawn on me that unless something disastrous happened I would win. I couldn't quite believe it and got a little emotional as I dragged myself towards the end. I was still emotional when I reached Tiberthwaite and it didn't make it any easier when they had specially made me pasta as they had heard I’d been asking for it for the last few checkpoints. Oh and it was so good - I honestly can say it was the best pasta I had ever tasted and then when I asked for energy drink they said that they had none but 2 minutes later one of the crew appeared with her own energy drink and filled my bottle. Thank you so much to everyone at Tiberthwaite - I don’t know any of your names but as I left the Checkpoint I felt so much better but still pretty emotional. Half way between Tiberthwaite and the end I met a man that had been following the race online. I stopped and chatted to him for ages. Much longer than I should have but it just felt right. Every now and then I would scan the route behind just to be 100% sure that none was coming. Then just one more downhill and my God it hurt my knee so much. I was in agony but when I reached the road it started to feel better as the adrenaline hit me with the finish so near. The run through Coniston was amazing. People were cheering and I ran along the middle of the road. Cars stopped for me (in my haze I probably gave them no choice but at the time I thought they had stopped for me). Debbie had told me this was amazing and she wasn't wrong. Then I saw my friend Karen with a Scottish flag which I grabbed for the end and as I ran the final few meters I couldn't believe that all these people were cheering me on and then that was it. All that planning and months of preparation and training finished too. Its a strange feeling to finish a race - you are so relieved but sad at the same time.

  

Thomas was at the finish too, Karen had come down too and they both helped me into the hall for a final kit check and my medal. Until now I had always thought of my race as being the West Highland Way race. Not because I was good at it or done well at it but because I felt like part of it. It was like family and I never thought that any race could be as important to me as it was. Even when I started the Lakeland 100 race and lined up at the start it was just another race. Sure I knew it was a big race - one of the biggest I had ever done and I had not been blasé about it and had done all the prep before hand but it was just a race. That changed during my journey in this race. The race is massive - from the moment you arrive the organisation is top notch with all the volunteers really happy and enthusiastic. From the guys standing in the car park to the people at the registration. Then you have the checkpoint crews, one word - legends. These guys are out there longer than I was looking after every runner. They saved my race. The runners that were out there - it doesn't matter if it was 21 hours or 40 hours. Actually I don’t know how the runners out there for two nights do it. All legends. Mark, Terry, Clare, the Montane guys - thank you for a marvellous race that is one of the best organised events I have ever done. I am sure I have missed loads of people - thank you everyone involved with the race. Thomas - without your help I don’t know where I would be. Your training advice and friendship got me here. Karen - thank you for all the help at the end. That ice cream was amazing Thank you to my sponsor UVU Racing for having faith in me. …. And of course Debbie who won the girls race - “We did it!!!!! “

  

So what went right and what went wrong? 

As Stuart Mills often talks about in his blog a race is won or lost not in how your physical condition is but how mentally fit you are. I went into the race with bags of confidence. I had in the last year raced 4 ultras before now, 2nd in the WHW, first in Tooting, G2EDM and Crawley with 2 course records. Physically too though I was prepared having spent a month doing hills and with the endurance from the 12 hour still in my legs. I had felt tired after doing the 4 moonrise the week before but this can be because of the taper. So physically and mentally I felt in good shape. I had gone through the start list and picked out 8 runners that could win, most of them having done it before, I checked where they were strong and how they had raced before. How had Terry got the record, where he pushed and where he took it easy. This all helps me mentally prepare for a race. If someone pushes the start I know whether to follow or leave him. Don't get me wrong - this doesn't always work as people can surprise you like Paul Giblin surprised me with his awesome West Highland Way race last year (which he yet again destroyed this year) but mostly it works and it gives me bags of confidence. In fact I was surprised when chatting to some of the other runners that they didn't know who was running the race or what they could do. In some ways I was glad that I had entered late and got a charity entry as I was in a different start list than everyone else and so hidden from view. Paul Tierney asked me on the start line if I had got a late entry and even this gave me confidence. I spoke to Stuart Mills at the end and he had said that in his eyes I have started to run better not because I am physically fitter but because I am mentally fitter and with every good race I have more confidence and I believe this helps me more than anything in a race.


Food was a big issue in this race. It went well the first half - I was eating loads of Jelly Babies and the best tasting gels ever - Torq (whom Debbie is sponsored by and so I nicked a pile of them) I was drinking coke a lot earlier than I wanted to though and this is normally is what I would count on when I have food issues and so when I did I couldn't drink anymore. I also had a load of bars that when it is warm and you are dehydrated are a struggle to eat. It was a lot warmer than I thought it would be so struggled to eat them too. At Dalemain I only had the same food I had eaten the rest of the way and so was pretty bored of that by then. In the second half - all I wanted was savoury and so just ate what I could find at the checkpoints - soup, pasta and coffee. This saved my race but also probably slowed me down a bit too as I think you need sugar to keep up a good pace. I started to feel hazy, completely stopping and having to force feed my self on the way up High Kop and making small navigation errors. If a runner had caught me in the second half I wonder if I could have stayed with them as I was having to take longer stops at the checkpoints to get food in.


The weather. It was very warm during the race. I really don't mind the heat but I did suffer from the cramp calfs early on and in pictures I can see I was sweating a bit more than I should. It made a big difference too on the food and I think it affected what I was able to eat later on. I really think I could be faster on this course if it had been a cloudy cool day. Saying that though the course was as dry as a bone due to the weeks of dry weather before hand so this was helpful too.


Would I run the race again? Most definitely. I loved the race, the support, the organisation. Its a fantastic event and definitely should be on every UK Ultra runners to-do list. I think I could improve my time with better weather and hopefully knowing the course a bit better. Hopefully I will get the chance to in the future. 

Thank you to Thomas for all the pictures

Written by Stuart Mills - http://ultrastu.blogspot.co.uk/

Hi

I know many readers 'struggle' with the length of my blog posts, however, the writing of these blog posts form a critical part of my preparation for following races.  Therefore they may be short if not much analysis and learning is taking place, but more often than not, they are quite lengthy as I continue to strive to improve.  In relation to their training impact, I don't think it is a coincidence that my running performances have dramatically improved since I started my UltraStu blog back in March 2010.  How long will tonight's post be?  Possibly shorter than usual.  But I have many thoughts / themes jumbling around in my head, so it could be quite lengthy.  However to help ease the reading I might try to sub-divide the post into different sections.  Well here goes!

Previous 2014 UltraStu Blog Posts
While at the recent Montane Lakeland 100/50 I was chatting to a reader of my blog about my Fellsman race post back in April.  He commented about how negative the post seemed to be.  Quite different to my usual positive posts, and he was interested in not only why was it so negative, but more importantly how I was able to transform from being in such a negative state of mind, to regain the positivity, which had resulted in a high quality performance in the Montane Lakeland 50.  Re-reading by Fellsman post the following two paragraphs stand out:

"The disappointment wasn't so much to do with my relatively poor performance, but more to do with a realisation that maybe I had got my life balance wrong.  Was all of the effort, the time, the 'sacrifices' to do with ultra trail racing really worth it?  I'm not really sure why I got so down, so philosophical following the race, but I did!" 

"Maybe, my self expectations of what I am able to achieve in ultra trail racing is just unrealistic? Maybe, it is quite obvious why I had to slow down so much during the race.  Because I started out running far too fast, trying to keep up with runners that are far better than me, and I simply 'paid' for my foolishness, I simply 'blew up'!  It is nothing to do with my state of mind, nothing to do with a negative downward spiral.  Accept it, I am just not physically fit enough.  Spend more time doing some actual hard physical training, like everyone else does, and forget all of this race focus, positivity bulls**t and train hard, pace myself sensibly, and then maybe I won't slow down so much!" (Fellsman blogpost)

Yes, there was quite a bit of negativity within the post, which really 'jumped out' at me when I re-read my post probably about a week after publishing it.  Which 'woke me up' and got me into carrying out extensive non-physical training, in order to turn around my to date disappointing 2014 trail racing season, consisting of a DNF (Steyning Stinger Marathon), a DNS (South Downs Way 50), and probably my worst ever performance in a trail race (Fellsman).  Yes although others runners may respond differently when they don't perform to their expectations within an ultra-trail race, possibly by carrying out more physical training.  I responded by carrying out more non-physical training, as I am convinced that when it comes to ultra-trail racing it is the non-physical training that has the largest impact on performance.  One is unable to perform to the level they wish to achieve without completing the necessary physical training, but come race day, the variation in performance from an excellent race result, to a below-par race result, or during different portions of the race, from a really strong leg, to a leg where one struggles, I feel that this variation is a consequence mainly of one's state of mind.  And hence why the non-physical training is so important.

In terms of my non-physical training I always start with the three questions I ask myself: "What do I want?", "Why do I want it?", "How much do I want it?".  In my preparation for the South Downs Way 100 miler, my 'bounce back' race to 'redeem' myself following the Fellsman race, I got the "What do I want" wrong!  I thought that the answer/the reward for all of the sacrifices that are involved with ultra trail racing was to do with simply achieving a high finishing place that I would be happy with..  And for me for the South Downs Way 100, that high finish place had to be a win!  After all, the race was on my 'home patch' finishing in East Sussex!

Those of you that have read my SDW100 race report will know that as a consequence of getting my non-physical preparation wrong, I had another disappointing day!  But each and every race CAN be a learning experience if one spends the time to carry out the necessary reflection and analysis.  So by the time I had finished writing my SDW100 post I was adamant that I knew what was required to achieve a satisfying performance at the Montane Lakeland 50, which was also the 2014 British Ultra-Trail Championships.

"So yes, the SDW100 was frustrating for many reasons, but the best way to deal with these frustrations is to put in action the necessary changes I need to make to my TOTAL preparation.  Specifically my non-physical preparation in order to 'bounce back' from two consecutive 'below par' performances, as physically I feel in pretty good shape.  Look out for the next lengthy instalment of my continuing learning experiences at the end of July, as I look to 'get it right', to do what I know I need to do, over the fantastic trails of the Lake District at the Montane Lakeland 50." (SDW100 blogpost)

Although fellow ultra-trail runner Robert Osfield wasn't so convinced that my planned TOTAL preparation approach was the best way forward as explained within his SDW100 blog post comment:

"Personally, I don't think trying to do better at TOTAL preparation is going to fix this long term problem. You keep talking about the important of non physical prep and TOTAL preparation yet time all too you set out what seems with good TOTAL preparation only to start faltering quarter the way through a race. Then you say your TOTAL preparation wasn't good enough... if the formula isn't working you need to change the formula not keep trying to apply the same formula over and over." (Robert Osfield SDW100 blogpost comment)

Total Preparation and the Importance of Emotions
I however knew better.  Or more importantly I totally believed that what training I was carrying out was what I needed to do in order to perform.  One thing that I have discovered during my last six years of ultra-trail racing is that the effectiveness of one's training isn't so much influenced by what actual training is carried out, but more by the state of readiness it creates.  The confidence that it generates in terms of feeling prepared for the race, which then results in an heightened self belief, which is the number one ingredient for a successful performance.

Robert is often very critical of my "Run as fast as you can, while you can" pacing strategy.  Mainly based on his over emphasis of the physiology in terms of influencing running performance.  For road races where there are mile markers to provide feedback in terms of the pace one is running at, the ability to process the surrounding feedback and to integrate it with one's emotions has reduced importance.  Also for shorter races, there isn't the extended time where one has to 'deal with' the 'devil on the shoulder' consistently persisting in arguing for you to slow down.  So for these events the physiology does play a more major role.  But when it comes to ultra-trail running, it is one's emotion that dominates performance.  Get one's emotion right, and the successful performance will follow.  With success being defined as the performance with which you are satisfied with.  I guess the importance of emotions, is perhaps why Professor Tim Noakes wrote an interesting article titled "Fatigue is a brain-derived emotion that regulates the exercise behavior to ensure the protection of whole body homeostasis."

In terms of pacing strategy, what is important to realise is that it is the consequence of one's non-physical training that largely determines the pace one starts a race at.  And it is the consequence of the pace one starts at that largely determines one's emotion.  And it is one's emotion that largely determines race performance.  Get non-physical training 'wrong', then it is much more difficult to achieve a successful performance.  And this is what happened to me at the SDW100.  There was an over emphasis on a destination goal, i.e. on my finish place. 

As highlighted within my SDW100 post, there is one thing knowing what one should do, but it is a different matter actually carrying it out.  I think most people will agree that process goals are more beneficial than outcome goals, i.e. journey goals being more effective than destination goals.  But still it is so easy to focus on the outcome, such as; I want to finish in a certain time, I want to finish in a certain place, ahead of a certain person etc.  But it is what you are doing DURING the race that determines your finish time and place.  Hence why it is more important to focus on the process (journey) goals.  What do you want to be thinking at various stages during the race?  What do you want to be experiencing at various stages during the race?  But most important of all, what do you want to be FEELING at various stages during the race?  Yes, what do you want your emotions to be at various stages during the race?  And what do you need to do prior to the race, and during the actual race to ensure you are experiencing these emotions.  What strategy do you have in place if you are not getting what you want during the race, i.e. not experiencing the emotions that will lead you to achieve your successful performance.

The above paragraph formed the basis of my non-physical training.  Ensuring I had a clear 'picture' of what would indicate a successful race performance, and also a clear 'picture' of what I needed to experience/feel DURING the race.  Deciding upon this 'picture' and recognising what it will actually look like, and having the belief that one is actually able to 'paint this picture' whilst racing is actually really, really difficult.  Hence why I am unable to consistently perform at a satisfying level every race!


The Montane Lakeland 50 Competition

In terms of specifics for the Montane Lakeland 50, the first step was to remove the emphasis on a finishing place.  Being the British Championships the field was pretty strong.  Defending Montane Lakeland 50 champion Ben Abdelnoor unfortunately wasn't running due to injury, however, defending 2013 British Ultra-Trail champion Lee Kemp was racing.  But I expected the likely winner to be Danny Kendall, who not only had finished in fifth place in the 2014 Marathon des Sables, but had ‘left me for dead’ in the Steyning Stinger Marathon back in March (before I DNFed due to injury), breaking my ten year old course record by over four minutes, in less than ideal race conditions.  Then to confirm that he was in pretty good shape, back in June we were both members of different teams in the 24 hour non-stop trail relay race the Mizuno Endure 24, and his performance relative to mine was to put it simply, in a 'different league'.

Endure24 - Handing Over to Teammate Scott

The Endure 24 consisted of repeatedly running an undulating 5 miles over muddy trails.  The event doesn't really require to the same extent the need for ‘harmony between the body and mind’ as ultra-trail racing demands.  It is pretty well blast the five miles as quickly as you can, and hope that you can repeat the process seven more times.  Both Danny and I completed a total of eight legs during the 24 hours, and the difference between our lap times was quite unbelievable!  Danny averaged 30:33, whereas I averaged 36:47.  So a massive 6 minutes and 14 seconds slower per leg.  Which equates to me running a massive 20% slower.  Translating that into the Danny’s planned Montane Lakeland 50 finish time of 7:40ish (“Lakeland 50 splits. Numbers tell the story of my race. Projected winning time was 7:45, actual was 7:48. My 1st 3 and last 3 sections were on schedule for 7:40ish but lost over 30 mins in the middle section from Kentmere to Langdale due tovarious issues ironically brought on by heat.” Danny’s facebook page) all things being equal would have me finishing 92 minutes behind Danny!  Fortunately when it comes to ultra trail racing all things aren’t equal!  But the likelihood of me turning around this massive physiological deficit, as a result of my extensive non-physical training was minimal.  There is only so much that experience and wisdom can achieve!

This realisation that there was only a slight chance of beating Danny in order to win the race I therefore turned into a positive.  It meant that I could completely avoid thinking about destination race goals.  As thinking about a win was pretty unrealistic.  Yes, Danny could have an off day, but then there were other equally as quick runners competing.  Probably top of the list was fellow Montane athlete Marcus Scotney, where from what I had noticed during the year, he had been pretty well been winning every event he had raced.  There was also Martin Cox, who I had also never raced, but I had heard of his reputation as a pretty awesome mountain runner, with years of experience racing over the mountains in Europe.  And just to add further status to his credentials, I believe he also achieved a 64 minute half marathon PB in his younger days. Not that he is old now, being only 44, which is pretty well still a youngster in comparison to me!  Then there were likely to be one or two others turning up who I wouldn't know, or who I wasn't aware of them being on the entry list, such as Kim Collison, this year’s Fellsman winner.

This year I travelled up to the Lake District with my wife Frances and our two boys Rob and Chris.  They had finally forgiven me for ignoring them during the 2010 Lakeland 100, as demonstrated at around the six minute mark in the 

 at the Tilberthwaite checkpoint.  We arrived on the Friday night just before the 100 mile race started.  So I had a chance to offer my best wishes to Chris, one of the athletes I coach who was hoping to significantly improve on his 30th place from 2013, and to a few other runners who I had got to know over the years.  I then had a chance to chat to fellow Montane athlete Marcus Scotney for the first time as our paths hadn't actually crossed before in any previous races.  We spoke about the likely conditions and the likely front runners in the 50 mile race.  Marcus then asked me if I was planning to start off fast like I usually did.  Although he was a fellow Montane athlete, revealing my planned strategy didn't seem appropriate, so I just politely told him he would just have to wait and see.

 

 Chatting to Marcus Friday Evening

So what was my planned strategy.  Yes, in many past ultra trail races I have 'blasted off' at the start, got a lead, and held onto it for the remainder of the race, such as at the Lakeland 100 2010, 2013, London to Brighton 2009, 2013, Hardmoors 55 2010, Shires and Spires 2011, Ridgeway 85 2008, just to name a few.  But in all of these events I had the belief that I was able to outperform all of the other runners within the field.  But for the Lakeland 50 I didn't have this belief.  So I didn't see much point in blasting off to gain a lead for the first few miles, to simply provide the other runners with the satisfaction as they pulled me in and then subsequently left me for dead!  No based on the race performance of the other runners I have highlighted above, even taking into account my likely improved relative performance in the Lakeland 50 due to my experience/wisdom and extensive non-physical training, I concluded that simply running with the front bunch for the first few miles should be significantly fast enough, so that was my plan.  To start at a reasonably quick pace, to run alongside the lead bunch, but without there being a mega quick 6:04 mile.

 

 Montane Lakeland 50 Start - The Race Favourites Near the Front 

(I am in the middle wearing a blue Montane cap.  Marcus is immediately to my right wearing a blue Montane peak.  Danny is to my left wearing a yellow teeshirt, and Kim is to Danny's left wearing a white teeshirt and cap)

There is a countdown and we are off.  I am immediately at the front, running at I guess around 6:30 - 6:40 minute mile pace.  Just a note I usually race with a Garmin GPS watch so I can analyse the data following the race.  However, at last year's Lakeland 100 race I had forgotten to bring my watch, and I found the 'freedom' of racing without the knowledge that my pace and heart rate were being recorded was quite positive.  So I chose not to wear my GPS watch for this year's race. So we are cruising along the 3.5 mile circuit within the grounds of Dalemain.  Even though we aren't running that quickly, considering the quality of the lead runners within the field, there is only a small bunch of four of us at the front.  Consisting of Danny Kendall, Lee Kemp, Kim Collison (who politely introduces himself when I ask "Who are you?" as I didn't recognise him from when we last raced together at the Fellsman), and myself.  After leading the race for the first three miles, shortly before returning past the start area, Danny and Lee take up the pace, and I happily sit in behind.  A few minutes later Martin Cox joins us, so there is a lead bunch of five as we head through Pooley Bridge and start the first of many climbs.

 

 Leading Group of Four After 3.5 Miles at Dalemain

 

 

Leaving Dalemain with Martin Cox Shortly to Join the Lead Bunch

 

Not long later I am caught my Marcus Scotney, who after a brief few friendly words of conversation, he also leaves me behind.  Decision time.  Am I in a time-trial or am I in a race?  I decide I am in a race.  So although I know I need to focus on my race, it is important to gain from being in a race situation, so I decide to not let Marcus get too far ahead and so I increase my race focus, and happily increase my running pace ensuring that I didn't feel like I was battling.

 

Entering Howtown Checkpoint As Marcus Departs

 

It doesn't seem like long before we are approaching the first checkpoint at Howtown.  To get to this checkpoint there is a small out and back, and I am able to see the lead bunch of four (although not so tightly grouped together at this point) head off to start the first tough climb of Fusedale.  Marcus leaves the checkpoint just as I arrive.  And with it being a very quick dib into the timer and a jug of water over the head, I am only around half a minute behind him.

 

 

The Start of the Climb Up Fusedale

I reach the top of the climb again in what seems an amazingly short period of time, losing a little bit of ground to Marcus, but he is still probably only around one and a half to two minutes ahead.  There is then a gentle descent along the tops to Low Kop, before the steep descent down to Haweswater.  During this mile along the top I couldn't contain myself, I was literally shouting out loudly with joy.  It was fantastic.  It was hot, sunny, blue sky.  There was a fresh breeze to cool the temperature a bit.  It was a gentle downhill, so I was moving pretty quickly, and it felt easy as I was running relaxed, but fast.  And most of all I was taking in the awesome scenery whilst still focusing on the race.  Yes, I was totally within the moment, and at the moment in time I was totally enjoying myself.  Yes, I was only in sixth place, but that didn't matter.  I knew I was running well, as demonstrated by being totally within the moment.  Even as I ran alongside the edge of Haweswater with the heat really beginning to feel quite extreme, I was still loving every moment!  In terms of how hot it was I did something I had never done before in over 25 ultra trail races, and in over 30 trail marathons. Instead of crossing a stream using the bridge I entered the stream lay down totally into the stream face first, and gulped and drank water for what seemed like 15 - 20 seconds.  I exited the stream totally soaked and for a few moments I felt like a million dollars as I got back into fast running along the undulating trail towards the Mardale Head checkpoint.

 

Stopping to Chat with Alex at Mardale Head

Shortly before the Mardale checkpoint Delamare Spartan runner Steve Mee was there with his wee lad Alex watching the runners race by.  I got to know Steve a few years back where he invited me up to Cheshire to do a talk to the Delamare Spartans running club.  Just the previous day Steve had mentioned that his son Alex had been to a fancy dress party where he had to go as a superhero.  And Alex decided to go as the Lakeland 100 winner.  I then had the privilege of signing his Lakeland 1 race number the previous evening.  So as I approached Steve and Alex, and being totally within the moment, enjoying every moment, I briefly stopped racing and casually started chatting to Alex.  He was a little shocked that I had stopped running to chat, as was Steve who was encouraging me to get racing.  But at that moment in time, the buzz I got from chatting to a young lad, hopefully inspiring him, but more likely frightening him, was well worth the few seconds that I was stationary.   As I left Steve and Alex to reach the Spartans checkpoint I was really buzzing.

Apologising to Steve for Frightening His Son Alex!

Super Spartan Marshal Alex with his Encouraging Sign

 

Last year during the 100 mile race, I was pretty shattered as I arrived at the same checkpoint.  As described within the Spartans blogpost from last year I had arrived "looking a little beaten up"!  This year, it was quite a contrast, I recognised a few familiar faces, some who had assisted me last year.  So I got another massive boost of positivity and I was quickly back on my journey, running up the first bit of the climb up to Gatesgarth Pass before it steepened and therefore being more beneficial to power hike to the top.

 

Descending Down Towards Kentmere

Here is probably a good time to quickly comment on my nutrition during the race.  Although there is currently a bit of an anti-carbohydrate trend within running circles, I am a firm believer that in order to run at a high intensity one needs to take on board carbohydrate.  It is therefore fortunate that I am part of the TORQ Performance Trail Running Team and therefore have available to me the best tasting carbohydrate gels on the market.  Although the scientific literature indicates that the body is able to take on board 90 grams of carbohydrate each hour if a combination of glucose and fructose, for ultra trail racing due to the intensity not being that extreme, even with my run fast at the start approach, I planned a nutrition schedule of one 30 gram TORQ gel every 45 minutes, so equivalent to 40 grams of carbohydrate per hour.

I carried out this strategy for the first four hours, supplemented with some coke at the Mardale checkpoint and a piece of ginger cake, as it looked appealing.  By the time I had reached the Kentmere checkpoint after 4 hours and 8 minutes, I felt that my running intensity had dropped significantly that it probably wasn't necessary to continue with the gels, as even with them being the most tasty on the market, they still when coming to consuming the fifth gel take a bit of effort to get down.  So from Kentmere onwards I simply fuelled on coke and a small mixture of cake and biscuit.  Although at the Langdale checkpoint, with a gel not being appealing, I added a sachet of TORQ energy powder to one of my drink bottles and consumed this, rather than any real food.  Did my nutrition work?  Well I never got that 'woosey' feeling in my head, and I never felt like I was getting weak due to a lack of biochemical energy.  So I would conclude my nutritional strategy was successful. 

Right, back to the race.  Where was I?  Yes, I left the Kentmere checkpoint really buzzing.  Immediately there is quite a climb to get to the top of Garburn Pass.  I increase the level of race focus, trying to maintain running when the gradient allows, but power hike the majority of the climb.  Shortly after the top on the fast gradual descent down to Troutbeck I get another surprise.  I very quickly catch Martin Cox, who didn't look very happy, but the difference in running pace is so great I don't even get a chance to chat to enquire about is problem, which I am led to believe from Marcus Scotney's race report was either a knee or an Achilles issue. Now in fourth place, which I think is great, but again don't ponder over it.

Usually at this point along the route my legs are pretty trashed and so I am moving pretty slowly.  But today. having only covered 30 miles, rather than the usual 80 miles, I am able to run down to Troutbeck at a pretty good pace.  The positive feedback this gives me enables me to pretty well run the entire next climb past the Post Office at Troutbeck.  And then a few minutes later I get the greatest surprise of the day, Danny Kendall is only a little way ahead of me, and he is walking up a gentle uphill!  I can't believe it. Yes I had felt that I had been running quite well, but not overly quick.  And yes it had been a pretty hot during the day, which had made the day more challenging.  But Danny, the Marathon des Sables runner, surely used to running in deserts isn't going to find the Lakeland heat any issue.

It doesn't take long to catch him, and as with when I passed Martin Cox, the difference in pace between the two of us was quite extreme.  However, we do have a chance for a brief chat where Danny explains that he has been suffering from severe cramps.  I wish him the best, and with the excitement of overtaking Danny, my running pace quickens, and now this time 'I leave him for dead'!  Payback time for him taking my Steyning Stinger course record I quietly think to myself.

Although, I am now in third place in the British Ultra Trail Championships, which excites me.  I find that I don't dwell on it and simply get back into being within the moment, as I enjoy running quickly through a really scenic portion of the route as it passes through Skelghyll Woods before entering Ambleside.

I am welcomed by Frances, Rob and Chris at the Ambleside checkpoint. It is great to be greeted by my family. The boys are taking photos, with the majority of the photos within this post being theirs.  This post does also have two photos, start of the Fusedale climb, that I purchased from the Sportsunday (the official race photographers), the family shot at the finish courtesy of Ian Corless, plus one or two I 'borrowed' from various facebook friends whom I can't quite remember, although I do recall the excellent photo descending towards Kentmere was taken by //www.flickr.com/photos/16279920@N02/sets/72157646015300314/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(103, 78, 167);">Jen Regan. Thanks for the photos.

Entering Ambleside Checkpoint

 

It is hard to explain, but whilst at the checkpoint the relaxed 'she'll be right' approach seemed to change.  Whereas back at Kentmere I didn't seem to have a 'worry in the world' and was really enjoying the race and willing to lose time to chat at the checkpoint.  For some reason, all of a sudden I started to rush, to try to save time, I guess I started to panic about Danny catching back up to me if I spent too long at the checkpoint.  Whatever caused this change in attitude, I don't know.  But compare the expressions between the photo above and the photo below.  Something happened, and all of a sudden, as if instantly, I started to struggle.

 

Leaving Ambleside Checkpoint

 

Just as I leave the checkpoint I hear the applause as Danny is welcome to the checkpoint.  The official results show that he arrived exactly 3 minutes and 1 second after me.  So I had spent probably around 2:45 at the checkpoint.  Still quite a long stop considering that I was trying to rush.  I don't know what the length of my relaxed cheerful stops at Mardale and Kentmere were, but I would imagine a similar duration of around 2 - 3 minutes.  Not quick, but as highlight above, the boost in energy received whilst at the checkpoint tends to result in the regaining of this time plus more!

 

I am conscious that my attitude has changed, so I really focus on getting back to being in a relaxed positive frame of mind, whilst trying to maintain the necessary race focus and a good running pace.  The steep but shortish climb and descent down to Skelwith Bridge goes well.  As I travel along the smooth gravel path towards Elterwater, I feel that it is taking more effort to maintain a good running pace.  I am beginning to start to worry about how far there is to go.  I 'snap' myself out of this negative thinking, and try to concentrate on just getting to the next checkpoint at Langdale.

 

The Beginning of the Struggle at Elterwater

 

'Snapping Back' to 'Being Within the Moment' Passing Wainwright's Inn, Chapel Stile

 

At the penultimate checkpoint, checkpoint five at Langdale/Chapel Stile, again I am in panic / rush mode as I take on some fuel and fluid, and for the first time in the race I ask what the gap ahead to Marcus is.  Why I need to know what the time gap to Marcus is now, when I haven't needed to know since the last time I saw him way back at Low Kop above Haweswater, I don't really know.  I guess it was largely due to the prospect of winning a British Athletics Championship medal, which would be pretty amazing at the age of 51, and being over 20 years since I last won a National championship medal.  Yes, way back in 1992 while I was living up in Aberdeen, Scotland for a year or so, back in my Ironman triathlon days, I managed to win a bronze medal in the Scottish Athletics marathon championships,  I also managed to win a silver medal in the 1992 Scottish Triathlon Championships, finishing second to Jack Maitland, (who just so happens to be one of the Brownlee brothers coaches).  

 

I guess it was this thinking ahead to what it would be like to 'finish on the podium' and win a British athletics championship medal that got be being distracted and being no longer within the moment.  I was now distracted by the destination.  I wanted the race to finish.  I had started to count down the miles.  I was beginning to expect that I should be exhausted by now as I was nearing the finish, having completed 40 miles.  So anyway, I ask for some data on the time gap to Marcus, and the impact of being told it was seventeen minutes had immediate negative consequences.  I immediately conclude that I can't gain this time, so I need to focus on staying ahead of Danny.  I further slipped into trying to predict what will happen in the future.  The focus on the present moment is gone.  I am not receptive to the positive energy from the checkpoint volunteers.  So I depart the checkpoint in a similar state to how I departed the Ambleside checkpoint, without my positivity tank replenished.  And just to really 'knock me' as I am beginning to fall into the downward spiral, I glance to my left and see that Danny is only 100 metres away from entering the checkpoint!  On no, he is obviously running back to his usual awesome standard.  Oh well fourth place is good! 

 

So as I commence leg six of seven instead of enjoying the surrounding beauty and maintaining my race focus, my mind is wandering.  How soon will it be until he catches me?  Can I hold him off?  Don't be stupid.  One doesn't finish in fifth place in the Marathon des Sables without being able to deal with difficult patches during a race, which he has obviously done.  It is quite hard to explain the thoughts and emotions that were going around in my head for the next 20 minutes or so before he caught me.  One thing I love about ultra-trail racing is the competition.  Pitting myself against the other runners.  But up until this portion of the race, although I was racing, in terms of really maintaining my race focus to ensure I finished in the quickest time that I could possibly achieve on this day.  Since losing sight of Marcus during leg two I had been pretty well running on my own and had been really enjoying the peacefulness of running quickly through the amazing landscapes.  Now here I was in a real race battle situation, and for some reason I didn't get excited.  The exact opposite happened, I got negative as I simply assumed that I would lose the battle to Danny.  

 

Now I am not trying to make excuses here, but I am trying to get an understanding of how I need to control my thoughts/feelings for my next race, the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc.  At pretty well the same point of the course in last year's Lakeland 100, I was faced with a similar situation, in that I was being chased down by those behind me.  What was different this year, as last year it really spurred me on, and it gave me the incentive to up the intensity and to really battle all the way to Coniston?  There are two possibilities I can think of.  Firstly, self-belief.  Last year I had the self-belief that I was capable of winning the Lakeland 100 for a second time.  Whereas this year, as described at the start of this blog post, it was quite obvious that I expected to be beaten by Danny.  In fact I had used this information to ensure that I didn't became too destination focused.  

 

So now when I need to have the belief that I was capable of beating him, all I was getting back from the 'devil on my shoulder' was "Don't be stupid.  You know you can't beat him, so don't even bother trying.  Go back to enjoying the scenery."  The other 'problem' I had was that throughout the journey so far I had really focused on running relaxed and not battling/fighting my way to the finish.  I have this as a key race goal during ultra-trail races as I don't think it is really possible to fight one's way for seven, eight, nine hours plus.  But now with less than ten miles to the finish, not much more than an hour and a half of running, there isn't really an issue with battling for this short duration of time.  But I guess the lack of self belief combined with the prospect of the 'discomfort' of getting into a battle which I was going to lose anyway, led to me losing third place without the difficulty that Danny was perhaps expecting to encounter.

 

Danny catches me at the bottom of the steep climb up to Side Pike Pass with there being now less than eight miles to the finish.  We hike the climb together quietly chatting, and then as the climb flattens out, as we approach the summit, I simply say to Danny "See you at Coniston" as Danny commences running and I continue to walk.  He quickly gains probably around a minute on me as we pass Blea Tarn.  I then realise that one of my goals for the race was to race the entire 50 miles.  For the last ten minutes I had not been doing this.  Amazingly I am able to get back into race mode and raise the intensity and start trying to regain the lost ground to Danny.  By the time we reach the compulsory self-dibber checkpoint around ten minutes later, I have regained a little bit of time lost to Danny. The race is back on, but on the next short climb before we descend down to checkpoint seven at Tilberthwaite I lose a little more time, as although I am on task and focusing within the present moment, the reality of the situation was that I was pretty exhausted both physically and mentally.  Yes, although I have tended to ignore it within this blog post, the physical body does actually play a major part in completing fifty miles of trails as quickly as one can.  The messages coming from the leg muscles that they are quite damaged is getting stronger, or perhaps I am just paying more attention to these messages, as it becomes more difficult to focus on the positives as one begins to run out of the all important race focus energy (RFE). As I approach the checkpoint I watch Danny run up the infamous quarry steps, and gauge that I am now around three minutes behind.

 

During the last leg to Conistion the arguments from the 'devil', this time using the approach that I must slow down in order to not totally 'destroy' myself so able to be better prepared for my key race of the year, the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc in less than five weeks' time, seems totally logical and appealing.  So I stop racing, and slowly make my way to Conisiton.  Although to be totally honest, even if I had managed to maintain the race focus for the last 3.5 miles I doubt I would have gone much quicker, as there wasn't much left in 'the tank'!  Overall I had 'dug pretty deep', but just not as deep as during last year's 100 mile race.

 

As I run the final mile to the finish I am already reflecting on my race.  How had it gone?  How had I performed?  Had I achieved my race goals?  Whilst within my fatigued state I conclude that I have run well.  I have pretty well reached Coniston as quickly as I could on this particular day.  And although I didn't quite achieve my goal of racing the entire fifty miles. Racing for probably 46 of these 50 miles isn't too far off the mark.  So as I cross the finish line, in fourth place in a time of 8:25:32, I am pretty pleased with how I have performed, and really enjoy the warm welcome from all of the volunteers and catching up again with my family and fellow runners. 

 

 

 

 

With Chris the Photographer and Chris the Athlete (Who did substantially improve on his 2013 performance by around three and a half hours to finish in ninth place.)

 

Sharing Race Journey Stories With Marcus

 

 

Concluding Thoughts

Well this has been another ultra-length post.  But beneficial to me as I prepare for my final ultra-trail race of the year, the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc.  Hopefully the post has also been beneficial to those that have managed to read this far.  The post is sub-titled "Being Within the Moment", and I have spent considerable words above trying to explain how getting one's emotions 'right', contributes significantly to ultra-trail performance.  The difference in my race performance in the Lakeland 50 in comparison to my race performance in the Fellsman, just three months earlier, is quite extreme.  Was this difference a consequence of me being physically/physiologically fitter?  No!  I don't think there has been any noticeable change in my physical fitness levels.  Throughout the year I have felt I have been in pretty good physical shape.  But what has been different between the two races, has been my emotions during the race.  To put it simply, remaining positive, and not getting negative.  An easy thing to say, and an easy aim to state.  But achieving it whilst racing over the demanding Lakeland trails, in pretty hot conditions, is not that easy!

 

I have also attempted to highlight above how as my emotions changed during the race, my running changed.  In terms of having an objective measure of how well one is running during the race, I find the individual leg time rankings can provide a guide.  If we look at the leg split time data of the six pre-race favourites as identified by race winner Kim Collison (7:48:01) within his excellent (brief in comparison to my effort) race report, the variation in the leg split time rankings for these six runners is at times huge and really interesting, (see below).

 

Within the various race reports I have read, there is mention of severe cramping, heavy legs, dry mouths, boiling brains, screaming hearts, injury issues, but also mention of "the belief I could do it".  So maintaining one's running pace may not be as simple as controlling one's emotions.  But unless the physical issues are literally slowing you down, I would suggest these 'difficult patches', or often referred to as 'low points', as the term suggests are when one's emotions are low, then getting one's emotions in the right place plays a huge part in determining running pace and overall race performance.

 

 

Looking at the table above, the variations in the leg split time rankings are quite large.  It seems that five out of the six runners, excluding the winner Kim, had 'difficult patches', and experience one or two relatively slow legs.  Also interesting that five out of the six runners 'won' a leg, except me!  I have produced two excel files with the leg split time rankings for all competitors for both the Lakeland 50 and the Lakeland 100 races.  These can be accessed by clinking this L50 link and this L100 link.

 

Well done to everyone that completed the Montane Lakeland 50 and the Montane Lakeland 100, and huge congratulations to Kim for his outstanding (consistent) performance.  By the way, it was Kim who highlighted within his race report "I had the belief I could do it".

 

Lastly, a massive thanks to everyone involved in putting on such a fantastic race.

 

Time to sign off with a quote from twice Lakeland 100 second place finisher Andy Mouncey:

"So it's just running, is it?  Yeah right! ....  My emotional turbo-charge has been to meet the other members of Family Mouncey."  Andy Mouncey, from his book titled:  Magic, Madness and Ultramarathon Running

All the best with your emotions during future races.

 

Stuart

 

PS  Those of you who had a look at the Montane Kentmere checkpoint crew's report may have noticed the following at the end of their report Stuart Mills (ML50): My intention at the moment is to give ultra trail running a break for a few years as I will focus on returning to Ironman triathlons after a twenty year break.  So I will not be back next year, but maybe in 2017." Yes not only is UTMB later this month going to be my final ultra-trail race for the year, but my final ultra-trail race for a few years.  But more about this in another blog post!

Written by Scott Harris - http://runninganimo.com/

77k/48 miles with 1000 metres ascent around the island of Jersey

Cancelled!? What does that mean? It took my mind a few moments to realise that Flybe had cancelled my flight 10 minutes before boarding. There wasn’t time to hang around swearing and I was quickly on the move to see if I could get on another flight. Fortunately I was able to though it wasn’t scheduled to leave until 17:45 having already being delayed by an hour. It was a long stressful wait in the airport knowing that there would be a good chance the flight would be delayed even longer or maybe Flybe would decide to cancel this one as well. It was delayed for another 30 minutes, so now instead of arriving in Jersey at 15:00 I wasn’t going to arrive until after 19:00. Great!

Instead of a relaxing afternoon I was 4 hours behind. It was very frustrating and I felt like I was in a constant rush never being able to distance my mind from the race. Sorting out my kit, then my drop bag, going over my race plan, checking the weather forecast whilst eating, making sure I didn’t take on too much or I’d have trouble sleeping as soon as I had everything ready. It probably wasn’t until around 23:00 I cursed Flybe one last time and managed to fall asleep.

5 hours of solid sleep as I rose at 04:00. I had a couple bananas and an energy bar for breakfast, checked the weather and got ready. I still wasn’t sure about the weather so around 05:00 I decided to go for a jog around the hotel car park. It helped make my mind up and I was set. Soon it was time to head down to the start line, give in my drop bag which I’d see a few hours later and wait. I bumped into Paul Burrows who was running around the island 7 times in 7 days. We had a quick chat and I wished him good luck on his mammoth challenge.

Everyone lined up ready for the start at 06:00. I went over my race plan in my head proving to myself that I memorised it sufficiently. I had average paces in mind for the first 3 aid stations and was happy that I’d be able to achieve these. We set off and I ignored all those that went off faster than me, if I can stick to my plan or almost stick to it I’d have a great day. Head down, now and then looking at my GPS watch to ensure I wasn’t running too fast. Something was wrong. All the stress and nervous energy I had been feeling whilst at the airport was still there. My stomach felt unsettled which made it hard to focus. I wasn’t moving too badly but I wasn’t happy at all. Thankfully I knew where a public toilet was just before Gorey. I was grateful but lost a few minutes.

I wanted to make up the time I lost but I knew it would be stupid to do so immediately, so I had to be patient and make up the 5/6 minutes I lost over the rest of the race. It was difficult knowing I was behind but I stayed patient and kept my speed steady, but for some reason I still wasn’t able to focus as my stomach remained unhappy. I got to the first aid station at St Catherines  (17.44k/10.9 miles) in around 1 hour 22 minutes so I wasn’t quite as far behind as I thought I was. But things weren’t going well as I started on the trail. I didn’t know if my stomach was hungry or upset so I didn’t want to eat anything. I changed the settings on my watch so I was viewing the route rather than the speed and distance as it would just stress me out.

There was no way I was finishing the race without eating. I had a shot blok; it felt okay so I had another a few minutes later, but I was convinced that my stomach would be dictating the pace of the race today. Many negative thoughts filled my mind as I struggled on to La Fontaine where my drop bag was waiting. Why do I run? Why do I spend so much time and money doing this? It was looking bad but I kept going. I walked some of the steps to be surprised that I couldn’t run immediately afterwards. I walked a hill I would normally run up easily. It really was disturbing how much I was struggling so early on into the run. I even thought about sitting down at one point on the tempting benches that I passed along the cliff path now and then.  I wasn’t thinking it, but I knew somewhere in my mind was the knowledge that you don’t quit when you feel bad, you don’t stop moving, you will feel better again, it will pass; where do you want to be when that happens? Having already thrown in the towel, or on the trail running?

I had some flat coke and some watermelon once I reached La Fontaine (35km/22 miles). I was still negative and questioning myself for drinking coke thinking that would mess up my stomach more but it didn’t. Shortly after leaving my stomach began to settle, I was able to focus and my legs started to gain rhythm. Yes!. It didn’t take long until I was feeling great and started moving with ease. I saw a runner ahead and overtook them. Soon I saw two more, overtaking them both on a steep hill running as they walked. I questioned myself for doing so and slowed to a walk before reaching the top realising I still felt good, so started running again. I pushed on.

I arrived at Grosnez (47k/29.8miles) to be told I was in 3rd place to my complete surprise. I had a couple pieces of fresh pineapple, some more flat coke and moved on excited by being in 3rd. I knew 1st was a long way ahead but 2nd was only a few minutes in front. I decided against going after him, I’d just stick to my own pace and hope they would come back to me. I was very pleased to find the tide was in on the west of the island. I had already decided to run on the road rather than the beach due to a niggle I had a few weeks earlier. Running on sand isn’t fun at the best of times and I was sure it was going to pull on my calf and cause it to tighten. With the tide in the runners in front wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the slighter shorter distance the beach offers.

My mind was still focused and I was moving well. It was flat and easy to run but was quite tough to do so, I kept going knowing I’d soon be able to slow down once I got back on the trail. Someone beeped their horn as they drove by. I waved not really sure who it was. Moments later Bryce was stood there waiting for me. It had been lonely race up to this part so  it was great to have someone to chat to for a few minutes as Bryce asked how I felt and updated me on the guys in front. Thanks Bryce!

I got to the final aid station, Beauport (62.4k/39 miles) feeling pretty good. I knew there wasn’t much further to go. I just had to keep running and I might be able to see 2nd place soon.  I had more fresh fruit and flat coke with my stomach feeling absolutely fine. I left still feeling good though struggling to work out how long it would take me to get to the finish. Just keep moving I told myself.

I passed through St Aubin knowing it would soon be over. At this point I’d taken my singlet off concerned that I might get a cut nipple due to chaffing. Apologies to the people of Jersey for running half naked, but I took a guess that would be a more pleasant sight than blood streaming down my body clearly visible through my white t-shirt. I could roughly see where the finish line was and ran as fast from St Aubin to the finish line as I had all day.

I crossed the finish line in 3rd place in a time of 6:46:13 taking 50 minutes and 45 seconds off from last years time. That felt good, real good. To think how bad I felt for the first 3 hours and now I was stood at the finish line having run over 50 minutes faster than last year. It turns out I managed to run a negative split by about 2 minutes as well, obviously due to struggling early on in the race, but negative splitting an ultra feels awesome. Those negative questions I asked myself early on in the race were emphatically answered upon crossing the finish line.

It’s a great race and the 4th time I’ve taken part. At one point I actually said “wow” out loud as I was admiring the scenic coastline over my shoulder.  It’s a beautiful island, a well organised race and I’ll no doubt be back again next year. I keep getting faster each year so fingers crossed I can maintain that record.

Thanks to Digby and everyone else for organising the race and all the helpful volunteers at the aid stations.

Big thanks to my parents for supporting me and looking after me after finishing.

And well done to Paul for running Round the Rock 7 times in 7 days!

Race website here

Full results here

My run on Strava here

Thanks to the guidance from Sandi and Sage over the recent months.

Written by Rob Pinnington - http://ardrobsrunning.blogspot.de/

ROB 'Is that it? A medal and a shirt' DAVE 'There's a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale in the goody bag' ROB 'BEER! Excellent! I'm happy now

It has been a long journey of rediscovery, rediscovering what the secret to the finishing of a plus 200km race.

My loyal crew

Me and Chrissy at Lamplugh

Chrissy meeting THE JAMES ADAMS

DREW: They are a great crew love them more

I could see the headlights of the cars at the Hartside cafe above me and eventually just as I neared the summit Mark came down to greet me.

That is me coming up the hill

‘You are doing fine Rob. This is the last hill, just keep plugging on.’

Durham

Bacon Sarnie at Parkhead

As I left Chrissy put my rain jacket on. As I already had my Care Keep Warm top on I thought this unnecessary, but the Waskerley Way turned out to be part of the Pennines, ‘An area of outstanding natural beauty said the sign.  Beauty, my arse!  It is a barren windswept sheep filled wasteland.  

If it is so beautiful how come no one lived there?

Four bridges

.

‘YOU GOT THIS!’

The organisation was superb and deserve thanking the marshals Drew, Claire,  Kate, Tim aand of course the race directors Alex and Marl Cockbain.

I eventually found the route one I was looking for in Scarborough!

Don’t wear Sealskins for 38 hours as they trash your feet and change socks every 40 miles

 

You can run a lot faster under pressure than you think you can

Written by Alistair Flowers - http://alistairflowers.com/

After finishing my first ultra I can definitely tell you that it was one of the hardest things I have ever done but also one of the most enjoyable. I don’t think I had really quite grasped just how far 40 miles was until I got to about the 50k mark! I went through a lot out on the course – mainly mental which was a surprise, I thought my mind was stronger than it turned out to be but I was glad my body turned out to be more than capable.

I’m happy, and proud, to say I finished the 40 miles in 8th place with a time of 7:24:19. At the very least I wanted to finish in the top 10 and I’ll admit that before the start I had harboured ideas of a podium place – I continued to hold onto this idea until I was passed and dropped into 3rd at mile 18! It was at this point I realised I had underestimated the task at hand and gone off far too quickly but I’ll write more about that in the lap breakdowns below.

One of the biggest problems facing almost everybody on the day was the heat and humidity – I for one could not get enough water all day and because of this I feel more proud of my top 10 finish because of the climatic conditions than I would have if it had been cool. I finished the race dehydrated and depleted of salt; if I run in similar conditions again I’ve learned I’m going to need to add more Nuun tablets to my water and I’m going to need to carry two handhelds instead of the one I used this time around.

To round off my summary and introduction I would just like to say a MASSIVE thank you to the amazing crew and pacing support of a Miss Gabrielle Lee who was on hand at the end of every lap with supportive words, quick water/electrolyte refills and the nous to change up the food in my lap bags to something I could handle after the end of the second lap. A big credit to her as well because she paced me out at the start of my second lap which was not part of the race plan at all!

Before

We set off for Grimsthorpe on the afternoon of Thursday 31st July. It’s a two hour journey and the sun had been shining all day long! Everything was prepared and ready to go all we had to do was find our hotel, check in and then head up to the race area to set up the crew tent.

Shortly after arriving at our hotel though the weather abruptly changed! The humidity peaked and then the clouds burst for about two and a half hours of torrential rain. My heart began to sink at this point as my research of previous year’s events told me that The Grim Reaper would be a very, very muddy course if enough rain fell for long enough. I tried to blank these thoughts from  my mind and set to making up my lap bags for the race. Each bag contained one energy gel, an Anzac biscuit and 6 Haribo Tangfastics – as you will read, the content of the bags changed drastically after mile 20!

Once all the final preparations had been made Gabrielle and I set off for Grimsthorpe Castle to set up the tent and to say hello to other competitors, the Race Director and crew and to get a feel for the place. Miraculously it stopped raining almost as soon as we began the 6 mile drive and the heat and humidity began to build again! This cheered me up no end and when we arrived at the race area I was heartened to feel that the ground underfoot had not turned to bog and mud. After setting up the tent and sharing a few words with various people Gabrielle and I retreated back to our hotel in the village of Little Bytham for dinner and an ale or two.

Lap 1 – 16k/10 miles (1:16:40 – 2nd at end of lap)

There is a first time for everything and as this was my first ultra I thought I’d go for another first and start from the front row. In my mind I was thinking about a top 3 finish and I thought I wouldn’t harm my chance by starting with the front runners! The plan was to knock off every kilometre between 4:50 and 4:58 pace for this lap…that plan soon went out of the window when the hooter sounded and we were set loose on the course! Over the next 16km I ran an average of about 4:40 or thereabouts. Granted, I was feeling strong and confident and I was really enjoying being out at the front of a race for the first time in my life – it was strange seeing just one other person in front of me for almost the entire way. He slipped from my view around the 13km mark and I never saw him again!

I was conscious that I’d abandoned my race plan at around 14km when the Race Director shouted the guy in front was about a thousand yards ahead and I was looking strong. I ran on by with a thank you and listened out for him shouting out to whoever might be behind me and when I heard nothing over about 100m I broke one of my cardinal race rules – I looked back and saw not a soul! I’ll be honest, I can’t remember now whether that scared me or whether that spurred me on but I reckon it was probably a mixture of both. I ran on oblivious to anything for the next 2km with a smile on my face and enjoying the feeling of running a race pretty much stranded between the leader and the rest of the field!

I ran into the aid station at mile 10 to see Gabby already waiting to refill my handheld with 500ml of water and a Nuun tablet. We didn’t say much to each other and I just remember grinning as one of the race crew told me the leader was about five or six minutes ahead of me. I already had my pre-prepared lap bag in my waist pouch so after about a minute of information gathering and water refilling I set off again in a bid to close the gap on the leader and to create a gap between myself and the rest of the field!

Lap 2 – 32k/20 miles (1:32:14 – 4th at end of lap)

After stopping very briefly at the end of my first lap I set off full of vigour and had decided to settle into my plan having abandoned it during the previous 10 miles! Lap 2’s plan had called for an average of 5:35 per kilometre and so I slowed to this pace and was feeling very comfortable now that I knew what to expect from the course seeing as it was a ten mile loop. I was rolling along with a smile on my face and not feeling particularly taxed all the way to the half way point of the lap – for some reason my cardinal rule of never looking behind in a race was broken again and I allowed myself a peek down the switchback as I came out of a wooded area onto a long stretch of road section. I saw nobody and so I thought my plan was working! I had a feeling I wouldn’t be catching the guy in first but I also felt as though nobody was going to be chasing me down anytime soon either.

I believe this was a mistake on my part – over confidence led me to rely on my plan too much and I zoned out of the race for a while. With 15 miles gone my mind switched off and I didn’t hear the guy who, at that time, was in 3rd creeping up behind me! If I had been more attuned to the situation then I might have been able to press on a little and hold onto my position but at around mile 18 he glided past me with a friendly word and asked if I knew how far the leader was out front. I replied as far as I knew the guy was maybe seven or eight minutes ahead and without another word off he ran! This blew my mind because as I watched him increase the gap I saw him eating and I realised then that I’d made a big mistake – I had not touched a morsel of food at this point and I’d been fuelling myself on a bowl of muesli and just under a litre of water. So it was that I pulled my waist pouch around and pulled out an Anzac biscuit – I had vowed that the gels were for emergencies only as I really wanted to complete the 40 miles on real food.

I took one bite of the Anzac and realised it was going to take some effort to chew, swallow and digest it – not only that it was also going to require me to take on more fluid just to keep my mouth from drying up. My splits from Strava tell the tale of this section of the race! At 28 klicks I’d been on my pace plan running merrily along at 5:30 and then I was overtaken, dropping into 3rd. At 29km I started to struggle with eating and slowed to 6:17 for that kilometre and was again unexpectedly overtaken by the eventual winner of the race, dropping into 4th. At kilometre 30 I was struggling with digestion and so had slowed to 7:00! Between kilometre 30 and 31 I was battling with my mind fiercely. I was arguing with myself about the stupidity of my food choices, berating myself for blowing it so early into the race and feeling generally annoyed that I was finding it tough before I’d even got to the marathon mark, it was then that I noticed I was about a kilometre from the end of the lap and still very much in the game for a podium spot if I could salvage my pace! So it was that I ran into the aid station at mile 20 trying to look strong.

All pretense of strength collapsed the minute I got to my cool box and Gabrielle. I think Gabs was pretty shocked to see my mental game had gone out of the window so early on! The plan at this point had called for her to force me to eat a banana and a handful of rice but that too went out of the window – as soon as banana touched my tongue I wanted to throw up so I spat it out before even chewing it and when I threw some rice into my mouth it felt like I was chewing gravel so I spat that out too! So, for the next four minutes Gabs tried valiantly to buoy me up and to feed me Haribo, water and orange pieces whilst at the same time emptying out my pre-prepared lap bag and filling it with orange slices and more Haribo whilst quietly jettisoning the Anzac biscuit that I had, before the race, felt to be my secret nutritional weapon!

Leaving the aid station on this lap was the hardest point of the race for me even though I hadn’t even gone marathon distance! It was so hot and humid, my race/hydration/nutrition plan had gone out of the window and I knew that I had only just got to the halfway point. Another 20 miles of constantly changing terrain with very little by way of shade awaited!! The plan was for Gabrielle to run out with me at mile 30 for 5km to keep my spirits up but she adapted to the situation and, although wearing a dress and a normal bra instead of her sports bra and running shorts she laced up her Mizuno and paced me out from the aid station – I will be completely honest, I think if I’d have been on my own at this point I’d have probably stayed in the aid station a lot longer, dropped a few more places and might not even have finished!

Trying to keep my head up approaching the half way point!

Lap 3 – 48k/30 miles (2:08:08 – 7th at end of lap)

I know there is no shame in walking during ultras but it took me a bit of time to get that into my brain during this lap. Gabrielle constantly had to gee me up for the first 5 klicks before she peeled off and headed back up to the aid station. We walked a little, we ran a little, we walked a little, we ran a little and then at about 3km into the lap I finally picked up my spirits and my pace and ran 2km before bidding farewell to Gabs.

I don’t really remember too much about the first seven miles or so of this lap. The main thing I recall is repeating to myself over and over “Hike the ups, run the downs” and so this is what I did – on the flat sections I also ran 500m and then hiked 500m regardless of terrain. The Grim Reaper course is difficult, in my opinion, because of the changing terrain – it’s made up of around 50% pavement, 15% grass and 35% crushed limestone. Normally I like to run on road and I love running on gravel, limestone and other hardpack trail surfaces but, equally, I hate running on grass because it saps all the energy from the legs! Therefore I found three particular sections of the course very hard going.

At around the 6km mark after a short uphill section through some woods you find yourself on a long stretch of flat grass – I think it was probably just over a kilometre long which meant it just wasn’t feasible to hike the whole section if I didn’t want to lose places but having said that I dropped from 4th to 5th at this point even with the run/walk strategy in full swing! Then, with about 2.5 miles to go you find yourself going from a largely downhill pavement section into an open, very hot and very humid wheat field. I could find no discernible trail on the field at all and so on every lap apart from the first I hiked three quarters of the field and ran the last bit as it swung around to a gentle rolling downhill limestone trail section. I ran out of water at this point on the second lap and also the third because I just felt the need to hydrate because of the heat in the field! Finally, with just over a kilometre to go you transfer from limestone hardpack to the final grassy field. Although this field is eminently more runable than either of the fields preceding it, because it’s at the end of the lap I found myself struggling with the idea of running it even though I knew at the end of it was a 500m limestone/hard pack trail followed by the final 500m stretch of pavement to the aid station!

Anyway, I digress! The reason I don’t remember much about the first seven miles or so of this lap is because at around this point I was awakened from my mantra of “Hike the ups, run the downs” by a rather large herd of cows straddling the course. Now, at the best of times I’m pretty scared of the bovine species and as this could not be described as the best of times I was feeling pretty petrified! The worst part was that I noticed them just as I was about to pick up my pace from power hike to run but stopped dead in my tracks instead. Because the cows had calves with them I thought they posed an even greater threat than had they just been adult cows on their own. I looked behind to see that the guy behind me was also looking pretty lost for words and the guy behind him suggested we all run through together. As the three of us began the cows started to pick up their pace too and ended up running by us and we ran through the middle of them! Looking back, this was where I lost my 5th place and dropped to 6th. I ran and hiked the next two miles shoulder to shoulder with the guy in 7th – he confided that his hamstring was giving him hell and he’d need a big push to get out of the aid station at mile 30. He had no idea he was in the top 10 until I told him! I thought it would help him out but although surprised and happy with the news he urged me to carry on to the end and so I pushed on from here.

I got the aid station feeling pretty pleased that I had only one lap to go! My shoulders at this point were killing me but my legs felt quite strong so to keep them that way I took the time to put on my compression socks, eat some orange and drink some water. All the while Gabs was filling a lap bag with orange pieces and more Haribo. I asked the race crew which position I was in when I arrived at the station and they told me I was in 7th so I decided I’d wait for the guy who was behind me who I’d run with to see if I could persuade him to come out on the last lap! I spent about 10 minutes at the aid station and he came in just as I was planning on getting a move on – he was still in 8th at this point but couldn’t get over the cramping in his forearms and legs. It was sad to see him pull out at such a late stage but he gave me encouragement and told me to get a move on!

Leaving the aid station at Mile 30. One lap to go…

Lap 4 – 64k/40 miles (2:13:43 – 8th Place)

Gabs paced me out again on this lap and joined me for about 6km, we went with the run/walk strategy again and found ourselves next to the guy who had just taken 8th for most of the first 5km of the final lap! Once Gabrielle peeled off at the 6km mark I bunny-hopped between 7th and 8th until about the 8km mark at which point I picked it up a little and headed out for the last five miles determined not to drop out of position again!

My strategy was firmly entrenched at this point: power hike 500m and run 500m on the flat, hike the ups and run the downs – no matter how difficult! And boy was the last push difficult! My friend William who was running the 100 miler caught up with me just after Gabs had peeled off to return to the start and we hiked and chatted for a short while – his indomitable will spurred me on a lot during the last ten miles as he was never really too far in front of me. We ran a few sections and hiked a few sections together and I took solace from the fact he was looking so strong and hadn’t even got halfway through his own race and his first ultra! (He finished in 17th place, 24:43:11 and it seems he hobbled the last 30 miles on a broken ankle!!)

Again, I digress, largely because at this point I was feeling slightly confused and a bit emotional as I was nearing the end of my first ultra! Just like the previous lap I can’t remember much detail about this one. All I know is that on the final downhill pavement section with about 4 klicks to go I found myself running with the second placed lady in the 40 and eventual 9th place overall finisher. We exchanged a few kind words and encouraged each other to keep on keeping on – the next time I saw Jessica was as she crossed the finishing line looking happy, tired and very surprised when they told her she’d finished as 2nd female!

Another thing that sticks out about this lap is losing my 7th place with about 1.2km to go! A guy who I thought was running the 70 was gaining on me and as he approached I asked how he was doing, he told me he’d had a tough lap and wasn’t feeling so great – I told him he should take solace from the fact that although he might not feel strong he was looking it…and then I asked which race he was in. We made eye contact, both smiled and then both said we were in the 40 and then I remember him saying “Well, I guess that means we’re racing to the end!” and then somehow he managed to pick up his pace! I tried to cover the move but as we came off the limestone and hard pack trail onto the final field I broke into a walk and he carried on relentlessly towards the finish – in any other race to date I would have relished the prospect of a racing finish but I was just too happy to feel the finish getting closer. I really didn’t want to risk upping the pace and potentially imploding and having to power hike the finishing straight and possibly losing my position in the top 10!

The best thing was that instead of giving up after losing out on 7th so late in the race I looked up and saw Gabrielle jogging towards me! I broke into a run for a little bit until we were shoulder to shoulder and then power hiked it to the final gravel path section that leads into the 500m finishing straight. Being an amazing pacer, Gabs could see I was feeling dejected about losing my 7th place so she told me I was being chased down by some other runners in the 40 and as I got onto the final path I started to run again! The truth of the matter was that there were runners behind me but they were by no means chasing me down, nor were they running the 40 miler but I cannot begin to explain how important it was for my morale and my race to be told that at this point. Gabs took one final photograph of me on the gravel path and then ran up to the finish line to get a shot of me coming in to complete my first ultra!

About a hundred metres out Jennifer (a lady from the winning 100 mile relay team) and Gabs shouted out for a sprint finish! I grinned to myself and thought I’d give it a go and, I have no idea how, I managed to pick up my pace significantly and sprinted those last hundred metres like my life depended on it!

Afterwards

Yeah, I’ve finished my first ultra in 8th place. Yeah, I’ve finished it with just one blister. Yeah, my pacer and crew member was totally amazing over the preceding 7 hours 24 minutes and 19 seconds. But when I’d finished and sat down I felt like the happiest man in the world because Gabrielle gave me a yellow Jelly Baby thus proving that ultras do crazy things to your mind and your appetite! Another bit of proof to support this fact is that I craved tea almost as soon as I got my medal around my neck – I haven’t drank tea, or milk, for well over a year but I went straight to the kettle and brewed up with milk and two sugars. I had another two after that as well!

It took a long time for me to feel settled once I’d finished. Gabs kept the Jelly Babies coming and kept plying me with water but for some reason I could not face eating anything other than Jelly Babies. After leaving the aid station area and heading back to my own crew tent I stripped down to my shorts, threw myself on the ground and asked Gabrielle to pour a litre of water all over my body from head to toe – once she’d poured it over my back I turned around and urged her to pour another litre over my front! Shortly after this I got some pretty bad cramping in my calf muscles and rushed to get my compression socks back on. We had a laugh about this for almost an hour as my calf muscles kept forming into very random shapes and making my legs involuntarily spasm – in between severe spasms they just danced their own merry dance.

After a short lie down and some phone calls we took the tent down, I put on some non-running clothes, grabbed an ale from the cool box and then did the rounds of the campsite/crew area to say congratulations to 40 mile finishers and good luck to those 70 and 100 mile runners that were still around. It was awesome to meet so many new people and to see a few people I knew at the race. The sense of camaraderie, fun and encouragement is something completely different from anything I’ve experienced at any other race and I hope my next ultra will be just the same in terms of atmosphere.

So, that’s it! The longest race I’ve competed in so far and the longest race report I’ve ever written!! I hope you’ve enjoyed the read