Written by Karl Glendenning - http://glendosblog.blogspot.com
On a previous blog I had passed mention that I had drawn up a bucket list, and on this bucket list (here)was mention of a ‘mental endurance event’ or something. Well I had already stumbled by chance across the Cyprus Ultra last year(here) and came second in the ‘fun run’ – actually a full on 21k effort in searing heat with a nice 600m ascent for good measure. Well, doing the 135 would fit the term ‘mental’ pretty well. However, 135 miles is easier to type than complete, especially on ridiculously hard terrain and in 35-40 degree heat. So, after a test race back in March at the Dukeries Ultrain Sherwood Forest, in 'normal' conditions, I decided 50 miles would be enough of an ordeal thank you very much.
So, I quickly recruited an able sidekick, more a side-blunderbuss, in the 19 stone form of my big mate and minder John Christiansen, and signed up for the 50 mile version of the Cyprus Ultra. He too signed up for the 21k on the basis he would help me out when he finished. July came round and we both made our separate ways to Kalavasos – a little village in the hills above Limassol. We stayed in a quaint little converted village family house - Strato's House - and were looked after by a doting lady called Elena who catered for our every need. We were staying self-catering but she kept bringing us round little bits of food and the occasional Cypriot coffee – like coffee but smaller and stronger – read Espresso.
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| Our Casa |
The day before the race was the race briefing from the race director Michael Rivers and his crew, and the promise that not many of us would finish, and that so-and-so was an exceptional runner and that x, y and z would constitute a DNF. All of that didn’t matter, I just wanted to get on with business. Business came along in the shape of a large round thing in the sky and an up and down course the likes of which is rarely seen on the Ultra circuit. The main other thing is that your race crew HAVE to stay at base camp, so no pacing (not that John would), no swapping packs at each aid station. It is just you and the elements with whatever you deem correct to carry with you. My pack consisted of a Nathan race belt containing two Camelback insulated 750ml bottles. I do not like the hydration packs that sit on your shoulders. This worked well for me as it left both my hands free for whatever and also had two pockets for food and gels.
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| Ways to DNF, no. 27 |
We all convened on the morning of the 12th July, just 3 weeks after my Austria adventure (Sprint Tri don’t forget) at base camp. I managed to chat and shake hands with a few people. Remy, Jeff D, Philip, volunteers, supporters – anyone that would share a joke and a laugh (I was nervous, but full of energy which was good). Group photo and briefing done and Garmins primed and ready, we all trotted together down to the start line (why this isn’t the start line I don’t know?). Another couple of stops to explain certain crossover points on the route and the many other things that will cause a DNF (this became a bit of a running banter for me and John over the weekend – not making breakfast correctly became a DNF, so too did making a nasty smell, or being too cheesy with the ladies – you get the childish picture with two men sharing an otherwise very classy apartment) and then we found ourselves at the start line, 1.1 Garmin miles later (a new measure which almost equates to actual miles plus or minus the length of any arbitrary number).
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| Cyprus Ultra 2014 |
A year ago, a fabulous picture was taking depicting a frantic start to the 21k race. I still have that picture as various signposts around my ‘tings. It is my (soon to be defunct) @KarlsUltra135 twitter feed profile picture and also features on the cover of a book I did for my mum and dad, plus it took pride of place in last year’s write up. However, this year, history will show that the start was much more sedate. No more haring around that first lower loop, following the gazelle-like feet of a certain Cyprus-dwelling Ultra legend. No. This year I set off very carefully. Lagging behind plenty of others. Truth is I was cross with myself for not setting my Garmin up correctly to show the right readings for what I needed on the day. Basically, distance, pace and heart rate. It was for some reason showing something like cadence, time of day and shoe size I think? Doh!
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| In the zone |
Anyway, best laid plans and all that, we were all up and running. I took the time to notice some of the characters in the race. There was the very buff Italian Stallion with his Ironman gear on – one to watch perhaps or a little to muscly? – there was the tall thin guy with the straw hat (who was that?), there was too the two ladies doing the 135 (Catherine and Mimi – both Ultra running legends – Catherine holds the Australian record for fastest female at Badwater, and Mimi holds the record for fastest end to end run through Ireland and the UK – heady company indeed). I briefly chatted with Mimi and Catherine as I caught up after my slow start and they were nice and polite and would obviously prefer me and my light hearted ways to move on at the first opportunity (in a nice way). Both lovely ladies and I have total respect and awe for their achievements in a sport of which I have (and am only likely to) only scratched the surface.
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| My side-blunderbuss |
Moving on I was making good speed. My plan was always to do the first lap in about 2.30. However I would take whatever came, the important thing was not to red line like last year. I had brief chats with others as I made progress and overtook various characters. There was ex-forces type Kevin, then various backpacked 135 types (fairly obviously), then ex-pat turned gardener, turned ex-smoker, turned runner Leigh (who would go on to win the 50k version), and that pretty much meant I was at the front of anyone doing more than 21k (plus most of the 21k runners in fact – apart from the Russian ‘international man of mystery’ Tony Hawk – not the skateboarder). This meant the rest of the race was going to be a pretty lonely place, so I settled in to a good steady pace, running (no more than half pace) the flats and downs and walking the ups. Did I mention it was hot yet? Well it was. Searingly hot. Those with a temperature function on their watch measured over 40 degrees on the bottom loop – hotter than last year by all accounts.
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| Not as frantic as last year... |
My party was soon to be gatecrashed by me being joined towards the finish of the first 13 mile loop by Misko Thomka from Slovakia. This was a surprise as I had seemed to have a big lead coming up to the church (a really long, steep climb that seems to go on forever). However I was soon to find that Misko absolutely had the edge going downhill, and on the long 2 mile downhill from the Church he had made a LOT of ground up on me. This was going to dictate the pattern of the race for the next 10 hours or so. I would gain ground on the ups, we were about even on the flat, and the Misko would gain ground coming downhill.
So, there we were, trotting together into the finish line for the first time in 2.25 – ahead of schedule. I respectfully let Misko go slightly ahead as he had had the legs to catch up to me and would have overtaken me had he not decided that we would run in together. This meant one thing. Whether we liked it or not, we were absolutely in a race.
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| Me 'n' Misko |
I am not going to completely dissect each lap of the race, but here were the key moments/factors:
- Snake – Saw my first ever snake in the wild. It was a reddish colour and slithered away as quickly as it appeared.
- Feed stations – The givers of life. Total respect for these guys giving up their day to help out and often undertake a lengthy lonely vigil. Toni on the top loop was so important to my race. She was placed at the bottom of the second big climb (there were three major ascents per lap) and had a friendly face, good advice, kind words, first aid and oh, the FOOD. What can I say – peanuts, crisps, fudge (!!), diet coke (no nutritional value but it was cold and it tasted AMAZING), bananas, apples – pretty much everything I could want. Problem was I spent too long there on each of the first three laps. Apparently my pursuer, Misko, just stopped long enough to ask how far I was in front.
- Cramps – I got cramps in the oddest of places, but importantly not in any of my major muscles. Places I got cramps – Above the hips, the back of my shoulders and my lats.
- Trainers – My Hokas developed a split through the midsole. Not visible from the outside, but definitely there. This proceeded to nip my sole on every step and developed a major blister. Not a game breaker, but a major disappointment given everything else having gone so well. I am returning them forthwith…
- Music – I wore my FX Sport headphones round my neck for the first two laps, but listened to about 15 minutes worth of music. More enjoyable was the sound of nature and my own inner soundtrack. I can’t remember what was playing on that, but I am sure I solved all the worlds problems.
- Headgear – Apart from 10 comedy minutes wearing my union jack head umbrella (I don’t know what everyone was taking pictures for…) I wore my Erdinger sun visor blagged at Nottingham Tri plus my OneStepBeyond buff earned by manning the feed station at the Outlaw last year. There’s nothing feels as good as a freebie! I wore the buff over my head – dual ply with the sun visor holding it in place, then I kept dripping my water supply onto the top of my head where most of it stayed thanks to the natural reservoir created by the sun visor.
- Hydration – My Nathan industries water bottle belt served me well. I replaced the regulation bottles with two Camelback insulated bottles – each holding 750ml. These were perfect and far preferable to the backpack option worn by most other runners. The bottles were so easy to fill and even easier to pour on my head. In one bottle went electrolytes (2 tabs) and plain water in the other. I would polish the lot off between each feed station.
- The tap at the church – The best part of the first three laps without question was stopping to douse my head in the powerful jet of lukewarm spring water that emanated from this particular giver of life and undoubted highlight of the course.
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| The tap at the church |
The race itself became a straightforward foot race between myself and Misko as the other 3 runners in our category all fell by the wayside due to a combination of injuries and the heat. This meant ultimately that neither of us could rest for too long. The last base station visit came and went. I changed out of my Hokas and into my lightweight K-Swiss runners and left final camp with some donated nutrition products (Big John couldn’t find mine and my scrambled brain couldn’t remember where I had put them) including some Electrolytes from Philip McMullen (from Ireland) and a couple of bars from Paul Parker (ex-pat in Cyprus).
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| Neck and neck at Base Station |
The sun was setting and the air had cooled somewhat. I finally got to use my Silva 2 Runner headtorch. I delayed putting it on for as long as possible to enjoy the light of the Full Moon and the many stars that you get in absence of sodium lights. After completing the lower loop, and then the first trot downhill, I deemed it was time to use it. It worked extremely well and threw light for a decent distance and running at night was brilliant fun. The solitude was amazing and I was so focused on what I had to do that I didn’t think anything all the noises coming from the surrounding bushes and the many pairs of eyes that froze and stared at you when you swept the torch around.
I pressed on, running as often as my legs (and chest) would let me. One of the features of an ultra – I find – is that your aerobic system gets stressed in a way that I certainly am not used to, and it just seems to get tired. There becomes a maximum intensity that I can get to without just feeling uncomfortable. A feature of the first lap was that despite me trying to reign back a little my average HR was approx. 160. Higher than planned and that was despite walking the steeper climbs. On the later laps it was all I could to get my heart rate up to 150. Tolerating that for any amount of time became difficult. Anyway, you go as fast as you can and gradually start to walk for slightly further after each climb to recover from the exertion.
The problem was, I had no idea how far back Misko was. Either his torch wasn’t working (someone mentioned after he had had a problem) or he was chasing me with stealth! Either way it was quite unnerving and made me press on at the maximum level possible. Ultimately I reached the Church for the last time – but this time didn’t take the time to stop and douse my noggin – simply headed for the steep downhill that follows and actually descended a lot quicker than the previous 3 laps, knowing an injury at this stage perhaps wouldn’t be a game breaker. I knew Misko was quicker than me going down.
Last trip past the ‘Five-ways’ aid station and I was absolutely desperate for a wee by this point. The ladies (Carol and friend) were back there so I couldn’t go somewhere near. I ran just far enough to be out of earshot and eyeshot and had my final call of nature – all the time worried that Misko would bound around the corner and say ‘see you at the finish – loser’. He didn’t and I was able to run back to the finish unchallenged (though I kept looking round for the tell-tale head torch call-sign). The level of elation and joy was something I have not experienced before, having overcome a challenge that I would have considered massively out of reach just 12 or so months before. Just to remind, last years 21k that I ran on the same course was my first ever run at that distance, so I had come a long way.
| Feeling great at the finish - for now. |
There were so many people still there who had probably finished their races hours ago and they cheered me to the finish. I had to sign back in on the board for one last time and then I could finally sit down and have my hard earned beer. That is – until my body decided that it needed to shut down. I started to feel quite light headed – people said I went really pale – and my body started to shiver. The fact I was in dripping wet clothes didn’t help. The first aid team, Eva, Nicola and Flora looked after me until I felt better. This didn’t feel like that long to me but apparently it took about 90 minutes of shivering and being force fed fluids, sugar and electrolytes. They must have done a good job because I was pi$$ing like a racehorse all night! In hindsight the absence of a doctor at an extreme heat event is a little disconcerting, but I am sure this has been fed back by others with more experience of these types of events.
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| In a bad way |
All in all an amazing experience. An amazing course in very testing conditions and extremely friendly and intimate feel to the race. There can’t be many harder 50 mile distance Ultras out there, so to say I not only completed it at first time of asking at this distance but also happened to stumble across the line first has quite a nice ring to it. The only down sides to this race were the same medal as last year (different sticker) and the high entry fee. The after race party was good fun, but the same entertainment as last year too. Plenty to work on but the basics are there. The 'Marvellous Mimi' Anderson went on to win the 135 version in a ridiculously good time, but then she does this sort of thing all the time. Have a look at her blog, here: http://marvellousmimi.com/v2/category/blog/ Amazing woman.
So, is that it? Who knows? I have the little matter of the Triathlon World Championships in Edmonton at the end of August, so it is back on the short stuff with a vengeance for 6 weeks.
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| Winner, 50 miles, Cyprus Ultra 2014 |