Written by Mike Raffan - http://ultramiker.blogspot.co.uk/

So holidays, we are mid conversion of our T5 camper and desperate to test out the new RIB we have just installed so what better way then 10 days in the lakes. fits weekend we were volunteering at the Lakeland 100/50 race. We had signed up to team Chia Charge for the Howtown rodeo.


It was a thuroly great day and thankfully it didnt rain so we were outside most of the time. I allocated myself on directing the cattle as they came in, you would believe the amount of people that didnt seem to realize they had to dibb in at the checkpoint. The most memorable ppoint of the day was when a runner (later to be name Anna Roberts) turned up looking a big sheepish since she had left the checkpoint about an hour and a half previous. she had found a runner on the next hill (the steepest of the race) who was not feeling well, she walked with her the 3 miles back to the checkpoint. she waited about another hour before we managed to persuade her she will have just enough time to get to the next checkpoint within the cut offs and off she went. sadly she got timed out later in the race but she knows if she hadn't lost that 2plus hour she would have easily made it. Word were had with the race directors and Anna has been given a free entry for next years race and good luck to her.


After spending the next week roaming the lake and the Yorkshire moors we headed over to Whitehaven on the west coast. We arrived in Whitehaven and thought this place is a bit depressing it has a feel of an old mining town that once was something. Quick google to find out that's exactly what it is. It did matter what happens in this race I am not allowed to do it again if I want Annette will crew for me, she doesnt want to return to Whitehaven. W managed to find a free carpark 5min from the start, from our weeks experience in the are a free carpark is a rare thing (unless you know where to look). Alarm set for 5:45 enough time for some breakfast a visit to the 24hour Tesco for the loo and check in at the harbor.

7:02AM and we were off, next stop the other side of the country. I had just done a coast to coast a month ago but the Great Glen from Fort William to Inverness is but a training run in comparison to what was ahead. 140mile of road running. we were provided with a Sustrans map and an detailed description of the major turnings to look out for. Because we were following the C2C cycle route the almost every corner was already marked with the only problem being the c2c has about 3 different start point and the same at the finish so you just had to make sure you were on the right one.

Right of the off I made my intentions clear I was planning to run this as fast as i could manage. The night before we wondered around town and looked at the first 1/2 mile of the course until it hit a real old railway style cycel route, and it was just after this was the first "oh crap" moment do i go straight on with the obvious looking route or do i take the right that is marked as a cycle route.   errrr pause wait for the GPS to load why has nobody caught up yet. ah a local "excuse me is this the way to Newcastle... I mean is this the C2C cycle route" I got a nod and I was off again.

Annette had a crew book provided by the race and I had marked on it roughly every 10 miles where I wanted her me meet me. After 20miles i was told I was 5 miles up, which was unexpected, briefly looking at the start list I thought there was 2 names that I thought might give chase. Racing in England I only knew that people that i previously met at The Hill 6months earlier, so in fact i didn't really know who would do well.

I started the race in my new Inov8 tri-exterme pretty minimal road shoe, previous to they they had done 12miles. Who says dont try new stuff on race day. They were probably defiantly were not he right choice the the first off road bit of the course. the old coach road which is part of the Lakeland 100 course so I got a free recce for next year. I run out of water during this stage and reluctantly had to fill up for a stream. I dont normally have a problem drinking stream water but with the one rule if there are sheep in the field near by dont drink it. There were sheep and the water was tinted brown but with another 4 or 5 mile bore meeting Annette it was a drink i had to take. As the day went on the heat got up, I had only been carrying one 500ml bottle and for the fist 3 check points and every time I was running out of water. so I started to take 2. earlier in the week we managed to get a deal on 500ml bottle of coconut water so I bought 12 of them and lucky the fitted perfectly in my bag. It was to have something different to taste.

50miles in I had had enough with the shoes they had felt great but I think 50 miles is about their limit for a first long run so I swapped into my Salomon's. I normally dont like swapping shoes mid race after a bad experience in the west highland way a few years back where my foot felt worse after. but need must.

Mark made a point that because we were running on road everyone should be wearing something high viz at all time, I went for bight yellow bits on all my tshirts. With a high viz vest from the pound shop as a backup. Because of this rule when i got the point I would normally take off my tshirt as i was too hot i just suffered the heat instead. later on in the day Annette managed to buy some ice from a local shop, so I was eating it and putting it in my water. At the Langwathby meet I took a buff and wrapped 5 ice cubes in it and stuck it down the back of my neck. Having all the camping gear with us meant I was able to have real food cooked for me. when I say real food it was rehydrated camping food but it tasted great. As I was leaving Langwathby I shouted over to Annette I had forgotten my Buff, I would need to to keep the sun off my heat, she could understand what i was shouting at then I remembered my buff was down my neck with 5 ice cubes in it and it was so warm I had forgotten about them.

72miles according to my watch, was the Hartside cafe and to me this was the half way point. I had my watch on battery save mode so it only picks up GPS every 10seconds and record every minite but on straight ish road it pretty accurate. Mark had warned us before th race to nor trust the Sustrans measurement so I was going by my watch which always seem to be about 3 miles either side of their measurements. i think they said we were at 68 miles at that point.

At 85miles while trying to force down a Aldi bar which served me well at Great Glen I manage one bite before the beans from my camping meal a few hours earlier made it way on to the side of the road. this is only the second time I have been sick due to running and I dont know if it was the heat from earlier, the brown water or just one of those things. after the second hurrel everything felt a lot better.

If you look at the map the race is in 3 parts and this is how Mark described it in the briefing, first 50miles is a bit hilly, the next 50 is worse then its all flat from then on. I think he was probably right but that didnt mean the last 40 were easy. There is a physiological point at 100miles that makes everyone slowdown, I coaght my slef ding this, I was walking along a flat bit, soon had word with myslef and started running again but norbefore I managed to get a photo of the sunrise. Some how I managed to get to the next meeting point and Annette wasnt expecting me for another 10min.

At Rowland Gill just outside Newcastle I got some people cheering me on, by how did they know? I wasnt wearing a number whats going on? they had seen Annette in her high viz and asked what the event was. She was happier with that than the people earlier thinking she was a carpark attendant about to clamp them. Just after leaving Annete I saw Alex (Marks wife) I didnt recognize her from being at the Hill but I am sure she will forgive me after 120miles. She ask if i was doing ok but i either I was too scottish for her or I was just not making any sence. heres how I thought th conversation went.

"hey mike how you doing, do you need anything"
"Doing geat, just met Annet over there and all topped up"
"you sat on a what?"
"no Annette, over there"
*point
Anntte waves
"ahhhh"

I asked Alex how far it was to go she said 19miles and that matched up with my watch. On the run in through Newcastle I was surprised thet 90% of the runner that I passed said hello. Some people even spoke, I asked how far to the coast and everyone of them gave a different answer between 6 and 16 miles. so why didn't I believe my watch and Alex that both said 19. One guy ran beside me and I think he was wanting a running buddy he ask how far I was going I said to the coast, and he sound like he was going to join me, then i told him I was 130miles down already and he was dumb stuck. he was asking load of questions about the race until he released that i was understandably going a bit slower then him.

2miles to go 18min to get sub 31hours, my watch said 7:30m/m at one point it felt like 6m/m and it was probably ore like 10m/m. crossed the line and....................Marks said 31:01. no wait how? ah bugger and I didnt press stop properly on my watch. Ah but remember back at the start the race started at 2min past the hour. I had finished 30:59:12 a new course record by just under an hour and most importantly a win.

Some people said to me afterward who had been watching the gps tracking of the race. they thought I was in 8th but i think the tracked took time to update at times and I was number 8 but always in first.

Damage report 1 blister, legs felt fine no water retention like after The Hill I even took part in the clubs hill race 2 days later. This was a totally different type of race from The Hill its easier but in terms of enjoyment give me the hill any day.