Maverick X-series Snowdonia Long 2019

Crazy long drive to Wales - just made the 'cutoff' at Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel! Woke before 6 after a fitful night and just made it to the start in time.

The day was hot and remained dry throughout. I'd already decided to drop to the LONG (26m route) from the ULTRA but realised that if I started with the ultra bods I'd get an extra hour on the course - and I could drop down a level later (this is allowed). I need all the time I can get!

The plan was to power hike up and down Snowdon using the poles and then 'race' after that. I didn't want to burn myself out so early in the race and I knew from watching videos that a descent down Watkin path wasn't runable at all. Just get up and down in one piece with some quads left. 

It was worrying how tough even power walking was from a CV POV, I made it up [1:45] and down in good time but still missed the cutoff by about 15 mins. 

[View from the back of the pack #1] 

I've come to the sad realisation that if I'm going to beat cut offs I don't have time to take a single selfie (which doubles as a 'hey family, I'm still alive and on course' message) or stop to enjoy the view or smell the roses (there are no roses on Snowdon). Which is a real shame cos on a clear day like today you can see the sea.

 

Approaching the summit.

Just back down from the summit. 60 mph headwinds.

Pretend you're having fun!

Descending Watkin was OK because I was extremely cautious, until I started getting overtaken by the elites who'd started running the LONG at the proper time and were overtaking me like gazelles with death wishes. You can't help speeding up and it's a recipe for disaster. Forcing myself to slow down and run my own race meant I still fell flat on my back onto razor sharp slate but at least I did it at a leisurely pace. 

Finally made it off the mountain onto a gloriously flat tarmac road ... and twisted my ankle. Almost in shock at my own stupid clumsiness I started running the last few yards to the aid station. They informed me I was officially on the LONG route now as I'd missed the first cutoff (no problem) but in my mind I was doing everything to get out of the aid station before they noticed me limping and pulled me completely. 

Running up to this point had been bearable but a few minutes of standing still had made it painfully seize up. I entertained thoughts of dropping, or being forced to drop but after a few minutes of jogging along the road I settled on a policy of 'relentless forward motion' to see what that would bring.

My revised race strategy consisted of:

• start taking ibuprofen now
• don't stop for anything unless I have to
• no fixing feet (I'd never get my shoes back on)
• rely on the poles - at least with a completely busted ankle I had 2 'crutches' with me. 

Yay for poles!

Problem #2 - Water. Trying to beat the cutoffs at the second aid station meant I skimped on water and ran out before the third. Thank God for trail angels! A family that lived in the middle of nowhere were outside their house with buckets of fresh water and a hosepipe waiting for idiots like me to come along. 

Problem #3 was the 'other' two 'hills'. On paper they were dwarfed by Snowdon. Sadly I wasn't running on paper. They were terrible. This kind of terrible - 

[The view from the back of the pack #2]

 That's just a tiny bit of what the 'easy part' of the race looked like.

Problem #4 - Water (revisited). While I was having problems putting enough water into me, I was having no problem putting me into water. Fording rivers - ugh! Boggy marshland meant I was constantly getting up to my ankles and once up to my knee in peat. Wet feet and dragging half of the Welsh countryside along for the ride with me. A winning combo.

 I've got to admit as I tried and failed to keep within the cutoffs, my mental soundtrack was "Why am I doing this?" by the artist formerly know as "You're really crap at this". The poles probably helped me preserve my ankle, but slowed me down because I was still using them on runnable bits (there were a couple). It's tempting to blame the injury but I don't think I would have been much faster if I'd been uninjured. It was my overall fitness on the climbing that let me down.

I ran most of the last 4k (which included a suicidal, involuntary, gravity-assisted sprint down the approach road to the Ranger Path) and crossed the finish line a wreck of my former self, 40 minutes after the cutoff (1:40 really, if you include my early start).

9:40

I chugged a coke till my lungs threatened to explode, and then sat in a deck chair, scared to take my shoe off.

I covered 26 miles in 9:40, sprained my ankle, scraped my elbow, fell down five times, I also tripped over my own poles once, took a mouthful of dirt and waded through bogs. On the plus side I got a nice medal, a very nice T-shirt and spent some quality time with my son. 

UPDATE - Typing this up a few months later, the disappointment at being so slow has faded. I think I did all right - 26 miles anywhere is still a big achievement, let alone on Snowdon, and I shouldn't discount the mental resilience needed to finish with a sprained ankle.

I like the Maverick races, but the cutoffs are extremely challenging. UPDATE The 2020 races that have been announced have more generous cutoffs and (to my mind) easier routes. 

[Good photos by Phil Hill and Jake Baggaley. Other photos by me.]

Maverick Peak X Series - Long (46k) 2019

Had booked for the 64k Ultra but realised I'm locked in a vicious cycle of running undertrained, then breaking myself, then not being able to train at all, then running the next race undertrained and ...

So I dropped to the 46k option with the goal of completing without breaking myself. Secondary goal was beating the cutoff followed by a PB compared to my two closest races. 

Like last year it was crazy hot but at least this time I didn't have a sprained ankle so I was hopeful. 

Well I totally underestimated the terrain. It wasn't just the vert but the fact that the majority of the course was so technical. Sharp stones and roots, (literally) crazy paving, really narrow heather-lined paths that made me keep kicking myself in the ankle. And so much of it on the downhills.

We started 15 minutes late, due to an evil farmer locking the gates and parking his lethal tractor in the way, but I still missed every cut off point by 5 or 10 minutes even after I engaged on a suicidal downhill duel with a reject from Wonka's chocolate factory (seriously dude, your running club's colours must have looked way better on paper) but the race organisers were chilled and I still bagged a medal even though I finished 1 min 47 secs over the cut off. 

Above: I was only smiling cos i thought I'd overtaken another runner. Turned out to be the official photographer. 

Below: Lose (the will to live) Hill in the distance.

Top of Win Hill. Only 3k to go.

Finish - finally. 

8:01:47

Things I learned 

Unlike my last race I kept eating - whenever I felt grumpy I ate. Good strategy. And rather than deciding that I fancied a certain food and then eating it, I ate a little of something and then decided based on how it felt AFTER eating it. This worked really well. 

My size 11 trail shoes meant only 1 blister - big toe as usual - but no bruises (apart from where I'd repeatedly kicked my left ankle) and no tendonitis. Maybe the kicking was down to my massive boats, but it could have just been lack of overall fitness/form and the stupid narrow trails. My ankles were destroyed by the technical trails. 

I topped up the hydration pack at every opportunity - good move. And relubed after 35k (meant to do 25k but forgot). Still got SOME chafing but that was not applying it in the right spots.  

Race Review: The Maverick Inov-8 X Series: Peak District (Middle - 26k)

Pros

ideal for a first ultra
beautiful location
good mix of terrain
well marked course
medal
high quality free photos
three distances (16km, 26km, 46km – can change on the day)
free parking
well stocked aid stations
nice post race area with deckchairs and food/drink tents

cons

too far till first aid station
inaccurate distances
very small selection of photos available
massive logjam in first km of race

Tips

Take even more water than you think you'll need
take your own photos if you're into that
sprint the start or wait to cross the start line
If in doubt sign up for the longer distance and drop down on the day

I'm training for my first ultra in Sept so I decided to do The Maverick Inov-8 X Series: Peak District to prepare. I arrived with a sprained ankle on a sweltering hot day in July to run the middle distance (26km). I chose the race for it's location, lack of navigation requirements and generous cut off (10 hours), started off DFL but managed come in about 13 places from the end in 5:30 plus change.

The race takes place in the 'Dark Peak' area of the Peak District starting in Hope and climbs Win Hill, descends past Ladybower Reservoir around Kinder Scout, through the village of Edale and up to Mam Tor and Crowden Head before returning to Hope.

The three distances start together and split off, reuniting just before the end. The whole course is brilliantly marked with blue signs or blue tape every 0.5m. It's basically impossible to get lost. The location is stunningly beautiful and varied - lakes, woods, mountains, fields, villages - and covers every type of terrain, from fields, dirt trails and gravel roads, to technical (treacherous rocks and roots), paved paths and steps with even a bit of beginners rock scrambling thrown in.

I picked the middle distance, but everyone was given the option to drop down distances on the day, no hassle, some did due to the heat or injury and I suspect others did to be back in time for the England v Sweden kick off.

For all these reasons I'd say The Maverick Series races are a brilliant first step for anyone wanting to get into trail, mountain or ultra running.

Overall I would recommend this race. However - a few cons.

The distance to the first (and only) aid station on the middle distance was way too far. I took 2L of Hi5 with me and had run out of fluid an hour before I got to the aid station. Now admittedly I am really slow, but I was by no means the slowest and the station was 6k further than was advertised. We were warned beforehand to drink lots, as stations could only be placed where there was road access, but I feel this is a safety problem that the race directors need to look at again.

Stated distances seemed a little vague. I hate 'my Garmin says...” pedantry as much as the next man, but I was running the 26k with an aid station at 11k. When I arrived at the aid station there was a sign saying “17k done. 10 to go”.

The course is incredibly narrow right at the beginning. In the first 0.4k you have a single track path, crossing a tiny bridge, another single path leading to a stile, followed immediately by a second stile. No problem for a back of the pack-er like me, but anyone wanting to set a PB should beat the queues by either sprint from the start or hang back and cross the start line 5 minutes after the gun. This is one of those races that would benefit from a staggered start for each distance.

Along with a medal (nice, heavyweight, identical for all distances) finishers get 'event photography' which is free to download post race. On the plus side these are really high quality artistic photos. But on the downside these are primarily photos of the event. Other event photos are searchable by race number, but the Maverick's are just in a downloadable gallery. You can hunt for photos of you, but you might only find stunning shots of the scenery, the race director, a cowbell, drinks, medals, the ground, legs and of course some of the runners.

This is a great first race and I'd love to come back next year and try the longer distance.