Get To The Pub By 4 Ultra - Bedford (2019)

A crazy ultra where everyone starts at different times with the intention of all finishing at the same time? I'm in! Especially when I heard it was organised (and I mean that in the very loosest sense of the word) by James Adams who featured in the Barkley Marathons film The Race That Eats It's Young (now showing on Netflix) as Woefully Unprepared English Man.

I suspect this was a combination of self effacing English humour and Hollywood editing as anyone who completes even one loop of the Barkley is a stone cold freaking legend of ultrarunning.

I started off in the 9:30 wave, leaving me 6 1/2 hours to 'get to the pub' having been warned that the 50k was actually 32.7 miles. We were giving detailed instructions such as 'TL, TR', 'Mind your head' and 'stop to read a lovely poem'. Needless to say I was getting mildly but repeatedly lost in the first 4 miles (as I was constantly being reminded by a lady with a Garmin who informed me I was "having a really bad day". Ah the camaraderie of the trails!).

Around that time I remembered I had attempted to load the gpx file into an app I'd downloaded on my phone. Hallelujah! There it was! Remarkably I still continued getting lost after opening the app, but at least now I was confidently lost.

Making better time I made a few new friends, Carl, an heroic ex-army guy who's run the London Marathon in 45lbs of kit and done Race To The Stone TWICE, and Barrie who races in sandals and has run the Copper Canyon Ultra in Mexico with the Tarahumara Indians. 

Running with others gave me a real boost. I found I could piggyback on their pacing meaning I needed less willpower to keep going.

Pounding away in the sun, we headed through an aid station in someone's front yard (with runners popping in to use the loo) and off onto a section we had been warned bore no relation to the GPX whatsoever, thrusting us back onto the vague and cryptic directions. As 3pm came up I found Radio5Live and listened to Liverpool beat Southampton. 4pm came and went and it was closer to 5pm when I finally got back to Box End Park. The park was full of people doing water things and those big banners things that usually mark the end of a race. I headed for some only to realise they lead straight into the lake. I ran over a bridge asking bystanders for direction to the finish line. I ran between 2 small traffic cones, one of which was knocked over. "Is that the finish line?" I asked. "Yes". "Oh. OK."

I 'got to the pub' by 4:45pm! coming 20th out of 35 finishers. It took me 7:15:00. 

Relief.

After lying down, soaking my feet in the lake and getting changed I finally 'got to the pub' - on my own as people were still waiting on other runners to come in, and had an ice cold coke - as I was driving straight to London afterwards. 

It was a mad race, but a good one. Feet swollen, one tiny blister and very tired of course, but I haven't destroyed myself and should be back training by the end of next week which was the goal. 

I'd like to do the race next year, if it happens, but the crazy thing is, if I'm a better runner this time next year, my handicap will be greater, so the race will keep getting harder!

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.  

Dukeries 40 2019

My longest race to date - 40.8 miles

8:39:08

91st place out of 109 finishers

Beautiful course -

Sherwood Forest (including Robin's Tree!), Cresswell Crags and Clumber Park.

       

Well organised (thanks Ronnie/Hobo Pace!), great volunteers and amazing soup!

My Two Broke Guys buddy Tom crewed for me as he had to DNS due to injury.

Very much a game of 2 halves.

First 34 miles - beautiful weather, feeling good, regular walk breaks worked well. Didn't quite eat/drink enough but felt OK and hit the last aid station slightly ahead of pace for an 8 hour finish.

Last 6.8 miles -Torrential rain, very bad tendonitis in right foot extremely bad tendonitis in left. Lost all sense of how much further to go and lost heart. Slowed to a crawl. Begun to doubt I was even still on course.

Lessons learned

Cheese, salami and honey bagels are the food of champions. But my post race ones need to be quartered and put in zip lock bags in case I want to eat them during the race.

Sweet chili mini kebabs seemed a good idea. But they really weren't. Salty is good. Spicy is not.

Don't discard the polypocket for your map even if it's really sunny. I did and when the rain came my map turned to mush and I had no clue how far I was from the end - which messed with my head.

Never trust anyone who tells you how far the finish line is. A fellow runner told me we were less than  two miles from the finish. We were at least five. That hurt.

Don't put your coat over your hydration pack. When it rains take your pack off and get all your rain gear out and then put it back on top. Having my coat over the bag made it too much hassle to get to my rain trousers, food and water. So I didn't.

Big shoes (size 11 for my size 9 feet) were definitely better for my toes - they didn't look like minced meat this time - but I don't know if the tendinitis was down to the miles/hours or the shoes.

I need to relube half way round - toes, crotch, butt.

I need to lube my entire butt crack - sorry folks TMI! I can't say for certain if the relative lack of pain in my hips and legs is just due to the agonising fire of chaffing in my nethers.

The 5:1 Run/Walk ratio (20 min run, 4 min walk) became a 4:1 then a 3:1 then a 2:1. I briefly flirted with a 1:2 and spent the last portion 'running by feel'. i.e. "I feel terrible, so I'm not running". In principle though it's a good idea, especially on races that don't have much vertical.

I had my running playlist going and popping in the ear buds when things got dark helped, but I wouldn't want to do a whole race that way.

Top Tunes

1) Here - Sho Baraka
2) I'm A Believer - Tedashii ft Trip Lee, Soye
3) Walk All Over You - AC/DC
4) No Sleep Till Brooklyn - Beastie Boys

Waterway 30 2019

Longest race so far 31.5 miles. Running with my buddy Tom. Our team - 'Two Broke Guys' because we frequently are!

Started off cold. 

Long, flat, slow, windy. But enough about me..

Hit the aid stations hard

Put on our best sprint for the official photographer

Genuine medals. We checked.

2018 Run Roundup

In 2017 my goal was to run a marathon.

In 2018 my goal(s) was(were) to become a marathon runner (by running more than one) and run my first ultra-marathon. I did it!

Ultra Marathon (50k) Peak District Challenge

Marathons - Longhorn and Snowdonia Eryri

Half Marathons - Maverick X (26k), Great North Run and Nottingham Christmas

Others - Sunrise 5k, Castle Rock 10k and a funk-load of Park Runs

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.

Good Times

This week the training has really kicked up a gear. I've run 13.7 miles twice (2:42 on the second one) plus a couple of shorter things. Today I ran another ParkRun PB and got my best position (due, no doubt, to all the bank holiday absentees) and then ran half of the Robin Hood half marathon course as prep for the race.

I also had my weigh in - and I've dropped all my holiday weight plus an extra pound! So I'm back to having lost over 3 stone this year and, with the holiday season over, I'll hopefully keep it off.

So how does a slow carb diet guy celebrate losing three stone? Like this!!!!

CHEAT DAY!!!

Oh, and I've found this documentary so inspiring, I've watched it twice