Lyke Wake 42m ultra Osmotherley to Ravenscar

Fancied something longer since VLM but couldn't find the right event. This came up, well known walking route created in the 1950s, aim then was to do it in a day, lots of history in the area, parts going back to Roman times, all for £12.

Start times from 4am onwards based on ability, 7.30am for me, but all must be finished by 5.15pm. Met a few people waiting, Nick from local fell running club, Kevin who described himself as a plodder but had done welsh trail marathon in sub 5hrs so maybe a sub 3:45 flat but had never done a ultra. Factor 50 sun block on, warm weather expected and tough hills in first 20 miles I didn't want to go off fast so happy to team up. Nick knew shortcuts to avoid 2 big hills, interested but wanted to do the proper route. We let him go after 4 miles, he was running light with tiny waist pack and his vest off. Lovely trail though, through woods & valleys, partly on the Cleveland way, up and down hills, gorgeous landscape. Just what I wanted. 

Checkpoint 1, 6 miles in an hour, Kevin and I chatting, the miles coming easy, I nibbled a single clif blok shot every 6-8 miles, didn't eat much at early checkpoints. Cp2 11 miles in under 2 hours, though we almost missed it and had to double back 2 mins. Confused British gas men with stove we thought were checkpoint at first :)

Hills started to go up, pace dropping, walked some sections.. Steep down appeared maybe 250ft, really hard on the quads & calfs. Felt something jarr and tighten below left knee into outside calf. Each step down painful - Worried. Stretched it a little and took a painkiller but not good. Cp3 lion inn was in the middle of Yorkshire Moors, and hopefully major hills done by then. Like a mirage it appeared or did it? Looked only a mile away but with no straight route to it took forever. Finally there, 3h40 for 18 miles those 7 miles had been slow draining 1hr45. my Missus was waiting in case I needed to change shoes, but fine. Dumped waterproof and extra kit to save weight though. 5 minute stop for some peaches and rice pudding, lots of water. From here on with sun properly up, made sure to fill my two .5l bottles at each stop and drink a few cups. Worst of the hills over? Or so I thought... Female runner flew past us, dressed as if doing a 5k, very light, zero baggage with her, sports drink left at each stop and car waiting at each checkpoint. Easy for some :).

Getting to Cp4 was a drag, twisty road going up hill and traffic flying past then more hills. Horrible section of heather with rubble strewn all over, couldn't run without risking injury, both of us nearly tripping over and twisting ankles. 90 minutes to do 11k. This carried on to the next cp, similar paths then a boggy area, just didn't let you get into a continuous running rhythm. Another hour and 6k done. We met a runner attempting back to back over 24 hours, who had started at 4pm the previous day from Ravenscar and then the race from Osmotherly in the other direction - limping, his calf had blown - and he had done Hardmoors 110 weeks before, scary.  Down another 250 ft then lovely stepping stones across a stream with house nearby. Quick look for hobbits, then straight back up to 250ft. Views kept you going and no pain from leg thankfully. 

Another hour to do another 5-6k, pretty much walking and way more hills than I expected, though Kevin took time at checkpoint texting his wife. Around 31 miles he was starting to slow (not unexpected) and needing to walk more, so as agreed said our goodbyes and carried on. Clear paths, legs feeling strong, let them off the leash and picked up speed. Miles started going to sub 10 min miles. With under 4 miles to go, thought sub 9 hours was still on, and ~50 minutes to do it. Crested to top of small hill, only to see a massive drop down and then a similar hill up soon after.

Cue loud swearing John McEnroe style. A few twinges in calf so careful going down stone steps, a bit demoralised, up a horrible hill, breathing hard. Elite runner (and race winner) whizzed past holding what looked like part of coat hanger with a hook.. what the hell was that? Then a few strides later, sponge put on the end, dipped in puddles we ran past and squeezed over head. Neat! Never seen that before.

Thick fog rolling in now. Finally at last checkpoint, I'd guessed less than 2 miles to go to be told just over 4miles? Booo. Cracked on, a bit down but determined. Through the fog, huge legs of radar tower appeared, top hidden in pea soup, looking like Martian tripod from War of Worlds.. Spooky but funny, I was easy pickings if it was real or the best sweeper van ever in a race?! 

Came to end of road, marshal pointed way, just over a mile to go, upped speed to 8 min mile. Foggy trail to the end, finally seeing the sea (normally a lovely view as my wife's earlier photo shows) ..

and suddenly the finish in sight, lots supporting, my Missus waving, finished with a sprint 9hrs 12mins, 26th of 60. Free beer at end was nice touch, plus thanks to my wife a well earned cheese & pickle sandwich/ pork pie combo waiting for the drive home. Kevin came in 25 mins behind me. Also amongst the finishers was an 80 year old man in just under 12 hours. Amazing. Fabulous event, next year will be the 50th running of the Wake and maybe the last one.. Will be there for that.

All in all, great race, just felt good to be alive in the hills.

start Carlton clay lion hamer stape Eller jugger finish time

7:30 8:30 9:25 11:15 12:44 13:48 14:45 16:05 16:42 9:12

VLM 2013

VLM 2013

Days before London, really low on confidence. Felt sluggish and honestly rubbish. Tapering I hoped. Achilles still a bit sore and had been off and on since Feb but had managed to arrive fit after a long 7-8 months training for VLM with aim of going sub 3:20, maybe even sub 3:15 GFA.

On start, met the 3:15 pacer hoped to follow him, bumped into club pal Nick who had run Blackpool 2 weeks before and was going for sub 3:10. From our RW group, managed to find Barry and chatted. Thirty seconds silence was perfect. Race started, I got going straight away, bar a bit of weaving only 20 secs off pace. RW pacer surged off, never to be seen again, no idea what pace. Also felt fine, that eureka moment of "Oh this! I remember how to do this." Felt very stupid.
 

At miles 2&3 went past club pals, Jess and then Sallie who I train with, both good sub 3:30 runners, yet I felt really strong, nicely below sub 3:15 pace and masses to spare. Amazing crowds. Around 3-4 miles caught sight of Oompa's top and sidled up to say hello & chat. Both doing well, same target, we knuckled down stuck to sub 7:25 pace and just kept it there for next 13 miles, Cutty Sark inside time even after only 6 miles. Miles going well, manual split and pace bands being checked. Clockwork. The lucozade pace band Oompa had was rubbish, black on black highlight for the big miles. Neither of us could read them, I had a homemade 3:14 one. Was fairly warm, pouring water over head regularly to keep cool.

Tower Bridge was as expected a fairly amazing sight. Half way mark, Oompa and I perfectly set, touch under 1:37. Both in good shape and not forcing the pace to get there either and a buffer below 3:15 time. Mile 14 we caught up to Nick club pal seen on start line going for 3:10, surely well off pace? No, he was holding back and about to accelerate. Chatted and let him go. We both had dips around 16 miles, Oompa's knee starting to hurt so I offered him a painkiller but he didn't want one yet. Could see my pal Nick ahead.. No kick. 17 miles he stopped and pulled over with cramp. Gutted for him and also a bit shocked. We had already seen KFC, and spotted Minni & AA ahead and said hello. 19-20 miles, head down, sunglasses on.. Focussed, in the zone. Seconds later, saw my Missus and another friend. Went from poker face to nutter in 2 seconds flat, big cheesy grin. All concentration lost :)

20 miles all on track 2:28 dead, 47 minutes to do 10k. 3:15 very much on. Next 6 miles. Had been taking 2 clif blok cubes every 4 miles from mile 4. No sports drink, fair bit of water to keep cool. Definite dip from mile 21-22 legs starting to hurt & tire, was getting harder, needed to grind miles out. Splits okay but going a few seconds slowing, still a 30 second buffer I thought. Had lost track of Oompa, but Freemers appeared and chatted for a few minutes. Could see Minni up ahead, really accelerating the last 2-3 miles. Can remember thinking, tired, just close eyes, but no if I do, I'm going to fall over. Kept it going somehow. Manual splits on watch waiting for mile no26. 800m to go, 600 - where is the mile marker? 385 yards to go, turn corner watch reading 3:14:30ish - SPRINT, going to be close.

Finished on the line just ahead of Minni :) and stopped watch, 3:15:07 (later :04). Gutted? Thought I would be but no. Getting anywhere near to 3:15 was beyond my wildest dreams. Tough race, conditions not easy and came within 15-20ft? Job most definitely done. Few things learnt, minor little race practice to get 100% right. 99.999% cant be too far wrong though.

Splits from VLM

Thames Trot 50 ultra

ITB really tight week before, couldn't sleep one night it was that sore, massage helped but really thought might not be able to do this - after 6 weeks of training for it. Due to flooding, change of route to more road - and more impact on legs - normal road shoes even suggested in race email so had bit of a wobble, not confident of finishing if leg went sore. Emailed organisers asking if possible to defer. No reply.

Hotel booked so we were going for a break anyway, at worst would get a decent long run in for marathon training then maybe drop out. Threw all sorts of things in bag, forgot lots. Not in the best of moods. My Missus was helping at checkpoint 2 so could change into trail shoes, even agreed to text to meet me at cp3 or 4 if I dropped out. Ultra running friend told me not too think this way, just enjoy it. Wise words.

Once I was there and on the start line, mood lifted, very inspiring. Lots of runners all shapes & sizes, great atmosphere. Off we went, someone said hello and asked if I knew the route (sort of, on my garmin & phone), and okay running at this pace? Dan asked if okay to run with me, he had done a sub 3 marathon last year but never an ultra just wanted to finish. Eeek. Ah okay. Faster than me, see how long this would last.

First 1/4mile, path flooded, 2 inches of freezing cold water went right through my road shoes. 44 miles to go with soaking feet? Another 250m and path flooded again...certainly woken up. Into country path, 4 inches of mud and really slippy... They had suggested road shoes? Miles going by though, some good 9 min miles with more road in first 10 miles than normal. single track now, mud both sides, skating around like bambi on ice. Aimed to take a single cliff blok cube every 6-7 miles (1/3 of a gel), drink lots of water and grab fruit cake at each checkpoint, Dan was having a gel. Managed to see friend at their local park run so quick hug. Another mud bath section, really hard work through forest. Check point 1. Dan & I going well as a pair, chatting, miles clicking along still in low 9 min miles.

Before cp2 his heel got a bit tight, offered him some ibuprofen and took some early myself. Feet absolutely soaked through. Could also feel something moving on sole of my shoe, sole hanging off hopefully and not bits of my foot :) Shoes owed me nothing, 800 miles in them, 2 marathons. No aches or pains though, I felt great, really comfortable. Cp2 approaching 16 miles gone , we agreed to take our time, take off jackets, sort ourselves out, take a walk break. Saw my wife, no surprise to her, my first words "I'm going to finish this"... I was in the zone according to her, body language completely changed. Weird. Trail shoes on, heavier sole but very grateful for the grip.

Can remember saying to Dan with a giggle "only a marathon to go.. we are going to do this!". His Dad went past in a car and briefly said hello, Dan's entire family seemed to be were waiting at CP3, wife mum dad, nan. We concentrated on sticking to our intakes of food, occasional painkiller and lots of water, making sure each other was doing same so no big dips in energy.

Making good time, through half way 21-22 miles in 3:30. Cp3 Goring approaching. We took a time out here, 5 minutes, enjoy extra food, pork pies, cornish pasties, something savoury to keep your body going other than gels plus more of the lovely cake. Finally met Dans family, he passed his jacket to them to keep out of his pack. Dan also had 20 fun size mars bars in his back pack & potato he told me but didn't really register.

Cp3 to 4 no major incidents, more walking breaks up the hills, got us upto roughly 30 miles and still making good time. Dan kept taking his gels but pretty sure they were having less effect each time. We rounded a corner to see the path completely blocked, deep water on path for 100 plus ft, 4 of us ran off to the road at right and straight on to see if a way around, couldn't expect us to go through that surely? Ended up for 5 mins by allotments and a college gym, but no way through. Finally saw some runners further on path through hedge, we all squeezed through hole in fence and straight into soggy park land. Just had to follow that Thames path or what wasleft of it.

Just about to hit the worst bit (photo not mine).

A mile or so on we came to the absolute lowest point of the race. Flat park land completely flooded, 2-4 inches of water, no way around it, and approx 1/4m to run across. Just before the end of this, it went deeper and deeper, past your knees, grit teeth and run through. Out the other side, none of us could move our feet they were so cold - we had to walk for couple of minutes. Only another 12-13 miles to go :)

CP5 seemed to take an age to come up, finally after a few more flooded bits, it appeared. Lots of people had complained to them. Take on last food needed, lots of water. Roughly 6-7 miles to go. We kept going. Somewhere in this section, we passed 2 black swans by the river. I'd never seen a pair of real black swans before - Amazing.

Swans on Thames (photo not by me)

However, we all felt colder,  that water had really lowered our body temperature. Dan started to shake, his hands were freezing. He'd handed his jacket to his family.. and didn't look good now. Got my trail jacket from backpack and zipped him up, walked for awhile, made him eat something. Soon back to normal and able to run again. I felt okay but hands cold too so put another pair of gloves on.

3 miles to go, pace slowing. Dan tiring. Wanted some of the salad potatoes in the tupperware box, very dense though, too slow to get working. Shoved a few of the fun size mars bars into him, We missed a turn around here but so did 40-50 others. Henley soon in sight though. Town approaching. Turned corner near station, Yellow finish arrow pointing to finish, we sprinted the last half mile 8 min mile pace, not too shabby after 44 odd miles. Through the line with everyone waiting for us. just over 8 hours.

Great finish and a fantastic experience. Lots of hugs. Sure Dan & I will meet again, do another ultra. We kept each other going from the start right to the finish line.

Lots of things learnt.
Never start a race thinking of quitting or planning to. Not worth the worry.
Much better running longer distance with someone, pace better, look after each other.
Once I'm running, I can keep going and (in some strange way), enjoy it.
Your legs dont explode after 26 miles. They don't after 35. Or 45 miles. Do they ever ? It's just a mental thing.

Off to find some races for later in the year. Next time, who knows maybe 65 miles? Then ...

Ribble 10k 30/12

Where to start - struggled big time, and at my absolute limits. Hard to take in at the time too.

Aim was sub 40 which thought was doable & heard this was fast but found out later a "few" hills. Pal Mitch from Penny Lane club came too, try pacing each other. Arrived an hr early but only 12 toilets & no urinals for 1000+ men? Almost didn't have time for a warm up. Cold, wet, rain coming down in a drizzle and a strong wind across us, tough conditions. Managed to find my pal near the start line but no tactics agreed.

Other 10ks or league races I've got to steady pace early on (for 10k sub 4min km - 3:55-57 for safety) but 2 ups in km 1-2 was impossible here. First split 4:07 so already off pace, needed to go faster? With pal, we ran together for next km or so, next marker came up another 13 seconds off. Mentally thought I'd blown it already.. 20 seconds off so soon? Only thing I could do was try make up time, push harder, left pal about 3km. More hills and splits came up - even more time lost.

Frustration set in - by 7km, only one km under 4 mins and already 30-35 seconds off target even when I'd pushed so hard, nearly 5k pace. I'd given up on sub 40, feeling down, maybe sluggish with Xmas, expected to blow up and friend appear on my shoulder. Hung in there somehow.

Around 7km started getting some incline back, found some energy maybe off the few downs, really upped pace. 10-15 seconds pulled back, low 40 min time possible? 8k Another shallow but long hill but carried on same pace even though it was hurting, feeling sick. 9km marker doing manual lap, glanced at time, 36m 15-20s? Very slim chance with 1km to go, but needed to give everything. Down a hill some extra speed, then with a 400 metre to go sign visible another sneaky incline. Agony. Sprint!

Through line, Stopped watch, 39:57. Couldn't believe it. I had gone under 40 minutes on and on a course like this. Last km found was close to  mile PB pace and beyond painful - nearly puked on the line. Felt I'd had an awful  race, course and conditions wore you down, so testing - but end result great finish to the year to get last of my long term targets 5k to marathon way ahead of schedule. This was the hardest of them by a mile though... a great learning experience though ultimately how to run a different type of race.

Split    Time    Dist    Elev+    Elev-    Avg Pace

1    04:07    0.62    62    46    06:36

2    04:13    0.62    59    7    06:49

3    04:04    0.63    39    36    06:27

4    04:08    0.63    49    26    06:35

5    03:49    0.61    16    52    06:15

6    04:09    0.64    33    43    06:29

7    04:05    0.62    49    23    06:36

8    03:52    0.63    0    62    06:07

9    03:44    0.59    30    46    06:20

10    03:47    0.65    62    69    05:51

Summary    39:57    6.24    400    410    06:23