1 - we headed up a day early, and spent a night in Ambleside. The YHA is pretty cool.
2 - Mel and the girls were marshalling at Kentmere. So I would get to see them an extra time on the course.
3 - I wasn't racing. Don't get me wrong, I had no intention of hanging around, the plan was to run steady, get in under 9 hours, and not damage myself so I could have a decent crack at the CCC a month later.
Everything else was basically the same though.
Registration went smoothly, although every time I step on the scales, I seem to weigh more..I blame the Fintons breakfast I had before we came up (the best little cafe where we live sells amazing food!). We hung around a bit, played on the park, and counted down the time until the L100 legends set off. The girls also nipped in and got their faces painted as foxes (and they were amazing!).
All too soon, the 100 guys were off, and the countdown was on to the L1. The girls were super-excited, and Esmee was running it by herself this year (Little Miss Independent at 7 years old!). The dance was danced, the countdown counted down, then they were off, at about 6 minute miles! I had to nearly sprint to catch up to Josie! We managed to dodge all of the people falling over, and were having a bit of to-and-fro with Charlie Sproson and his lad, until the heavens opened and the face paint started running. We finished, with all the children's face paint looking a little more...sinister.
Back to the Sun Inn, for food, sleep, and to actually stick all the kit in my race pack!
Sleep was fairly broken, but I was up, at 7ish, feeling pretty good. Collected together all the stuff I thought I'd need (along with the headtorch that was under the chair!) and made my way down to the event centre for breakfast. Had a nice bowl of porridge, some of Rinaldo's fantastic coffee and chatted to as many people as I recognised!
Next up was the Marc and Uncle Terry show, which although it has been refined over the years, is still pretty similar to the one I sat through in 2010! Next was on to the bus, just getting sat down as Mel and the girls arrived with the banana I had forgotten. They passed it to a lady who passed it to me, then we waved goodbye and went on our separate adventures - me to Dalemain, Mel to Kentmere CP.
It was pretty cosy on the bus, I was sat in a row of 3, at the window. Not entirely sure who was next to me, but the next lad over was Adam Firth, veteran of a few others and it turned out we had a mutual friend - Chris Baynham-Hughes, the man whom everyone seems to know. We had a chat about this and that, I knocked back the banana, and half a bottle of Mountain Fuel Xtreme, and tried not thinking about how much I needed a wee.
The hour or so spare was spent downing the rest of my Mountain Fuel, chatting to Tony, Katie, Casper, Adam Lloyd and Kevin Perry, and cheering through the L100 Legends. Kept my big coat on too, as the liquid sunshine was out in full force. Finally people started funneling in to the starting pen, so I swapped big coat for small coat, and made my way in and to somewhere near the front line, having a nice chat with Kevin.
Countdown from 10, then we were off, chasing Marc around the 4 mile loop of Dalemain Estate. Briefly toyed with the idea of catching up to Marc and racing him around the loop, then remembered what I was there for, just to enjoy it with no expectations of performance, and no chasing down everyone in front! There was the usual mad dash of everyone charging past, but it settled down quicker than normal - maybe the weather had put a dampener on it, but by the time we finally got off the fields and on to the dirt road through the estate. I had no idea what position I was in, and wasn't too bothered.
Past Marc at the Dalemain CP, over a few more fields, then finally onto some good trail towards Pooley Bridge. I really enjoy the wooded section here, and there's always such good support through the town, gives such a good boost. From Pooley Bridge there's a long drag up to the Cockpit, which is entirely runnable this early on in the race, and having the company of Matt Leigh (10th place last year in 8:45!) up the last bit. From there, it's a protracted downhill all the way to Howtown. It's really easy to go to fast on this bit and use a bit more energy than you need to at this early stage, but I just relaxed, and got down doing as little damage as possible.
Howtown. 1:25, 14th
Howtown is the Chia Charge CP, these guys are great. Had a very brief chat with Jerome McCulla, some coke, refilled Mountain Fuel bottle, quick photo:
Back out of there, up the road, then off to Fusedale! This section is the bit where people find out if they've gone off too fast - the hard way. I had a nice chat with Adam Firth up the first part, then just kept a steady power hike going when it got steep. At the top of the first steep section I passed my Old County Tops partner Simon Lowther who was still in good humour despite doing the 100, and a 50 runner. Also saw Tony Holland in the distance, but slightly closer than I expected.
Second steep section, and back to power-hiking. Up the top, and Tony is definitely getting closer. I resist the urge to speed up overtake, just maintained pace and eventually caught him near the bottom of the hill, just around the where the bracken starts. Turns out he was having...stomach issues. Down to the trail along the edge of Haweswater, one of my favourite bits. It's undulating, and technical underfoot, and suits me well. I passed a few 50 runners along here, and teamed up with Daniel Jones, eventual 8= place with his running buddy John Cook. Apparently, John had just got back from Vegas, and was feeling a bit rough at that point, so Daniel and I kept each other company until we hit Sparta, a.k.a. Mardale Head CP
Howtown -> Mardale 1:44, 10th place.
Was in and out of here pretty quickly, cup of coke, refill bottle of Mountain Fuel and OMG CHEESE AND PICKLE SANDWICH! So I grabbed one of those, then followed Dan Miller and Richard Smith of The Endurance Store Trail Team. I was steadily closing in on them, but then I really needed a wee, so I ended up just following them all the way up Gatescarth, then all the way down Sadgill. I caught them heading up to Sadgill Wood. They then shot past again on the descent into Kentmere, where we passed another 50 runner who had aggravated and old injury and was struggling on the descents. Just outside of Kentmere I passed the legendary Mike Evans cracking on with the 100, then was paced into the CP by Kirk Hardwick, dressed in some sort of weird hybrid teddy-bear sheep, and my eldest daughter Esmee which was pretty special.
Mardale -> Kentmere, 1:16, 9th
I had a nice, steady trot up Garburn, walking the steepest bits, cheering on the 100 runners when I saw them (although this year, it was looking a little more sparse in terms of 100 runners). It was a pleasant surprise to see Debbie Martin-Consani and co at the top, then it's all the way down to Troutbeck. Again, a nice trot down here without going for any land-speed records like previous years so I could keep my quads intact, with some fantastic views. I was expecting Dan and Richard to come bombing past me at some point down here, but no such luck.
Troutbeck came and went, with some vocal support at the top of the road climb, then it's some fantastic running from here to Ambleside with some quality views over Windermere. I managed to run most of it, except for the steep bits, which was pretty satisfying. I was also still feeling really good, having to consciously stop grinning as walkers were giving me funny looks... Hitting Ambleside, the noise and clapping and support was amazing as I trotted into the CP, paced by my Support Crew.
Kentmere -> Ambleside 1:22, 7th.
Everything happened pretty quickly here. Quick hello to Charlie and Mike, bottle refilled with Mountain Fuel, coke was drunk, momentary indecision over before I spotted more CHEESE AND PICKLE SANDWICHES! Grabbed one, then off I trotted towards Loughrigg Fell.
I quite like this bit, as it's a good honest grunt to the top, then a nice descent down to Skelwith Bridge. Nothing untoward or unusual happened here, saw 2 L100 runners, some sheep and that was it. Saw the awesome Lee Knight at the beginning of the trail to Elterwater, then just relaxed and enjoyed to run along the river. It felt nice to be running relaxed along here with no pressure for position, or time limit to run to. Mel and the girls were waiting in the carpark by the bridge, for another lot of quick hugs, then Mel lets drop that "there's a guy in a Salomon top, only about 30 seconds behind you! Get a move on!".
Almost pulled me out of my Zen moment, had to remind myself that I wasn't there to race, just to enjoy. (Also turns out, that bit of news was from Kentmere, and the guy in question was the one who had aggravated a previous injury. There was noone within quite a few minutes of me!)
Kept on running steady, round the Wainwrights Inn, good to see Matt Wilson there, then the long run into Chapel Stile CP, which really didn't seem so long at all this year.
Ambleside -> Chapel Stile 53 minutes, 7th
Again, everything was efficient. Bottle of MountainFuel refilled, coke consumed, biscuit grabbed, off I jog. Also this time, a lady who was staying at Chapel Stile was going to join me for a bit. She was training for the Nessy marathon, which a mate of mine is also doing later this year. Unfortunately, and probably a bit ungentalmanly (is that even a word?), I was still moving well and left her behind after a short while. This section up to Blea Tarn is quite undulating, and reasonably hard work but was quite enjoyable this year, although the zig-zags are always tough!
Blea Tarn and Blea Moss are an absolute joy to run along, the first smooth and fast(ish!), the second some nice technical running. Great fun!
Chapel Stile -> Unmanned Dibber 45 Minutes, 7th
Hadn't seen any 50 runners since I left Kentmere, and was starting to get a little lonely! Steady trot down the hill, past Fell Foot Farm, along the track then start the steady climb up over the second-to-last hill. Here I got the news from one of the 100 runners that a 50 was not too far in front, and flagging. I'll admit, here my self control dropped a bit. By a bit, I mean completely. I went on the hunt. I ran most of the climb, then properly ran down the other side into High Tilberthwaite, keeping a good pace along the road into Tilberthwaite CP.
Unmanned Dibber -> Tilbethwaite 26 Minutes, 7th
This stop was my shortest, just grabbed half a bottle of coke (no MF this time, sorry Rupert!) and was off, but not before I found out that my wife is now more recognisable than me! (Oh hey, aren't you Mel Brennan's husband? Well done, keep going!)
A solid power hike up the steps and oh hey, there's the 50 runner! Russell was sat, eating a bag of crisps, with a thousand-yard stare. I gave him a bit of encouragement, then moved on. Somewhere along here was a photographer in a side-cave, which was a surprise, but the biggest was seeing a bloke in blue look back, then start running a bit.
I knew it was a 50 runner. I knew I had to pass him. I'd obviously been closing in on him, so I just kept the momentum going. By the time we got to the flattish middle section where the No Limits Photography was taking snaps, I could see the white sticker clearly. By the time we were 3/4 of the way up the very final climb, I edged past him. Gave him some encouragement, then did my best to drop him.
That didn't happen. He stayed on my tail for the final section of the climb, the flat bit of path to the descent down the quarry, then he was on my tail all of the way down the quarry. A quick hi to Janson Heath, who was not exactly having the time of his life, then down to the road, followed very closely by Michael. Down the road, as fast as I dared, he was still breathing down my neck. Off the hill, onto the flat road, past Ben Thomas for a quick hello, past the Black Bull, can't push yet, across the road, up to the petrol station, hit it! I went, pushed hard up to the corner, then nailed it all the way down.
I really need to stop getting myself into sprint finishes on long races.
Michael dibbed in 20 seconds later
Tilberthwaite -> Coniston, 38 minutes (2nd fastest of the day?), 5th.
8:32:36. Interestingly, my 2nd fastest time, only 4 minutes down on my PB, but with a whole lot less hurt.
Medal and t-shirt collected, cup of tea downed, then it was time to sit down and catch up with the other racers, my family, and watch other competitors finishing. Probably the best bit of all of this was watching my wife and eldest daughter (Esmee, 7) make and deliver somewhere between 50 and 100 cups of tea to all the finishers. Esmee was pretty reluctant to head back to the hotel at around 9:30, she still wanted to keep on with her tea-making duties!
Things that worked well:
- Not starting off like a lunatic, and not descending like one. My quads and energy levels felt loads better, and the runnable sections in the later race were actually both runnable and enjoyable.
- MountainFuel, + checkpoint coke and food. Kept my energy levels up, with very few flat spots.
- The amazing support of my family - it's a massive boost to see them out and about, and they loved the experience of marshalling.
- More hills in training. Definitely helped build stronger legs for those punishing protracted descents.
Things that could have gone better:
- Probably should have adjusted my laces a little tighter. Big toes kept hitting the end of my shoes on the long descents, had some pretty interesting under-toenail blister things at the end.
A massive thanks to MountainFuel for supporting me with race nutrition, and AmerProSports for their help with Salomon and Suunto equipment. Also to all of the people at Trail26, and the marshals who help make the event the success that it is, and my family for their amazing support.
Next on the list of things to do, is recover in time to give the CCC a decent shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment