Wales was once again calling to me, this time in the form of
an ultra race (40 miles). This was my first race of 2013, as part of the run
further championship and also the Welsh Ultra running one.
Over Christmas break, I had struggled with illness and like
so many others I fell into the belly bursting blissfulness of food and drink. It
is the season to be jolly so ho ho ho and round and round I roll.
Having only done half the course as a recce for the event
three weeks before the race I was extremely nervous and terrified. I was
rattling like a bag of nuts and bolts.
Also struggling with an on going knee injury, I was almost
in two minds about the race before it had even began, not a good mindset to be
in. I still decided to go ahead with race, with the idea of just getting round
the course. I had no expectations about time. I just wanted to drag myself
around the Welsh Hills.
I decided to head down the night before in order to get a good
nights sleep. This didn’t really work due to my nervous. This didn't also help Caras night sleep either. Having gone to bed with Salmon in my
belly I woke up to an overcast morning and headed down to breakfast. I had a one egg and a cup of tea. I also
meant some other runners that were staying the B&B (the Allt). This turned out to be a
blessing in disguise. I was here
with my partner and she kept reassuring that I would be okay for the race, be
insisted I should eat more. Thanks for the support.
I got myself ready and headed down for the 8am start and the
race briefing with an 11minute delay we set off. I was still in two minds about
my race plan after the trigger.
I set off thinking I can either hold back or I can run with
the Andy, Chris and Lotti who I had met at breakfast that morning. They had early said that they aimed to
get round in 9 and half hours. This was a time I was not capable of, but I
decided that I would just go with them.
I prefer company when running. As I find I can learn more, as am still
new to the sport.
I quickly caught up with the three and asked if I could join
their party. Running at a pace that was slightly above my comfort zone for the
distance of the race, I decided to just go with the flow. We head up the first
hill after running along the canal. This was the part I had ran three weeks
before. It was time to feel like a
kid again, the downhill section after a 25minute walk up Tor y Foel.
We then reached the first the checkpoint 7 miles in with the
rain in our faces, we took on some food and water. We then headed to my favourite part of the course around the
quarry and Glasgwm forest to see waterfalls and run along the tight paths made
up of mud and limestone rocks. At
this point Chris was being fuelled by his eggs that he had for breakfast, we
can all remember the smell…
We then headed towards Pontsticlli Reservoir exposed to more
rain and wind we ran through peat and mud. It was at this point Lotti decided
to head back HQ as she was using this a training exercise for another event. So
me, Chris and Andy carried on. We arrived at Checkpoint two, 9 miles into the 40mile
race. I could start to feel the aches in my legs, so I decided to do some
stretches at every checkpoint. At
the checkpoint a man on a bike with a yellow waterproof on asked me if I was
okay, I said I was and we carried on.
We then started the 6 mile uphill along the Twyn Mwyalchod
mountain towards Bwich Duwynt Checkpoint. After the shake holes we saw a man with a gun, alarm balls
start to ring, as the rain and wind acted as our shadows, and become a cloak
for him, we moved closer will saw his army uniform, and joked that we were on
his side. Taking on some salt and
vinegar crisps and snickers.
I moved through the bogs and water, which curved our
excitement for the race, if the quarry and forest was the favourite part of the
race, this was the least. What goes up must come down. It was extremely hard work moving
through bogs and water, and to make matters worse as we were reaching the
summit of the mountain it decided to hail, and rain horizontally in our faces with
winds up to 45mph, according to Chris’s Garmin. As the elements increased its
lashing and torments, I thought I would not be beaten. I continued and decided
to increase my pace in order to get off the mountain. This was definitely the
most challenging weather I have ever run in. I looked round for Chris and Andy and there we putting on
waterproofs. I good Idea I
thought, but the idea of stopping didn’t appeal to me. At this point I could not feel my
fingers or toes. We reached the
Checkpoint 3 and headed down towards the car park, a one and half mile downhill
I could sink my teeth into. The thought of not having the wind crash against my
face and the hail not hitting my neck was too much of a relief to be hanging
around. I ran down over taking
some of the runners that had previously overtaken me coming up the hill.
We reached the checkpoint and Andy had decided to call it
day, as he wasn’t enjoying the race and he had some discomfort in one of his
legs. Me and Chris continued
around the loop back upwards Pen y Fan, the second hardest ascent. Chris was
looking strong, and become an inspiration at this point. I was a withering and
shivering mess. I couldn’t stop shaking due to the cold, I decided to put my
untested waterproof trousers on for some heat. This worked and within five
minutes I was okay to move on. The ascent seemed to go on and on, in fact it went on for approximately
2miles. This took a lot out of my legs.
This was an up and down course, in terms of both the route
and the weather. At the bottom of the mountains we were sheltered from the rain
and wind, you could almost feel some sensation within your toes and fingers and
at the top of the mountains we exposed to the worst conditions that Wales had
to offer, turning our skins, bones and muscles to ice. In some was it was soothing, well if
for a moment. The fleeting visits
from the sun always brought a smile, and a little bit of hope. The next descent was 3 miles to checkpoint
6. I enjoyed the technical aspect
of this part as some of the routes were tight and slippery. In fact Chris and I
both fell over coming down, We also managed to overtake someone else. I also saw the man on the bike and
yellow waterproof at the checkpoint, he had asked how I felt again as I every
time I saw him I was stretching and taking on water., I can’t remember my
reply. Chris had already headed off and I had to run a bit harder to catch him
up.
At this point I didn’t feel that great, I felt a little
dizzy. I told Chris and he gave me
a chocolate biscuit. A lesson
learnt here, take more food. I also had more nuts and jelly babies and water as
well some crisps. We were heading
up to Cribyn the hardest and steepest ascent, I tried to keep up with Chris as
much as possible, as I knew if I didn’t my race was finished. He was much better at the ascents than
me. It was so hard moving against
the wind and going up a vertical hillside. In fact I got cramp in my foot and
had to stretch it out. This
was a never-ending walk uphill, I thought I was on Escher’s staircase. Chris reached the top before me and let
off a scream, and I did the same, we both looked at each other and said we
wanted to go off the mountains on to the home straight. So we went our legs loose for while to
checkpoint 7. 32 miles.
I had earlier said to Chris and Andy that it would be
downhill from here, I was wrong, as we had another bit of ascending to do. I
was gutted as was Chris. Apologies.
In sense this was more testing as I didn’t expect it and it was also
made up of peat.. Once we reached the last summit we let go and started to head
downhill, I thought we were moving well as we were gaining on someone. Then to our
surprise someone ran past us at some knots. I not sure who and what that was? Well
played that lighting bolt. To have that much left in your legs at this stage
was impressive.
We did in fact overtake a few more people on the way down
Twyn Du which made a change for me.
Once we get to the Talybont Reservoir we were on the flat run back to
start at Talybont Outdoor Pursuits Centre. At the Dam I saw the yellow man on the bike, who said to me,
“your still going then” yes I replied, he told me it was two miles to the
finish.
Me and Chris then ran to the finish as we both wanted to put
the race behind us.
We crossed the line together with a time of 9hrs and 11
minutes.
We finished Joint 41st overall, we were greeted by
Cara, Andy and Lotti. Thanks for the support. Cara Also helped me to regroup and hobble back to the
B&B.
I was really pleased with my time, as it was a whole hour
quicker than my gold time. I was
that pleased with the time, I almost cried! I also tried to eat a bacon and egg
bap, but that managed to miss my mouth and land the bap on the side of my face,
much to the amusement of the cook and Cara.
Overall I was pleased with my performance, as I managed to
finish quicker than I expected. I think this was down to running with Chris,
Andy and Lotti. I owe a lot to them for seeing me through the race. Thanks Guys. Chris later reveals that I
had gone grey before Cribyn… Thanks for the Chocolate Biscuit. I also saw the
man in the yellow, who also revealed that I looked tired at mile 9…Great race
full of ups and downs…
