So the packing for this little race finished about midnight on the Thursday evening, with complicated arrangements in place to cover childcare until husband returned from the depths of middle England. Friday morning was just a case of dropping off the kids and tying up with the two friends who were accompanying me down to Windermere, although they had a weekend of Christmas shopping, cream teas and historic house viewing lined up instead of my idea of fun.
The journey down provided plenty of disgusting weather, which I really really hoped would abate for Saturday. A pretty slow journey down the A9 but eventually we arrived at Brockholes. I went in and collected a bag for my drop-bag contents, had my kit checked – was so pleased they actually checked waterproofs as I am so fed up of doing races where they make a real song about having the proper kit, never do the kit check and most people travel light with none of it! Boo bah humbug!! I also collected my electronic tag (to be worn throughout the race as a means of tracking), and my race number.
My friends were staying in the relative luxury of a B&B for the weekend, but I’d opted to camp at the start/finish, figuring this made life easier for everyone and I’m sure they didn’t really want to be up at 5.30am on the Saturday to drop me at the start! My tent pitched, and friends checked into B&B, we went in search of a suitable pre-race food loading venue. Lazy Daisy‘s in Windermere did a fine job: Cumberland sausage on a bed of mash, encased in a giant Yorkshire pudding and liberally doused with red onion/wine gravy – yuuuuuummy! Then, my friends dropped me back at the campsite so I could indulge in a good hour of kit faffing in the tent before finally setting the alarm for 4.30am. Such a lovely time to be eating breakfast and trying to stick contact lenses in eyes I think …
I guess I dozed a little, I was certainly warm and comfortable but all too soon the alarm went off. I was unsure what to wear really as the MWIS forecast had suggested afternoon showers and light winds up to 15 mph, so opted for a long-sleeved base layer. Why I thought I’d need my compression shorts under my knee-lengths I’ve no idea but seemed a good idea at the time. A large bowl of muesli and yogurt and a cup of tea was breakfast; final kit adjustments and then it was 5.40am – time to head to the start area.
It was still quite dark and a little chilly. There were two categories completing the 100km distance – ‘racer’ with 24 hours and ‘challenger’ with 26 hours (I think), plus a 50km race covering the second part of our course. A nice friendly atmosphere under the starting arch, then a countdown and we were off to much clanging of cow bells, an obligatory circuit of the grounds before heading out onto the road, we were off.
The light improved pretty quickly and the head torch was soon off and tucked away. Along the road and then off up a narrow bumpy track. I found this stretch quite frustrating as there was a lot of bunching and walking as people jostled to find their place. But soon the route opened out and people settled into place. The sun kept rising and the views kept opening out as we headed across towards Troutbeck and eventually picking up the Garburn Road which is a track leading up to the village of Kentmere (first checkpoint). I was alternating between jogging and walking depending on the incline, sticking firmly to my rules of walking the hills and jogging the rest. I’d say my jogging pace was slower than I would have imagined but I did jog a fair bit.
Out of Kentmere onto more tracks and it started to feel more like heading into the hills. We climbed above Kentmere Reservoir and the views were simply stunning. Ahead I could see a steep pull up to the Nan Bield Pass and thought this would be a good point to try out my new lightweight poles. Took me a while to get the hang, as ground was quite uneven, but they definitely helped. Suddenly we popped out at the top of the pass, greated by a marshall in fluorescent jacket. Was so funny, everyone was stopping to take pictures, much like coach tourists!!! From the top of here we looked down at Haweswater. The descent was pretty technical, more so than I expected and I took a couple of tumbles on the way down, particularly as the rocks were slippery from yesterday rain. But arrived into second checkpoint, Mardale Head, at the bottom in one piece having covered about 13 miles by now. Quick water bottle refill – they were supplying Nunn tablets which were fantastic. I found them really refreshing and suffered from very little cramp throughout entire race.
Off onto the next section – Mardale Head to Bampton village. This took us round the bottom of Haweswater and onto a track that followed the edge of the Lake. Terrain was relatively flat with the odd climb, but path was narrow so in places it was tricky trying to pass people. This passed fairly pleasantly and we popped out on the road, with probably a 3 km run along the road up to the check point. Resupply here, tried for the first time the Grasshopper Food porridge that was on offer. OMG, it was delicious, I am not a porridge fan really but the Coconut and Date one really did it for me. Grabbed a lump of flapjack, refilled water bottle, made use of toilets … and stripped off the darn compression shorts as I was absolutely melting by now!!
Twenty-ish miles down, but feeling pretty fine and dandy!!! The route continued along the road for another km or so before turning off onto a track which led up onto Askham Moor. Really enjoyed this stretch, there was a slight cooling wind, it was soft turf underfoot and I found someone to chat to :-D, I am easily pleased!! Some gentle climbs here but nothing evil and then we were dropping down some switchbacks into Howtown and checkpoint 4. Didn’t hang around too long here as just wanted more liquid. I was carrying a 500ml squidgy bottle in the front of my pack and then some spare in the bladder at the back (probably about 3/4 ltr) for emergencies, so I just kept refilling the front bottle.
I headed out pretty quick from here, leaving my companion behind. This leg would take us to the half-way point, it would also take us over the first significant climb of the day – up to Boredale Hause. We started on fairly flat road, which eventually became a flattish but boulder-strewn trail and then eventually it turned into a steep, narrow trail into the hause – 200m of climbing over about half a mile I suppose. So short but definitely NOT sweet!! I chatted to a couple of people on this stretch, a lady I was to leap-frog with many times throughout this race and a guy I was also to see several times throughout. That’s what I love about ultras, you get to chat to lots of lovely interesting people, who don’t think you are strange for doing this kind of thing for pleasure!!!
Up to the top of the hause, and then off the other side into Patterdale, the half-way point and our drop-bags. Somewhere about 32 miles completed at this stage in 7:55:53. I was happy with that, but did make we wonder how much time I’d lose in the second half seeing as that was harder and hillier, was kind of hoping to get in about midnight if possible … given the lack of training throughout the school holidays I was prepared to be flexible with this guestimate though!
Fresh t-shirt time from the drop bag, as the other was disgusting. The showers and wind had not materialised and miles of blue skies and sunshine were evident in the state of the long-sleeved base layer I’d been wearing – yeuch!!! Another pot of porridge, a cup of tea, a cup of Nuun and a piece of flapjack shoved in my pack pocket. I decided against checking my feet as currently there were no hints of blisters, so I shoved my spare dry socks in my bag in case I needed them later on, grabbed a few more gels and off I went again.
Am always surprised how settled in people seem to get at checkpoints, me, I’d be terrified of not getting up again! The next leg involved another grueling climb – this time up to Grisedale Hause. Another longish flat yomp along a reasonably flat trail before a long tough pull up to the tarn. I started off with a guy who seemed to be wearing far too many layers, he paused to de-layer but soon caught me and we chatted about triathlons (his main sport) as he worked on persuading me to do Keswick Tri as a good first one … soon it became clear he was working at a different speed to me and he left me behind. I caught up with the guy I’d climbed the previous Hause with, he seemed to be having a tough time so I worked on encouraging him and trying to ignore how bl**dy hideous the climb seemed. As before, the path was boulder-strewn and you seemed to be continually kicking large rocks or trying not to trip over. Eventually the tarn came into sight. Such was the nature of this race, the obvious route round one side was ignored, sending us what seemed the longer (and more climbing) way. Eventually we started to lose height, but it was down a fairly tortuous route – more boulders in a steep gully. Finally onto an open forest track leading to CP 6 on the roadside at Dunmail Raise, just before Thirlmere.
I don’t remember much here, I suspect more water bottle filling and I think I grabbed some ginger biscuits before heading off again. This is the stretch where I hit probably my worst patch in the race. We did about 1km on the road, then headed off west, over terrain I’d covered on a mountain marathon a couple of years ago and I chuckled thinking of us trying to find a checkpoint here. Soon we were in hot sticky undergrowth, a small wood but it was really humid and sticky underfoot too. My stomach was grumpy and bloated and I just felt bleugh … onwards and upwards and eventually we popped out by a small tarn, along a bit further and then out onto Watendlath Fell, which was just horrible as far as I was concerned. Apparently we were on a footpath, but it was just all bog. I can’t imagine anyone would choose to go walking up there on a Saturday afternoon. My general grumpiness was made worse by the sight of two girls and a guy in front of me, completing as a group, who appeared to be skipping and laughing merrily across this horrible nasty fell!!! We probably had about 3km of this joy, there were some lovely marshalls sitting at the top of this stretch to check all was well, they were welcome sight.
Checkpoint 8 was in Watendlath itself, again, I don’t recall much of this checkpoint, I think I picked up some more ginger biscuits and put on my windproof top as the sun was starting to dip a bit making the air cooler. This was the point I started to feel better, I suspect I had got overheated earlier along with the effort used to get over the two big passes.
I skipped out of here with my poles, along with a couple who appeared to be completing together (a guy and a woman). A bit of jostling for the front spot here but I eventually headed to the front and positively yomped through to Rosthwaite (oh boy do I love my poles). I was alternating jogging and walking and still legs were feeling pretty good. Quads were definitely feeling a bit trashed and right hip flexor was niggling but feeling good and strong. Along the Cumbria Way we went, passing below the Borrowdale Fells. It was significantly cooler, but still no wind and the sun was starting to go down.
I was loving this stretch, travelling pretty much on my own, but knowing people were ahead and behind; so I reveled in feeling strong. I paused to get my head torch out as it was difficult to tell when darkness would hit. Stake Pass was the next big climb and it could be clearly seen up ahead. It was actually way better than I thought it would be. The path was nice firm gravel rather than the dreaded boulders, so although it was steep with lots of switch-backs you could get a good steady pace on. At the top of Stake Pass there was meant to be an un-manned checkpoint with a dibber to swipe, instead we were greeted by marshals instead, who were having a fine time sitting up there taking in the stunning views. The sun was almost down, the moon was up, bright orange surrounded by grey clouds. Wow, it was amazing. I headed on the path that works its way across the top, a bit more boulder here, and then was looking down into the Langdale valley. The sun finally went and the route down was a zig-zag of glow sticks going down, down, down to the valley below.
The head torch came out and I headed down. It was quite a tough long descent, especially getting used to the reduced light again. A marshal was heading up towards us and said it was 4km down into the valley and the checkpoint was at the Sticklebarn (a pub up near Chapel Stile). All I can say is that it was a bl**dy long 4km! My Garmin had faded before I got over Stake Pass so I wasn’t too sure how far I’d traveled anyway. Once down off the hill it was a fairly straightforward and flat track into the Langdale Valley, but the moon had gone behind the clouds and I found it difficult to get a perspective on where I was. There are several pubs in the valley and I knew it wouldn’t be the first one, but with party music drifting down the valley it was difficult to work out what was coming from where.
This was compounded by a complete disappearance of regular signing. Up until now the route had been fantastically marked throughout (we were not meant to need to do any navigating on this race, so consequently competitors were generally not following the route on a map) with flags and signs by day, and then signs and glow sticks in the dark. A sign took me off main track and up a minor slope and then there was nothing for a fair while … I started to doubt myself and have visions of going for miles in the wrong direction (can you tell I was a bit tired by now?!). So I hesitated, I back-tracked to the sign, I waited for some head torches, and then after wasting about 15 minutes I thought “oh sod it!” and just pressed on anyway.
Eventually I popped out behind the Sticklebarn Pub and was guided in by glow sticks. I was a bit dazed at this point, especially when the guy running the checkpoint (later realised was Andy Mouncy) greeted me by name (it’s on my race number of course!). Anyway, he was awesome – did I want a plate of chips? oh my, did I? A piping hot plate of French fries smothered in salt and tomato ketchup … I didn’t bother with niceties and just shovelled them all straight down with my fingers, washed down with a cup of Nuun. By now quads were stiffening up spectacularly, my hip-flexor was having a good old whinge but I was actually still feeling pretty good, not lacking for energy at all. The lovely man serving the chips kindly wrapped up some ham sandwiches in cling film for me (so they didn’t crumble in the pocket of my pack) – I was so over sweet stuff by now. I’d been on the go for 15:28 by now. Just Ambleside and the finish to go, so in theory about 10-12 miles to go.
I successfully managed to negotiate the steps downstairs to the way out, via yet more nice toilets. I think I’ve never done an ultra race where there has been access to so many nice clean toilets!!! Into the car park, and then doh? which way? no signs again … got onto road and right direction but again, stalled by lack of clear signage so I backtracked to the pub, and came across two guys having the same problem but the marshal didn’t seem to know either. So we hung around while she double-checked and eventually she came out, pointed us in right direction (I had been correct) and off we went to Ambleside. The two guys provided great company for much of the remainder of the route.
It was all fairly flat at this point so we took it in turns to motivate running stretches in-between yomping … they could run faster than me, but when I started yomping with my poles they couldn’t catch me. One of the poor guys had stood on a plug the wrong way up the day before, so he’d already damaged his foot before he even started! We negotiated our way along the footpaths, taking it in turns to fathom out how to open the hundreds of gates we passed … they were such gentlemen actually, I did chuckle, always holding the gates for me etc … Signage was a bit variable and we were kind of guessing our way in places. Eventually we caught up with another guy going at our pace, he was local and had recced this section into Ambleside. This proved invaluable as a lot of signage and glow sticks were now missing. A slight shock to body as we negotiated Loughrigg Fell … I thought we were done with hills, and then eventually we popped out into Ambleside, the final checkpoint before the finish.
This was in a very posh community hall, more nice warm toilets 🙂 No idea what I ate here but I grabbed another cup of tea, although as I tried to drink it while jogging through town centre I think I ended up wearing most of it! Met a few of the locals on a night out and put up with the usual questions and comments … “run Forest run” … “how far you goin'” etc.
I knew it was going to be horrible getting out of Ambleside – another nasty hill, it started off on road and then became a vile rocky uneven thing. We were literally guessing our way through here by now as most glow sticks had disappeared. I didn’t care, I just pressed onward and upward. No more running for now as was just climbing again up through Skelgyll Wood. I started to pull away from the two guys I’d been with but was just so desperate to get to finish I kept on striding. Signs started to reappear making navigation easier and I caught up with a guy I’d jogged behind earlier. So we had a good old chat as we climbed up onto the trail that took us to the path we’d come out at the start on. This was a bit gnarly so no jogging down this. but once we hit the road at the bottom with a marshal pointing us to the final stretch then we both started running.
Of course, we got to where the finish was to find we had to run a lap, albeit a smaller one, to complete the race … so round we jogged, and came in at 19:21:54. Final distance not really confirmed but apparently 110km and possibly 112km.
Quads absolutely trashed, hip-flexor groaning, knee definitely having a whinge, NO BLISTERS, but I didn’t feel tired or hungry and if it hadn’t have been for state of quads I could have kept on going for a fair while longer …
So having made the finish, I thanked the guy I came in with for that final push and waited for the two other guys to come in and cheered them in. Then I had to walk UP a hill to collect goody bag and drop bag … and then back DOWN the hill to find my tent … ouchy ouchy ouchy!
Adventures With My Shoes 
