Durham Dales Challenge 30m 2013

I did this race two years ago and found it hard. Five big hills and few smaller ones. It took me 8hrs 14min. However, the scenery was good, the food at the checkpoints was amazing and the meal at the end wasn't bad either. I do love the LDWA  Part of the reason I took that long was that I was running with a clubmate who was struggling and she retired after 10m. This time I was running with Melanie and she is the faster runner, so I knew I wouldn't be dawdling.

We both slept badly last night, the weather forecast was poor, varying between light and heavy rain with a little bit of sun. The wind was going to be strong and in our faces in the first half but behind us on the way back. We had also done the Hardmoors Rosedale marathon six days ago, so all in all the omens weren't good ...

Last year we did the 16m version and though the weather was poor in the first half, we enjoyed it. We decided early in the year that we would do the 30m route this year. I also told my clubmates how good it was and it was good to see quite a few there, most of them opting for the 16m route. It was good to have a chat with them and other faces we recognised.

Both of us were uncertain what to wear, but we both had to put waterproofs over long sleeved tops and Melanie wore gloves later.

We started slowly and climbed out of Wolsingham onto the moors and started towards Hamsterley Forest. No midges there this time (they were horrendous last time). All of this section was into a strong wind with some heavy rain squalls. We finally got off the moors and down to the lovely River Tees and headed towards Middleton-in-Teesdale. A change in the route led us to a new checkpoint which had an amazing display of food.

Then we started to climb the fourth big hill. To my surprise the route seemed not to be as hard as I remembered and we were making good progress especially on the tops when the terrain was runnable. The wind behind us was certainly helping.

At the last manned checkpoint they had quiche like last time  Then it was down into the valley and following the River Wear past caravan sites and farms and passing glorious meadows which looked amazing.

We came to the end and we were surprised to see our time 7hr 11min, a big improvement on two years ago Good meal at the end too  These events are amazing value for money

Hardmoors Rosedale marathon 2013

We were up at 5.30 to get ready for this run. Made it to the village hall in the lovely Hutton-le-Hole for 8 and got ourselves ready for the start at 9. The usual relaxed atmosphere of a Hardmoors event and quite a few people that we knew where there.

The route started by undulating through fields and quiet country roads. The route gradually started to rise and soon we were onto the moors and it seemed to just keep going upwards, with just the odd short descent. We took the decision to walk most of these uphill sections as we knew there was more easily runnable sections to come.

Finally after 10m we got to Blowarth Crossing and turned in a more southerly direction along a very flat old railway line. We had a good run along this for quite a while (it is unusual to have such a long runnable section in a Hardmoors event, which are usually characterised by plenty of hills and steps !). After a while we left the dale we were overlooking, Farndale, and climbed up to the Lion Inn and then started to contour round the edge of Rosedale. Gradually we descended into Rosedale, crossed the dale and then soon after the 20m point, we climbed a beast of a hill back up to another flat old railway line. My leg started cramping on the way up the climb and I know at least two other runners who had similar issues. Melanie gave my calf a quick massage at the top and that certainly helped, but I lost quite a bit of energy on the climb so after that I was taking more walking breaks than I was happy with. However, we got back in under 6 hours which was pleasing. A good route and much more runnable than either of the previous two Hardmoors marathons.

Phil was doing the timekeeping at this event (and for the 10K and the half marathon) and Anna had a great run, coming in under 5hrs !

UltraTrails Howgills marathon 2013

This event was tougher than we expected. We probably should have worked that out after the Grisedale marathon which was organised by the same people (the ones who organise the Lakeland 50/100).

When I looked at the route beforehand I divided it into four quarters. The first quarter we knew was going to be very tough. From Sedbergh we were heading north onto the Howgills. After about 6m of climbing we would reach the Calf and the next quarter looked fine, a descent down into the Bowderdale valley and along there for a while then turn to the east towards Ravenstonedale which was the only checkpoint. Then a bit of a slog south back up the into the hills. The final quarter looked a lovely descent back to Sedbergh.

In reality the first quarter was possibly a bit tougher than I expected. The climbs were steeper and seemed to just keep on going. It was a warm day with a breeze from roughly south. The second quarter was a bit of a surprise, the descent into Bowderdale was a little tricky and the path in the valley itself was narrow and technical. You couldn't take your eyes off the path and it went on for a long time. The terrain in Bowderdale was a bit wet and muddy in places, but it would have been much harder if it had rained more recently. Finally we turned east towards Ravenstonedale, but then turned south and up again for a while before we came to a familiar section which we walked last year. Into the Ravenstonedale checkpoint to fill our bottles which were about empty.

We left Ravenstonedale and slogged our upwards on a deserted narrow road. We could see by now that our original estimates of how long it would us take were slipping away (MelanieLH guessed 5hr30 and I guessed 6hr).

Finally we reached the highest point of the second half and worked out way down into a valley and followed the River Rawthey back to Sedbergh. There were lots more stream crossing here and it certainly wasn't all downhill, there were a few climbs as well. I was dunking my hat into the streams to keep myself cool by now.

The scenery was fantastic and I really enjoyed that last few miles. If you like the Lakeland Trails marathon, then you will certainly like this one.

They gave us a lovely cup of soup at the end of the race, the same butternut squash soup we had at Grisedale, we needed it after 6hr 40mins (so much for our estimates !). The goody bag contained a tee shirt, medal, lots of gels, flapjacks. They also gave us a roadbook which also contained a map of the route. However, we followed the gpx route they supplied which we downloaded on our garmins and the course was signed at most critical places

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/vCgdyCcydtYCTrCh7

Brathay Windermere marathon 2013

I saw a couple of students on Friday who appeared to have the same stomach bug. It had been bad enough for them to have missed exams which they will now have to retake in the summer. If felt a bit queasy yesterday and I started to be a bit concerned. However, I woke this morning and felt fine 

We drove down to the start from Penrith and got there in plenty of time to register and seen the 10 in 10 runners start. There have been some awesome performances this year and I was disappointed I hadn't been able to come across and watch them on a quieter day

For the marathon itself, they had the same rolling start as last year but we were much nearer the front this time. Not really by design and we knew that it meant that many faster runners would be coming by us and this is exactly what happened.

There quite a few supporters out on the course and there was a lovely atmosphere  We doodled along at about 9 min 30 pace, apart from the 8th mile containing the dreaded hill. Halfway in just over 2 hours 

Then it was the tough third quarter and we got through it in what felt was a reasonable pace, but looking at the splits they weren't too good. Then suddenly having completed the hardest bit I ran out of energy at about 18m. I sent MelanieLH ahead and took a bit of break to eat a 9 bar. Melanie went on and did very well, less than two minutes away from setting a new pb and she finished twenty minutes ahead of me 

 

But I never really got much energy back. I finished in 4hr 39min and I was happy with that 

A few of my clubmates did this event this year. I have been banging on about how good it is and it looks like it has had an effect finally 

My seventh Brathay Windermere marathon  Just remembered I had this photo of me at mile 21 on my first Brathay Windermere marathon in 2007 (my first marathon)

I didn't feel like that at mile 21 this year !

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/7HjiLV2SEYUiJafi8

Marathon of the North 2013

I'm not keen on the name for this event, I think there are plenty of other events which would be stronger contenders for that title. But I guess the organisers thought it sounds grander than the Sunderland marathon.

I did this last year, but this year they introduced a half marathon and altered the route for the marathon itself. Last year we had about 18m south of the river and 8m to the north. This year the distances were about the same for both sides of the river. I enjoyed the first half more and the second half less as the bits they added seemed to include a few extra hills.

Incredible numbers of people from my club were running - 31 just for the marathon ! Then there were 11 for the half and 4 for the 10K. There was relay for the first time, but it appeared to have a very small number of teams, nothing like Vienna two weeks ago when there were 2700 teams. This event, being our closest marathon, has definitely inspired people from our club.

It was cold and windy at the start and during the race it varied between wind, rain, cold and about ten minutes of sun - a few of us, including me, managed to get sun or wind burnt. It was a very well organised event, not too crowded, well stocked and staffed drinks stations.

I joined six other clubmates who were running as a group. There were three other groups running at various speeds and it was great seeing the other groups and individual Striders on the many out and back sections. I have mixed feelings about out and back sections, it is great to see other people, but then you are always wondering where the turn around point is and you know what is coming on the back leg. You also get back to where you started but a bit more tired. 

My group was aiming for ten minute miles. I stuck with them until about 18m when I felt myself dropping behind. They were about 3 minutes ahead of schedule at that point so I didn't worry too much about it. But then we had an into the strong wind section and two out and back sections which involved climbs on the way out and they disappeared into the distance. I just lost energy at this point. I had been hoping for sub 4hr 30min but I could see that slipping away as I was walking more. I then aimed to do better than my other six long events this year and I did achieve that. Just before the end I came across an old running friend who was marshalling and he ran with me for 400m which really helped. Then it was over the railway bridge to be greeted by lots of cheers from my clubmates and the crowd  Into the finish just outside the Stadium of Light and then into the Stadium (impressive place) past the manager's area to get medals, tee shirts, goody bag and bananas.

Then it was cheering in other members of our club and then in the evening we went and took over a local pub. So although my time was a little disappointing (more work mid-week needed I think), it was a grand day out  

Vienna City marathon 2013

This was a good city marathon. Pretty flat and scenic with regular water stations. My 80th marathon/ultra and my first one outside the UK. It was never going to be a pb for me, I am doing too many long races and no training so the plan was to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere. It would have been great to get under 4.30, a time which I used to achieve without much difficulty three years ago, but realistically sub-5 was the likely outcome. This would easily be my fastest time this year as my previous five marathons/ultras this year have all been hilly, off road and required navigation (HORN) events.

Melanie and I had help before the start, my sister lives in Vienna and we went to the house of one of her friends which was 50 yards from the starting pens  We could relax, use their toilets and then just pop out fifteen minutes before the start and go into our allocated pen. It was clear that our pen contained people from other pens and it was fairly crowded. It is a while since I have done a large event and it did remind me of the VLM and GNR or rather what I don't like about those events, there are too many people ! 

Our pen was starting about 9 minutes after the main start. This was going to make it tricky to catch Haile Gebrselassie (who easily won the half marathon) so I decided not to attempt that ... Everything seemed to start on time and we took a bit longer to cross the line. The field was spread across both lanes of a dual carriageway and we crossed the Danube 

http://www.vienna-marathon.com/?menu=0&url=starter&lang=en

and headed towards to the famous wheel of the Third Man fame where we turned left and into the Prata, a large park.

Before the start of the race I struggled with working out the route. The best way I can describe it as a letter 'X'. We started at the top right arm and ran towards the centre, then the bottom right arm, bottom left, top left and finally the bottom right again. The centre wasn't a single point but the Ring (the inner ring road which used to be the city walls, but the walls were all demolished about two hundred years ago and replaced by many of Vienna's iconic buildings), so when we got close to the centre we started to go round the Ring before going out on another arm. That is a simplified description, if you want more detail, go to http://www.fetcheveryone.com/routes-view.php?id=1295947

As we went into the Prata the course narrowed a bit which made the crowding a bit worse. We had been told it would be crowded in the first 10k, but it didn't really thin out until the half marathoners turned into the fantastic finish that we would be visiting 13.1m later. The first two drinks stations (every 5K or so) were chaos, they didn't have enough staff to cope with the demand from runners. It was a hot day, relatively speaking, with little wind. Three weeks earlier we had completed a marathon route completely covered in about four inches of snow, this felt so different ! We managed to stay together after these chaotic drinks stations and they were better staffed after this and some of these drink stations had bananas which I hadn't seen before (there was a downside to this, you expect to be trampling over plastic glasses in these sorts of events, but banana skins were more challenging !).

What made the race even more crowded is that it is popular with locals who participate in the relay event. Last year there were 6000 finishers in the marathon and 2700 relay teams, a staggering number. These teams were often a mixture of fast and slow runners, so we had fast runners flying by throughout the race or weaving round us the first half. I can see the attraction of the relay, there were two long stages and two short stages so lots of people whatever their ability could participate. The change over points were slightly chaotic, with incoming runners desperately trying to spot their outgoing team members. The relay also helped to bring out the crowds although they weren't as noisy as they are in many large UK events.

At the bottom of the bottom left arm was Schönbrunn Palace which we struggled to get a good view of because we were avoiding a change over point for the relay and looking out for my sister who was running the second stage (we never saw her, she finished the second stage before we reached the next change over point). We went back to the Palace the next day, it was stunning, a must see if you go to Vienna.

After the Palace there was an incline upwards back to the Ring, but it didn't feel very much. Then finally the half marathoners turned off through the arches and into the arms of the Hofburg Palace. And there was space  

At this stage I lost Melanie. Normally we run together, but the plan this time was to see how it goes. She was after a good pb, a pb wouldn't be hard as her previous eight marathons/ultras had all been HORN events, but I wasn't in shape for what she was after. So at this stage she drifted away into the distance. I lost sight of her and the 4.30 pacer who was carrying a big flag. I was a bit disappointed that I seemed to be losing energy again, but I knew my training hadn't been adequate and I set out to just enjoy what I could see round the route. I also had to make a toilet stop as I had been taking on lots of water to cope with the heat so I knew there was no chance of catching M again.

I did see her again in the bottom right arm which we did for a second time. This contained a couple of out and back sections, one of them quite long. This was in the Prata where the spectators were thin on the ground. However, they had lots of music booming out of speakers, some of it classical (Vienna has style ) and we also had Robbie Williams asking to entertain us  This made it a bit easier, but at the 34K I got hit by the dreaded cramp in my left calf. It was so painful I had to pull off and stretch, but it didn't seem to help very much. I had been very strict with myself in this event, regular shot bloks, s-caps and water, so I can only put it down to the heat and not being used to long runs on tarmac. I slowed down even further, but then it happened again, so I moved into a walk/run strategy. As I ran through the arches into the grounds of the Hofburg Palace at the finish there was more music and what greeted me was Call Me Maybe which made me cross the finish with a big smile  

http://www.youtube.com/v/6kDcTDD6ye0

I knew I would be under 5hr and came in with 4h 47min which I was happy with  I will let MelanieLH tell the story of her event.

We had a great six days in Vienna, we shall be back 

Charnwood marathon 2013

I did have doubts about doing this one. The forecast for Saturday was not good, strong winds and snow. Also the journey down from Durham didn't look good on Friday night, falling snow. But after a chat about it, Melanie and I decided to go for it. We left Durham with no snow and the further south we went the worse the snow got. In Derbyshire on the M1 it was quite heavy. Into Loughborough safely and into the hotel.

Awoke on Saturday morning to find a winter wonderland outside, several inches had fallen overnight. Checked the website and the event was still on. As another runner mentioned later, the Long Distance Walking Association (LDWA) are hardcore

Parked and walked to race HQ in a blizzard and saw that there were several familiar faces from Enigma events, the Great Barrow Challenge events and marathons we have done earlier in the year. The Town Crier was present in his full regalia and sent his off into the snow with his bell. We took it nice and easy and we were soon offroad and heading along footpaths, through villages and up hills deep in snow. As we climbed the wind started to bite and it got very cold. We were well equipped, I was wearing two tops and a waterproof, running tights, waterproof trousers, waterproof socks, gloves, hat and buff - the buff was invaluable to pull up to my eyes when running into the falling snow and bitter wind. We had microspikes in our rucksacks (not used), fleece tops (used at the start), spare gloves (used) and a spare hat and buff.

We had copied another runner's published 2010 route onto our Garmins. The vast majority of the route was the same with just some minor changes and it proved invaluable as it was so easy to miss turns with the heavy snow obscuring things. The course wasn't marked but they had marshalls out directing us in a couple of places where there might have been some uncertainty. Those marshalls and the ones at checkpoints must have been freezing in that wind.

I was expecting the route to be similar to the Belvoir Challenge, that is a few hills, nothing major and a fair amount of flat. The hills weren't too bad, but they kept on coming !

At the halfway point which is apparently the highest point in Leicestershire we passed a walker in shorts and no hat and no gloves He was carrying a rucksack, presumably full of warmer gear, so maybe he just felt more comfortable that way, but how he kept warm I have no idea.

It had taken 3 hours to get to halfway and both of us were not looking forward to another 13m, the snow seemed to be sapping energy from us. In one way we were lucky, the earlier runners and walkers (who set off an hour earlier) had trodden a wide path through the deep snow which made it a bit easier.

After half way I had a spectacular fall in heavy snow which kept Melanie amused. We were passing some walkers and I pulled out of the well trodden path into the soft stuff, caught my feet and went headlong, but I had a lovely soft landing

After reaching the top of another climb, the race instructions said you could go any route to the car park (which I couldn't see in the poor visibility), so we followed the route on our Garmins which worked fine.

Shortly after crossing the railway bridge (and after having seen a steam locomotive go by!), about 3 miles from the end we came onto a path where the snow had melted and there was just a complete mudbath. It probably lasted for a mile before we got back to Quorn where the race started and finished. Back to race HQ where we finished with 6hrs 50min. Probably my slowest marathon, but in those conditions we were very, very happy to finish

The food at the end was especially good even for an event of this type. A choice of at least four soups, cake, sandwiches (we had also had tea, cake and sandwiches at some of the checkpoints).

A challenging run. Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/CWr6qVAY5yRSfcSY2