Easter Eggstravaganza 2010

Left house at 5.45 and got to Barnborough near Doncaster about 7.30. South Yorkshire accents abounded and I haven't heard them for many years and it took me back to the time I lived in Rotherham and Sheffield.

I had had some anxiety about route finding for this one (they had sent out details of the 16m route and if you wanted to do the longer route you were given the route description at the second checkpoint, so no forward planning), but I needed have worried. There was a map at the start which I attempted to memorise and mentally trace out on my Satmap (GPS). Also they said it was waymarked with tape, so that was relief 😀

Had some free tea, and talked to some of the other entrants. Then at 8.30 we gathered outside the pub which was race HQ. The organiser stood on the wall and I was expecting a few race instructions. What we got was brief and typical South Yorkshire: 'Gerr off' 😏

I had driven down through some heavy rain and it was still drizzling fairly heavily when we set off. It continued like that for at least 6 miles. Then it was cloudy and a little breezy, then the last six miles were mainly sunny. Probably round about thirty runners and there were two courses available for the 8.30 starters 26.3m or 16m.

I haven't seen many LDWA events which have been waymarked. This one was just incredible, almost every time I started to doubt I was on the right path, a piece of tape would appear on a branch or a bush. Just so well positioned as well, just after every path to the left or right which was not part of the route. There must have been hundreds. I rescued a few people who were chatting away and not watching out for the tape. I became overconfident.... At about 24m in Goldthorpe, I coudn't see any tape at a likely junction, so I carried on. No more tape. Then ahead of me I saw three people walking and one with a rucksack. At this stage I was regularly passing walkers on the shorter route, so I thought I must be right. Then as I got closer I noticed that one of those without a rucksack was carrying a handbag ! And the one with the rucksack was in heels ! So race instructions out for the first time and a check on the satmap revealed the likely junction was the correct one, so back there and of course there was tape, I had just missed it.

Terrain varied, bits of very quiet road, rolling countryside and quite a few very muddy fields which were hard to run on even when flat. Not as bad as Belvoir a few weeks ago, but getting there. Lots of lovely paths through woods and the checkpoints were serving sandwiches, scones with jam, chocolate bars and juice 😀 At the end we got a free meal of vegetarian pie, peas and gravy followed by rice pudding and peaches 😀 All this for eight pounds 😮

After the shorter and longer route diverged, I didn't see many runners for a while, but the waymarking kept me going. It was just a lovely route.

Got a bit tired in the last 6 miles. I thought at 19m I was on for a sub 5 finish, but getting lost, running out of energy after yesterday's 10K and some steeper and more frequent hills slowed me down a lot so I finished in 5h 17min.

It was the sort of event where time did not matter. People took their shoes off before going into the pub to say they had finished and have their time recorded. I love these events :-)

I will do this again 😀

There are no results.

Hardmoors 55 2010

The brief version—54m (after a late course adjustment). Started at 8.00 finished 23.55. 65 starters, 45 finishers, so 20 dropped out because of the bad weather and two of them had suspected hypothermia. Weather was light rain initially, then heavy rain and strong winds. The weather became much better after 10 hours and then got frosty as the night went on. Lots of hills and muddy

I was concerned about doing a race which would be 21m longer than I have ever done before. Doing a gentle marathon six days before was also worrying me, would it have any effect ? It turned out it didn't which was a relief. I was also worrying about running on my own in the bad weather that was forecast, I find it helps to have company when the weather is bad. Luckily, I joined up with another runner at 22m and ran the next 32m with her. I don't think I would have completed it on my own.

The other crucial thing for me in this race was car support. This wasn't required as there was a drop bag system, but having much more frequent access to equipment and food made a vital difference. My friend spent her longest time in her car—almost 20 hours—much more than she has ever done before—thank you. She has never been involved with a long race before and her greetings at some points - 'You are mental' made me smile in a sort of mad way ;-)

My equipment worked very well. Ran in Helly Hensen base layer, OMM Kamleiker waterproof top, Gore tights, Inov-8 roclites and a Raidlight Endurace back pack. I made a basic error at the start by running in road shoes. It is said you can do the Cleveland Way in road shoes and that might be okay in adry conditions, but they weren't that today as I discovered pretty quickly :-O. Luckily the first car access point was at 5m so I changed into the Roclites then. I also started with gloves that were way too thin for the conditions on the tops. My worst time was when it was sheeting down with rain and my hands got cold. Again a car access point saved me and I changed into fleece gloves. However, in the final stages in the frosty conditions, my hands were getting very cold even with those gloves.

Refueling strategy. Took stop blocks (had about 8 of them), S!cap tablets (used all 8 of them). Had a couple of Cliff bars that were give out on the way round (nice, never had them before). Made sure I had a quarter of a sandwich at every car access point. I had some cashew nuts as well. I also drank Asda's isotonic berry sports drink all the way round, drinking when thirsty. I learnt all this from supporting Phil on the Hardmoors 110 last year and reading Clare's experiences at the Glasgow to Edinburgh, so thanks to those two. The result was I got no cramp, no nausea and my legs felt very good all the way round. I also able to walk down the stairs this morning :-O

The route was basically along the Cleveland Way from Helmsley to Guisborough woods where it then cut back to Guisborough. There are moors, woods, lots of hills, some of some big long climbs, all of which I walked up. Had to walk some the descents too because of the steepness and rocky paths. Two out and back sections at the White Horse and at Roseberry Topping. Because it's a route for walkers mainly and to save it becoming a quagmire, the park authority have put in a lot of large rock slabs which can be slippery and lots of assorted rocks on the ascents and descents. I could not find anyway of running down these safely. I felt I would cause serious damage if I fell on to those rocks. The uneven rocks in the path up and down Roseberry Topping were particularly tough especially with a head torch. There were sometimes fell runner alternatives to these paths, but they were often slippery.

Photos : https://goo.gl/photos/6BFcedqWpJwGhu6v5

Kielder Water marathon 2010

This year there are three marathons in the same place in the north east. This might appear to be a bit disappointing, but its at Kielder Water and the route is almost entirely off road with a surface which is very comfortable to run on and the scenery is just stunning.

The first one was today and was for 100 marathon club members only. However, buried deeply in the entry form was the qualification that guests could run if there are any places left (there was an entry limit of 50). I asked if I could be a guest and I got in. It was also free, I just needed to take some cake to share with everybody afterwards. This is definitely my sort of marathon. Having done the first event last September, I remembered that it was an undulating course, but it seemed much harder this time. It was certainly windier today. We also started at the top of the reservoir and ran the longer south side first. However the north side is more undulating than the south side and it was into the wind, so it felt pretty tough, I was surprised how tired I was at the end.

My time 5hr 9min, was possibly a bit slower than last time, but it was a longer run today as a bit was added on to ensure that it was at least marathon length. The 100 marathon club members were very welcoming. It was a small field, 20 or so runners.

Lots of folk brought food and there was way too much. I hope they do this again next year, I like these low key events

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/snnRrB2gpnoCo3ZSA

Belvoir Challenge 2010

This is a popular event and it was full about a month ago - 1200 participants with probably about 400 runners and 800 walkers. There are two routes, the 16m and the 26m. Its very similar to a LDWA event, but its a bit more expensive as all proceeds go to the local school which is the start and end point.

It was a tad muddy today. Last year the conditions were pretty dry. This year there was lots and lots of mud. Some of it was so bad that even when it was flat I couldn't run on it - it was just squelchy and I would be ankle deep in the stuff. Sometimes I would come out of a ploughed field and my shoes would feel twice as heavy as the normally do. There was also plenty of stiles to stretch your legs.

I liked it. Some beautiful villages and Belvoir Castle looked impressive again. It was a new route this year and we got a better view this time. Some of course was used last year, but in the opposite direction. Not too many hills and none of them were particularly big, but the mud made them hard to get up.

The checkpoints were well stocked and the meal at the end was as great as it was last year - soup, pudding, tea and flapjack. Its the twentieth year they have run this event and the organisation is like clockwork. A good run and I am pleased to got round. I was over 30min slower than last year with 5hr 8min, but it felt a totally different event this year.

Newcastle Town Moor marathon 2009

I wasn't really looking forward to this one as it was five laps of the Town Moor which is often windy in November. As I am not particularly marathon-fit at the moment and to try and counter the tedium of five laps I thought I would try a plan to keep my mind busy. The plan was to do about 4hr 30m with laps of 56min, 55min 54min, 53min and 52min.

I did 4hr 27min which for my current level of marathon fitness and the wind on the course was fine by me. However, I messed up the plan by going too fast in the first lap - 53.05. I tried to run pretty slow and I was pretty much at the back, but I didn't manage it. I basically abandoned my plan after that and just tried to keep it steady at that sort of pace. Lap 2 was 53min 44sec and I felt fine. I speeded up a little on lap 3 - 51min 47sec and 52min 25sec for lap 4. I wasn't overtaken by anybody (apart from being lapped by countless runners who were finishing in less than three and a half hours) and while I was running steady, lots of runners around me were slowing down and this confused some of the very supportive marshalls: 'Last lap well done' - I wish!

So all was fine until I got to 23.5m when suddenly I felt a bit sick, which has never happened before. I walked for about 20 yards, felt better and carried one until we came to the one hill which was into the wind. I hadn't had any difficulty running up it the four previous times, but this time I had to walk it. Two more short walking breaks and I got to the end of lap 5 in 56min 34sec which was better than I expected, but it wasn't the fastest lap finish I had planned.

Will I try again - no, I don't think 5 lap (or more) marathons are for me. The Town Moor is not scenic. The only advantage of 5 laps was going past Fetchpoint 5 times. This was a group of Fetchies, led by Clare, who cheered, made lots of noise and handed out jelly babies and drinks. They were just great, loud, welcoming and organised. There were also some very encouraging marshalls and spectators who looked like they were freezing out on the moor.

Phil Owen did a great time considering he did the Brampton to Carlisle race the day before. Anna Seeley who is often at the club on Wednesdays and who also did the Brampton race, was the second lady and was awarded a very impressive trophy - well done Anna !

Video of the start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fll9MH9Ri_g

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/erE1K2kkjcoXmGCF6

Kielder Challenge 26m 2009

I was out of bed very early for this one as it was mainly a walking event and they wanted everybody to finish in daylight.

Got to the start next to Kielder Water at about 7.30. There were probably about 50 walkers and 9 or 10 runners. The start was anytime between 8 and 9, but most people there at that time started at 8 by getting their tally card clipped. There were four checkpoints, where there was water.

On the drive over the valley had been covered in mist (see first photo in link below), but by the start of the race a lot of it had burned off, but there was still some mist around. The surface of the reservoir was completely flat and the whole area looked absolutely stunning. I had been worried about midgies and there were some at the start but after that there was no sign

The course was the new Lakeside Way, which is a trail that goes all the way round Kielder Water. On the north side of Kielder, there is no road close to the reservoir and I didn't see anybody on the trail who wasn't in the event. The trail was in perfect condition, very smooth. It was very up and down, hardly any flat bits, but no very big ups. There were lots of bridges over the streams tumbling down into the reservoir, including a stunning one (see photos). The route followed the edge of the reservoir most of the way, which meant following lots of inlets and promentories. At about 19m I was very conscious that I was following an inlet in the opposite direction to the dam which was near to the finish !

I think this run will be a much bigger event next year (4th September 2010), I recommend it - stunning scenery and we were lucky with the weather, sunny but not too warm and very little wind

Clare was resting a sore knee and she was riding round on a bike with me. Only once did she say 'Mush' and 'Its a small hill' as I struggled up it.

I ended up the 5th runner home in 4hr 51min 58sec, but this run is meant to be a personal challenge, so there are no official times and no results.

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zRMy2XsX14jYbwga9

Elsecar Skelter 28m 2009

This was a lovely run ! A wonderfully organised LDWA event near Barnsley, with clear directions, tape on some of more confusing sections, some mud, lots of fields to cross with crops often left uncut, hills to climb, food in the small tents which formed the checkpoints (including rice pudding, jam sandwiches, cake, biscuits and pasta). Pie and peas at the end. Similar to Swaledale in a lot of ways, but the hills here were more gentle. A very friendly atmosphere, so overall it doesn't get much better!

It was also Clare's first race over the marathon distance and she did great ! She did give me quite a look when I failed to read the excellent race directions and took us about a quarter of a mile down a hill, which we then had to climb up again. This was about mile 24 and we had been out in the sun for more than six hours at that point so we were both getting a bit tired.

The route took us by all sorts of beautiful houses (including Wentworth Woodhouse where I had my first teaching job), churches and monuments, crags with fantastic views and gentle ascents and descents thorough woods.

There were also 15m and 20m alternative routes to the 27m one that we did and I would certainly highly recommend this event.

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q1Eujn9pH1M1YmcdA

Results - I don't think there will be any official results:

Clare ven den Bos 6hr 49min 16sec
Dave Robson 6hr 49min 16sec