Lakeland 50 2013 - 50 miles, 9000'

Nearly 9 months in the offing, this was going to be my first race of any sort in the Lake District since the 2009 Great Langdale Marathon. This would be something like my 6^th ultra, having run a few marathons too, but the first time I’d ever had anything like a Training Diary leading up to a race so I was feeling confident and had been running well in the local midweek races back in the Peak District.

I was really looking forward to this race as it promised to cover some of the lesser visited corners of the area, but the section down the Langdale valley was one I knew fairly well.

The day before the race was pretty uneventful but I took the chance to sit in the 100 mile briefing and watch the 6PM start of their event. Thinking of them running through the night and morning before we started at Dalemain really brought home to me the scale of what they were doing. As I write this after the race, I think I could do the distance but running through 2 nights would really play with my mind.

On the morning of the race I bumped into Col Wilshaw from Pennine who told me our other clubmate Paul Booth was running the 50 as his car broke down Friday evening en route to the 100 – so he’d been let on the 50 instead. We ended up running together up until Haweswater and I was glad of the early company. Topics discussed included stalkers and private email addresses, I wonder what another 10 hours on the trail would have thrown up?!

There are plenty of other descriptions of the route so I’ll leave most of that to others. The main factor in the early stages, in fact through to the early evening, was the heat – in turns sunshine and humidity – so keeping a lid on things and not flying off too fast, aside from the normal ultra pacing, was going to be key.

We did a 4 mile loop round Dalemain estate then we hit Pooley Bridge and the first few crowds cheering us on. I wondered if 12:30 was too early for a Pepperami but Col suggested I get one down me. The 60 grams of carbohydrate that Paul reckoned I’d burnt off by now were replaced in one helping of processed salty crap.

CP1 at Howtown (11 miles) came and went. Back up the road to tackle the second climb and for me the start of the toughest section of the course.

The ascent up Fusedale is around 3 miles and the best part of 2,500’. The heat was coming up from Martindale in waves that sapped all energy and breath. I’d take a drink of water and my mouth would be immediately dry again. However, we were still picking people off and some were laid down by the path, trying to gather their energy to get to the top. False summits came and went until finally we were there. I tried to break into something faster than a walk and managed to shuffle onwards.

Thinking it might help replace some lost salt, I tried to get another Pepperami down but this wasn’t advisable whilst trying to run, and I ended up coughing most of it out over the moorland. The dogs would have been happy.

Down through the bracken towards Haweswater, Colin and Paul are still picking people off on the path. I knew I could keep it up for a while but not for the rest of the day, so I let them push on whilst I got myself together. This would prove to be my quickest section overall but interestingly even though I slowed down, I only lost 30 or so places to the end of the day, so everyone must have maintained a similar pace from then on in.

It was around this time that the wheels started to fall off – nothing specific just a general tiredness (I could feel my eyes closing) and a feeling of wanting to sit down by the path and have a rest. I was 17 miles into the race and couldn’t image running another step that day, let alone covering another 33 miles. I kept dunking my cup into the streams but no sooner had I drank it than I was thirsty again. I dipped my hat into another stream and put it on my head, and in my disorientated state I put the peak into my mouth and sucked out the stream water along with years of accumulated sweat. I stumbled along, gagging, and tried to pull myself together.

The CP at Mardale Head (20 miles) loomed into view like a mirage, a navy blue gazebo at the top of the lake. This was make or break time. I stocked up on everything – flat Coke, butternut squash soup, jam sandwich (dipped in the soup) and some ibuprofen, for no reason other than things couldn’t get any worse so might as well take some drugs. People were in bits by this stage and 28 people would drop out here. Weather wise, this was the hottest part of the day but another 96 would retire before the race was over – 482 runners crossing the finish line at Coniston from the 587 that started at Dalemain. What kept me going was imagining having to tell people I’d not finished the race, what I would say to them and how I would feel doing that. No T shirt, no medal, better luck next year son.
(There’s a great write up of the power of the mind and how someone applied it to the Lakeland 100 here.)
Something worked anyway – the road book said it was 6.5 miles to Kentmere and it would be a poor state of affairs if I couldn’t cover that distance. I was fully fuelled and had plenty of daylight left so there was no reason not to push on. I had the bright idea to put some sports drink into my water bladder so I could have a steady flow of energy on the next leg – anything was worth a try.

The climb up Gatesgarth started immediately after the checkpoint, I attacked it with renewed vigour and a brew in my hand. I was making the same pace up here as I was with Col and Paul earlier, so I knew things were good again. The climb lasted around 15 minutes I think, then we started the long drop down the other side. The going here (like most of the rest of the day) was very rocky and bouldery, I had a couple of soft ankle turns on the way down but nothing serious. I remember thinking how painful this section must have been for the 100 milers, after 70 miles of their race. There was another cheeky climb before we dropped down into Kentmere, at this point the sun came out from behind the clouds and we were sweating buckets.

Kentmere (27 miles) was soon upon us, with the help of some guidance through the final twists and turns we came across the Institute and the next checkpoint. Outside there was a washing up bowl with a sign saying ‘Wash Your Face Here!’ Me and another lad got stuck in, much to the concern of another runner ‘Isn’t that a bit unhygienic?’ she asked. Deciding we had bigger problems at hand (like running 50 miles!) we carried on.

The checkpoint was an oasis of bad dance music, pasta and smoothies. It somehow felt quite normal to be eating an evening meal at 6pm, except I wouldn’t usually have my tea whilst wearing so much Lycra.

There was also a big clock on the wall which ticked round at alarming speed – a link back to reality – 15 minutes passed in no time and it was time to leave.

It was set to be climbing for the next mile or two out of Kentmere so I unclipped my trusty plastic cup and got a coffee for the journey. Walking up the road I chatted to a 100 miler for a while – I was always a bit unsure what to say to them, didn’t want a slip of the tongue to demoralise them by mistake – and carried on up the hill.

(I saw Nick Ham just before Howtown and he was struggling after drinking too much electrolyte. There wasn’t anything I could do or say, but he would go on to finish in a 33-hour PB)
Prior to the race, the aspect I was worried most about was the ascent, about 9,700’ in total. But I felt really strong throughout and managed to catch a group that was half a mile ahead of me as I started up the hill from Kentmere. A thunderstorm combined with a Mountain Rescue helicopter provided a reminder on a few levels of the dangers of hanging around in exposed places and I cracked on down the hill. A short section of road out of Troutbeck preceded a nice runnable section of trail as we headed down into Ambleside (34 miles).

There were lots of crowds on the streets and outside the pubs cheering us on and I felt a bit emotional as we got to the checkpoint! Unfortunately the indoor CP here was more akin to a sauna so a quick tomato soup, cheese sandwich and ginger cake, flat coke and the usual coffee were all I had time for. As a Yorkshireman I hate turning my back on free food but I needed to keep moving whilst I felt good.

It was on the climb out of Ambleside that I met a couple of Wigan Harriers that I ended up finishing the race with – Julie and Graham. They knew the route inside out and we were running at a similar speed, taking it in turns to lead. We made the Chapel Stile CP (40 miles) at 10pm as it was starting to turn dark. A 50 runner was crashed on the sofa having run an additional 9 miles the wrong way out of the Mardale Head checkpoint and the marshals made him stay until the medical team had checked him out. I saw him the next day in the canteen looking right as rain so the checkpoint staff had done their job. They were keeping a close eye on everyone here and for good reason – we’d done 40 miles of the race but the 100 mile competitors had done 95 – the 100 mile course is actually 105 miles in length. It’s funny to think how we viewed the last 10 miles as us being ‘nearly there’ when we had another 20% of the race to do, but these events are about chipping away and ticking each checkpoint off again and again until you get to the finish.

The long sleeve base layer went on here underneath my jacket and it was headtorch time. It was here I had my first toilet break in nearly 12 hours, a sign of how hot the day had been. Even in the light of my headtorch I could see my urine was a dark yellow colour, but the thirstiness of earlier in the day had luckily passed.

We made good progress along the valley, slowly rising up the hillside to cross the road at Wrynose Pass. The progress on this last section was pretty good, with some rocky ground but a good few stretches of runnable trail. Running was surprisingly easy, I had no discomfort apart from my feet feeling a bit snug in my shoes. We passed Blea Tarn and skirted around the top of Blea Moss, a boggy section of lower ground we’d been advised to keep out of. We saw a few headtorches bobbing around in the lower ground and they hopefully weren’t stuck in there too long.

I was feeling ok at this point but the cold was just starting to creep in a little, which helped keep me moving so I could stay warm. Nothing was dry any more so I’d played my last card on the kit front. Had to get my head down and make progress as quick as I could to the last checkpoint and on to the end.

The checkpoint at Tilberthwaite had a beach theme as far as I can remember! The marshalls had flowers round their necks and I’m sure the Beach Boys were playing. The staff here were fantastic, really had their heads screwed on as they made us put our waterproof trousers on to conserve as much energy as possible and keep us warm over the last climb and the exposed top of the quarry. One of our group was shivering but the CP staff sorted them out with a warm drink and some more clothes and he was good to go. Another runner came in behind us and the marshalls took one look at him before plonking him into a chair, wrapping him up in foil blankets and rugs and rubbing him to get the heat back into him. I think this CP could have gone either way for many runners and the staff will have played a vital role in some people finishing the race.

Up the steps to Tilberthwaite we went and I’d like to say I can remember the rest – but it was pitch black and driving rain so we all had our heads down trying to get to shelter in the valley bottom. What I do remember is finally hitting the tarmac road that runs in the gully between the hills above Coniston, and seeing the faint orange glow of the streetlights in the distance.

We were soon in the village and there were still some people outside the pubs cheering us on (it was 1am) and we crossed the line together back at the school. The whole canteen applauded us as we came in which was a pretty emotional experience in my tired state!

I finished the race wearing every piece of emergency kit (apart from my gloves) and it later turned out I’d lost 6lbs during the race despite eating like a king all day – the ultimate crash diet?

Boar's Head fell race 7m ~1200'

Good luck in finding a map for this one. With the route a (seemingly) closely guarded secret, I was full of anticipation as we made our way to the start in the Pennine Minibus.

The main choice is – do you take the direct line up the tussocks to Bow Stones, or up and along the wall? Try it for yourself and find out! The tussocks provided a nice break from all-out running though as I made that choice this year. The run along the ridge was followed by an eyeful of blazing sun just above the line of the wall, combined with stinging sweat. Just what you want when plunging downhill at a rate of knots.

 

The recent circuit training paid off, I found that when my legs got tired on the final stretch, my other muscles kicked in and gave me a final spurt. The finish is a downhill sprint which is always a good way to finish a race. Apart from the fact I thought I was through the funnel and someone quite unsportingly pushed past me at the line!

Vanessa Chappel 6.5m ~1300'

Very runnable lung buster of a race. Long climb after an early downhill section then eyeballs out for the rest of the way. I went a few hundred metres off-course otherwise I’d have been a couple of places higher up the pecking order.

spot the moon

we ran across the skyline and then back on ourselves

May Madness 2013

Race 1: Chunal - 3.25m 1189’ - painful

Race 2: Moorfield 5k - ok. 5k PB on a very hilly course for a road race

Race 3: James’s Thorn - 4.78m 1459’ - painful

Whoever would have thought that running on 3 consecutive days would be so painful? I suppose I should say I was racing, not running, but after my pathetic showing at Chunal that would have been pushing the truth a bit. Luckily these races were all within 15 minutes of my house and all short enough that I could run then during optimistic junior v1 and v2's morning sleep, and be back, showered and fed by the time they woke up again.

I ran James' Thorn as a race for the first time, it's nice and runnable and a reminder of how good the hills are around Glossop.

standings after 2 races

 

me and Nick Ham

Herod Farm fell race 2013 - 3m 1099’

The first local midweek race of the season, this race can easily catch the unsuspecting fellrunner off guard . The only similar race prior to Herod Farm is the Lamb’s Longer Leg which is run back in the mists of January, so this is a short sharp re-introduction to the business end of racing.

Up, down, up and finally down again, this race is over before you know it, but you really know about it whilst you’re doing it!

Conditions were dry this year – in 2012 the final climb up Whitely Nab was more like a bad war film as we took one step forward and two steps back through the mud – so this time round we were able to make decent progress to the top ready for the final leg and lung busting run to the finish.

1m 20 seconds slower this year. I blame the Downfall 3 days prior, mrs t.o.r. says I’m getting old.

I took a couple of mates round this one as their first fell race and they absolutely loved it. One of them even had the cheek to finish in front of me.

Kinder Downfall 2013 - 9m 2000’

Windy. That probably sums this race up. Nice but windy. Rain was a constant threat and occasional companion but light enough to ensure the coat stayed in the bag. 

We gathered on the bridge in Hayfield for the customary race briefing and random equipment checks, and on the stroke of 11 we were off.

I felt like I made decent time up to the top of William Clough, tucking in behind another Pennine runner until we got to Mill Hill and the WIND.

wind.

Too strong to actually be able to move against it, at one point I was wondering if I would have to start crawling to actually make any forward progress.

The Downfall was in full blow-back mode, my first time to experience the showering that results as you run across the mouth of the river with the waterfall blowing back from the plateau edge.

3 minutes slower than last year but a good run all in all.

The Trigger 2013 – Marsden to Edale ~24m ~4,000’

Named after the three trig points that form the spine of its route, this race has filled the shoes of the old Tanky’s Trog race from Marsden to Edale that took a slightly different route to bridge the 20-odd mile gap* between these places in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

*20 odd miles depending on your ‘choice’ of route (i.e. whether or not you get lost).



where's Wally?



Boarding the Pennine minibus in a pre-dawn Hayfield to set off across to the motherland, the collective mood was pretty buoyant but focused on the task in hand. Visibility over the tops of Kinder and Bleaklow looked promisingly clear as we made our way, but threatened to be a bit more of a problem as we approached Marsden.

Navigation skills were the name of the game in the lead up to the race, but having broken the route into sections it seemed reassuringly clear that the route to Black Hill (Trig 1) would be pretty straightforward, with plenty of people to follow, with a straightforward descent into Crowden.

There then follows a route choice over Bleaklow – straight up Lawrence Edge and across the top to hit the Pennine Way (quite a climb up the face of the hill with a bit of scrambling); Wildboarclough leading onto the Pennine Way (a bit less direct but a gentler ascent) or along to Torside to pick up the Pennine Way (definitely the longest option).

The Pennine Way then leads onto the vicinity of Wain Stones where you dink South-West to Shelf Stones (Trig 2), and then over to Snake Top and onwards any way you fancy to the Sandy Heys trig on Kinder and across to Edale.

I didn’t have a great race – I was wearing too much (inexperience) and so overheated, and for some reason I had nothing in my legs in the run up to Black Hill. This section is no tougher than a Thursday night club run so I think with overdressing and setting off too fast I messed things up for myself here.

The freezing bogs on Black Hill had made my feet numb so I tripped a few times on the trail and on the descent down into Crowden I bashed my leg and ended up walking for a few minutes to shake off the knock. My knee would swell up to the size of a melon the next day but mrs t.o.r. had no sympathy. She has given birth twice, so I’ll forgive her not being overly concerned at my discomfort whilst running a race through the beautiful Peak District countryside!

From Crowden I took the Lawrence Edge route up to Bleaklow. With shotgun blasts from the shooting range next door ringing in my ears, and the trail of blood I was leaving in the snow from my bashed up knee as I climbed up the rocks, The Trigger seemed more like a title for a lo-fi James Bond film than an AL fell race.

Up to the top of Lawrence Edge and cramp sets in. Try to eat a pork pie but it’s frozen - end up choking. Sling the pork pie and it’s over Bleaklow we go. Bleaklow was ok given the clear, frozen conditions. Progress was constant but slow at this point but I’d teamed up with someone else and we kept each other going.



Shelf Stones

Snake Top comes and goes, along with some food to get me up and onto Kinder. I was pretty frazzled by now so took the easy route up onto Kinder via Mill Hill and across to Sandy Heys. Here I met Dave Bowen and we walk/jogged together up the Downfall to Kinder Gates and managed to take a great line down to Crowden Head. We fell in once apiece as we took it in turns to test the bogs, but here was a decent crust on top so progress was fairly decent.

We jogged along the edge path to Grindslow Knoll and down into the valley bottom. 5 hours and 41 minutes after leaving Marsden we crossed the finish line in time for hot pot and prize giving at the village hall.

I had a great time doing this race and learnt lots of valuable lessons – not going off too fast was one of them, along with not needing to wear too much even if it is freezing. I’ll be back for more next year!

Stockport 10 2012

In the week before this race I was talking to Patrick Barry about some of the running blogs we both read. The way the runners describe the pain, effort and mental tests they go through to achieve their placings - invariably very respectable times and performances. The moral of the story? You get out what you put in.

This isn't a 'look at me' post but more of a comment around the approach some of us take to races and training. I'd wanted a PB at this race when I entered as done it twice before, but had no reason to expect one. This side of 40, I'd expect some sort of gradual improvement on the back of a culmination of months and years of running, but hadn’t done anything specific in preparation for this race. In fact I’d hardly run at all since a 50 mile ultra at the end of October.

Mrs theoptimisticrunner and I arrived at registration having had about 3 hours' continuous sleep the previous night due to optimisticjunior Version 2.0 keeping us up, so neither of us were in the best state to start running our socks off. Into the bargain, I'd forgotten to wear a watch so there would be no split timings or similar fancy bollocks. I was lucky to be fully clothed, awake and at the start line given the previous night's disruption.

So ahead of us lay race around the highs and lows of Stockport, in great conditions, along with 800 or so other runners.

I listened to a great Talk Ultra great podcast once which featured an interview with an American ultra runner (could have been Mike Morton). The gist of the interview was that he had run and won a cracking race (Badwater), but narrowly missed out on a course record by a minute or so. He said that minute probably stemmed from inefficiency during his run - taking too long at checkpoints, changing his shorts, not making full use of downhills etc.

So my approach to this race was that I was going to run as hard as I could for as long as I could. It hurt a lot, I got really hot and was out of breath for most of the race. I felt like I was going quite slowly and it seemed a while before I got going.

I had to stop and walk at the top of the housing estate opposite the Spread Eagle in Otterspool/Bredbury, but I picked up a good pacer to keep me going through the estate and on towards the final part of the course.

A high five from Rob Taylor at the foot of New Zealand road sent me flying up it with renewed energy. As I entered Woodbank park the race clock said 1:08 – a PB was on the cards but how quick could I be?

I usually try and finish as strong as I can but the final lap round the sports track was more of a trot – even though Bob from Emmerdale read my name out over the tannoy - with a good dose of coughing and spluttering at the end.

1:12:18.

What has this taught me? Leave the watch at home and just enjoy yourself!

Bob

Are YOU an optimistic runner?

Here's a very interesting article on the power of the mind over longer distances.

http://www.sirc.ca/newsletters/july12/documents/Free/Mental%20Preparation%20for%20Distance%20Runners.pdf

I'd say the main thing I do is to set out with a goal every time I run, be it to make it all the way to the top of the hill, define a decent finish time give or take 30 mins, or something similar. If you don't have a goal you'll never know if you've succeeded or failed.

Dusk Till Dawn Ultramarathon 2012 - 50miles 9000'

Some people will do anything to avoid watching the X Factor. With this one I managed to miss Sunday’s repeat as well!

The Dusk Til’ Dawn ultra is a 50 mile, 9000’ jaunt with a couple of twists – it talks place nearly entirely in the dark and you must finish the course before the Grim Sweeper crosses the finish line at sunrise.

Starting from Losehill YHA in Hope it takes in Back Tor, Lose Hill, Cave Dale, the Limestone Way, Priestcliffe, Hind Low, Earl Sterndale, the Cat and Fiddle, Shining Tor, Taxal, Whitehough, Chinley Churn, Cracken Edge, Mount Famine, the Pennine Bridleway through Roych Clough, over to Rushup Edge and Lord’s Seat, before plunging back down to Losehill YHA via Hollins Cross.

Organised by the very thorough team at Beyond Marathon, the pre-race briefing consisted of a 22 page Powerpoint walk through of the entire course, along with the various pitfalls along the way. Despite this I still managed to fall over on the rutted caterpillar track on the moors above Earl Sterndale – just goes to show the briefing was accurate!

I started off at my own pace up Lose Hill, which was a decent climb to the token drop to get the legs going ready for the long descent into Castleton and the end of civilisation for a while. I bumped into fellow Pennine runners Mark Cliff and Hanno coming out of Cave Dale and we ended up sticking together until the end.
The first vehicle checkpoint looked more akin to a landing strip and featured flashing yellow lights and fruit cake. After a quick refuel we were back on our way again, it was getting a bit nippy by this point and we were glad to keep moving.

We were maintaining a conservative pace but making good time for an ultra – so much so we got to the second vehicle checkpoint ahead of the vehicle checkpoint itself! However the hardest working race organiser in history™ was on hand with water rations and advice on the route ahead. We’d see him 3 times during the race in total.

Between here and the indoor CP (2) at Earl Sterndale Primary School I started to feel decidedly sorry for myself and was starting to crumble severely. It was past my bedtime, I was missing Match of the Day and it was bloody freezing!

But prior to the event the organisers Richard and Wendy had sent all competitors an online survey as to our checkpoint dietary requirements; firmly on my list was Rice Pudding. I think this and a good brew helped save me here. Hanno changed his shoes, Mark put another layer on as I did the same, combined with a thermal buff to complement the existing Pennine buff on my head. Mark Cliff also had his buff on his head and together we looked like a pair of Peak District kamikaze fellrunners as we charged around in the darkness that night.

The next 10 miles From Earl Sterndale to CP3 at the Cat and Fiddle (30 miles) were relatively straightforward, we’d all agreed that the C&F was the place to get to where we were nearly on home turf and more than halfway through the race. Mark and Hanno were pleased to see Big Col here, who was running around making brews for everyone upon request. The flapjack squares and brownie here were a lovely touch and perfectly complemented the hot drinks on offer.

From here we proceeded to token drop 2 at Shining Tor and along the ridgeline along and down to Taxal – the flagstones were a welcome chance to get some speed up and get out of the driving wind and frozen rain. This was the highest point of the course as well so things were always going to be a bit hairy round here.

From Taxal we followed the High Peak 40 route up to Eccles Pike, then dropped down the other side into Leaden Knowl, Whitehough then Chinley. CP4 was in the form of a floodlit gazebo at the foot of Cracken Edge – slightly surreal at 3 a.m.! Andy announced our presence with ‘WE’RE HERE!!’ and without further ado we were elbow deep in more cake and some lovely veggie soup. I must have bitten off more than I could chew because at this point I found myself unable to breathe as I choked on a peanut butter sandwich, but luckily I managed to clear the airwaves so we could carry on.

The path along Cracken Edge was decent going, we were 40 miles into the race now so we probably looked like a bunch of geriatrics, but progress felt ok. From here on in we went up the side of the Lamb Inn and onto the Pennine Bridleway; the final stretch towards home.

This section went smoothly enough and we were soon at the last vehicle checkpoint on the road just before Rushup Edge. This was around 5 in the morning and the previously clear skies which accompanied our start some 12 hours previously had been replaced with a blanket of cloud, driving rain and a very chilly wind. We were given the option of taking the low road down to Castleton but Hanno said “Isn’t that a bit cheating?” – the decision was made! It later turned out that subsequent runners were not given this option; they were made to take the detour onto the road after feedback from early completers on the conditions on top of Mam Tor ridge.

From here on in all that stood between us and a celebratory fry up were two token drops on Lord’s Seat and Hollins Cross – although the Lord’s Seat drop took an age to loom into view, we finally found it along the side of the track, illuminated by a red glow stick. We’d been shouting at it for a while but it was reluctant to show itself…

Token dropped. Things were getting a bit hairy now. We were all wet through and exposed on the ridgeline. Got to keep moving – we broke into a trot onwards and down towards the road crossing before Mam Tor. By now I was punching the air as I ran in just to keep my arms and hands warm. We could start to see the lights of Castleton through the clouds, and the first tinges of sunrise over in the direction of Sheffield.

Hollins Cross soon loomed into view as we dug out our last tokens for the drop box. Mark kissed his token, Hanno and I had some choicer words for ours and we didn’t need any encouragement to get onto the path back down to Castleton. By this stage Andy was plying us all with sweets and energy drink to keep us going from his tardis-like rucksack – what a comeback he’s made from not being able to walk 12 months ago.

Before long we were on the main road out of Castleton and back up the long, long drive up to the YHA. The sun was coming up now and we were just going to make it in time after over 13 hours out on the hill.

We crossed the line as one, totally shattered but over the moon to have completed an epic run.

Highlights of the day/night/morning:

Seeing all the stars coming out as we moved through Cave Dale
Running 3 abreast as a “wall of Pennine” along the Limestone Way
The aurora round the moon as we passed along the Limestone Way
Rice pudding at CP2
Driving frozen rain at Shining Tor
Mark Cliff’s “I feel decidedly second-hand” comment on Cracken Edge
Hanno singing Wonderwall at 3a.m. round the back of the Lamb Inn
The vehicle marshall at CP5 saying things were ‘a bit wild’ on Rushup Edge
Watching both the sun set and sun rise in the same day

Shelf Moor 2012 5.9 ~1500'

you know it's going to be a good run when on the way there you look up at the hills covered in cloud and wonder 'is this a good idea?'. today was a really foggy one and made for classic conditions. it was a good job this was only a 6 mile horseshoe otherwise the navigation cock up potential would have been pretty high.

well it it turns out I still had a lot of Hadrian's Wall in my legs for this race. despite having run/walked 8 miles of the Lantern Pike & Mellor Moor Footpath Challenge, and the usual 5 miles daily dog walk and commuting, my legs still hadn't got fully back to normal.

the signs were there early in the race and despite the conditions i was overdressed in a Helly base layer with vest on top, and i'd opted for a small pack to carry the required windproof body cover (my kit isn't so lightweight).

to cut a long story short when most of the field have overtaken you by 20 minutes into the race it's never going to be a day for setting records.

I'd decided to call this one a draw once i'd got past Yellowslacks so decided to take it easy on the way down and take in the view - picture above!!

this will be good to come back and do next year - and Glossop isn't getting any easier despite all the practice!!

Hadrian's Wall 2012 - Carlisle to Newcastle

Inspired by a similar race that was organised along a similar route in June (but not by its £250 price tag ), we'd originally planned to run it early that month, but my ankle injury  put it on the back burner until the 18th/19th August.

Beforehand there were plenty of unknowns - how would our bodies react to back to back 30 and 40 mile days? how fast should we go on day 1 so we could still have something in the tank for Sunday? would we get blisters? would we keep pace with each other for the whole 2 days? How much food could I physically eat on the train up to Carlisle?

We booked the train well in advance and it cost us £9 to get to Carlisle from New Mills - bargain. We hit the trail round the back of the leisure centre and were on our way. The Wall has been built on, demolished and long forgotten in the immediate vicinity of Carlisle and it would be 3 hours until we caught our first glimpse of what we'd come all this way to see.

Along this first stretch of the trail there were a couple of honesty boxes where you could get water, chocolate and crisps in return for leaving some money. We were carrying plenty of gear and I wanted to be as self sufficient as possible so didn't bother with anything but it was a nice touch.



Despite having known each other for over 3 years, we've only run together once before at last year's Snowdonia Marathon, so 2 days of running side by side was going to be interesting. I was allocated map reading duties (head East!) whilst Nick kept us on pace with his garmin.

The terrain on Saturday was fairly flat with perhaps 2000' of climb, but in a lot of places the mud was ankle deep and even the high ground was waterlogged after weeks of rain. I struggled in a pair of trail shoes and Nick seemed to be having fun too in his road/trail numbers.

Hadrians Wall Path sign

We made it to the pub just in time for last orders on food (steak and ale pie apiece) and plan our approach to Sunday.

After the day's slog over muddy ground we opted to take the road option as early as possible on Sunday to get some traction going and bash out a few quick miles.

Having being tipped off that the first few miles of the second day were pretty hilly, we decided to power walk the first 5 miles to get our legs going again. The section featured some of the best preserved bits of the Wall so it was good to be able to take it all in and admire the views over the moorland.

With our legs nicely warmed up we broke into a trot after 3 miles along a nice grassy stretch of ground leading off the moorland.

Nick came into his own on this section and we were soon doing 7:30 minute miles down the alarmingly hilly road - a sign of things to come!

Seeing this sign below really brought the scale of things home - having an end destination to aim for made things feel like they were drawing to an end, even though that end was a good few hours away!

only around a marathon to go!

The contours on the Harvey's map belied the hilliness of the roads outside Chollerford and Brunton. We'd hashed out a strategy for the rest of the run - get some quick miles under the belt, we were nearly on the last section of the map and could sense the end - when a whacking great 1 in 3 hill loomed into view up the road. This section was really hilly and soon after the heavens opened.

The next few miles were a case of plodding down the side of the road through a contstant stream of water with our heads down, over unrelenting hills with traffic constantly showering us with water from the puddles. We had a quick pit stop in the lobby of a cafe to sort our clothes out, fill up our water bottles and have some of our food - I was starting to get a bit ratty at this point; I could feel the effects of the cold and rain starting to set in so the fact we got some shelter was key to how the rest of the day would progress.

By this stage we had about 10 miles to go and were approaching the outskirts of Newcastle. After running to the end of the main road and over the flyover, we were into the last village before the city limits. Although there were a few signposts, navigation was a bit fiddly round this section and we had to stop and ask for directions.

Having being put on the right course we were grateful of a long downhill stretch, which took us round a corner where the Tyne Bridge loomed into view - the scale of what we'd done was starting to sink in now.

By this stage we'd covered about 60 miles over 2 days and were starting to feel the effects of our running. I was aware of a dull ache in my left leg that would prove to keep me awake for the next 2 nights, and Nick was starting to wobble a bit.

We downed the last of our energy gels and plodded on. By now the Hadrian's Wall Path had become Hadrian's Way and we were in suburbia.

This last section was flat and allowed us to get up a good head of steam. The rain was relentless now and we were both soaked to the bone.

We were still bashing out 8 minute miles during the final run along the quayside in Newcastle, but when the wall path fizzled out and we found ourselves running down the back of a housing estate past kids on bikes and empty pizza boxes, we decided to call it a day.

After 17 hours and 24 minutes of running over 2 days, covering 68 miles, we were at Journey's End - a terraced house in Byker.

Back at the train station we attracted a few funny looks as we:

stripped off in the pub toilets and tried to dry ourselves off - a geordie bloke walked in and asked 'what's going on here like?!'
ordered 2 pints of water at the bar and poured recovery powder into them whilst dripping water all over the floor
boarded the train dressed in bin bags provided from Burger King and shaking uncontrollably (me)

Eccles Pike fell race 3.7 m ~1100'




as short, sharp races go, this one's got the lot. runnable flat sections, muddy paths and a steep climb to the top of the hill that everyone's trying to get to the top of first.

a low key start in the playing field round the back of the Navigation Inn took us through the pub car park, over the footbridge before a right turn then sharp left to start the climb up Eccles Pike.

the good thing about races like this is by the time you've glanced at your watch the first 10 minutes or so have already passed and you're already 1/3 into the race. no time for resting during these ones.

As soon as the race heads off road the climbing is relentless but still runnable, it's not until the final climb up to the summit that you're reduced to a walk. this is one where the leading runners pass you on their way back down as you're still making your way up, but a passing team mate cheered me on and put a spring in my step to help me up the hill. it's not too bad up to the summit as you can see how far's left to climb; I remember thinking that the ~1000' of climb had come about quickly.

from there on in it's a case of how fast you dare go back down the way you came, i gave it a fair bit but didn't want to over do it before Saturday's Hadrian's Wall attempt.

I had a good tussle with a Glossopdale runner and managed to see him off over the footbridge (the Millennium Walkway training must have paid off!)

there didn't seem to be many runners at this one, maybe they were put off by the rain earlier in the day. there certainly were very few Goyt Valley vests on show.

it was good to catch up with Nick Ham who came in about a minute before me. well done Nick.

next stop Hadrian's Wall!

millennium bug

it could be down to the Olympics but this is the only time i've measured my efforts in Metric.

mindful of the old Yorkshire adage "same shite in, same shite out", last Sunday I decided to add some variety to my training with 10 x 160 metre sprint reps along the Millennium Walkway at the end of my road.

the walkway rises about 30 feet along its 160 metre length so there's plenty to test the legs. well i could definately feel it the next day so something must have worked.

Cracken Edge fell race 7m/1450'

I'd done all of this route in separate parts during club training runs and solo jaunts so was pretty familiar with the terrain. at 7 miles this is getting on a bit for a midweek race and the climbing involved meant we were going to be in for a cracker.

despite a couple of showers before the race the weather cleared up to give great views of the hillside above us and back over Hayfield to Kinder as we made our way to the start line.

the first few miles are all uphill but deceptively gentle enough that you end up running them, until coming out on Over Hill Road before the long pull up to New Allotments.

this climb always gets me and i tucked in between a Glossopdale vest and a KMRT runner for a brisk walk up to the top, ready for the section of flat trail to take us gradually downhill to meet the road again and turn back up past Chinley Churn and Cracken Edge.

this race was one of those where i was glad i'd been optimistic and just worn my vest as it was hot work all the way through and my head had a bit of a wobble as we crossed the stile that takes you onto the churn past all the old mine workings.


at this point the lads in front of me started to walk and i made the same mistake; if i'd been on my own or not behind those two i might have gone a bit quicker on this section.

this race is a real tough one, there's no hiding from it as the uphills are runnable for the main part, as are the flats and the last 2 miles or so are all downhill so it's a real intense race.

pretty happy with my run overall, should come back faster next year but a good trot out nonetheless.

my time of 1h07 for a 7 mile fell race says it all really - the most fun you can have (legally) for £4 on a Wednesday night!

Crowden Horseshoe 2012 8m 1700'

the car park

Nothing is easy round Glossop. Today saw my second encounter with the Crowden Horseshoe, and I was hoping that forewarned would mean forearmed and help me do a bit better on this tough course.

Pretty similar to the Kinder Downfall route in profile and terrain, the Crowden Horseshoe’s got rocky scrambles, narrow paths with big drops off the side, plenty of bogs and a cheeky dose of flagstones just to offer an extra chance to break your neck, in case you had missed it during the first part of the course.

This one climbs steadily upwards for the first 4 miles or so up to Soldier’s Lump which is just about as high as Holme Moss TV mast which is visible in the near distance. Rivers and streams that were trickles last year were well up this time round, which made for interesting running and crossing. Recent downpours had also given the bogs a helping hand and they were at their shoe-sucking best, coming just after the trig point and the previous few miles ascending to add an extra dimension to the race.

Once the turn is made at the trig point you strike back down a parallel route towards Crowden YHA, this part is undulating through groughs and bogs for a good few miles until some tricky descending back into the campsite.

I had a good few tussles with some other runners and everyone said how tough it was this time round – the weather was pretty fine except a brief downpour and a hailstorm over the tops.

I think there were 4 of us from Pennine there today, the rest of whom came in before me but I was just happy I managed to run all of the race as my comeback since chipping my ankle in April.

Next stop Cracken Edge on Wednesday!

http://fellrunner.org.uk/results.php?id=1423

Weber A fracture - ankle

I'm writing this post as an aid to anyone who sustains a Weber A fracture of the ankle, as I could find little help or information on the internet after chipping the outside of my ankle earlier this year.


A Weber A fracture is the least severe type of fracture in terms of implications on tendons, ligaments or surrounding muscles - in my case I bent my foot prety much all the way back on itself running down a skate ramp and somewhere along the line managed to chip the bottom of the bony lump on the outside of my ankle.


It hurt like hell at the time and my ankle pretty soon swelled up to the clichéd size of a golf ball. Mrs theoptimisticrunner took the opportunity to have a good laugh at my predicament, which was severe enough for me to roll around in a puddle groaning, oblivious to the soaking i was getting.




 I took a fair whack of Ibuprofen and paracetamol and was put in a half/open plaster the next day at Buxton Hospital. They were unable to diagnose me from the X Ray and so booked me in at the Fracture Clinic the following Monday.

the docs at the fracture clinic saw straight away the ankle was fractured, explaining it as a Weber A fracture. They said I was ok to walk on it as long as I could manage the pain, but advised against running for 6-8 weeks.

my return to mobility looked like this:

1 week - back walking again
3 weeks - 5 mile walk over flat ground with little discomfort
4 weeks - all clear and referred to physio
6 weeks - 1 mile gentle run, some hills
7 weeks onwards - walking 5 miles daily as part of my commute and dog walking
8 weeks - 5 mile fell run (moderate hills)
9 weeks - 9 mile fell run (moderate hills)
10 weeks - 13 mile fell run (easy hills)

As the docs explained to me, all bones have a 6 week healing process no matter who you are. I eat a reasonably good diet (5 a day and only a modest amount of cake, which is stricly earnt by doing exercise) so had a decent starting point in terms of vitamins and goodies existing in my body to help the healing process.


I had two subsequent physio sessions which involved being given some exercises to do - along the lines of standing on the affected foot and raising my body up and down, also hopping on the spot in different directions (imagine a 2 x 2 grid, starting with your foot in the bottom left box and jumping to and from the various other boxes)

I don't go much for physio and stretching, I found that by listening to my body and building a good foundation of walking before trying anything too adventurous I was able to get back running within a reasonable time. I hope this helps. If anyone has any questions please leave a comment on here and i'll do my best to help.

thanks

TOR

My Downfall

10 mile fell race with about 2,000' of climb up kinder scout? no problem.

walk in the park with the dog? =

spot the difference

thinking i was clever after my little run in the morning, whilst out with the Optimistic clan i spotted a skate ramp in the park and ran up it. unfortunately it had been raining that day so coming down the ramp my right foot got caught under itself, with the result being mrstheoptimisticrunner in stitches at my predicament, and my right foot in plaster =

looks like a 6-8 week layoff, suspected chipped bone in my ankle but we will see. Max is now in the hands of mrs t.o.r. who is less than happy at the prospect of picking up dog poo for the next two months

Kinder Downfall 9.6m c. 2200'

i don't think a novice runner such as myself can add much value to a route description of this race, and if you want a laugh then have a read of this write up from yesteryear on the Pennine website.

Kinder Downfall from Lantern Pike

having said that, i was really looking forward to this one - it's funny how your body tricks you into feeling non-existant niggles in the days before a race, and i was a bit worried to get a touch of the DOMS on Friday after Herod Farm, but after walking the dog, a decent bowl of porridge and some positive energy by way of the BBC1 London Marathon coverage, i was on my way to the scout hut in Hayfield and race HQ.

Kinder was shrouded in mist as i approached from New Mills, but i didn't mind this - if anything it would give me an incentive to stay in touch with other runners instead of bimbling round the edge of the plateau when we got up there.

with this being a Category M race, there were certain kit requirements in force, unfortunately Nick Ham was missing a couple of bits of essential kit as i bumped into him at registration. there wasn't any other option than to nip home and get him the map and compass that would enable him to pass the spot kit checks carried out at the start.

all runners i know are totally accepting of the rules under which we run, this was just a technical oversight on Nick's part - even though he had enough kit and equipment to set up a small holiday camp on the Kinder plateau, the contents of his kit bag as they stood at 10:55 a.m. meant a quick jaunt back to Optimistic Towers in New Mills to resolve the issue for him.

well that was one way to get the metabolism going! i got back to Hayfield with a few minutes to spare, we assembled on the bridge for starter's orders and were soon off up the Snake Path.

up towards Twenty Trees and the shooting cabin

i'd run the first part of the route in reverse the week previous and had resolved to take a high line up through the grassy field, avoiding the rocks and boulders along the path past Twenty Trees and up to the shooting cabin.

coming up to the shooting cabin with the Downfall in the distance -
taken on a clearer day!

I covered the first part of the climb in decent order and tucked along a pack of runners along White Brow, keeping up a steady pace as we made our way towards the foot of William Clough. this is a key part of the route as it involves the worst of the climbing and route choice is vital.

still being a novice round these parts, i spotted a Pennine vest who later turned out to be Graham Parker, who took some great lines up and spurred me on to keep running where i would normally have stopped to walk. i introduced myself at the top, just before the final climb onto the plateau, where he eventually took off into the mist.

the run along the top was its usual rocky, bouldery self, a clearer day and some reccying of the route might have led me a different way, but i was happy to get my head down and get behind a pack of 5 other runners as we made our way round the edge.

visibility was down to about 30 feet as we ran along, and there were plenty of walkers out and about. everything was hurting by this point, a swig of water grabbed whilst waiting for the stile above Sandy Heys helped things, but i still lost a few places and was struggling to keep the Penistone runner ahead of me in sight.

the flagged section round the side of Swine's Back eventually loomed into view, and i was glad of a stretch of downhill running, even though it was over treacherous flagstones. we hit Edale Cross where the path becomes quite bouldery, this really takes it out of the legs at this point of the race and i slowed down quite a bit.

once we'd dropped out of the clouds however, a clear day was revealed and it was a great run down the grassy fields through Tunstead Clough and the campsite, onto Valley Road.

another runner had a nibble at me over my left shoulder as we came through the campsite, a bit far to go to be giving it full throttle yet so i lengthened my stride to put some distance between us. there's still a good few hundred yards to go at this point, and the road rises slightly uphill to give a bit of a twist in the tail.

i had just enough left to nick a couple of places before coming to the finish field and bumping back into Nick Ham - it turns out i came in around 20 seconds after Nick - if i'd had chance to warm up properly, i would have had him :-)

pretty happy with my time of 1h45 but the bigger picture is that i ran 90% of the race, i would have expected William Clough to destroy me before the race but once that was in the bag the rest was relatively straighforward. 

makes you fell guilty that this much fun only costs £4!