Wow - what ace weather - summer again - that is two weekends in a row!
I slept in the van in the car park, a really good night with a hot water bottle and a winter bag as the skies were clear and very cold! Had a chilled morning setting up banners and chatting with all the runners. Everyone wishing me luck as am nearly there now!
Hadn't managed to get a joggette in this week to make sure my legs knew what they were going to do - so the first hour was slow and painfull but there was some great hill climbs, they are very big hills too! One of them seemed to never end - felt like France all over again. Then we hit the tussocks - god i remember the tussocks now from last year- they are massive, house size and just come up and hit you all the time. How many times can one person fall over in 26 miles. And when the tussocks were hiding the bogs came out to grab you, suck you in and spit you back out again, and this was a dry year compared to last year!!! If you like races with lots of fells and not alot of paths, you love tussocks and bogs then this is your race - it was a lovely change from all that tarmac last week but it doesn't half slow you down, I think it took me 4 hours to do 12 miles and catch the slowest of the walkers who had set off 2 and half hours earlier! I thought I would never get round in time to drive home for a mates party!
Luckily there are a few more tracks in the second half so a bit quicker and by now the heat of the day had gone and it was pleasant, untill you go wrong!! What did my mate Si say "straight on girls - trust me!!" We did, and ten mins later having not looked at our maps (stupid us!) we were caught up by a biker saying "everyone else has gone the other way"! Clare, me and Si ran back the other way again! Oh well - a bit of extra hill climbing is just what we needed - felt a bit like I hadn't done enough this year!!!
We tried to speed up again but only caught a few of the people who knew how to look at their maps!!! One more off-path section and then some forest track all the way to the finish and a victory cartwheel from me and Clare as we crossed the line - well all the walkers had said as we passed we had too much energy as we were chatting so much - so we had to get rid of it somehow! Si beat us in on a fast sprint finish, and this year I even made it back in time for prize giving! 11 minutes quicker than last year.
Only 50 miles to go - please let it be summer again next weekend - lots of family and friends are coming to cheer me on and stay for a celebratory (or hopefully not a comiseratory) drink after, which will double as my birthday celebrations as we start next weeks race on my birthday - what a great way to spend it and the end of a grand slam! Please let me survive!!!!
JUST ONE RANT THIS WEEK!
Why do runners or walkers and particularily the ones that enter these events DROP RUBBISH??? Is there something in peoples heads that switches off when given a bottle of water or a banana by some very nice and friendly checkpoint staff that they feel the need to share the empty bottle and banana skin with the rest of the gorgeous countryside? All the checkpoints that had food and water also had bin bags so why didn't they use them??? Do they think that the slowees at the back have nothing beter to do than pick up rubbish from someone ahead of them - or is this how they satay ahead - wheigh the back runners down so they will never catch us!!!!
As you can tell I picked up alot of rubbish and placed it at the next checkpoint or bin bag or in my own rucsac. All so un-necessary - if you are going to use the facilities of food and drink prvided then do the race officials the courtesy of taking your rubbish with you or putting it in their bin bags so handily placed just after the check points!! THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PUT ON OTHER EVENTS IN THE FUTURE IF WE LEAVE THE COUNTRYSIDE IN A MESS.
RANT OVER!
