Me Run Further series 2008…
Like Karen McDonald, I am planning to complete all 12 races in the Vasque series this year, so runfurther have asked me to write a few words about each race. As it’s now June I have a few to catch up on, so here goes…
Race 1 – Wuthering Hike
The 33 miles of Wuthering Hike started from Haworth on a grey morning. I was glad to finally be running a race rather than entering or planning how to get to one! The route was a combination of paths over moors, tracks, and a bit of road. I felt I didn’t really get into a rhythm, and felt pretty slow this race. I did enjoy it though, the sprint finish down the cobbled road was good fun, and donuts at the last checkpoint were genius. First race done, off to the Isle of Man next!
Race 2 – Manx Mountain Marathon
The only race in the series which I completed last year, the MMM is my favourite race so far, and I was looking forward to it. No longer being a student I went for the executive option, left the bike at home and drove to Liverpool. As many will know, the Irish Sea tried its hardest to put us off, but after diverting to Heysham, waiting till 2am, a ferry full of vomiting schoolchildren, a dead battery, a broken exhaust and an hour’s sleep in a car park, I was at the start – woohoo!
The race was fantastic. As I remembered from last year it was also really hard. It was a few degrees colder this year, but the views were just as spectacular. The first half passed quite quickly, and at the long grassy descent to St. John’s I felt pretty ok, if a bit bloody since a fall on Snaefell (that will teach me to speak to walkers while running down icy hills!). I was feeling competitive at this point, so decided to really push myself and run the second half as fast as possible. This went well, aided by some good 80’s power ballads through the headphones. I really enjoyed the last section of this race, along the coast, down past the tower thing and into Port Erin. As last year I was completely knackered at the end, but beat my time by half an hour and was pleased with 37th place.
Race 3 – Calderdale Hike
Living in Leeds, this one should not have been too difficult to get to. However, I managed to get lost on the way (didn’t bode well for the race), turned up late and started on my own. I felt fine most of the way round, but being on my own with no idea of the route meant a lot of concentrating on navigation. Despite this, I did it very badly, and took a number of long detours. As the race progressed, more and more groups of walkers could be heard saying “hasn’t he already been past us twice?”. When I eventually got back to Sowerby Cricket club (having extended the route to 44 miles) and saw the runfurther banners being packed away, I knew I had been a while! Still a very enjoyable race though, and hopefully I will be faster next year!
Race 4 – The Fellsman
At 61/11000’, The Fellsman is a bit epic. Aargh! Wil Spain from Sheffield Uni agreed to join me on this one, and together (over a few beverages) we came up with a cunning plan to defeat the monster… To run as fast as possible for as long as possible, then drag ourselves around the rest. Even with this plan in action, the speed the leaders set off at was astounding.
The plan worked reasonably well to start with, but it was a really hot day, with 121 runners dropping out during the event. Wil resorted to turning his vest into a particularly attractive bra design. By Dent we were feeling pretty good, and pleased to have Inglebrough and Whernside out of the way. Keeping ourselves entertained by recording a YouTube video HERE, we plodded on through the day and into the (still very warm) evening. We reached Fleet Moss in time not to be grouped, but were pretty much running with two other guys anyway. After amazing hot dogs we set off across the bogs. This was as far as I got last year, when the wet and dark meant lots of falling in, and our team retired at the Cray checkpoint suffering from hypothermia. This year could not have been more different. Crossing in the light, the ground was firm-ish and we made good progress to the 45 mile mark. We had slowed down by now, and Wil was mainly mumbling at his broken feet, but we started to feel the end was in sight, with Buckden Pike and Great Whernside the only climbs left. This feeling was ruined when someone said “at this speed we’re only about 6 hours from the end”, but the last few hours passed surprisingly quickly, helped by chain-eating jelly babies.
Eventually, we reached the top of Great Whernside and headed for the finish. Having navigated perfectly all the way round we decided to forgive Wil for a slight mistake which lost us a few places, and passed through the last checkpoints to Grassington, then into Threshfield to finish in just over 18 hours.
It was great to have a sleep before going home, and to talk about the race with other competitors over the provided cooked breakfast. We also heard that Mark Hartell had won the race again, for a record-breaking 11th time. The first time he won I was at Primary school!
Race 5 – Marlborough Downs Challenge
A week after The Fellsman, I headed south to compete in the Marlborough Downs Challenge. Being a northerner, I must admit I was dubious about running in the south, but I really enjoyed this race. The 33 mile route started at the very posh Marlborough college, and passed through nice little villages, flowery meadows, and even the Avebury stone circle!
Luckily, the feeling had returned to my legs by about Thursday, and after a week of eating I felt quite good again, although I was unsure how my body would feel about this one. The first half seemed to pass pretty quickly, and by half way I was surprised to still be feeling reasonably good – must be the southern air. The route was very good, not too much climb and very runable, with nice weather, and even direction signs most of the way round. I ran the second half of the race with a nice lady from Hastings Runners, and we managed to encourage each other to get round in under 6 hours. The last few miles did hurt, but they always should do.
Well… Five down, seven to go! I am really enjoying the runfurther series, and looking forward to the next set of races. All the organisers and checkpointers have as always been fantastic, and I am building up a good collection of T-shirts. I hope everyone has enjoyed the series so far as much as I have, and probably see you around Moot Hall over the summer (oh dear god)…
