My Hardest Race
It used to be the Stretton Skyline when I was stunned by the speed of the leaders along the top of the Mynd and then despaired from the way they all disappeared into the distance on the descent. Some hope returned along the east side of the Church Stretton valley. Then by dint of a massive effort on the climb back up the Mynd I clawed my way from twentieth to fifth place. Starting the descent into Cardingmill there was a runner just in front and we blasted at warp speed down the valley. I was determined to gain the place and he was equally determined that I shouldn’t. I finished in fourth place, shattered, and with my muscles totally shot.
The Welsh 1000 metres claimed the title a year or so later with a double helping of severe cramp in the Ogwen valley followed by the sole of my Walsh parting company with the rest of the shoe back to the heel. The effort of lifting my leg high enough to prevent the sole folding back on each step through the bogs up to the Glyders ridge is still fresh in my memory.
Having moved onto ultras a new champion soon emerged. This was the New Bullock Smithy with a familiar handicap of cramp. Both calves locked solid prior to Castleton. The extra dimension was having to complete 38 miles fighting complete lock up all the way. This was very painful and meant that while I could climb quite fast, I could only run very gently on the flat and not at all down hill.
Last year a new race claimed the title. The Fellsman was an easy winner after I fell and dislocated my shoulder. The pain was exquisite and a touch of hypothermia just added to the fun, try removing your rucksack full of warm clothing and then adding layers with a dislocated shoulder. The 5 hour delay from self recovery off the hills to the distant A&E sealed the place.
All the above is now distant history. A new race has won at first attempt. This is the Tour Du Mont Blanc. Here is the story.
Everything started so well. My new training regime saw my resting pulse drop to its lowest ever. I geared my entire season around peaking for the TMB with no races for the preceding 3 months, whilst averaging 10,000+ft of climb per week. I did a full recce of the route with Mark Hartell, Spyke, and friends. [The highlight of the recce was an unplanned evening with Gill, Pauline, and Jan at the hostel in Champex. They had just flown out from the UK to have 2 weeks walking round the TMB]. I set new personal bests on my long training runs without working hard. I even stopped drinking alcohol for the month before the race (alright, I only drank a little bit). I planned my strategy to the last detail and memorised a complicated timetable to help me not to start too fast. During my pre race taper I practiced running slow timed kilometres to drill 100 mile race pace into my psyche. I had never been fitter or better prepared for a race. My personal target was to complete in 25 hours which I thought would be a top 20 place and probably second in my age group.
The TMB has become the premier ultra trail mountain race in the world and 2007 saw the 2200 entries fill in 8 hours with competitors from 44 countries. The field was the strongest ever with all the past winners participating plus the top American runners. The course mainly follows the Tour Du Mont Blanc footpath and is 103 miles long with around 29000 feet of climbing split between 10 cols.
The first quarter of the race went even better than planned. I set off very steadily, resisted the temptation to run near the front and then eased the pace back fractionally to a speed I felt I could keep going for the whole race. At 10 miles in as dusk fell I was in 160th out of 2200. The next 15 miles saw me overtake 120 people, whilst feeling very easy and relaxed, and being 50 minutes up on my even pace schedule for 24 hours. If I kept this going I would be well under 24 hours and finish in top 10 territory. The weather was fine with only light winds and the mountains had looked spectacular in the early evening with a glorious sky as the light faded away. The climb from St Gervais to Croix du Bonhomme is 6000 feet of ascent and I really enjoyed running over the technical ground at the summit. The moon slowly rose into the sky and the mountains looked more magnificent than ever.
The only slight snag with this rosy scenario was that I had started to feel nauseous. I use complex carbohydrate powder mixed with water as my fuel source on ultra runs and this has proved very successful. For the TMB I was using Perpetuem which also contains some protein and various other ingredients to help with your fat burning efficiency. I have used this on the Fellsman and the Cotswold way with no problems however I now found I couldn’t drink it without feeling nausea. This got rapidly worse and soon I could not cope with even an occasional sip. The thought of solid food had me retching so I tried drinking flat coke at the drinks stations. This worked for a while but the nausea continued to worsen and I soon had to give up on the Coke and change to water. After a while I couldn’t manage that and stopped drinking altogether.
Meanwhile I had run through the night and seen the dawn breaking on the climb up to Refuge Bertone. I had slowed appreciably due to reduced energy levels but otherwise still felt OK. At Bertone I was over half way, in 30th place and still 37 minutes inside the 24 hour schedule. The next section of the route would normally be a fast enjoyable traverse. For me this became a very difficult plodding jog with occasional bouts of walking to let my glycogen levels rise from very low to low. The next ascent was the Grand Col Ferret with a 2600 foot climb to the highest point of the route. Determination kept me moving but the day was warming up in the clear sun and my pace was snail like. I arrived at the top 11 minutes behind the 24 hour schedule in 36th place. The next section was 12 miles of downhill where my slow rate of fat burning didn’t hinder me as much and I arrived at the ¾ distance Champex check point in 25th place and 25 minutes behind my 24 hour schedule. My personal target of completing in 25 hours was still alive (at least in theory). The next climb up Bovine is the hardest in the race. It is not that long at around 2300 feet but averages 1 in 3 and the top half is full of knee to waist high boulder step ups. The temperature was 25+ centigrade and I lost so much time that 25 hours was no longer possible. I decided to stop and seek medical assistance to try to sort out the nausea and be able to resume drinking and taking in nutrition. The charming (female) doctor had just the right pill for me and was very distressed when it returned within 5 minutes. Just under an hour later, having had lots of tests but no treatment that worked, I restarted against medical advice. I gave up any attempt to run from here and concentrated on trying to walk at a pace that just balanced my rate of glycogen production from fat. From training runs without any calorie intake this would normally settle at about 8mph on flat level ground for me (4 or 5 hours with only water and no carbo loading beforehand). Probably due to the by now very severe dehydration I could now only manage just under 4mph on the flat and much much slower uphill. The 2600 foot climb from Trient took me 1 hour 45 minutes at just over 1mph. The last 13 miles is nearly all downhill but every downhill step now required an enormous mental effort. Having decided when I restarted at Bovine that I was going to finish whatever happened, I tried to focus on the scenery to disassociate mind from body. The Mont Blanc and Aguilles Rouge Massifs looked stunning in the early evening sun although everything now seemed very distant and remote. The last part of the race took forever with people passing me every few minutes. They all asked me “are you ok?” (in French) to which I invariably lied back “I’m fine!” To get to the finish and stop moving was the only thing I now cared about and 28 hours 38 minutes after starting I did.
Rehydrating took me 2 days and despite continual hunger it took over a week to be able to eat normal sized meals. On the other hand my muscles were in very good shape and I could go downstairs without trouble (not usually the case after a hard ultra). I actually finished in 73rd place, 4th in the 50+ class and 3rd out of 92 Brits. I completed 65 miles with no calorie intake and about 35 with no liquid. For the record 25 hours would have achieved 15th place. The race organisation was brilliant and the atmosphere from the spectators amazing. I will particularly remember doing high 5’s with some of the young children up way past their bedtimes to watch all the mad runners go by, and the sun glinting off the dew as a mother and 3 year old watched the race from a bivvy below the Bonatti Refuge at 7:30 am.
I am still not quite sure what caused my problem and am currently researching for wisdom from other ultra runners via the internet. One theory is low electrolyte levels in my stomach. This could have been accentuated by low humidity and losing more fluid through sweat than I realised due to high evaporation rates. This fits with the length of time it took me to rehydrate, and creates the irony that I carried lots of electrolyte caps but only took a few.
If I can get as fit again then 24 hours should be possible (at least in theory). All I have to do is forget the effort of training and completing the last 50 miles and get my entry in for next year. Will I do it again? Probably!
P.S. I have just competed in the Long Mynd Hike and had a similar problem with nausea. This time it started at 16 miles despite my doing all the things my research suggested to prevent it. I continued to Stiperstones and then retired feeling very sick and having no possibility of contesting either the lead or the team prize. Any recommendation on an expert to consult in this field would be very gratefully received. (01905381995 or via yvettewaide@hotmail.com)
David Waide 7-10-07
To read more about this event see Mandy Calvert's account here and Karen's from team Run Like a Girl's here
