I headed up to Keswick the night before the event to get a good night sleep in my van....no baby to wake me up there...so by 930 I was tucked up in bed....only to be awoken at about 1030pm by a rather motley crew. Lovely to see them at any time of course.... Especially as Ian had chips....I think they were looking for somewhere warm to spend the night but I wasn't for sharing.
The morning dawned and wasn't as sunny as I wanted it to be....I have had that lovely sky blue Salomon Skort and vest for over a year and not worn it yet. Last year I was too fat...sorry pregnant..and this year it's just too flipping cold! I faffed about for ages with kit. I couldn't find my arm warmers and I nearly always race in them thankfully Ricky had said he could bring some so problem sorted.
The start was a little delayed due to cancellation of the arranged boats to take us to the start....but no major crisis and a happy bunch of runners set off in beautiful sunshine from Nichol End Marina. It was great to see Shaun and Paul...friends from local running clubs and nice to catch up with Charlie and Ross too. I was hoping I could keep up with Ricky and have a good chat with him as the race started but he vanished. I ran with Shaun Livesey for a bit....I think after blowing up a bit at the Three Peaks he was setting off nice and steady which proved the perfect race strategy for him.
The run route really is beautiful, running alongside the water on nice trails in the sunshine really is my perfect way to spend the day. The first few miles passed very quickly and without incident...I felt pretty good. As we approached the first climb my right hip was starting to twinge a little which was a bit annoying but my own fault as with being ill the week before and just with general trying to fit everything in life, I had neglected my hip work.
We passed the feed station where Simon as usual shouted his cheery encouragement and this is the point where the race starts properly in my opinion. The terrain changes and the ascent up Scafell Pike begins. It was at this point the lady who was to win the race came past me and gradually built up a lead. A mixture of walking, stomping, striding seemed to ease the hip off a bit which was good. I was delighted to see the Stretcher Box checkpoint as this meant the proper Mountain section was about to begin. The corridor route actually didn't feel too bad this year, although a touch misty, the route seemed much clearer than I recalled and the Cairns were easy to follow. Joe Faulkner who would be manning the summit checkpoint (poor Joe!) had even put quite a lot of orange flags out to help us.
The last few hundred metres are really tough and much of the rocks have to be scrambled over. As always though the sight of Joe is a welcome one ...a quick word and then head off into the mist towards Esk Hause.
This section is horrible....it is just a boulder field where you are cautious of getting a foot trapped or falling and hurting yourself. But there is only one way to go....a great descent then follows towards another checkpoint and the smiley face of Ady ready to cheer us on and shout after me "Don't pull out!" I'll never live that recent DNF down...but as he gave me water. I will forgive him :-)
A return then to Stuart at the Stretcher Box...as always, Stuart makes me laugh...with his astounding photography and amusing quips. Great facilities at the Stretcher Box.....I was most impressed. ;-)
Then it was the start of a superb descent where I managed to pass quite a few people....Steve Wilson from Grand Day Out Photography was here getting some great shots in.
A revisit to Simon and a cup of coke and then continue down the valley to begin the climb to Watlendath. My hip was a bit painful but not too bad and I knew I was still in second place and wanted to maintain this so I had to keep on pushing. It was a real boost to see katey and Louise at The Cp and they stocked me up on coke and sent me on my merry way.
Watlendath was ok actually but my feet were hurting on the descent! The run back in from Watlendath I always find tough going and today was no exception. I had to have a few stern words to myself after a couple of trips after Ashness bridge nearly resulted in me head butting the floor. Thankfully my expensive teeth were spared any damage and as I approached Keswick with 27 miles already clocked I was looking forward to finishing. The run in down the promenade is lovely.....there are lots of people about cheering and clapping and as I turned into crow park I was relieved to finish. I was a little disappointed not to get under five hours...although I still knocked 20 minutes off my last time at this event.
I finished in 5.11
Second lady and 18th place overall.
Massive congratulations to Ricky Lightfoot on a superb performance to win in a time of
Also an amazing run by Shaun Livesey, to finish third! Road runner...yeah right!
Ross Bibby.....what can I say...fantastic running...getting stronger and stronger.
I did wonder why fellow clubmate Paul Calverly hadn't caught me up .....and I found out why that was at the end. Glad to hear you are still in one piece and superb effort to finish and in that time too!
Another cracking event by High Terrain events....a great team...Ian, Emily and Paul who I haven't yet mentioned. As always a superb event and your time and effort is much appreciated.
For me now it's back to hip rehab and a couple of easy weeks before Trail Marathon Wales.
Kit- salomon skort and vest.
Salomon s lab sense ultra shoes.
S lab pack.
Fuel - half a 9bar.
Two gels
High 5 drink.
Five jelly babies
Four cokes
Thanks as always to the lovely people who support me and keep me fit and injury free.
www.9Bar.com for fuel....
www.salomon.com...for kit.
Duncan and Tim from www.athletematters.co.uk for keeping my body in one piece
And Andy Walling for keeping my hips in order.
