Wow! What a day, filled with great people, great running, great weather and great places!
Was really looking forward to this race. Feel like have had a few good ultras now, and feeling a bit more confident about The 100 Training Plan actually going to plan, rather than dramatically off course, which it tends to do sometimes. Also, the event is organised by 'It's Grim Up North' which appeals to a northern person. Woke up at 4 am, which is a bit early, even for a race day, but it's a bit like having to get up early to go on holiday, it's totally different to having to get up early to go to work. Lovely drive over the border to Yorkshire, while the sun rose and painted the sky a riot of colours. The start of a spectacular day!
Had a little moment in the car park where I temporarily lost my car keys, which got the heart rate up a bit, but found them again, and Andrew celebrated by eating a banana.
Met one of my heros today. I follow 'Ben's Bowel Movements' blog which is written by Ben, who has terminal bowel cancer. Instead of letting cancer dictate things, he shows it who's boss. He started by running 6 marathons in 6 months to raise money for charity, but didn't stop there, and he has now run 21 marathons/ ultras! His blog/ Facebook page are incredibly uplifting, and whenever I read it and Ben's thoughts, I always feel enormously positive about everything, and like I just want to get out there and take charge of my life and conquer the world. So it was brilliant to see Ben and his lovely family today, and meet a true legend! Thanks Ben for being so inspiring, it was an honor for Andrew and me to meet you and your family, and looking forward to seeing you at some more crazy races soon! Very excited to get a picture, and thanks to Louise for taking it!
Ben has a fundraising page check it out if you can, as he is a brilliant bloke raising money for fantastic causes!
The route was beautiful. I spent many happy days running/ cycling around this area while I was living in Leeds, but I had forgotten how much I love Bolton Abbey! The route was 4 laps up and down the valley, so plenty of time to take in the views. And plenty of hills to climb to get the views from. Plenty. Holy moly it was hilly. I found the route really tough, but a good tough, like the burning in my legs was a good burning, like I was working hard.
The organisation of the race was a bit haphazard, and we ended up going the wrong way (did an extra hill, like there wasn't enough already) at one point (and met Ben, who was going the right way). But it was the first time the race had been run (run - ha ha!), and let's face it the first time we do anything, unexpected occurrences pop up all over the place. It was a great race, and I hope the organisers learn from it, and that the race becomes a firm fixture in the race calendar.
The only downside to the day was that I got 4 blisters from my new shoes, and after only about 5 miles. Cannot stand blisters. But I decided this was maybe a good opportunity to get to grips with discomfort. As I am training for 100 miles, but the furthest I've done is 50 (which only seems to be half as far) I am quite prepared that the last 50 are going to be quite (entirely) uncomfortable. I tried out lots of different strategies to deal with the blisters - ignoring them (didn't work, at all), internalizing the pain, complaining about it, making the pain into an 'orb' in the front of my mind (this is what Andrew does), or thinking of that saying that pain is weakness leaving your body. I really doubt that whoever came came up with that one had ever had blisters. If you're squeamish in any way, skip to the next paragraph, but when I finally took my shoes off when I got to the car, stone the crows! My feet were full of blood filled blisters! I burst them when I was home and clean, which approximately 50% of runners will be horrified by, and the other 50% will completely agree that this is the best strategy. I have no idea if it's the right thing to do or not, but they were so painful that that was the only option I felt like, so I did it, and now they feel much better. If any one has any suggestions to deal with blisters (or, ideally, eliminate them totally), feel free to shout your opinions on here.
Being a lapped course, we passed the marshals several times. The most friendliest marshal in the world was stationed by a gate by Bolton Abbey, and each time we ran past he threw a Usain Bolt style BOLT pose or chucked us a high five. To keep up this level of enthusiasm for well over 6 hours, in the freezing cold is truly a feat. For the full mile before we got to him I debated whether it would be a bolt or a high five, which was a brilliant distraction, because the mile before that was through a cow field and up a steep hill, and was my least favourite of the whole race. Thanks Bolt!
Also a great bonus at the end was meeting up with Dave, Kath and Becky from my old running club Chapel Allerton Runners! I hadn't quite made the connection in my mind that going back over to that neck of the woods to do a running event I would be quite likely to bump into some familiar faces. Was brilliant to see them and catch up on almost 2 years news, and great to hear that the club is growing and doing well, as more people discover the joys of running and the great friends to be made through it. Good to see you guys, miss you, and hope to see you again soon!
Did it in 6 hours 26 minutes, and my watch read 33 miles, which means we got a whole extra mile for free. Also got a free pen in the goody bag, which was well worth running that far for, I'm always on the look out for a free pen. Also got a bookmark, which is a first, and a good amount of chocolate.
Fortified by a large coffee (which I had been thinking about since mile 4), we pulled ourselves away from the friendly cocoon of the Bolton Abbey running community, and headed home, to begin the long and arduous task of replacing 2600 calories. Tough work, but some one has to do it.
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