Hardmoors 110 race report

Firstly, let me start by putting on record that I really hated my taper for this race. I don't mean that it was a bit frustrating (they always are), I mean I really hated it. I felt drained, lethargic and apathetic. I think this stems from my last big training weekend, three weeks before the race. On the Saturday I ran from Scarborough to Filey and back in hot conditions with only a couple of water bottles, which was not enough. I ran at a good pace and finished very dehydrated. The following day, I ran from Scarborough to beyond Ravenscar and back, just to compound the trashing. All this meant that my first week of tapering down, which would normally be a normal steady week, had to be almost nothing to allow me to get over my over exuberance. Psychologically, this seemed to knock me.

It was only really in the last few days before the race that I started to get some mojo back, but once I got my head around the fact that the race was finally here, I felt I was ready and it was time to get my game face on.

As previously, my support crew was made up of my wife, Tracey, and my father, Paul, both well aware of the role they would have to play in a successful race - Team Troman rides again!

Some carefully planned logistics left us with our camper van in the car park of the school in Filey for the finish, a chippy tea eaten in Filey, Team Troman ensconced in the YHA in Helmsley, registered and chatting the evening away with  John and Katrina.

John, Katrina and Tracey in the YHA

This is not going to be a step by step account of the whole race (I'll put together a video that should give a better account in that respect) but instead, I'd like to give a flavour of the day along with some thoughts on my approach to the run. Regular readers will know that I generally like to start conservatively and run a strong second half to my 100 milers - this seems to play into my hands psychologically as I try to feel good when most others are starting to suffer. I have, however, been keen to try and put myself "in the mix" from the start of a 100 mile race to see how I would cope, both physically and mentally, and to see what the race outcome might be. As you can imagine, it is difficult to try out a new strategy in a race when you only do one or two super long ultras in a year - it is a lot of eggs in a basket, especially when there is a chance that you might drop the basket! The Hardmoors 110 was originally going to be my "A race" for the year, however, that changed slightly once I was fortunate enough to get a place in the UTMB later in the year, so the thought occurred that this could be the chance to try a different tactic.



During my training recces, I measured the time taken to run between the checkpoints, as I normally would, but this time these splits were only a guide as to how much water I would need to carry, rather than a series of time intervals that I was racing against. During the race I did not take splits at any point. What I did notice was that I probably felt a bit more relaxed over the first 10 hours or so, particularly when approaching the checkpoints. Normally, I would have been looking at my watch, wondering if I was roughly on time, but here I was always chirpy and looking forward to some food and drink - my stomach definitely enjoyed the more relaxed approach without the time pressures.

Right from the start of the race, I settled into the second pack, deciding not to run with the leaders as, again, I wanted to keep the pressure off. I knew the pace was good but I was really enjoying the run, concentrating on being smooth and efficient.

One hour into the race

Within a couple of hours, the field had spread out and I was sitting in 4th place, very happy with my start and still running quickly without overcooking it. What was different, was that I was more interested in what others around me were doing, whereas normally, at this early stage, I would just concentrate on my own race - I guess this was just a knock-on effect of a different strategy. Whenever I came into a checkpoint, I always asked Paul how far ahead the next runner was, was I gaining, how did he look? Yet, I was still nicely relaxed and eating well.

Above Osmotherley

Sometime after Osmotherly (22 miles) the weather started to take a turn for the worse, with the wind picking up, rain starting and the clouds covering the hills. The roller-coaster section over Carlton Bank, Cringle Moor, Cold Moor and The Wainstones were a bit grim, but sections that I quite like and I knew I was making good time. I stopped at Clay Bank (33 miles) and put on my OMM jacket and changed gloves, feeling that I needed to "run warm" for a while, especially over the long slog past Bloworth Crossing to Kildale. My sole aim in these conditions is to not tense up. As the temperature goes down, as the rain increases, as the wind increases, you have a tendency to hunch your shoulders and increase the tension in your neck which, in turn, transmits to the rest of your body. I figured if I could keep relaxed I'd be using less energy and cover the ground more quickly.

Clay Bank

Just before Bloworth Crossing (37 miles) I finally caught up with 3rd place runner, Mark Collinson - with the weather conditions and visibility of only around 20 yards, I think we were both as pleased as each other to have some company and we ran together over Ingleby Moor to the Kildale checkpoint (43 miles).

Kildale

Kildale felt like a significant point as this is where John K and I started our two day recce at Easter and I felt that I was on a familiar route where I had had such positive feeling last time I was there. I had some coke and rice pudding, taking my time and left feeling ready for the next part of the adventure out to Saltburn on the coast. I was now in 3rd and my mind was starting to focus on 2nd place, currently held by Gareth Wilson, who I raced against in the Hardmoors 55 earlier in the year. The out and back section to Roseberry Topping might give me an idea of how far behind I was.

As I write this, I find it interesting that I have made no comments about the length of time I have been running, the splits between checkpoints or the relationship of my race time to a schedule - non of these thoughts were in my head during the race or now, which stresses the different approach to this race.

As it turned out, I was about 19 minutes behind Gareth on the out and back section; far enough for me to take stock of my own running and, for the first time in the race, spend a few hours just ticking off some miles.

On the approach to Saltburn (58 miles), I felt that I was flagging a little and in need of a boost - boy did I get one! Firstly, I got a quick hug from Katrina in the checkpoint and then when I dropped down to the support car with Paul and Tracey, I was greeted by what I dubbed the "Happy Crew" - five friends who had driven over from Yarm to cheer me on (thanks Jeremy, Bev, Imogen, Alison and Louis, I can't begin to tell you how much that visit meant to me). I ate and drank some more as the whole crew walked along the prom before I set off up the hill.

The Happy Crew

I had a good section along the cliff tops towards the small car park just before Staithes, but again, I was not really thinking about the other runners - that changed once I met Tracey and Paul again. Here I was informed that the leader was starting to struggle a little and that I had closed a couple of minutes on Gareth. Suddenly, I was pulled back into race mode.

By Runswick Bay (70 miles) I had pulled up into 2nd place with Gareth some 23 minutes ahead. It was time to get kitted up for the night. Yes, obviously I had a large print list of the stuff I had to carry for the night sections so it only took a minute or so to get sorted. By this time my stomach had started to stop playing ball so I had pretty much switched to a liquid diet using Mountain Fuel energy drinks which were doing a great job of keeping me going when most other options were now a non-starter.

I started to struggle over the next section to Sandsend, particularly on some of the short steep downhills, but I was still running everthing I thought I should be, which at this stage of the race is a big positive. The steps down into the checkpoint at Sandsend (75 miles) were a bit of a trauma and I'm glad there was a strong handrail. I had now been running in the dark for about 15 minutes and had got my head around the darkness of the next 6 hours. My new head torch (a Lenser SEO7) was working great, even on only the lower setting and I had the advantage of both Sandsend and Whitby to run through where I wouldn't need the light at all.

I was braced to tackle the drunken hoards in Whitby but, in fact, it was relatively quiet. Like most people, I tried to count the 199 steps up to the Abbey but came up with 200. It was over this next section to Robin Hood's Bay that I mentally settled for 2nd place, even to the point that I said to myself "if they gave me 2nd now, would I take it?" - to which I replied an emphatic "yes". Gareth was obviously running well and pulling away from me and I had to be more concerned about getting caught from behind. Every time I looked back, I convinced myself that head torches were approaching and I began to wonder what I had left.

After Robin Hood's Bay, it was a relatively short section to Ravenscar (90 miles) and I asked Tracey and Paul to take some kit into the village hall for when I arrived as I thought I needs a short sit down (for the first time in the race) as I dealt with my pit stop. This was a good move as I left feeling slightly more chipper, knowing I only had another couple of hours at the most in the dark and Paul assured me that there was no one immediately behind. One further positive was that I had now swapped to my last map for the race, covering the route from Ravenscar to the finish.

I used the long, gentle downhill road section from the village hall to get my rhythm back, but had a slight panic when I couldn't find the path that cuts across the fields back to the coastal route. It took some convincing that I hadn't gone far enough and then I caught sight of the road sign just after the turning and let out a relieved sigh.

It was around here that I passed Lee Knight, the leader in the Hardmoors 160 mile race - it seemed strange all weekend to think that my 110 mile race was not even the toughest event going on (as some described it, "the fun run"). We had a short chat before I pushed on, shaking my head, absolute legends, the lot of them!

Good morning

I must admit, I spent a lot of time looking back along this section, worried that I might lose 2nd place after all this work and I was feeling pretty jiggered. I had decided that I would try to preserve something for the final push from Scarborough to Filey and I started to question myself "if had had started steadily, would I be here now and running stronger?"

Like everyone, no matter where they were along the coastal route, I was brought back to reality with an amazing sunrise over the sea, which gave me the perfect lift just at the moment I most needed it. I knew I needed to get myself out of this low point and get back to ticking off some miles, so I allowed the sunrise to soak into me and just enjoyed being in this position at this time (bit zen, I know).

Sunrise

I felt a little better as I made the long trudge round the promenade from North Bay to South Bay in Scarborough and shuffled my way to the checkpoint (101 miles). It was especially nice to see Tracey and Paul this time and it felt like we were on our way home from here. The three of us walked out along the prom together on the start of the final leg as I drank some coke, I said my good-byes and struck off for home.

I had taken care to talk to Race Director, Jon Steele, before the start with regard to the route just after Scarborough as it was slightly different to the route I had recced and this focussed my mind for a while. I was relieved that everything fell into place exactly as Jon described and I was soon back on the track I knew. Although I was walking all the hills, I was pleased that it was done at a good strong stride rather than a crawl and I was making time at about the pace I would expect at this point of the race.

About a mile or so before Filey Brigg, Paul came running out to meet me and it was great to have some company for these last couple of miles having ran on my own for so long. I think we had a conversation, or at least Paul spoke and I occasionally grunted and we were soon onto Filey sea front and the final checkpoint before the couple of miles up to the finish.

Nearly done

At last I could relax, there was no one in sight behind, I had secured 2nd place and would be well under 24 hours for the race. I managed to keep some kind of a "run" right through to the finish and simply let the wave of applause wash over me as I went into the hall and the finish if the race.

Finished

With no dramatics, all I wanted to do was lie down and close my eyes. I found it difficult as there was a small part of my brain saying "talk to people, tell the tales, at least show some appreciation to your crew" but that part was out voted. I did, finally take my socks and shoes off, having worn the same ones for the duration of the event, something I have never done before, but I just didn't feel I needed to. Thanks Skechers.

The next couple of hours consisted of sleep, pain, mud, sleep, shuffling (just), sleep, shower, massage, Twiglets and sleep, though I may have got the order wrong!

I finally caught up with John who had had a really strong run to take 11th place. If you haven't lost the will to live after this report, you can read his account here.

As every runner will tell you, this is a team effort and I have to say thank you so much to my dream team of Tracey and Paul, I couldn't have done it without you. To Jon and Shirley, you have an amazing event(s) that is organised with the runner in mind, thank you for giving us the opportunity to test ourselves. To the marshals along the way, you were so motivating and helpful, it made our job that little bit easier. A final well done to all the competitors, I hope to see you again at one of these events so we can test ourselves once more :-)

Hardmoors 110 results update

Just thought I'd post the results from the race at the weekend.

I came 2nd - my first podium finish in an ultra marathon! As you can imagine I'm really pleased with that.

We had some "interesting" weather conditions on the Saturday but that was counter-balanced by the stunning sunrise over the sea on Sunday morning. Only 33 of the 62 starters actually finished!

Hardmoors 110 results link

I tried a slightly different race tactic this time round which I will elaborate on in a race report soon and I've got loads of video/photos which should make a great storyboard of the event. I'll put something together over the next few days, though the video will have to wait until after the weekend.

Right, I need to go and see if there is anything else left in the house that I haven't eaten yet ;-)

Hardmoors 110 two day recce

A quick post just to get this short video clip of my two day training run with John Kynaston on to my blog.

John and I ran from Kildale to Whitby on Monday and Whitby to Filey on Tuesday. To say we had a great time would be the understatement of the year; we spent a total of about 14 hours chatting away, grinning with the pleasure of it all and getting sunburnt (some more than others!)

We were both really pleased with how we ran and coped with the two days and it has certainly got my mojo up for the race in just over 5 weeks time.

Oopps! Just noticed that Day 1 should read "Kildale to Whitby".

Hardmoors 55 race report

Two weeks ago, I found myself on the old railway line in Guisborough at the start of the Hardmoors 55 race, realising that the only reason I was there was because of a run I did with Jon Steele and John Kynaston way back at the start of January. My original plans were to continue with my recces of the full Hardmoors 110 route in preparation for the race in May, but a bit of cajoling from the lads persuaded me otherwise and I'm glad I did as I felt ready for a race.

I had travelled over to Helmsley (the finish) on Friday night in the camper van, heavily laden down with sleeping bags and quilts in anticipation of the freezing nights. By the time I got there and parked up in the sports club car park, I only really had time for some food, one final kit check and go to bed. It was going to be an early start with the coach taking us to the start leaving at 6am.

Yet another kit check

After a surprisingly good nights sleep and a quick breakfast, I joined, what seemed like, the majority of the field on the three coaches to the start. I enjoyed a nice chat with Jason Highland on the way and the journey seemed to pass really quickly.

Stunning views of the sunrise from the coach

As soon as the coaches arrived, I met up with my good friend John Kynaston and we chatted as we made our way through the kit check and registration process. Before the race briefing, I had time to catch up with Tony Holland at The Ultra Runner Store, sizing up a new pair of Hokas which he sent me after the weekend.

On the start line

My race plan was test out my tentative attempts at speed work, going off slightly faster than I normally would, but still keeping enough in reserve to put in a strong last third. Within a mile of the start we had our first snow/hail flurry, just to remind us this was, in all reality, a "winter ultra" and I'm sure, like me, everyone else had a wry smile. I settled somewhere in the top ten and felt pretty good running through Guisborough Woods but did not really want to go with the pace of the leading few runners as I felt that might be a bridge too far at this early stage of the race.

On my way up Roseberry Topping

In no time, I reached the short but steep climb up Roseberry Topping and tried to count the places ahead of me on the out and back section (9th I think). John and I had thought we might video each other as we crossed on this out and back section, however, I had a couple of technology meltdowns at this point; stopping my watch on top of Roseberry Topping and then somehow managed to turn my video camera on and then off again as I tried to film John (sorry mate).

I was careful to take the correct track off from Captain Cook's Monument to reach the road marshal before making the drop down to Kildale. During my recces of the Hardmoors 110 route (in the opposite direction to this race) I have tried to look back at various junctions to visualise the route for the 55 race and this drop through the woods was one of the spots I was concerned about, so I was pleased to get it right.

To keep things nice and relaxed, I was trying (only half successfully) to be fairly chilled at the checkpoints rather than my usual mad dash pitstop. I figured that the more relaxed I could be at these points, the less pressure I would place on myself whilst actually running. The marshals were very helpful and supportive at all the checkpoints - they are so important at unsupported races and did a fine job of getting me through this event.

I left Kildale (1:37 hours, 8th place) and started the long road section up onto Kildale Moor and then on to the track heading to the self clip checkpoint at Bloworth Crossing. On the climb I met up with Andy who is a regular reader of this blog and, in fact, recognised me from when I ran the Tees Barrage Parkrun a few weeks ago with my niece - small world and all that!

Andy and I on the climb from Kildale

I made very good time across the moors to Bloworth Crossing, slowly pulling away from Andy and closing the distance to the next runner, Gareth, but never managing to really catch up and latch on. Gareth had a metronomic rhythm and just seemed to cover the ground with a minimum of fuss and though I felt I was closing, it never materialised into a catch. I took a quick bottle refill at Clay Bank and was suddenly onto the roller-coaster section along the Wainstones et al, briefly recalling the night race from January.

Climb up Hasty Bank to the Wainstones

At this point I was feeling really chipper and starting to think about, what I considered, the turn for home; Osmotherley. Along the three small hills, I finally made contact with Gareth and we ran into the Lord Stones checkpoint together. I had a lovely warm welcome from Jayson Cavill who was manning the checkpoint and I left feeling really positive, ready for the battles ahead and wondering if I could pick up a few more places and get close to the podium.

Jayson at Lord Stones

I caught up with Gareth again and we ran well over Carlton Bank and made the drop down to Heathwaite. It was on this drop that I started to feel that things were just starting to become hard work. I think I was still covering the ground at a decent pace but I was suddenly having to put in that much more effort. Gareth pulled away and I drifted off mentally, getting a bit down on myself. It was while I was in my dark place that Mr and Mrs Cock-up came to visit. As I trudged along the lane out of Heathwaite, with Gareth some 100 yds further up the road, there was a sudden alarm bell ringing at the back of my mind. I pulled out my map and did a quick check, establishing that we had missed the small track into the field. Aagghh!

Ooopps!

Climb through the woods after navigation error

I had probably only gone 300 yds too far, but with the run back down the lane, that was maybe 4 minutes lost. As you can imagine, this did little to lighten my mood, but I did try to put the mistake from my mind. Just to kick a man when he is down - it started to hail/sleet/snow as Gareth and I (along with another runner who had caught us during the nav. error) made our way up to the self clip point above Arncliffe Woods. The only positive I could gain was that I managed to pull away from the other two but I think that was more a case of me trying to generate enough heat to keep warm than any other reason.

I felt that I needed a bit of a regroup and somehow try to get myself back in the game. I promised myself a few minutes in the checkpoint at Osmotherley, reached in 5:11 hours (5th place) I thought I would change my thin Pertex jacket for the warmer OMM jacket in an attempt to run warm for the last few hours, all I could do to make myself more chipper. Gareth came and went, so I thought I had better get off after him.

Climb out of Osmotherley

I felt that this was the home turn and I was back on the route I had recced back in January. I hoped I could hang onto Gareth on the long slog up the hill from Osmotherley and perhaps even recoup a little. Towards the top, Gareth started to pull away (or did I drift back?), however, I decided to make the decision to let him go; with still the best part of 20 miles to go, I needed to run my own race at this point.

I slotted in to a steady grind along the open track to High Paradise Farm and the checkpoint at Sneck Yate Bank. Gareth was long gone and out of sight, but I was happier with how I was running and starting to feel like I was getting my race back on track. After a quick chat with the marshal, a swig of Coke and a fresh water bottle, I was underway and feeling more positive about things, ready for the short section to the White Horse.

I had definitely come through my "patch" and was ready to push on again. I find it amazing how the body can feel like it is ready to give up and suddenly you are back on your game and good to go. Along the escarpment, I had a few glimpses back and could see a few other runners, probably closing on me, but I did not panic and was just pleased with the way I was running; if they are that much faster than me, good luck to them, I will just try to control what I can do. Just to prove the point, I was passed by Paul Peacock, who looked in great condition as we approached the White Horse checkpoint. I was quite happy to let him go after a few words of encouragement from each other.

White Horse checkpoint

On other occasions, I might have got down on myself at this point after seeing someone scoot past me so easily, but here I was really starting to enjoy myself again and looking forward to the final push to Helmsley. It probably didn't actually happen but I felt that the pace went up a bit once I had made the climb up the steps and a couple of miles later I caught sight of Gareth once again. Suddenly, that was my only target - could I catch him before the finish?

Final mile into Helmsley

I finally made contact on the road section before Rievaulx Abbey and tucked in behind Gareth, who was still covering the ground well. As I was feeling good, I decided to make a push as we climbed up through the woods before the final drop down to Helmsley, just about managing to run the whole climb. At the top, I had opened a small gap and felt it was possible to hold this if I had a good scoot down to the finish. I really enjoyed the last km into the village, knowing I had managed to turn round a potential disaster from 3 hours earlier.

Finished

I finally crossed the line in 8:57 hours, finishing in 5th place. At the time I thought I was 6th, but later found out that one of those ahead was a relay runner, so 5th place it is and my highest finish in a full ultra race; well chuffed with that :-)

Looking worse than I felt!

There were some seriously fast places at the very front of the race, with a new course record being set by Bert Goos (Belgium) but I was only 4 minutes off the podium and managed to hang on relatively well to the fast finishing Paul Peacock. In a further positive, I was not in complete bits at the finish, though I was getting cold so I got some extra layers on and walked back to the van, got even more layers on and came back to the finish to catch up with John and see how his race developed (very well, it turns out), spending the remainder of the evening chatting with John and Katrina in the Youth Hostel.

Thank you, as ever, to all the marshals and helpers and a big thanks to Jon and Shirley for their tireless efforts which make this such a great event - I will be back!

Hardmoors 55 race video

On Saturday, I raced the Hardmoors 55 on the North York Moors from Guisborough to Helmsley.

As part of the Hardmoors Series, organised by Jon Steele, you know it is going to be a great event and it did not disappoint.

I managed to put together a cracking run, gaining my highest position so far in an ultra - 5th place in 8:57 hours. I will do a proper blog report of the race, but for now, here is a video of how the day panned out for me.

Quick catch up

January was a bit of a strange month for me. Since I have started ultra running, January has always been a steady few weeks of training, building up a solid base for the rest of the year. This time, things have been different. I've done some speed work and a couple of races, all of which have taken a toll on my usual solid month of training. I felt that February needed to be a time to get back to basics, knuckle down and just get some running done. During February, I managed this target and even put together a couple of really big weeks (for me) of 80 miles followed by 65 miles, coming through unscathed.

It is only a week to my first ultra trail race of the year (the Hardmoors 55) and I've been following a plan to get me there in reasonable shape (I hope); the plan being built around 3 pairs of back to back sessions which I also used to familiarise myself with the Hardmoors 110 route in preparation for the big race at the end of May.

I've been keeping the B2B sessions at a sensible level (generally in the 20-25 mile region) but trying to run them at a reasonable clip and have enjoyed getting out in some new places.

I'm now at the point where I no longer need to look at a map for the sections I've done a couple of times which will be one less thing to worry about in May. As an easy taster, I've also taken along my new running poles, more to try the way I might carry them and to see how easy it will be to set them up and stow them in the heat of battle - here starts the long build up to UTMB! More on the poles in another post.

With regard to the Hardmoors 55 next week, I'm really looking forward to the race, which is ironic considering I initially did not intend to race, preferring the idea of continuing my recces for the 110 race. However, one training run with Race Director, Jon Steele, and Mr Ultra, John Kynaston, soon changed my mind. So I will be toeing the start line in Guisborough at 9am on Saturday - I'm glad I am so weak willed ;-)

It will be interesting to see how the changes I have made to my training this year will translate into a race performance. I've had an extra month of training before Christmas, added speed work to the programme, changed from one 35 miler every month to 23 mile B2B's every couple of weeks and I've been doing a (little) bit of cross training on my cycle turbo trainer.

I certainly feel ready to put a race face on again, so bring it on!

Dark Mountains Mountain Marathon

Well, that was an interesting weekend!

I did my first mountain marathon (the KIMM) in 1989 and have stacked up a fair amount of experience since then, stupidly thinking I had pretty much covered all the bases with regard to incidents, happenings and eventualities but last weekend took the biscuit!

The Marmot Dark Mountains MM bills itself as follows

Marmot Dark Mountains™ takes the classic two-day mountain marathon format and gives it a new… darker twist. Rather than two days of running with an overnight camp in between, Marmot Dark Mountains™ packs everything into one winter’s night!

...... how hard could it be?

Simon, my buddy in most of these adventures, and I met up on Saturday evening in Glossop (Peak District), giving ourselves lots of time to sort out our kit for the rigorous inspection before registration and our start time of just after 8pm.

Over the last five years of racing together we have probably totalled about 30 minutes of navigational errors across 8 or 9 races, so we set our stall out, based on tidy navigation and a nice easy running pace, trying to remember that this was a longer night of racing than a usual MM first day.

What actually happened was that we made over an hour of errors, all in the first half of the race. Right from the start, we both struggled to judge distances, partly due to the lack of visibility and partly, I think, to the fact that you just run so much slower at night. Although we made no mistake on the first control, there were already alarm bells ringing as I struggled to keep in contact with the map, everything taking so much longer to appear than it normally would.

Race map with Elite course

Elite course profile!

Control 2 was our downfall. From a good attack point, it was a dropping contour  to a stream bend amongst lots of streams. Looking back now, we were actually pretty much on line for the control, but convinced ourselves that we had gone too far, so traced a contour back along the hill away from the control. To cut a sad and tearful story short, we lost somewhere in the region of 20 minutes.

What was pleasing, was the way we both put this out of our minds and got back on the job in hand; grinding out a nice steady plod and spiking the controls over the next couple of hours. This included a couple in thick mist where it was better for vision to hold the head torch in hand to avoid glare back off the mist droplets.

For most of the race, the views were not great!

The weather was generally being quite kind to us up to this point, a bit breezy, but dry. Just when we thought we had got the measure of the navigation, we me our old friends Mr and Mrs Cock-up again. What looks like a simple run along the top of the southern edge of Kinder Scout caused us no end of problems, mainly as we just kept losing the path, suddenly finding ourselves away from the edge, knee deep in peat, usually swearing and having to hack out to try and find the path again. With these travails, we were obviously not covering the ground as well as we thought and ended up doing our trick of talking ourselves into thinking we had gone too far - cue more faffing around and another 20 minutes lost.

We both stayed pretty chipper about the situation and, at least on the reasonable tracks, were maintaining a good shuffle considering we were over 5 hours into the race (sometime just after 1am). However, you could just start to tell that there was a subtle change in the weather and the predicted storm was starting to nudge our way. The next three hours had a series of controls more tightly packed, seeing us drop out of the wind and get a better rhythm navigation-wise.

As we emerged back on to the more exposed fells (about 5am) with still 4 hours to go, the weather started to kick us and remind us that it was January - we basically endured a mix of wind, snow, sleet, hail and rain right through to the finish. At our first opportunity to dip out of the wind in a slight hollow, we stopped and put on all of our spare kit - the only time I can ever remember putting on full overtrousers in the middle of a race! What a difference it made and within an hour we were also able to turn off our head torches - yippee!!

Are we having fun yet?

Those last few hours were fairly grim, not a great deal of conversation going on with Simon and I, only the occasional summit meeting about route options. I thought we would get a bit of a relief from the slog through peat and tussocks when we hit the Pennine Way, but it wasn't a great amount fun as we trudged up over Bleaklow Head, mainly along stream beds as far as I could tell, being lashed by sleet, trying to hide your face in the hood.

Doesn't really do justice to the bleakness of Bleaklow Head

Mr and Mrs Cock-up called round for coffee at the last control, when we just couldn't be bothered to look at the map as our hands were too cold to even hold the map strongly enough to stop it blowing away in the wind - oh how we laughed!

Finally made it to the finish after 13:23 hours, knackered, wet and cold. The marshals in the finish tent were great, giving us some seats and coffee as we had a 10 minute regroup before the 10 minute jog back into the town to the leisure centre.

We finished in 3rd place, which was pleasing, especially when looking at the attrition rate - only 5 teams completed the Elite course! However, we were both very disappointed with the navigation performance, perhaps being a little rusty in general and certainly not "getting into the map" in the first half. Within two days we were exchanging texts along the lines of "unfinished business" - isn't the mind a wonderful thing?

Congratulations to my old mate Steve Birkinshaw and his partner Tom Gibbs on an amazing performance to win the Elite class by a country mile.

Without doubt, the toughest single mountain marathon style race I've ever done; words which will bring a smile to Shane's (race director) face as this is exactly what he set out to design.

I had a lovely sleep in the back of the camper van at a service station on the way home, much needed, and as good a justification for having a camper as any. I have been fairly trashed all week, only reacquainting myself with my running shoes this weekend but am now ready to put in a good month of training without any races (having, unusually, done two races in January).

Back to the grindstone ;-)

Hardmoors Ultras Night Race

Well, I'd like to say that this was the most carefully planned blog on the t'interweb, that as I approached my 100th post, I was looking to make the write up extra special with a winners race report and everything just fell into place perfectly. If I did say all that - I'd be telling porkie pies!

On the plus side; this is my 100th post and it is a winners race report!

Jon Steele, ultra hero and race director of the Hardmoors ultra series, had put on a training weekend with the aim of helping runners with their build up to the races within the Hardmoors series. I didn't attend the training camp, but have read all the comments on Facebook and can see that the agenda was thorough, well prepared and, most importantly, very useful. As part of the weekend, Jon had decided to put on a night race to give the runners an opportunity to try running at night on rough, but typical Hardmoors, terrain. He sent out an invite to anyone part of the Hardmoors family and I jumped at the chance to test my newly trained speed and make a full weekend with a visit to Tracey's sister and another recce on the 110 route the following day.

I expected about 30 runners to pitch up for the race and, like most folk, was quite shocked to find myself on the start line at 6pm with 100 other idiots. The weather might have helped as it was a beautiful evening, not a cloud in the sky and the stars for company. The route was a 2 lap circuit, following the Cleveland Way over three short climbs (Cringle Moor, Cold Moor and Hasty Bank) before returning to the start/finish area along a VERY muddy track to the north of the hills. About 10km for one lap, half marathon for two laps. You could choose whether to do the 10km race or the HM, the only snag being, on the first lap, you had no idea who was doing which race.

It was a fairly swift start and I settled into 5th place going up the first climb, with the leading 2 really pushing on, though, I was feeling fairly comfortable and enjoying racing at a faster pace. By the top of the climb I was up to 4th and closing on 3rd but I didn't want to overcook things as I had done in the Red Bull Steeplechase a few months ago. I made a decision to try and catch up 3rd on the next climb and ran most of the way up just staying on the good side of the red zone.

The image of this race that will stay with me for a long time was the view behind as I crested the 2nd climb; a long string of lights, snaking back over two hills. For someone with the right camera equipment, this would have made a wonderful shot.

Ahead, I could just see the leading 2 runners as their torches lit up the ground, though, it was difficult to gauge how far ahead they were. I climbed well up through the Wain Stones and set about trying to close the gap on 2nd place.

At the turn, I estimated I was about 25 seconds down on 2nd, but had no idea how far ahead 1st was as he was out of sight and obviously going full bore. I ran the return leg along the muddy track well, trying to be smooth and not fight the mud, getting the occasional glimpse of the second placed runner and most importantly, starting to feel like I was closing.

Things got interesting once back at the end of the first loop. As I approached the start/finish area I passed the second placed runner as he was on his way out to start the 2nd loop, but saw no sign of the leader. It was only as I reached the turn round point that I discovered that the leader was doing the 10k race and was finished. Congratulations to Paul Williams who won in 56:40.

This meant I was 2nd in the half marathon race with the leader just 20 seconds ahead. I later found out that the leader was non other than Jayson Cavill, who has been burning up the NE ultra scene for a while, recently setting a new, and very impressive, course record in the Hardmoors 30. At the time, Jayson's identity was a mystery to me and this probably helped me. I wonder, if I had known that it was Jayson that I was attempting to chase down, would I have thought twice, should I be running in such illustrious company? This is an interesting thought and I'm sure some of you out there will have some views on this - I know my confidence has been helped from this experience and it may have an impact on how I race in the future.

With a push on the first climb, I caught Jayson at the top and we ran together right to the turn round point. What struck me immediately was the smoothness of Jayson's gait; there was no fuss, nothing was strained, all very smooth and I think that helped me to settle into a nice smooth cadence. Jayson obviously knew the route well and picked a couple of great lines on the drops, warning me when to look out for rocks (thanks!).

At the turn, with about 3.5 miles to go, Jayson stopped for a few seconds to take a drink and I pushed on up the gentle climb from the checkpoint. Part way up this climb, I glanced back and saw that I had a lead of about 20 yards and thought to myself that this was the significant moment; if I could hammer the next mile and 'break the elastic' I might win. So that is what I did!

With about 1.5 miles to go, I started to lap a few folk which meant that when I looked back I no longer knew if Jayson was catching me or whether it was the lapped runners torches I could see so I basically ran scared for this final section but I was eventually able to enjoy the run in, safe in the knowledge that I had secured first place, finally finishing in 2 hours and 31 seconds. Well chuffed with that!

Jayson finished 2nd in 2:08, though to be realistic, he had been involved with the training camp all day and, I think, had marked the night race course with glow sticks, clocking up some serious mileage before he had even started!! In my defence, I'd walked round the shops in Darlington for 45 minutes; you choose.

I had a chat with Shirley and the other finish officials, but they were obviously having to deal with other finishers, so left them to it. I tried to hang around to have a chat with Jayson but the sub zero temperature and rapidly freezing sweaty clothes killed that idea; I needed to get back to the car and out of my kit. Engine on, heater on, aahh!

Once changed, I went back to the finish to say thanks to Jon and Shirley (though Jon was still out on the course) and was quickly warned of the ice on the steep drop down Carlton Bank when you exit the car park, so with a warm, inner glow, I headed back to Yarm, well happy with my evenings work.

Results here Hardmoors night races

Hi! Remember me?

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. Perhaps, like my training, blogging is all about the routine and I guess I just got out of the routine, so in an endeavour to get back on track, I'll use this post to get back up to speed.

After the Ring O Fire race I was totally trashed, both physically and mentally, giving no thought to running at all, basically sleeping stupid amounts and eating anything that wasn't bolted down for the best part of two weeks. During this time, I didn't set myself any targets with regard to returning to running, I just thought I'd know when the time was right. The only exception to this was the Red Bull Steeplechase Race in the Peak District. If I am being truthful, I probably shouldn't have ran in this race, but I was entered with a couple of mates and just fancied a weekend away with the lads, so I toed the start line on a stunning autumnal day.

Click here to see one of the official videos of the race

To say that the speed of the race got to me would be an understatement! With a series of cut-offs where the slower competitors are pulled from the race, the overall speed of the race is artificially raised as runners are effectively racing over different distances, just trying to make one of the cut-offs. I had hoped to be one of the top 30 runners who avoid all the culls and complete the full 21 miles, but this expectation soon hit the deck as I was an hour in to the event, running sub 6 min miles and still outside the top 50! To cut a long and painful story short, I made all but the final cull and was withdrawn from the race after 18 miles in 70th place, suffering badly from cramp. Regardless of the result and pain, I really enjoyed the race and will probably have another go this year!

The feelings (or lack of them) that I had in my legs after this race simply reinforced the notion that I needed more time off to recover from the exertions of the season, so I set myself the target of restarting my training during the October half term holidays. I had a few more weeks of pretty much ignoring running, occasionally going out for a 3 or 4 mile pootle just to have a look at the views and keep some kind of sanity.

On one of the "pootles"

What was interesting, was that as the weeks went by and the watershed of the half term hols approached, my thoughts turned, almost without realising, towards the 2014 season and what my plans might be. I had already made the big decisions with regard to what my A races would be this year; The Hardmoors 110 in May and the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in late August (with a plan B of doing the Ring O Fire again if I missed out in the ballot for UTMB.) What I started to do was look for some other races that would fit in around these two to get me on the start lines in the best possible shape.

Just trained when it was sunny

I have been thinking about what it might take in order to raise my game a little and have decided to re-introduce some speed work back into my training in the hope that I can either raise my cruising speed or increase the length of time which I can hold my current cruising speed. As part of an ongoing series, John Kynaston and I have been talking about training ideas for the West Highland Way Race podcasts  which are fun to make, useful for me as it forces me to think about how I go about preparing for ultras but cringe-worthy to listen to!

Since October, I have had a good block of training, not doing anything radical but just putting some time on my feet in the bank. I had my usual couple of months where I limit the pace at which I allow myself to run (no faster than 8 m/m at any point), by which time I am ready to kick on a bit and push the pace. I have recently started going back to the speed sessions with Keswick AC on a Tuesday and/or Thursday and can already feel the benefit.

Training on the Tour de Helvellyn route

Just before Christmas, I had another race round the Tour de Helvellyn. Conditions were, as you would expect, fairly frisky with a headwind for the first 3 hours and a few flashes of lightening just to spice things up. I went off a fraction harder than last year and made up a few minutes over the first hour and a half, but this was probably worth more if you factor in the headwind. The middle part of the race, I really found my legs and started to enjoy the ride, apart from making the mile detour onto the rough path in Thirlmere forest as used in previous years - but not this one! (Note to self: read the bloody details!). Despite losing 5 minutes there, I was still making up time over last year on every leg and finally finished in 6:42 hours for 8th place, a new pb by 23 minutes. What a lovely start to the Christmas holidays :-D

Boredale Hause T de H

Anyhoo, that is a very brief summary to get everyone up to speed...... Oh, nearly forgot, in the last week I've won my first race in quite a few years and managed to get a place in the UTMB!! Those two must have just slipped my mind - more of them in the next post.

Recce on Hardmoors 55 route

Just thought I'd drop in this video from a recce of the Hardmoors 55 route.

I am part way through doing a catch up blog report as I know I have neglected the blog over the last couple of months (something which has been pointed out to me!)

We managed to catch to best day weather-wise for some time and had a lovely few hours on the route and who better to guide you than race director, Jon "Man of" Steele?

Ultimate Direction Scott Jurek race vest review

I arrived in ultra-distance running from a fell running background and we fell runners are a very traditional bunch. Simplicity tends to be the name of the game. Regardless of the weather, we charged around the fells in only a singlet and a small bum bag with a spare jacket in, drinking from streams and eating just the odd bit of Kendal mint cake.

For me, the times have changed. Ultra marathon races (and many fell races) require you to carry a significant amount of emergency clothing and provisions, trail races often avoid the high fells where drinkable stream water may be available, it may be several hours before you can replenish vital food supplies and, when racing for many hours, you may experience a wide variety of weather conditions. For my first couple of years in ultra-racing, I persisted with my tried and tested system of a bum bag, which was fine for the slightly shorter distances but did not have the capacity for the long 100 mile races where the kit requirements are more significant.

I am, like most of you, particularly fussy about my requirements for a pack; enough capacity to accommodate all equipment without being tightly packed, minimal bounce, comfortable,  particularly around the shoulders and waist, the ability to carry 2 500ml  bottles and some small, easily accessible pockets to store trail snacks.

Until this year I have been happy to use my OMM bum bag or The North Face Enduro 13 pack, which I have alternated depending on the race. During this season I have had some stomach issues in races and have found the tight waist band on both of my normal options quite restricting, to the point where I felt it might have been slightly detrimental to my performance. Being the kit geek that I am, I had started to look around for an alternative. The general trend by the manufacturers now seems to go towards the race vests which generally have a tighter fit than a normal pack but avoid having a waste band. This seemed to fit the bill for what I wanted, however, many only seemed to use a water bladder and did not have the option for carrying bottles.

After many hours trawling the Internet, the pack that I kept coming back to was the Ultimate Direction Scott Jurek Signature Race Vest. This is the middle model in the Signature Race Vest Series, with the minimalist Anton Krupicka model and the bigger Peter Bakwin adventure pack slotting in either side of the SJ pack. Although I liked the look of AK pack, I felt that it was just a bit too small for some of the races I intend doing in the future.

On paper it seemed to tick all the right boxes; ability to carry bottles, a nice snug fit without any bounce, enough capacity for races like Lakeland 100 or UTMB and easy access to pockets without having to take the pack off.  Getting the fit is very important and I spent some time trying on different sizes to make sure I was happy; I suggest you take along some full water bottles and some kit when trying the packs on as it feels very different when fully laden.

When I first got my hands on the SJ pack, a few things struck me immediately; it looks too small to fit in all the kit needed for some of the big 100 mile races, it is really light and it has a ridiculous amount of pockets.

I’m not going to go into all the technical detail here, if you want to know all about the materials, take a look at the Ultimate Direction website. All the edges of the pack, at the points where chaffing could occur, are all finished in a soft mole-hair type of fabric, which is nice and comfortable and means that there is not a single rough edge anywhere on the pack where it makes contact with the body. The majority of the contact material is described as Hex Mesh, which is non-elastic, breathable but does not absorb moisture. The “breathability” for a tight fitting pack such as this is a bit difficult to comment on as the pack, when full of kit it, makes you sweat a great deal anyway. On some of my first training runs with the pack, I did not use a pack liner and it was good to see that no sweat came through the material; the jackets inside the pack remained totally dry.

You wear the pack like a waistcoat, which is secured across the upper and lower chest by two straps with which you can control the tightness of the pack and which can be adjusted up and down the front of the chest. It took me four or five runs to finally find a comfortable set up with the straps on the front, constantly adjusting them as I ran. I also had a look at some pictures and video clips of others using the pack to see how they had their set up. I guess this is partly to do with the general shape of the pack, but there seems to an even three way split; some runners seem to prefer even tension across the two straps, some like to have the lower strap tighter with the vest more open across the upper chest and some, like myself, prefer to have the upper, slightly elasticated strap, a little bit tighter with the lower part of the pack more open.  You pays your money and takes your choice. Just having the versatility is a bonus.

The main pack on the back is a two compartment affair. The top and sides are made from Cuben Fibre which is used in the making of sails, making it very light and but incredibly strong. The outer fabric is made from Power Mesh which is very stretchy, allowing you to compress small loads and accommodate large loads equally well. The main compartment and has a small compression cord built inside which can be used to stop small objects bouncing around. There is also a Velcro fastening for use with a bladder and a small hole in the side to allow the bladder drinking tube to pass out. It is important to get at least a jacket tucked behind the toggle of the compression strap to stop it rubbing on your back when running. This is fine when done before a run or race but is a little bit fiddly when trying to do mid-race.

Inside main compartment with compression cord

Smaller compartment

On the outside of the main compartment is a smaller compartment without any compression chords which can be used for quick access to kit during a race.  On the outside of the pack is a laced compression cord which can be used to tighten the whole pack when small loads are being used, making the SJ vest an option for shorter races or those with less kit requirements. There are also options for carrying poles or an ice axe, neither of which I have tried yet but I fully intend to try the poles option later this winter.

Back of pack showing compression cord

This configuration on the back, and particularly the Power Mesh, means that you can fit in a great deal more kit and equipment than you would first imagine. I can certainly fit in all of my Lakeland 100 kit easier than I could in my The North Face Enduro 13 pack, when first looks suggest that this would not be the case.

Let’s talk the pockets. There are 14 pockets which you can access without taking the vest off (theoretically).  Yes, 14! At the top of each chest strap is a Power Mesh pocket with a Velcro fastening, large enough for a phone or mp3 player, one of which has a built in a whistle to get you through a kit check.  The majority of the chest straps are taken up with two bottle holders which have a bungee cord top to help secure the bottles and on either side have Power Mesh compartments which can be used for gels or similar. Below the bottle holders are two small horizontal pockets, one made from Power Mesh and one from Cuben Fibre, both with Velcro fastenings, which can be used for small items like electrolyte tablets. Finally, on the under arm sections of the pack are two Power Mesh zipped pockets and behind both of these are Velcro fastened Power Mesh pockets.

To the finish of the package, you also get 2 500ml drinks bottles with “kicker valves”.

In use, the pack has almost no bounce, even when the water bottles are full, which is a big improvement on my OMM bum bag. Over the summer I used the pack for all of my distance training including the long recces of the Ring O Fire race on Anglesey and then used the pack for all three days of the race itself. There is no doubt that this will be my pack of choice for ultra-racing from now on. It has so many options that you can use it for almost any occasion and I think that what most runners will do is adapt the pack to suit their own individual needs.  Having drinks and food right there in the front of my face really helps with my nutrition and hydration during training and racing as it is a constant reminder to look after myself.  I have settled on a configuration that suits my needs , whereby I user a water bottle on one side of the vest and use the other water bottle holder as a large pouch for gels, bars and even a camera, this gives very easy access to all I need.

I have not, however, been able to get on with the Ultimate Direction drinks bottles with the kicker valves.  I find the plastic a little bit too hard and have struggled to use the valves to any great effect.  I much prefer to have a softer plastic bottle which I can simply squeeze to get the water into my mouth. I know that many others really rave about the kicker valves and I guess I may not be doing the correct technique, but one of the advantages of the pack is that you can use whichever bottles you like as it is a universal fit. To give me even more options with regard to hydration, I have also brought some “soft flasks” (only a few £’s from Trespass, both 330ml and 500ml) which I can use either in the front bottle holders or place in the back of the pack for emergencies. I’m still working on how best to use these.

Soft flasks from Trespass

The mesh pockets on the side of the bottle holders are very snug when the bottles are in place which can make it difficult to get gels in and out.  I have tended to use these just to put bits of rubbish in which I can then dispose of easily at a checkpoint.  The small horizontal pockets at the bottom of the chest straps are very useful, particularly for my electrolyte tablets.

The side pockets are amazingly spacious.  You can get food and even small items of clothing into these pockets and I have been using them for those items which you don’t need all of the time but may need quick access to in an emergency like Buff, gloves and small Pertex jacket, along with further trail snacks. My only real problem with the pack is that these under arm pockets are a little bit too far back.  For some reason, I am just about able to access the left hand side on the go, whilst I have no joy at all on the right; I have to undo the chest straps and slide the pack round to gain access on the right.  During my outings so far, this has not been an issue and may only be a minor inconvenience at other times. It is possible that (with the number of injuries I have had over the years) that I have some restricted movement in my right shoulder or elbow which is preventing access.  Even so, it is still a struggle on the left hand side and I wonder whether others have had this same problem with the pack? I just make sure that any items I want very quick access to are placed up front, and those items I require less, I put in the side pockets. The ultra-marathons I have done so far have had aid stations or support no further than 3 hours apart which means I can have all of my provisions up- front ready for quick access, if you have longer periods between support, these side pockets may be more of an issue for you, but you are only talking about a few seconds to swing the pack round to gain access. Not an issue for me personally.

Under-arm side pockets

I must admit that I don’t have much experience with other race vests, though I have used the Mountain Hardwear Fluid Race Pack, which I really like but it does not have the same up-front options and has a little “bottle bounce” when compared to the Ultimate Direction pack. I get the impression that many of the race vests on the market are designed for use with a bladder or specially designed drinks bottles which give you less options. What I really like about the Ultimate Direction pack is that it allows me to pick and choose how I configure the pack and what I would like to add to it; I am not tied to how the designer imagined it would be used.

It will be interesting to see how the design of these race vests develop over the next few years as every manufacturer produces and then further develops their own designs. What I do know is that my neck, shoulders and stomach are far happier bunnies now that I'm wearing this pack; at least until the next new thing comes along ;-)