Helly Hansen Beauty and the Beast

I purposefully hadn’t entered any races in the couple of months after the West Highland Way (WHW) race because I tend to find that when I step up my racing distance it takes longer to recover and the odd niggle/injury isn’t uncommon. This proved to be a wise decision, as true to form after the WHW I was decommissioned for 3.5 weeks due to tendonopathy on the front of my shin (tibialis anterior: for those who care). I had considered doing the Tour of Skiddaw Race at the end of August if I recovered well, but after the time out I decided to give it a miss and focus on my next target.

The Helly Hansen Beauty and the Beast isn’t an ultra it is a six lap trail marathon with 1400m of ascent, but it was my first opportunity take part in the race since becoming a Helly Hansen ambassador at the start of the year.

When training for the WHW my speed sessions had begun to suffer and eventually all but went by the way side so I knew I needed to get my finger out and do some speed work before the race. Once back training that went pretty well for 4 weeks but come the start of September I was out in the Alps for 2 weeks. The first week Dawn and I walked From Chamonix to Meillerie along the GR5, the second week we stayed in Meillerie and did some walks, runs and a bit of sailing from there. Some longs days out but not much to help the lack of speed in my legs, so my preparation wasn't perfect .

The day prior to the race I went down to west Wycome Park, the venue for the race, to meet some  of the other UK Helly Hansen ambassadors and do some filming to profile some of their new clothing and footwear range.  

West Wycome Park is a National Trust Property, so naturally in a beautiful setting (hence ‘The Beauty’), the guys from HH had done a great job already of setting out the race village ( space hoppers and welly wangying for the kids to boot) and the guys from Trail Plus added “The Beast” i.e. the course,  billed as the Toughest Multi Lap Trail marathon in the UK.

My fellow ambassadors for the day were Jules Roberts, another Ultra runner and Inge Solheim an expedition leader/adventurer who amongst other things lead the Walking with The Wounded Team to the North and South Pole. They were both doing the half marathon. I don’t know about them but I felt a bit nervous about the race, feeling that there was a certain amount of expectation on me to have a good. That remained to be seen by as always I would give 100%!.

On the morning of the race the weather was overcast but warm and slightly humid. All the runners including the marathon, half marathon and relay teams started as a mass start which made pacing the more difficult as it took me a while to work out who was in which race. I wanted to take it steady to start with, get a better feel for the course over the first lap and take it from there. One benefit of a lapped course is the fact you know what is coming after the first lap without the need to recce the whole course.

The lap starts with a deceptively small looking hill, which in reality climbs for longer than you would think sucking the energy out of your legs with every stride. I got to the top not far behind the leaders with no idea what race they were doing, once we got there it was a quick 180 degree turn before heading back down toward the start and the beginning of the next climb.

The pattern of up one hill and down the other side was a pattern that was repeated frequently throughout the 4.4M course with little cahnce to settle into a steady pace. One way of describing it would be a long cross country course, the difference being that they normally last 4-6 miles not 26! Oh and they don’t normally take you through a river six times!

I felt pretty good through the first 3 laps and by that stage I had worked out who my competition was. I was in 3^rd place but within sight of the two leaders. I hoped that my endurance would stand me in good stead for the second half of the race. Come the fourth lap of the course I began to feel something in my legs that I hadn’t felt for a long time in a race: lactic acid as I climbed the steepest hill of the course. In an ultra, it would be normal to walk a hill that steep to save the legs but I was determined to run on. The hard work paid off as I caught Scott Forbes who was in 2^nd place.  The same hill on lap five was a real chore and I could feel the impact racing at a faster pace was having on my legs. I push on as hard as I could but in the end Scott was too strong passing me on the final lap and finishing 25 seconds ahead. Majell Backhausen who won the race had stormed the second half of the race and won comfortable in 3:10. I finished in 3:19.

While I was disappointed not to win the race for the Helly team I guess I wasn’t too surprised. You can’t expect to perform at your best if your training is focused accordingly. Despite that with was a fantastic couple of days and great to be part of the team at Helly Hansen.

Kit:  Helly Hansen Terrac Trail Shoe

         Helly Hansen Pace Short

         Helly Hansen Pace 1/2 Zip Lifa Flow Short Sleeve