A 40M

2009 and 2010 made some more changes. After an 8 year break I decided to head back to uni to do a fast track postgrad in Physiotherapy. A bit daunting but I have always been of the mind that if you are not happy with something don’t complain about it do something about it.

2009 started with the obligatory marathon but after that I was keen to try something further and an individual race to see how I faired stepping things up a bit. I looked round for races that fitted in with my uni commitments and found the High Peaks 40M Challenge. It seemed to fit the bill 40M was further than I had run before, it was a nice looking off road around the Peak District and I had never been there before so I put in my entry.

I recently found this race report that I wrote at the time. Interesting reading this looking back!

High Peak 40 Race Report ( written 2009)

Call it intrigue, call it insanity, call it what you like, but since completing my first marathon every year I like to try and pick a new challenge, something I haven’t done before, something that little bit further just to see how my body copes. For me this focus really helps keep me motivated.  This year I chose the High Peak 40 a 40 mile race in the Peak District with 4673ft of ascent. A couple of weeks before the race I spoke to another runner about the race and talking about it I said I was trying not to take it too seriously. “How can you not take a 40M race seriously?” came the response. Having never ran, never mind raced 40 miles the plan was just to go out run, relax and enjoy the scenery.

We set off at 8am and I watched as a large group of runners sped off into the distance. I was quite happy just to hang back and find a pace I was comfortable with- confident that not all of the runners ahead would last the pace. The race took us on a combination of road, trail and hills through a number of picturesque villages, each pretty but seriously lacking in support. Nobody seems too interested in the 250 daft runners/walkers that were meandering their way through the area. The odd “well done” from a bewildered walker was about the height of it. At about 15miles I caught sight of a group of runners ahead and slowly began to catch them up. I watched with interest as one particularly enthusiastic runner seemed keen to take the lead. He’d run all out for as bit take the lead, then fall back, run to the front again, then fall back. Not the best strategy for a 40M race. Making it to 26.2 miles in just under 3 1/2  hours I was pretty pleased with how I felt and confident that if I could get to 30 miles I could slog out the last 10M.

Just before I hit 30 miles I caught sight of the leading 4 runners who were all still pretty close together. Things changed. My thoughts of just enjoying the run were pushed to one side by the old competitive head. Over the next mile or two I caught the leading pack and was happy to keep pace with them and see what happened. Hitting 32 miles I knew that the majority of what lay ahead was road so I just got the head down and tried to keep a steady pace. As the temperature rose one runner dropped back and one began to make a break. Although my mind wanted to respond to the break my body said no and I just had to keep plodding on. 37 miles came and I knew I was nearly there- I knew I could finish. Just 3 more miles of road- or so I thought! Next came a sign directing us into a field. Running on the grass was a welcome change but the sadistic race planners added in a stone wall to cross, then another and another. Five in all, each causing my stiffening legs to cry in agony. To add insult to injury we were then forced to run  down a narrow stony track into a steep sided gully and straight out the other side. It hurt so much! The thought of the final couple of miles spurred me on and the gully proved to be the breaking point of one more runner. Over the next hill and the view of Buxton came into view. What a welcome sight. Crossing the finish line in 5hours 43 minutes it was a great satisfaction to complete my first 40 mile race and a nice bonus to finish 4 minutes behind the leader.

So now I know I can do 40M. The question is what will next years challenge be!

2008 Gore-Tex Transalpine Run

This race was unlike anything I had ever contemplated before. 300k, 15000m of ascent, 3 countries and 8 days of running.  (Need to dig this report out from the archives- work in progress!!)

My first steps into ultra

The first time I ever ran longer than marathon was in 2006, in a hill race called the Lairig Ghru. (To this day still one of my favourite races) A stunning race on an old drovers trail between Braemar and Aviemore in the Cairngorms. I entered last minute after a weeks holiday running, biking and canoeing up North. I was happy to finish the race in 9^th position in 3:42.

After that, although not true ultra-distance events I did the LAMM in 2006 and 2008 which is a 2 day mountain marathon where you need to carry all your kit for the 2 days including tent and food and navigate around fixed check points. I loved these events and seemed to feel ok at the end of two long days on the hill. I began to ponder something longer.

At the time I was still working at Run 4 It and at the start of another busy year in 2008 my boss asked me what sort of incentive  would help motivate me to hit the targets set of for the year. As a new business a big bonus and company car weren’t on the cards! Ordinarily I might have had to think of an answer but on that occasion I had just the thing. A few weeks previously I had been playing on the internet and found a rather interesting race with a rather nice promotional video. The 2008 Gore-tex Transalpine Challenge.

I didn’t hesitate, Gore were one of our main suppliers and I thought It might just be possible to swing an entry. As it happened it was. After some initial positive vibes and almost daily viewings of the promo trailer I was over the moon to find out in May that I had a place for the race. That clip still to this day brings a grin to my face.