I entered this race at the beginning of the year with the aim to finish between 6:30 and 7 hours. There isn’t as much vertical in this race compared to, say the Osmotherley Phoenix 33 or the Hardmoors 55, which lends itself to a quicker average speed.
Neil Ridsdale is the current record holder and has ran the last 10 races. This year he was going for a sub–6 hour record, so that’s first place take care of! I was pretty confident I could finish 2nd or 3rd if I ran a steady race with no mishaps…
At the start of the Lyke Wake Walk
Leg 1, Osmotherley to Carlton Bank
I was the second–last runner to start—based on my predicted finishing time—so I set off at 9:30, with Neil to follow at 10:10. With the race finishing at 1700 (or so I thought) this allowed 7:30 hours to complete the race. That’s an extra hour for bog–snorkelling duties or some major bonking!
I set off at a comfortable pace on the Cleveland way, taking it fairly easy on the downhills to look after the quads. After the cramp suffer–fest that was the Swaledale Marathon, and since I was being supported in this race by my family, I was travelling light with just the essentials; Gels, Nuun & Calf Guards to help prevent the calf cramps and stop the shins from getting shredded in the heather!
I know the Cleveland Way very well so took the low path through the forest round to Carlton Bank rather than over the top of Carlton Moor, which saves a fair chunk of time and effort.
I arrived at Carlton checkpoint: 10:18am (48 mins)
First road section from the start at Osmotherley
Leg 2, Carlton Bank to Clay Bank
This section skirts the bottom of the Cleveland Hills and is fairly easy going. To be honest I wasn’t feeling that great at the start of the run. I had ridden the last 20 miles of the route on my MTB only on Wednesday before the race, and my legs felt pretty empty! Despite that I tried to stay relaxed and just run at a comfortable pace. I had turned all alerts off on my Garmin to make sure I ran on feel and not pace…
Arrived at Clay Bank checkpoint: 10:50am (32 mins)
The Runfree® Support Crew!
Time to change into the Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas
Leg 3, Clay Bank to Lion Inn (Blakey Ridge)
Since this next section is mainly on hard–pack, I decided to change out of my Inov8 Bare–grips and change into the Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS – a truly barefoot shoe but with less aggressive grip so better for terrain.
After the long climb up to Round Hill—the highest point in the Moors—you follow the old railway line all the way to Blakey Ridge. The views are spectular, but the running is pretty barren! 6+ miles of flat running is a bit tedious if you’re a fell runner, but it allows you to tap out a steady rhythm and focus on the second half of the race.
As I reached The Lion Inn I could see I’d made up time on the 2 runners ahead of me. Sian Morgan and Jon Morgan had started at 9:10 am, so I had made up about 20 minutes in the first half of the race. I didn’t think I was running too fast (average of 7mph) so I thought I could hit the sub–7 hour target even given the difficult going for the second half of the race, which is bound to slow you down.
Arrived at Lion Inn checkpoint: 12:05 pm (1:15)
Refuel at the Lion Inn checkpoint on Blakey Ridge
Leg 4, Lion Inn to Hamer Bridge
Since I had recce’d this section on Wednesday, I knew we were heading into the challenging section of the race: rocks and bogs!
I set off with Sian and Jon and had a brief chat on the road section from the pub before we cut off on the bridlepath. I was struggling for grip in the Vibrams, and made a mental note to change back into the Bare–Grips at the next checkpoint.
At the halfway point I started to feel the dreaded cramp start attacking me! I had felt great up to this point, but this time it wasn’t really the calves that were the problem (unless you went knee deep in a bog which made them tweak a bit!) It was more the hip flexers and groin, maybe lingering fatigue from the bike ride on Wednesday? Maybe that recce wasn’t such a good idea after all!
Arrived at Hamer Bridge checkpoint: 13:06 pm (1:01)
After the bogs!
Leg 5, Hamer Bridge to Stape
A (cramp–inducing) change of shoes and faff™ for food/drink/clothing in the pouring rain at the Hamer Bridge checkpoint lost me a bit of time, and I saw Shelli and Jon catch up and move through without too much fuss. I, however, was trying to change my socks and shoes without my hip flexers locking–up like bolts of lightening striking a pylon!
Eventually I got my act together, and waited for Becky who wanted to run the next few sections with me. The company was very welcome at this point as I think I was suffering from Moor Fever! Reminder – bring the iPod next time!
We got under way for the stretch to Stape. It was tough going as this is the rockiest and most technical section of the whole run. I was finding that the cramp would kick in as I was trying to skip of the rocky sections, locking my legs out completely and causing me to trip a few times. We slowly plugged away, and both had a few comedy ‘where has my leg gone in this bog?’moments :)
Happy Days.
Towards the end of this section I saw Neil on the horizon chasing us down. I was in a bit of a sorry state, but it was great to watch Neil dance over the rocks and float on by.
“Are you struggling?” he asked as hopped and skipped past, one eye on the path and one on my gay compression socks.
“Aye” I replied. “Bloody cramp!”
“Need Salt?” He politely offered.
I’d been keeping to my strategy of gels/nuun electrolite drink, so I should’ve been well hydrated with plenty of salts, but after 4 hours of running my gut was starting to play up & feel bloated, so I don’t think the body was absorbing much.
I wished Neil good luck for his run and allowed him to crack on – I didn’t want him to stop on my behalf! This was definitely the low point of the race for me. You will get this in any Ultra, it’s how you manage it that is the important thing. As long as you can keep getting the fluids and calories in and allow your body time to pick up, things will/should get back on track.
We arrived at Stape checkpoint at 14:05 (59 mins)
Leg 6, Stape to Ellerbeck Bridge
After a quick handful of crisps at the checkpoint, there’s a nice downhill section to the river, hop over the crossing stones then a trek up to the other side. Neil had ran straight through and making good time, even running the hill. My hips wouldn’t allow it so some power walking and jogging was needed.
Once on the top of the moors the going was pretty good, still rocky in the gullies, bit little heather singletrack paths were nice to run on and hold a steady pace. I was starting to pick up and feel better, and was able to open the legs on the long downhill section over the railway (sorry Becky for leaving you behind!). Second wind had kicked in and I was still on for a sub 7 hour time. I had missed my 6:30 goal but was pretty sure I could bag a top 3, with Sian and Jon just minutes up the trail, they were my target.
I reached the checkpoint, with the black clouds which had been chasing us across the moors, starting to roll in above and look threatening.I got my race number clipped and grabbed a handful of crisps which seemed to do the job at the last checkpoint. By this point Neil was 15 minutes ahead at the checkpoint, Sian and Jon about 10 minutes up.
As we were about to set off the race marshal pointed out that the race cut off was 1600 hours, so I had 70 minutes to run the last 9 miles to the finish or my time wouldn’t count (although I would still receive my certificate). This came as a surprise as all the race information had stated that the race finished at 1700 hours.
After 5hours+ of running the body is pretty fatigued, and I decided that there was no point continuing since I was running for a place, not just to finish, so I may as well save the extra 9 miles and treat the race as a good training run. I was annoyed and confused, wondering how I could make such a stupid mistake and get the cut off time wrong.
As we called it a day and packed the car up ready to leave, the Cloud Of Death™ let rip and we were greeted with thunder, lightening, torrential rain and hail stones lashing down. Part of me was glad to be sat in a car and not out running in it (more importantly not out in it with Becky!)
On getting home I checked my information and nowhere does it state that the race finish is 1600 hours. $@*!
A poor finish to a great day and a great race. A DNF, my first of… ever! Not the result I was looking for, but I may (or may not) be back to for another attempt. Maybe I will run it solo just for my own satisfaction.
Well done to all runners on the day in mixed conditions, I hope you enjoyed the beer and chips at the end!
Hail, thunder and lightening! On the moors anything is possible...
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