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Itera Lite 2025 – Cairngorms
Itera Lite 2025 – Cairngorms
After my adventures at Itera “Lite” last year with Maria, I decided that I actually quite like the shorter format compared to the full thing. And this year we were offered the choice of either. I was super keen to enter, although finding a partner was a little trickier. On Christmas day I got a “yes” from Dave who I met at Cape Wrath Ultra in 2022. I remember being sat waiting for the ferry back over from Cape Wrath itself and asking if he was interested in adventure racing; it took this long for it to come to fruition!
And so this summer the Wrath Runners were on their way to the Badaguish Outdoor Centre for a few days of short-expedition style adventure racing fun! I was all over the slightly complicated logistics and planning, making sure we had the right shoes and kit in the right bags for the right stages. The course was heavy on biking and light on trekking compared to some others. Great for me, having done zero long hikes / runs since February’s traumatic ankle experiences. Not so great for Dave – I was unsure how his (lack of) mountain biking experience was going to play out.
Getting the maps – Tues 08:00
We got the maps on Tuesday morning, so the run through was, by necessity, pretty rapid. However, we soon worked out that a lot of the biking was on prescribed mandatory routes, and apart from special orienteering stages the hiking was straightforward enough that it was on the same 1:50k scale maps as the biking. We marked up all the cut offs and I felt weirdly ‘ready’ by the time we got to the captain’s briefing at 09:30.
All the endless lists were checked off, the bikes and bags were handed in, and we were ready to get on the coach.
Prologue – Tues 14:00 – run around Laggan (5.3km / 36 minutes)
I managed a snooze on the coach, then had time for a banana smoothie before the start. The stage went uneventfully and was mostly on road – we did actually run it all, though I was already concerned about how hot and sunny it was!
Stage 1 – Tues 14:48 – kayak down the Spey (20.5km / 3h20)
After a rapid transition (despite me putting the seat on wrong 3 times) we were off down the Spey. This was way more fun than I had anticipated, as we were straight into a narrow section, with trees and gravel and choices to be made. At one point I jumped out to help unground us and nearly tipped Dave straight in, though I promise it was an accident! I think he got me back by unceremoniously shovelling water on me with his paddle more than once later on.
As we went along, we alternated easy stretches with slightly annoying sections where the low water level meant we kept getting stuck. However, I was starting to enjoy the challenge of trying to read the best line, which was often close to the bank under tree branches that battered our faces as we went through, whilst I yelled ‘PADDLE’ and babbled something about tweetle beetles* as we lost all sense of coordination and clattered each other.
One time when we did have to get out, Dave forgot that legs often protest after sitting in a kayak for some time and promptly fell over in the water – nothing to do with me this time. Even funnier when he retold the story explaining he couldn’t understand that his legs weren’t working, so whilst I got the kayak moving he was repeatedly floundering around!
The only downer was that Dave was very uncomfortable because we couldn’t figure out how to adjust the seat to a better position and it was giving no support, plus the shoe choice (actually dictated by what we wanted to wear on a trek later on!) was hampering his efficiency. For my part, I’ve had far worse AR kayak legs and was quite happy with how it went 😊
Stage 2 – Tues 18:39 – mountain bike back to the event centre (29.7km / 2h34)
I wasn’t sure how transitions would go – this was all new to Dave – but I have to say he did rather better than I did in my first race. We got to the first checkpoint only to find to our dismay that his dibber was gone 😱. We considered going back to transition but then Dave suggested this is what the mandatory camera could be used for, and he was absolutely right, so we took photos instead until we could get a new one.
A little while later I turned over my shoulder after we joined a road to find Dave missing … uh oh, what had happened? Turned out it was the first of many ‘toppling over’ incidents. It transpired over the course of the event that Dave excelled at the actual ‘mountain biking’ i.e. moving along technical terrain, but not so much at ‘starting and stopping’ 😥. I almost felt the pain in his elbows and hips every time it happened, but there wasn’t a lot I could do other than wait for him to get up and start pedalling again.
The route itself was nice and straightforward from there to the next transition in the gloriously spacious games area at the outdoor centre.
Stage 3 – Tues 21:35 – hill loop trek on Cregan Gorm (9.4km / 2h45)
Before we’d started our own race, we’d looked on the tracking at the route the leaders of the full Itera race took to the top of the hill. The choice was: straight up, or the long way round the tracks. They did the former, and so did we!! Partway up we had regrets, but there was nothing to be done by that point, except to keep on working our way upwards until we got to an easier rockier bit and then finally popped out right by the control! I’d like to say this was pure skill, but there was probably a bit of luck involved…
Compass at the ready, I checked which way to go. We were going right, it said go left 🤔. Dave tried to argue, I said we had to believe the compass … and was helped in my argument when just then another team left in agreement with it!
I enjoyed the next section in the dark, having a nice chat, even running / jogging some bits. We got slightly tangled up in felled forest coming down, but somehow came out on the right track and sailed back to transition.
Stage 4 – Weds 00:53 – biking north to Glenlivet via a trail centre (54.5km / 6h06)
A long section of this route wasn’t mandatory, but there was only one way through the Abernethy Forest out of bounds area. I probably made this harder than I needed to, because I was keeping a very close eye on exactly where we were, ticking off turnings and other features. I’m sure if you knew the route and it was daylight, you’d be saying ‘just ride along that road until…’
It was along here that my ability to change into my big chain ring totally failed – on closer inspection my cable outer had a hole in it, the cable was fraying and tension in it was minimal. The best I could do was zip tie it up out of the way of further damage on my fork crowns and resign myself to little ring riding for the rest of the race.
At one point we found ourselves in an exceptionally midgy glen, crossing countless small streams (which we pushed our bikes through) and then having a slightly tricky bit of nav onto the right path. This was made worse by the fact we were getting eaten to death every time I stopped to try and make sense of a bit of a map confused by useless county boundary markings.
Eventually we got to the trail head for some red grade MTB routes that would take us up to a viewpoint atop a hill. It was nearly dawn, and we paused just to collect ourselves for a little while. I had a little lie down, and then discovered a very welcome, warm, open toilet … Despite the temptation to sleep we pushed on but now in ever increasing daylight.
An interesting confusion arose as we checked out the trail signage. Dave interpreted these like ski maps and assumed we’d have some downs as well as ups. Meanwhile, when I announced ‘post number 14, only one more to go’, he was very confused about where the down would come in! There was none, we were nearly there and then flying along the Speyside Way down into Glenlivet.
Compared to other centres I’ve ridden, this one was actually pretty cool, I enjoyed the uphill singletrack and some sections were quite challenging. Dave, on the other hand, had nothing to compare it to – this was his trail centre initiation ceremony!
Stage 5 – Weds 08:15 – trek on Ben Rinnes and Little Conval (29.8km / 7h55)
This was the biggest hill of the event, but looked straightforward in terms of navigation. As we climbed it got increasingly hot, and Dave was not feeling great. The conversation turned to castles and the never-ending challenge that Izzy and I are still on visiting castles / towers along the coastline from Stirling to Newcastle. Unfortunately for him, he made the mistake of sounding even just a teensy bit interested, which left the door open for me to expound on this topic almost all the way to the first of three of checkpoints we could take in any order.
Just as we got there, the skies started cracking with thunder and it duly poured with rain. I was not for putting on any extra layers, I was quite warm enough thank you! We noticed many other teams heading a different way from us, but we stuck to our route, trying to keep up with a couple of lads (not associated with the race) who weren’t even in running gear but were making a better job of a fast descent than we were.
Conversation was good as we wound our way along the road and onto the second hill. However, fluids were running low and there were no water sources apparent on the map for quite some time. I think we were both pondering the same thing when I suggested that maybe we should consider filtering the water out of one of these fresh rain puddles?? And so it was we got our first taste out of a logging road puddle, to be topped up later from the runoff along a pine needly forest track and then finally from a tap at a farm shop. What an exotic cocktail!
After a direct heathery descent off the hill, navigating some classic ‘tracks in the woods not on our maps’, seeing dragonflies flitting past and admiring the many cep mushrooms alongside the track, we finally made it into Charlestown of Aberlour, stopping in at the Coop on the way for a cold drink and other snacks.
We had planned to arrive here where we would have access to our tent and sleeping kit in the dark. Unfortunately, it was only ten past four in the afternoon, and yet we were both pretty jaded given we hadn’t slept yet. So we decided to stick to plan but just lay on the grass on our sleep mats to get some kip for about 2.5 hours. I convinced myself that although this meant wasting daylight for riding, at least it meant it would be cooler when we set off again. Sadly, my sleep was not gloriously deep as I had looked forward to, because we were right by a very noisy main road. In retrospect, maybe we should have had this sleep elsewhere, but it’s hard to decide in the moment.
Stage 6 – Weds 20:23 – bike to the sea (35.1km / 4h37)
This leg started with quite an intense climb, followed by a highly technical natural trail descent, now in the dark. I was at my limits, but constantly surprised and impressed to find Dave right there on my tail. As we blasted down some old forest tracks, I also revelled in how easy and fun it was to ride a mountain bike after many months riding similar terrain on a gravel bike!
Soon enough we were out onto some minor roads then attempting to follow the Speyside Way again. I was mightily annoyed due to the poor signage, which at times bore no resemblance to what we had mapped, and intermittently dropped in and out or was missing at key junctions. I did think to check that the next transition would be on the same route. I glanced down at the map – yes, red diamond right through it, excellent. What I didn’t spot was that the diamonds went in two directions at our intended turn off, and hence we found ourselves on a 20-minute diversion to the sea at Garmouth.
Stage 7 – Thurs 02:02 – mega orienteering & beach trek (36.5km / 10h10)
Although I felt as if the sleep before the bike had been inadequate, it must have done something, because we moved well through the transition, and I had some very cheery chat with Rachel who was handing out the bonus maps.
The walk-in to the first orienteering leg was quite long, and then we had to really focus on a map that this time had every possible detail. Now, I’m no great shakes as an orienteer, as any of my results in orienteering events will testify to. However, I have results in orienteering events, meaning that I am at least familiar with the maps and can do it, albeit slowly.
And so we worked our way through mile after mile of sand dunes, with a true highlight being the big bag of Bombay mix that Dave produced just after it got light and after a slightly dodgy spell with my tummy. We were careful, found all the controls (including number 6, which was particularly pesky) and emerged in one piece at Lossiemouth. I was very impressed with the accuracy of Dave’s counting / distance estimation – I soon stopped double checking when I requested something like ‘tell me when we’ve done 180m’. There followed a long beach run where our diligence to stick exactly to the prescribed mandatory route up and over the cliffs by the lighthouse was probably an unnecessary waste of energy.
I was feeling like I was all done with the heat and the trekking by the time we got to Gordonstoun, a famous private school where we had a more urban orienteering course to do. I found this straightforward, although one lady did get quite annoyed with us: ‘I don’t know why you’d come this way round the building when they are doing works on this side’ … we meekly backed out and went the other way without explaining that it was the direct route and our maps did not show live demolitions…
Finally we paused to get a drink and ice cream at the village shop before we made it to transition, me with sore feet and shins and glad it was over, Dave probably wishing it went on for twice as long rather than get back on his bike.
Stage 8 – Thurs 13:58 – long bike with interesting bits to break it up (130km / 17h56)
We had a lengthy transition where we just took our time and sat and ate lunch together without trying to multitask, whilst collecting our thoughts for the next leg. We also got some advice on how to loosen the springs on Dave’s pedals. This was as I had guessed but had been too timid to try. It had an immediate positive effect, and I wished I’d just done it after the first MTB leg.
Eventually we set off, getting another cold coke on the way out and considering our route options on the MTB orienteering map we’d just received.
The wayfinding was a little testing, this time following the Moray Coastal Trail, whose signage was even worse than the Speyside Way. I regretted not keeping a closer eye on distances and our location, as we weaved along through woods, taking total guesses on the correct route at various junctions and hoping for the best.
At one point I pulled ahead and, not seeing Dave behind me, stopped and turned back. He appeared round the corner with a look of consternation on his face. His seat post had been slipping & requiring constant readjustment all race and now the quick release clamp holding it up had given up the ghost and was no longer functioning at all.
By pure good fortune, not 20 metres from where we were, a girl was running a mobile beach sauna and had a fat bike lying by the car. After ascertaining the nearest bike shop was in Elgin, we asked if there was any chance at all whether, if it fitted, we could buy her seat clamp off her? She said it was her mum’s and she needed permission … there followed a very anxious wait whilst contact was made and we received the answer – YES we could borrow it. Then some moments of stress seeing if it actually fitted Dave’s bike – YES!!! Ecstatic, we were on our way again, though it took quite some time for Dave to relax and trust it was actually going to work. Louise and Fiona – thank you, you were awesome!
Kinloss Airfield was more fun than I had expected: who knew that a runway was just so wide and long?! I was oblivious to the apparently obvious Top Gun references and was more concerned about whether it was acceptable to pee on army property.
Next up was some MTB Orienteering – now this I haven’t done before, although the mapping is very similar to foot orienteering. I made my second notable nav error of the race, where I set off to control 6 instead of 16 .. once corrected we made good progress.
I got increasingly tired as we went round and was trying to keep myself awake and just make it to the end. One path looked overgrown, but passable, and was much shorter than the alternative. However, at the very top it turned into a wall of impenetrable gorse. Many other riders had clearly come this way, and we abandoned the bikes whilst we investigated every dead end until we found one that actually got us out.
After all this palaver, Dave had a slow puncture, which I was reluctant to try and actually fix (who wants to find what is probably a tiny thorn in a tyre when you’re as sleep deprived as I was?), so we resolved to just keep pumping it up and see what happened.
By the time we got to the end of the section, it was dark. I thought a quick mental break like we’d had at the trail centre would be wise, once we could find somewhere ‘suitable’. Somewhat comically, after lying down, nibbling a bit of food and chatting for about 10 minutes until the midges descended, we got up to go with Dave announcing he’d nodded off for a while. What?! We’d been talking the whole time! I guess my conversation was less fascinating than I thought…
We pressed on to the next exciting control at Lochindorb Castle, but I think our focus on ‘getting there’ got in the way of thinking about the best time to sleep. I was singing to myself, trying to talk in between and reportedly slurring my words. Meanwhile, Dave was making zero sense whatsoever. We were on an old railway that just went on and on and on, ever so slightly uphill. It was now the turn of Dave’s gears to play up, but I was in no mood to try and adjust them in case his hanger was bent from one of the tumbles. The last thing we needed now was a broken mech!
When we got to the loch side and I asked ‘shall we take a sleep here?’, Dave said yes quicker than you can say ‘midges incoming’. My alarm was set and we crawled into our bivi bags, pulling them right up over our heads to stay warm and midge free. 30 minutes later I went to wake Dave. After saying his name and shaking him quite hard several times, nothing was working. I gave up and resolved to reset the alarm for another hour.
The second wake up attempt was more successful and we got ourselves ready for a paddle across to the island with a castle. Dave seemed to think he’d let me down somehow, but I couldn’t fathom how. Later, it turned out this was maybe the surfacing of some whole other inner monologue that I’d not been party to – such are the strange things that happen when you’re so sleep deprived. I managed to get him to agree to sit back and relax whilst I used the single paddle to get us across and back. In the dark with gentle waters lapping at the boat, I genuinely rather enjoyed the provision of this taxi service, imagining I was delivering some sort of Scottish version of a gondola ride.
Once back on land we rode off again, making good progress to the ropes stage, where we zipped off a cliff and across a ravine, then climbed back out the way we had come.
There only remained ‘a bit’ more cycling along the Dava Way, which won the prize for best signposting, before rejoining the more confusing Speyside Way and some ensuing debate about whether we were allowed on the road like that other team, or should stay on the trail that ran alongside it at somewhat more effort (we took the latter option).
Eventually we got to the last climb where, as the issues with gears and tyres continued to conspire against him, Dave finally succumbed and filed a request to stop riding. I like to finish hard, so it wasn’t my first choice, but I decided on balance the right decision was to walk, talk and try not to make any stupid mistakes at the final turns. To be honest, it probably wasn’t an awful lot slower, and by the time we saw the buildings of the event centre peeking through the trees we were already riding again and pressed on to cross the finish line 6 minutes under 66h, well ahead of our planned schedule. We were both delighted to have completed the full course, which was our primary aim and a first for me.
We just won’t mention our failure to wake up for the finisher’s ceremony & dinner and the subsequent need to have our own pod party in the wee small hours of Saturday morning!
Reflections
This has to be one of my favourite events and just re-emphasised how much I love adventure racing in general, and this race specifically.
For a few days, I was totally focussed on something I enjoy i.e. staring at maps, finding our way and executing on the logistics we so meticulously planned before the event. Looking back, the times I felt rough were minimal compared to overall race duration and they were never bad enough to have made any impression compared to the times I travelled with a big grin either literal or metaphorical, loving being out in nature, whether in a kayak, on foot or on my bike (though I could skip the scorching sun!).
Despite a total dearth of what would traditionally be classed as decent trek / run training, what I had done (which did include some strength work and uphill treadmills) was sufficient and my ankle, which suffered so much earlier this year and last, seemed absolutely fine.
But more than all of that, it’s about who you do it with. After the success of racing with Maria last year, would it work out again this time around? Well yes, I quickly realised I could just be myself and not worry about it. There was an easy sense of companionship and no major disagreements or conflict to deal with (that I noticed, anyway!). Dave’s limited experience in adventure racing and some of the difficulties he faced could have turned things sour if he had not come in with the right mental attitude and amazing teamwork. Dave; once you’ve stopped being ‘mad at your bike’, maybe you’ll be tempted to give it another go!
As ever, big thank you to all the race organisers, planner, volunteers, photographers and everyone else who makes these things happen.
* If you don’t know about these, you need to read ‘Fox in Socks’ by Dr Seuss
Lady Anne’s Way 75
I wanted to write a report for this event, because I did it for very particular reasons and, in the end, it might be my last ‘ultra’ (at least for a while).
First off, the race is named after Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676). She appears to have been a very formidable lady and feminist of her time. She was brought up by her mum and fought for forty years to get her rightful inheritance when her dad left it to a male cousin. Once she got it (by the men dying out), she left London and went home to Yorkshire whereupon she started a programme of castle and church repairing. The only slight downer to all this was a description of her as a ‘benevolent despot’ (?!) and on a record of a particular week’s spending, she only gave about £5 equivalent to a poor person who came to her castle door. You can read all about her here.
The route joins together various castles that she restored and lived in as she travelled around, so not only would I be following in the footsteps of such a strong woman, I’d also get to indulge in several castles too! Cromwell is said to have told his troops not to bother attacking them since she didn’t have an army, which is perhaps why some are still standing so well.
Lastly, the event is run by Joe Faulkner and his Nav4 team, so it’s low key, low fuss, sensible kit list, good food at the checkpoints.
I’ve been in no running shape at all really, plagued by issues physical and psychological, so this race was all about completing, not competing – with a view to it being a swansong before converting (or is it returning?) to more of a cycling focus for a while.
Skipton Castle – Lady Anne’s birthplace and race start
I made sure I arrived early enough the day before to get a good tour of Skipton castle. Cold, draughty and a little bare, but very intact with some impressively thick walls and a yew tree in the courtyard that she’d planted herself.
The start
The race begins at a fairly civilised hour, though still too early for the B&B breakfast. It felt a bit weird to be lining up and only wearing a ‘normal’ ultra running backpack – I think the last time I did this was at the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in June 2023. The signs featured a cool creature, which I think is a design of a door knocker on the castle at Brougham, where Lady Anne died. This is the closest we got to this feature, as the race misses out the final stretch of the official Lady Anne’s Way (for reasons of length and interest of the trails).
I did the first section a bit faster than I anticipated, getting carried along talking to a few people; Hello to everyone I ran with! I had done some of it with Andy over Christmas, although this time round was significantly speedier despite not having the dog for ‘help’ … 🤔 Some of my photos on the route were taken then, when I was being more leisurely and had my decent phone on me. Lots and lots of stiles, gates and a bit of open moorland, with it being easier going for the race as we’d had less rain.
Barden Tower
The next ‘castle’ on the route was Barden Tower, a smaller and more ruinous affair than Skipton. You can read about the history on the sign. This marked the start of a long stretch following the River Wharfe all the way to the next moorland crossing after Grassington.
Grassington and on to first main checkpoint at Kettlewell
Apart from some slight concern about how much running was ‘possible’ and that I therefore felt compelled to do, the next section passed quite nicely. The river is really lovely and I got chatting to a little group going over the second, more significant, hill of the race. I lost people as I did a minor detour to get a photo at the trig point! 😂 I did the last bit coming into the campsite on my own, and took the opportunity to use the facilities and get a bit of soup. I was keen to avoid blisters on my feet, so I also spent some time putting fleecy web on some hot spots and slathering some more Squirt balm all over them. The slightly alarming thing was seeing how few drop bags were left … despite being far away from any kind of cut off (the only one is at the end of the race, but I was well inside the pace needed for that).
Kettlewell to Askrigg
No castles on this section, sadly!! I started off feeling really rough, like I had already missed a night’s sleep. I was nauseous, really over-warm, but not sweating. When this has happened before, fluids have been the answer. I started knocking back some electrolytes and plodded on.
At Buckden, two people caught me up after going the wrong way. I decided to try and keep up with them for a morale boost. They turned out to be Anna & Sean – great company, a laugh and they let me tag along all the way to Askrigg. I felt SO much better, and they were keeping me going along at a nice pace. It got dark somewhere on a hill, and the nav got a bit trickier as we tried to cross the fields and find the stone stiles in the stone walls on the other side.
I had strapped my dodgy ankle up at the start with two pieces of Leukotape (zinc oxide tape) for stability. This had been a debated decision given I’d had some sort of pressure reaction to that and my compression socks at Christmas, but I’d tested again since without any problems. Somewhere along here I became conscious it was beginning to pull a bit, but it wasn’t all that bad.
The second main checkpoint was indoors and I got a good feed, more lube on my feet (didn’t notice anything too amiss) and set off again, still with Anna and Sean. I did forget to brush my teeth or take my blue inhaler, but didn’t think either were a disaster.
Askrigg to Winton via Pendragon Castle and Lammerside Castle
I suddenly started to struggle with the pace soon after leaving. Sean was pushing ahead, and although Anna was still keen to chat I told her they should just go if they wanted to. We got to a vehicle checkpoint and I was out of breath … the lady there was slightly concerned and I knew I just had to back off a bit.
Despite this, I was still in touching distance up the next big hill. It was as if I could hold a steady gap, but would then just lose a bit of ground and not be able to close it again.
By some stoke of luck, we then came across birthday boy Michael – after a while they pulled away from him, I caught up and we got chatting. We ended up staying together all the way to the end, for which I was very grateful!!
We rejoined a section I’d done before again, which was mentally helpful. Having been way too hot for most of the race, it suddenly got really cold on an exposed section, which spurred me on a bit! After going from ‘dangerously cold’ at the top to ‘just uncomfortably cold’ at the bottom, I stopped and got my waterproof trousers on. I was alarmed that even the touch of them on my ankle was sore … what?
As this section went on, it was getting more and more painful and I decided I would just have to stop at the next vehicle point and take the tape off.
Before then … we passed Pendragon Castle which was another of Lady Anne’s. Sadly, on the other side of the river and much too far to detour to! And a bit later on, Lammerside Castle, which wasn’t one of hers, but which I poked around when I was there before – still had some roof, which is a lot compared to some I’ve visited, although it all looks a bit wobbly from the outside 😲.
In between the two castles, we got to the vehicle point. Michael kindly waited whilst I sat down to take the tape off my ankle. I thought it would be a simple case of remove it, get instant relief, and go. Well … there was relief, but there was also some very angry, red and slightly weepy skin. Not to worry, I took some caffeine and paracetamol, and we set off in good spirits to the checkpoint. I think we were still moving well, despite being a bit footsore by then.
Final leg – Winton to Appleby Castle, via Brough Castle
At the checkpoint I was horrified to find my leg looking a lot worse, with a big blister forming over the top of my sock. I decided to clean and burst that and some others, put some fleecy web on and pop a longer clean sock over. All that done and some food taken (thanks again to Michael for choosing to wait for me), we set off. It actually felt ‘OK’ for the rest of the event, much better than it had before I’d taken the tape off. I got some bad blisters on my little toes, one of which exploded agonisingly before going numb…
For some reason, we were moving a lot slower once we left the checkpoint. Maybe something to do with the time of day (about 3-4am), our sore feet, the vagueness of the path across fields and the preponderance of stiles that were getting harder and harder to climb over. Michael had actually done a recce of the entire route, which proved very helpful on this whole last leg.
We went past Brough Castle in the dark (I couldn’t even see it) but I was told it was there and ‘quite impressive’. I went back the next day to take a look and it was well worth it!!
We passed the final vehicle point, and it was good to know it was actually further than advised, else it might have been quite demoralising, especially given our pace! I hoped things might improve once it got light, but I think we were both working hard just to get to the end by then. I tried to repay Michael’s overnight support by geeing him on with regular words of enthusiasm as we counted down the km … not sure how well received they were though!!
Eventually we made it to … Appleby! Where my friend Chloe was waiting to save me and whisk me off to the final castle!!
Appleby Castle
Like Skipton, Appleby Castle is super well preserved, but is also inhabited and currently in use as a hotel. As a super special treat, I’d booked us in for the night. It was a good job I did have someone there to help me and not very far to go, because once I got in and took off my trousers and socks it was quite a sight that awaited me. I won’t go into gory details, the best description is probably of partial thickness burns right round my highly swollen lower leg. Suffice to say that 4 weeks later it’s well on the mend, but not after significant pain and a nasty infection that I only just caught in time.
More cheerfully … we had a rather quirky reception at the castle itself. I admired the extensive collection of furniture that Lady Anne herself would have used, slept in one of her 4-poster beds, ate in her dining room, looked at her family portraits and (slowly) wandered the grounds the next day. When the wind blew overnight, I could sense the solidity of the building. I loved the whole experience!!
Post Race
If anything, the issues with trying to stabilise my ankle only served to make me more comfortable with my decision to focus on cycling this year. I’m not keen to rush back to ultra running, and I’m certainly never sticking tape on again! I’ve got a big gravel event coming up in Iceland in the summer, followed by Itera-Lite. OK, I’ll need to be on foot for some of that, but unlikely for 125km, nor for over 26h!!
Finally, all long races should finish like this … I don’t know what Lady Anne liked eating, but hopefully she would approve.
Itera Lite 2024 – Eryri
It’s been a while getting to this write up, but life has been hectic since I finished Itera Lite this year! I had been slow to enter, partly because of concerns over the readiness of my ankle to stand up to the terrain, and partly because I hadn’t found a partner.
But towards the end of May I was put in touch with Maria via a mutual friend. She was looking for someone to race with and was up for an attempt at the full course. I knew of her because she’s a legend who was the first person to cycle to the South Pole and has written a book about it!
When we arrived in Wales, the chap at the B&B seemed a bit bemused about the fact we had only just met, even though we assured him we’d had two phone calls, so it was totally fine. We did rather enjoy the romantic room with lovely views and velvety sheets. The thought of returning there after the race kept us going when times got tough!
Race registration and briefing were on my birthday, so I got a rousing sing song when we registered! It was quickly down to work making final kit prep and examining maps for route planning after the big course reveal.
Stage 1: 12:00 Fri – Run round Great Orme, Llandudno
Hats off to my pal Chloe, who correctly guessed the location of the first two stages! The start was fast and pacy, I couldn’t actually keep up with Maria and was concerned about the rest of the race… I managed to slow her down as I huffed and puffed over the hill and along the prom and beach to the waiting kayaks.
Stage 2: 12:52 Fri – Kayak up the Conwy estuary
You read that right, we had to go upstream on this stage. But this being an estuary, and the tide coming in, we were absolutely racing along. I was pretty excited by the views of the castle and passing underneath the suspension bridge. We came here a lot as children and my dad still lives in the area. Scrambling round the castle towers and admiring the Thomas Telford (and more modern) engineering were often holiday highlights.
The first control was in a cave – we barely managed to stop and hold on but at least managed not to capsize, unlike some teams 😮
Stage 3: 15:00 Fri – Mountain bike a big M shape then over a lumpy bit to Llanfairfechan
We had a nice fast and efficient transition and set off down the road. Maria had a few minor bike issues, which we soon fixed. However, as we started a rather steep road climb, she was uncharacteristically struggling a bit with the gradient. With hindsight, I suspect this was an early warning of what was to come…
However, at the time we just dealt with it and once we were up in the hills off road, all was going smoothly. It was super fun for me as we touched the occasional point I’ve run past and generally explored trails I haven’t been on before, some of which the event had special permission for. A couple of minor navigation errors, but nothing too serious.
We got into transition still ahead of our original schedule … all going well!
Stage 4: 19:58 Fri – Big trek around the Carneddau and under the Glyderau
Maria mentioned she felt a bit sick. I thought well, it’s often the way when you eat in a hurry in transition. About 500m along the road, she was heaving into the ditch 😦. A kind lady stopped and offered help but there wasn’t much that could be done! After everything Maria had eaten came out, she felt better and we set about following invisible paths across to the Aber falls, which I had last visited on a Spine training walk.
Next on the itinerary was a steep scramble up the hillside as it got dark. The overnight section was my first real navigation test. Maria had warned me that this wouldn’t be her forte, but I was looking forward to seeing what I could do. I have learnt in the past that I need to be a bit braver with my decisions and this was the test! It didn’t help when I saw my friends Jon and AJ going a slightly different route … Anyway, it all went OK to the first control, and I was delighted when features appeared as they should.
I spent the night constantly checking my altimeter and compass as we used them to contour and drop in and out of different valleys. I made a couple of silly mistakes – following the wrong split in a river, for example, but we caught them and corrected.
Maria spent the night in what sounded from her description as ‘a haze’ … at one point retching and not being able to hear and see properly. I wondered if it might be better to stop and sleep, but she said no.
After a fair amount of bashing around, we emerged at the A5, after overshooting the turn off and having to double back. It was now light, and I decided we should have a 20-30 minute nap and regroup. Maria was soon asleep whilst I lay pondering and calculating timings.
We reluctantly agreed we had to drop from the full course. Decision made, we set straight off up to the Ogwen valley, with Maria seemingly somewhat refreshed.
I now hit my lowest point of the race, tired and unsteady, whilst Maria was strong. Massive mistake on the map as we neared the top of Bwlch Tryfan. I stopped and swore a bit as the realisation sunk in that we had missed the control by the lake – what looked like a very long way down again. It was either go back and collect the mandatory control, or be unranked. We weren’t ready for the latter, so we accepted the former and just got on with it.
I am forever grateful for Maria’s good humour in this situation, not once getting irritated or frustrated with me, despite how she was feeling physically. Instead we turned into a jolly joke for the rest of the race. I mean, who doesn’t want to do massive hill reps for fun mid race, right?!
As we approached transition, Maria was clearly struggling but was focussed and determined in making it off the hill to somewhere safe.
Post Stage 4 transition: 10:42 Sat
I’ve had anti-sickness treatment a couple of times in other races, which has made the world of difference. I hoped for similar for Maria, but the set-up is different here and it was not to be. The medic was kind and reassuring, but after 14h without eating, Maria needed to get some food in if we were to continue.
I seriously thought this was probably race over, my first DNF! But Maria still hadn’t said she had to stop and was now knelt over slowly eating a noodle pot one noodle at a time. I dotted about getting water and so on, and bumped into Joe Faulkner. He is extremely experienced and his words of wisdom were: sickness can take 18h to clear, you’ve got 4h to go, take the pressure off, go slow, see what happens. I tentatively suggested putting Maria’s bike together, unsure if I should ask in case she really didn’t want to go on but felt bad saying so. Team situations like this can be tricky to handle, but she said yes…
It took over an hour to eat the noodles, but they were staying down (I didn’t mention my Thai red curry), and Joe’s words were encouraging both of us. With the assurance that we’d do mandatory controls only, we set off at a very sedate pace. I never thought it was going to happen!
Stage 5: 12:43 Sat – mountain bike to Blaenau Ffestiniog via an orienteering stage and Betws y Coed
So off we went into the rain showers, stopping off at a shop to replace a compass we’d lost on the hills. After some walking on the rocky path and a hesitant start on the nav, we were on our way, taking it slow and opting for the minimum possible route to the ‘orienteering’.
I put this in quotes, because in essence it was just another foot stage that we’d had to carry our trainers to. A pleasant one around the heritage sites and in the woods (my favourite kind of trails), but still 2.5h+ before we were back on the bike.
By this point Maria had claimed to be ‘possibly hungry’ before going on to insist ‘I must take her to Betws y Coed as fast as possible’ for food … it took some convincing, but we did get one optional checkpoint that I’m sure was no harder than the direct route – the main challenge being finding the dibber box once we got there.
As we swung into town the smell assailed us and we bee lined for the chippy where Maria ate more or less a full portion of fish and chips and I had a mound of cheesy ones with coke.
Joe had been right, and now we were back!
We still went directly to the next transition, which involved a hefty climb through the slate quarries. It was getting dark at this stage, and we hadn’t really planned for this. Our lights were sufficient, but sub optimal, for night riding. Still, after a brutal push up an incline, I enjoyed splashing along a built up trackway at the top, sensing the drops either side. To exit we employed the navigational technique of ‘just keep heading down and check we can still see other bike tracks on this path’ – the map seemed to bear little resemblance to what we could see, though it was dark and we were tired.
We always planned to sleep properly at the next transition, so after getting ready and eating ‘dinner’ we were tucked away in our pop up tent, on mats and inside cosy sleeping bags for a rather pleasant 3h. On awakening it was like a new day, and after a massive meal pack of porridge I was ready to go.
Stage 6: 03:57 Sun – trek over the Moelwyns
In the pale light of dawn we faffed about finding the first control, then were striding up the mountain, just finding time to fit in another hill rep on the way. Sorry Maria!
Having said that, we avoided climbing ‘the wrong hill’, and ended up on the top of a mountain with the most amazing Brocken Spectre on our shadows – a true highlight of the race.
On we went, to another mountain top where the views in the early morning sunshine were stunning.
Once we had dropped through the bracken and were passing through a small village we dived into a pub gasping for coke and crisps. The bartender obliged, only telling us later that they weren’t actually open yet! Maria was totally re-energised, finding that bacon bits were the new super fuel.
It was a hot road trek with a never-ending hill over to the kayak stage where we knew we needed a swift transition to the water to avoid a cut off.
Stage 7: 11:49 Sun – kayak on Llyn Trawsfynydd
This wasn’t the first time I’ve kayaked on this lake. It’s an interesting place and I’d wondered if we might end up there. All the checkpoints were optional, but we wanted to do at least some of every stage as part of the experience.
Navigation was a little tricky – trying to end up in the right wooded bay when it was hard to tell what wiggles were mapped and what weren’t. We also struggled with a control that was not quite where we expected from the map and briefing.
Despite exiting the leg with negative time gains (i.e. the time it had taken us was more than the penalties we saved by collecting controls), we were still more than happy to have been out on the water on such a lovely day and giving our legs a little rest!
Stage 8: 14:28 Sun – mountain bike to Ganllwyd via the trails at Coed y Brenin
Even though we only left the water with less than half an hour to spare, we decided to try and do all of this leg, including going the long way round the Llyn. I knew the route from travelling the opposite way on the Traws Eryri in May, though that didn’t stop us making sure we did a little hill rep before we left!
Having missed all the trail centres on stage 5, we were keen to try some of them on this leg, and they didn’t disappoint. They were right on the limit of my skills in places and, remarkably, it transpired that Maria’s limits more or less perfectly matched mine. Navigation was challenging, with trails appearing differently on the ground vs the map and entire forest roads popping up that weren’t mapped at all. However, we played it very carefully and got round without major incident.
Finally, we had a call to make. There was one checkpoint left. However, there was a 7pm cut off to leave the next transition and it was already after 6. On close inspection of the map, we found a route to exit the trail we were on and short cut to the transition in a way that was permitted by the race rules.
We debated this one, but given there was a climb to the last control and trail centres are notoriously slow and hard to estimate distance from the map, we decided ‘no’. Very uncharacteristic of me to be so sensible, but we wanted to be sure we could do the final trek stage and stay ranked, not risking a ride straight to the finish!
Just proving it could be done, we managed to enter and exit transition in 22 minutes, including packing our bikes up, changing and getting some hot food made.
Stage 9: 18:51 Sun – trek through shrublands of doom
I had my second woozy stage here, and navigating, eating macaroni, drinking and walking all became too much and I needed a little sit down.
Once that was out of the way, and we had searched for a control on every tree in the wrong ruin for what felt like ages, we were heading out towards the hills, planning to skip the ridge and cut round underneath. It was here we hit my first ever ‘baby heads’ (large wobbly grass clumps surrounded by bog of variable depth) which were designed to torture my dubious ankles for about 250m. This was followed by 1.5km crossing through bracken, bilberries, sharp scratchy twiggy shrubs and goodness knows what else, often up to our waists or higher. We were desperate to exit before dark, and were taking aim at vague bumps on the ever darkening horizon.
Maria led the way and there was much hollering and jubilation when we got to the control about an hour later! The advantage of crossing such terrain is that when you exit onto an easy track, you truly appreciate how free your legs are and how easy running suddenly feels …
The end was in sight and we felt good. Despite a glitch on the way down (one of those times when looking at the map later I couldn’t understand what had been so hard – there were a few of these in the race), spirits were high.
We crossed the Penmaenpool toll bridge, and turned right, because, well, that was where I came from last time I was there. A couple of hundred metres later it dawned on me the estuary was on the wrong side and we hastily reversed!
Ever the competitors to the end, we were egging each other on to run and making sure the teams we had seen behind us didn’t catch up, for no reason other than just ‘because it’s a race, right?’ We crossed the line at 01:09 on Monday morning – a full 51 minutes before the course closed. Perfect timing in my book.
Reflections
Even though we didn’t manage to long course, I had a fantastic time at this event. Maria was a perfect match as a race partner – as stubborn as me, never giving in even when she felt rotten. She was also forever positive and had the grace to forgive my navigation errors. We laughed and chatted (except for ‘that night’) and kept pushing each other on like it mattered, even long after race positions were probably decided.
The course was very well designed – kudos to Gary Davies and Adam Rose. Even as we did the minimum on stage 5 and there was a fair bit of road, it was still really beautiful and pleasant to ride. We didn’t feel like we were missing out and on a second class route. There were options everywhere, and no huge penalty for having to adjust our ambitions mid race. Personally, I also appreciated the heritage aspect of each stage, even if I only fully read about it all in the route book once I was safely back home!
We finished 15th overall (out of 53 teams that started), 5th pair and 1st female pair (in an admittedly small field!). Could we have been higher if we’d done stage 4 differently? Almost certainly… but then we didn’t know how bad Maria was going to feel. Did we do a good job of rescuing the situation? I think so, and we went on to have an absolute blast.
Personally, I like this shorter version of Itera, compared to the 5-6 day event. It’s a tough challenge without being quite so harsh in terms of sleep deprivation and time for recovery post event. I enjoyed not automatically getting flu or covid afterwards, and liked that for the vast majority of the event I felt ‘with it’ enough to be having fun. Roll on next year!
Our route on Strava (recorded on a Garmin in AR mode) for anyone interested:
https://www.strava.com/activities/12006726137
Credit for photos to Adam Rose (fuddam), Rob Howard, Maria Leijerstam and that one from Ewan Sandison. Thanks to Paul McGreal, everyone at Durty Events who helped organised and all the cheerful volunteers and race crew who made it happen 🙂
The Spine Race 2024
1. 08:00 Sun, 0km: Making the start line
Wow, I couldn’t quite believe I was even there, all the stress, rehab and strength exercises, kit sorting, lugging the drop bag around, funny tummy the last two days … I stuck to my plan, walked at the back, gave it a little 5 minute run on the easy downhill.
2. 09:50 Sun, 9km: Already unexpected weather
On the way up the very first hill (Kinder Scout) I got overly hot. My decision to wear the OMM Core+ red hoody (top kit tip from Jon) and a coat, was all wrong. I had to stop and sort it out, given I had sweat running down my forehead and my glasses were steaming up, not something I had anticipated happening!
3. 11:45 Sun, 18km: Meeting Ray
After overlapping with another event going the other way for a little while, I just about managed to stay on track as we went off in another direction. I could see someone up ahead and I was catching them up as we climbed. As I drew closer I could tell it was an older chap; I thought I would just go past then checked my thinking … he was in front of me right now for a reason, after all!! As I passed he gave a very cheery hello, then I wasn’t really getting ahead. I decided to chat for a bit. Descending down to the reservoir at Torside, it turned out he was going faster than me, but only marginally and still at a power hike, so it was actually good for me to latch on and use him as an incentive to keep the pace higher.
After a little bit of back and forth as we stopped at different times for the toilet or to fix layers, I ended up settling down into travelling with Ray for some time. We formed a small group with us on that first day, and it was fun to have company.
4. 19:30 Sun, 54km: Making the most of random food supplies (two vans)
In some adventure races we’ve had the fortune to come across places selling food. Others, not so much. In the Spine you have the advantage of knowing exactly where you’ll be going and what might be there. With both official ‘welfare checks’ offering snacks and drinks, plus several people or groups making special provision for athletes coming through, there was no shortage of supplies.
Ray knew this part of the route really well, so I was getting a running commentary on what was coming up next, including two roadside vans. I ignored any of my normal qualms about bacon-related cross-contamination and ate a double egg roll at van 1 (on the move) and a halloumi roll at the luxurious container that is Nicky’s van.
I also started my (uncounted) tally of what was probably the most tea and coke ever drunk in one week. I figured the caffeine and warmth would be good for me, though it wasn’t helping my bladder. I also added sugar to every cup of tea – why not?
Shortly after Nicky’s we crossed the M62 on a surprisingly long footbridge – one of the most surreal experiences of the event as we emerged from the moors in the night, the traffic thundered beneath us and we trotted over in our little group.
5. 23:00 Sun, 70km: Cementing a relationship
Somehow we split apart from the others in the final few kilometres to checkpoint 1. I stopped to remove some detached tape that was now causing a blister rather than preventing one, and Ray waited. On this section we were really getting into the sort of chat I’d normally have in a team event. Life, work, family, relationships.
This is also where I learnt an invaluable lesson. The last 5km or so before every checkpoint would feel interminably long. ‘It’s only a parkrun’ … yeah, but one that takes an hour and a half on feet that are at their limit!
6. 01:00 Mon, 75km: Checkpoint 1: Hebden Hey – bit of a faff
My first experience of a Spine checkpoint. This one was probably the least slick of all of them, just due to the layout. The organisation of my drop bag worked well and I knew where everything was. I had my checklist of things to do and marked them off methodically. However, I was also up and down the stairs several times to visit the toilet, go to the medic, come back for foot supplies, return, go for food, come back for a bed.
We agreed to sleep for 90 minutes. My ‘original’ plan, in the summer, had been to push on through here and sleep at checkpoint 2. However, at power hiking pace I knew that would just be too long. There were beds here, although we had to get our sleeping bags out for them. Unfortunately, all the doors in a place needed a massive squirt of WD40 because they were constantly squeaking, and we should have chosen spots further away from where people were leaving. It felt like I didn’t sleep, but neither did it feel like 90 mins, so I guess I did doze.
Sadly, I was also feeling quite nauseous and only managed some watery leak and potato soup pre sleep and a bowl of cornflakes post sleep. Ray was faffing a bit, so I set off and told him to catch up.
C goal achieved
7. 07:00 Mon, 84km: Finally getting clothes right, nausea in the dark
Ray very promptly did catch me up. I suffered from being too hot again. Took red top off. Got too cold. Eventually, after some unknown hours of tramping I had the bright idea of trying my other warm layer (a somewhat untested fancy Patagonia micropuff thing). Bingo! This was perfect. From this point on, my default layers were an ancient waffle type Haglofs baselayer (courtesy of event planning for Open Adventure in Nov 2012), this puffer jacket and my waterproof. When it got cold I added the OMM top which was my ‘additional warm layer’ part of the mandatory kit. I never wore the mandatory baselayers.
This was my worst stage of the race for feeling sick. I did nearly heave at one point, and was struggling to keep up. Not wanting to lose Ray and a couple of others we had grouped up with, I kept forcing myself to move on. It got light around about a famous Brontë house. People were stopping here, but I was keen to just eat some sweets and continue.
8. 12:00 Mon, 104km: Long slog, punctuated by ankle niggles, blister pain and a micro nap at the triathlon checkpoint
This whole day was long, although it was the last time I’d be out making the most of all the daylight until the final stage!! The mini moments I remember were:
- Heel blisters getting worse, to the point of a wee cry, followed by the exquisite pain and then relief when they burst. Ray got me through all this with gallant stories of cycling end to end, and went to get me co-codamol in Gargrave, though I decided it wasn’t worth risking taking it (yet) (having never tried it before).
- The frozen ground gave no relief, and wobbling over grass fields was aggravating my ankle slightly
- We stopped for more coke and snacks at an honesty box by the side of a road
- I ate a sandwich and had a power nap in a comfy chair with a cozy foil blanket at the mini checkpoint run by the triathlon club. This had a remarkable effect on my sleepiness and got me through again until dark
- An Open 5 friend popped up to say hello and encourage us along 😃 and I remembered her name about half an hour later – thanks Sue!
9. 19:00 Mon, 129km: Probably over-zealous reply to welfare check
As night fell, Ray and I were making good progress, although I’d more than had enough of the tight squeeze through stiles, with their backup gates on springs that would conspire to knock you over the other side. We hatched a plan of how to use our half hour (max allowed) at the indoor checkpoint at Malham Tarn. Ray to prioritise a power nap, me to prioritise making and eating my dried meal (coach’s instructions – I hadn’t planned to do this, but went along with it!).
Before the big climb up here, just as I reminisced passing yet another Open 5 spot, we were met by a couple of Spine officials doing a welfare check. They told us there were just 3 people behind us (i.e. we were almost last!) and asked what our plans were. I thought this was some sort of test, to make sure we were compos mentis and safe enough to continue. So I proceeded to proudly outline our exact plan in blow by blow detail. We had every one of our 30 minutes accounted for. They were kind enough to nod and smile and send us on our way, but on reflection, I suspect they only wanted to know if we were stopping to sleep anywhere ….
10. 23:00 Mon, 141km: Head torch worries
After executing our plan at Malham Tarn and successfully getting contact lenses in (no, Ray, I didn’t need you to put a finger in my eye, just guide me to where it was going in the absence of a mirror!!) we had a couple of hills to climb in the dark. At this point Ray started having headtorch battery issues i.e. they were all going flat quicker than expected and between us we didn’t have the right cable to charge them.
Generally speaking, batteries weren’t lasting as long as expected due to the cold. My own headtorch was far less tested than I would have liked (due to curtailed training with the ankle issues), so I had no idea if the claimed 24h on the mode I was using was true. What I was actually getting was about 12h per battery. We went into team work mode, with me lighting the way on the uphills and Ray saving his for the faster downhills.
11. 01:30 Tues, 148km: Touching moment top of Pen Y Ghent
The ascent of Pen y Ghent was more exciting than I expected, with some minor scrambling up over some big blocky bits. Ray was definitely fighting the sleep monsters over here and wanted a rest in the wind break at the top. We sat down, huddled together for warmth and I contemplated the night as he rested his head on me. It was quite a touching moment, and shows how you can build bonds quickly when you’re working together on an event like this. After just 2 minutes he leapt up – but later told me he thought he’d had a lot longer than that!
We were having trouble with all our water freezing in our bottles, as well as the tubes and nozzles. One of mine fell out of the back of my pack and shattered on the concrete floor of a toilet block … which was a right royal pain. For all but the final leg I could mostly only drink from the soft flask that fitted in the surprisingly large pockets of my puffer jacket (this kept it just about warm enough not to freeze). But I now only had 1.9 litres of capacity including the spare collected from my drop bag; the kit list demands 2 litres. So despite all other bottles being unusable I also had to carry a random empty plastic bottle the rest of the way as well.
12. 04:00 Tues, 154km: Will we / won’t we stay together?
At some point, I felt Ray was flagging. With Doug’s urging in my head <make sure you do your own race> I decided to suggest to Ray I might go ahead. It all felt a bit awkward, but amicable. I said goodbye, and carried on. At which point he sped up. He said I slowed down!!! Amusingly we were now going the same pace again, whatever had happened. More awkwardness ensued (in my head, at the very least) until I asked ‘are we on again to get to Hawes?’ ‘Yes’ came the answer.
13. 07:00 Tues, 165km: Cam high road
The whole night we had to keep micro napping; the Cam high road went on a long time when so weary and on sore feet. The only thing keeping us on our toes were the random icy patches, which conspired to keep us off our toes.
14. 09:00 Tues, 175km: Checkpoint 2: Hawes – mild panic attack?!
Shortly after light, we made it to the second checkpoint, though as for stage 1 the last 5km dragged. I nearly cried at the kindness of the people in the shop when we went in to get a bottle of water. The stage had taken the best part of 30h and all I could think about was sleeping. I did the bare minimum, showered (I won’t go into too many details, but felt this was essential!!), cleaned my teeth (even more essential) and fell into bed for 3h. Shortly before my alarm I woke up on my front with my heart racing. This did nothing to calm my state of mind, and when I came down and found Ray already up and half ready, he urged me to speak to the medic. It went something like this:
Me: my heart is racing and, and, and …
Medic: let me see, it is only 86, it’s not that bad.
Me: breathe slowly whilst she listens to my chest with the stethoscope
Medic: your heart rate is going down by breathing deeply
Me: oh
Medic: did you eat and drink before sleeping?
Me: no
Medic: well…
So after what was probably a minor panic attack, I managed to eat something and I got some drinks in. I think it was here that Neil, who had been running with us earlier but had dropped out and was now helping, gave me a tube of his leftover High 5 tabs. They made drinking a pint of water much more palatable and I shoved them in my pack.
15. 18:00 Tues, 184km: Scary / challenging / exciting blizzard
The surprise when I’d woken up was that the world had been transformed white whilst I slept. Blisters patched, taping done (Ray patiently waiting at my slightly frantic behest … I felt low in confidence and didn’t want to go out alone), we set off into the winter wonderland to ascend Great Shunner Fell.
This was one of the most memorable parts of the race. I was in turn;
- Frightened, thinking I would definitely not want to do this alone
- Alarmed as I was almost blown off my feet and my waterproofs wetted through
- Mentally challenged as I tried to keep us on the GPS line
- Intrigued to learn what snow patterns the hint of some slabbed path would make
- Excited to be out and succeeding in such conditions.
It was here I also got confidence that my layers were working underneath my coat despite being wet. I’d have been cold stopping, but was OK. The snowdrifts were thigh deep at points, and easily caught us out. I twisted my ‘good’ ankle on a rock hidden deep beneath the snow, but after a few deep breaths was good to go again. At the top there was a bit of faffing, another group caught us but then helpfully we could just follow their footsteps over the other side. I actually enjoyed this bit 😀
16. 21:00 Tues, 192km: Parting ways
After the descent, I could sense Ray was slowing a bit. He told me to go ahead on the downhill and not to worry and though he caught up in due course and we were still together, he was walking in a way that suggested an urgent need for more sleep (this was a good few hours after we left Hawes). He was also mentioning how much he disliked the contouring path, but I didn’t mind it, having imagined something much worse from his description! I don’t really know what happened – one minute he was right behind me as a hinged gate / stile whacked me over, and the next he just … wasn’t. I hesitated a bit, but there was no sight.
I reasoned we had previously had a good conversation about this and that I’d probably see him at the next café where I planned to eat and dry off a bit. Unfortunately, I had not realised the next café required a minor detour until I was up on the hill looking down at it … 😮 Never mind, I suppose I saved some time. It turned out Ray did stop and have some kip there, and all was well.
17. 00:00 Weds, 202km: The moors
Up onto the moors, the snow had stopped, the famously boggy and indistinct path was clear and easy to move on, and the stars were out. I rather enjoyed this section up to Tan Hill Inn, which appeared out of the dark covered in blue lights, like some kind of alien craft with underfloor heating.
I had more hot drinks and ate my savoury snacks which needed fingers out whilst I had a chance to do so in the warm, then set off again. I would have put an extra layer on here as my gloves, coat and walking pole straps were all freezing solid, but I’d had a meths leakage issue and my remaining baselayer was so pungent I couldn’t face it.
As I made my way in temperatures of minus 10oC I contemplated how eating a frozen Colin the Caterpillar chew was akin to cooking spaghetti, and that I must tell Izzy this when I got home.
18. 05:00 Weds, 214km: Changing batteries and the stars
I had been catching and passing a few people, and enjoying being out in the night. I did have to stop and change my headtorch battery and took the chance to sit down, be calm about it then just lie on my back and stare at the stars for a minute or two … they were quite something. I thought about how my mum would love to see this and had encouraged me to look up from time to time.
19. 06:00 Weds, 218km: Parma Violets and Love Hearts
After a cheery exchange with the team at the A66 underpass, I got to somewhere called Clove Lodge. Although I had been told in detail where all the possible stopping, food and water places were, I hadn’t memorised them or written them down. I think this was because I never quite believed I’d get here.
But here was a large open barn, with a trio of other racers, a kettle for more hot tea, and the opportunity to tuck into some Love Hearts and Parma Violets!
20. 10:30 Weds, 235km: The agony and the beauty
The sun rose as I got into Middleton-in-Teesdale and faced ‘just’ 8km to the checkpoint. Oh my, those 8km … My feet were in a mess, every step was agony, and despite having been great in the snow, I thoroughly regretted having put my not-very-cushioned Inov8 shoes on.
To counter this, I tried to focus on the scenery. We followed a river that started in a broad valley, but had some tumbling waterfalls and gradually got rockier as the aspect totally changed and the hills opened in front of us. I was helped by the fact I was joined by Geoff and admiration for our surroundings kept me moving.
21. 12:00 Weds, 242km: Checkpoint 3: Langdon Beck – actually hungry
I got my routine right here. After the checkpoint staff finally managed to defrost my laces enough to undo them, I ate, I drank, then I slept for a lovely 3h, managing to ignore the extremely loud snores of my roommate. Then I ate and drank some more before setting off into the night (again).
B goal achieved
22. 01:00 Thurs, 256km: Snow, moon, landscapes, alone time
This whole night must rate as the highlight of the race for me. There was not a cloud in the sky, the moon and the stars shone brightly and even on my lowest headtorch setting I could see where I was going as the moonlight reflected off the white canopy of the snow. I could even get a sense of my surroundings, picking out the shapes of the hills around, whilst the softness of the snow covering gave some relief to my feet.
Soon enough I got to High Cup Nick and had to just stop for a moment. I could see it all laid out beneath me, dramatic and brooding. No camera was going to capture this, and certainly not the one on my race phone! I tried to drink it in, to capture the image in my memory before setting off again.
Dropping into Dufton, I was anxiously looking for the checkpoint but nearly missed it. Yes, the lights were all on but there was no other indication! I also missed another café that should have been here, whether through it being shut or me not knowing where to look. After being hustled out 3 minutes early, I continued on.
23. 03:00 Thurs, 268km: Magic music
I was struggling to stay awake now and I had tried all the tricks to no avail. Suddenly it struck me. I couldn’t remember enough words of any songs to sing them all (’10 green bottles, hanging on the wall’ was getting rather wearing, even if I alternated with ’10 little speckled frogs, sat on a speckled log’). But what if I could get some music on my phone?
I downloaded the BBC Sounds app, looked for something that promised upbeat music (Shiny Happy People, any one?) and downloaded a few half hour episodes. There wasn’t a soul in sight, so the music pumped out of my tinny speakers, either from my bottle pocket, or my coat pocket when I thought it was getting too cold up there for battery life. Later, Jo Whiley did an actual shout out for Spine racers … thanks to whoever put that request in!
The tunes had an instant effect, suddenly I was marching at a good speed, up and over the tops and catching up a couple of guys who I didn’t even know had been there and were the only other racers I saw on the whole leg.
24. 06:00 Thurs, 278km: Chilli Noodles and joy
As previously mentioned, I hadn’t got a mental map of where any of the food stops were. One of the other racers told me we were nearly at Gregg’s Hut. OK – I knew about this one, it’s synonymous with noodles. After my only fall on ice in the whole race (bruised knee), we were suddenly there – what a joyful delight when I hadn’t been expecting them!
It was 6am and I’m sure they’d been up half the night, but the ladies on duty cheerfully served us. I checked the ingredient packets of the chicken flavour on offer, but could see no sign of chicken, so ate them along with a dollop of the chilli sauce. Yum!
I had a fairly quick turnaround and left the other two in there as I set off down the track, running and filming a cheery video to send to my coach.
25. 09:00 Thurs, 290km: Knee pain and a sinking mood
As soon as a high follows a low, a low follows a high and suddenly a knee twinge I’d felt at High Cup Nick kicked in with a vengeance. The further I went, the more persistent it got until this particular ‘final 5km’ became one long drag of worry. I knew the actual pain wasn’t too bad, but I also knew it was a long way still to go and it wasn’t a great sign. Not helped by the path being muddy and rutted but frozen solid, so the soft snowy joy was a distant memory from the night before!
At least I was met by my friend from Cape Wrath Ultra, Shane, who couldn’t be more encouraging.
26. 10:30 Thurs, 294km: Checkpoint 4: Lachrymation over a lack of lasagne
This checkpoint is at a place called Alston – famous for serving lasagne. Paulo (who had run with us briefly before) was there and approvingly tucking into two helpings, so it must have been good.
I spent too long getting ready for bed, queuing to see a medic about my knee but not really getting anything beyond what I already knew; it’s just one of those things, nothing we can do, carry on.
I got tucked up for a deliciously long 5h sleep, interjected with several moments of snapping my eyes open to check I hadn’t missed my alarm.
Upon waking and getting dressed, I was ready for some of that incredible lasagne. Imagine my consternation when I was informed there was none left!! None of the vegetable one, anyway. I had to make do with some pasta and sauce instead. Oh dear. I really did seem to be only getting about a 50% hit rate on the legendary culinary highlights of The Spine race!
27. 19:30 Thurs, 299km: Frozen hobbling despondency
Leaving the checkpoint, my main memory of the next section was pretty miserable. The ground was horrendous, rutted, bumpy and frozen solid. It looked like some tractors had been having a disco and what was worse, I was clearly passing some exciting Roman remains and couldn’t see a single sign of them due to the dark and my lack of motivation to investigate. My knee was also definitely adding to my woes.
The only thing that kept me going was the fact I could see the group of four headlights bobbing behind me – I was trying to put space between us – the racing urge hadn’t quite left me.
28. 23:30 Thurs, 312km: Not a castle, what a shame
Izzy had sent a text today reminding me that this day 3 years ago we had been out castle hunting. I then came across what looked like a castle in the dark to commemorate it. I was looking forward to telling her all about it. However, an extensive map search, some googling and satellite image checking after the event revealed that this fine monument was, in fact …. just a barn.
29. 00:00 Fri, 314km: Rasta Ralph to lift the mood
The route goes right through the backyard of Rasta Ralph. This man seems quite the character – you can find his videos of racers on YouTube. He filmed me coming in and then said my light was blinding him. I said his was blinding me! We both switched off and I complimented his bushy beard. He stroked it and clearly looked pretty pleased about this. After enquiring after my wellbeing he offered to give me healing, which was slightly alarming, but he quickly clarified he could do some reiki. I decided to settle for just another cup of tea (why not?), even if it came with goat’s milk and tasted funny.
There wasn’t room to fit two of us in amongst everything else in the kitchen, including many, many empty beer cans. He carried on drinking, I sipped my tea and we chatted about his ducks, the feud with the neighbours, the cats and panning for gold.
My mood much improved (thanks Ralph!), I headed onwards.
30. 05:00 Fri, 329km: Hadrian’s Wall tourism excursion
OK, the next bit was pretty cool, because now I was at Hadrian’s Wall! For some unfathomable reasion, I haven’t been before, and I was impressed with the construction and the sheer scale of it. As I got to the start, I double-checked the OSMap on my phone to check it out, and as I progressed I stopped to scrape the ice off the information boards with my gloves and have a read. My advice – never walk by an info board! Anyone who ever goes anywhere with me will know this.
At the first toilet block I thought I’d get a quick 40 winks, but the welfare checker woke me up after 5 mins thinking he might have missed me. I tried again at the next one, which was actually much better as there was a corner to lean up into under the sinks. No need to even take your bag off. 10-15 minutes later I was ready to go again.
31. 08:00 Fri, 339km: A beautiful sunrise
As I left the wall, I was joined by Warwick, who wanted company. No problem. We chatted on and off as we laboured on, the sunrise being quite spectacular as we passed through the woods. I thought what a great mountain bike trail this would make, if it wasn’t a footpath in England and therefore not allowed.
Our hopes were raised then dashed thinking we could see Horneystead Farm, only to find after consulting the actual map that it was another sodding 3km away.
32. 10:00 Fri, 347km: The haven that is Horneystead Farm
OK, this place was the real deal. Doug advised sleeping here rather than the checkpoint, if I needed it. I did. So I took a big mug of the most amazing vegetable and barley broth, with a buttered roll, then curled up in an armchair with a fleecy blanket over me. Warwick took the bed; I decided he looked as if he needed it more. People came and went but I was out of it. My alarm went off 35 mins later and I awoke to more broth, a satsuma and the bleak reality of standing up again. I was glad of Warwick’s company for this particular ‘final 5km’ to the checkpoint (especially as it was 8km long).
33. 14:00 Fri, 355km: Checkpoint 5: Not the rapid turnaround I had planned
“Be kind to your future self” Doug had impressed upon me many times. Accordingly, at checkpoint 4, I had sorted just the things I needed for what I had planned as a quick pit stop and put them all in one bag at the top. I didn’t even originally intend to take my shoes off – just charge things up, eat, drink and set off on the final push.
Sadly, I decided I needed to at least inspect my feet, and the sight was something to behold. Some degree of maceration was setting in and the medics said I needed to wait and let them dry out so they could see what was going on.
Hm. “Be kind to your future self”. I thought about what I could do in this regard, and settled on two portions of veggie sausages and mash, and extra drinks.
My feet now being inspect-able, the medics agreed to help me by taping up all the blistering. This isn’t in their remit, but I was struggling to cope and couldn’t see what was going on. Mike, who had been fantastically friendly and supportive all race and seemed to appear everywhere, even sent me ‘officially’.
There was not a lot I could do but sit and wait while they cut and snipped bits of fleecy web (something I had never heard of before this event) and tape with which to artfully cover my feet. Jon (someone I had met at Clove Lodge, way back when, in some other time) gave me a pair of thin toe socks surplus to requirements.
I forced my feet back into my shoes, cursing that they weren’t a size or two larger. The speed of exit down the drive was … like a snail. A snail with blisters.
34. 16:30 Fri, 356km: A rescue phone call
At this point, and due to a possible misinterpretation of a text, Doug got a rather emotional voice message from me, which he responded to post-haste with a phone call.
That call could not have been better timed nor more welcome; he told me how well I was doing, how I had been overtaking people, about some of the messages I was getting sent on the tracking app and all in all a general pep talk. Somehow afterwards I felt better, and I knew I had some nice uphill to come (my knee was fine on the ups).
35. 22:00 Fri, 372km: Drug addled mistakes
It was after this I decided to give those co-codamol I’d been carrying from Gargrave a try. The foot pain was really something else. MISTAKE!!! I didn’t realise it straight away though.
As I went on, I struggled with drowsiness, putting it down to, well, having been out a long time without a lot of sleep. It wasn’t my usual drowsy o’clock though, and this was worse than I’d expect given what sleep I’d had (vs other experiences in adventure races).
I decided to try the music again, or some spoken word just to get myself out of my own head. On top of a windswept hill, my phone pinged ‘out of credit’ … whaaaaat?!! This had the positive effect of jolting me out of my stumbling stupor, but only added to the stress. Clearly all the app and programme downloading, sending a video and voice message had maxed out my £60 credit on expensive data charges. How had I been so careless?
Descending, I found someone called Allan coming towards me in a panic. There were three places we had to leave the obvious fire road, go on some little parallel track, and rejoin the main track further down. He was quite out of it, so I led him through and told him to stay with me. He kept asking if we shouldn’t go this way or that, when the route was quite obvious. He didn’t, or couldn’t keep up though – as I turned to encourage him along I realised he had stopped some way back and was seemingly not moving. I debated what to do because I needed to look after myself as well at this point, and decided to push on and alert the next welfare crew.
Some bushwhacking ensued on the final diversion where the path did not exist and eventually I got to the mini checkpoint.
36. 01:00 Sat, 382km: Sharon and crew to the rescue
The crew here sat me down, told me Shane (the Cape Wrath friend) was willing me on, gave me a kiss and handed me good tasting food that I wasn’t expecting! They said ‘if you’re stopping at the church, don’t forget to message HQ’ … oh no … I confessed in a panic to my phone credit predicament and they launched into action to save me.
Despite my tiredness and stress, they had me on the wifi in no time. I had never topped up before – I needed my own number and didn’t know it. HQ were called, my number procured. Next hurdle – paying. No, I didn’t have my card on me and yes, the card details Google Pay suggested were one that was expired. Sharon rescued me with a loan (duly repaid!) and I was on my way.
I couldn’t be more grateful for the kindness of this little group.
37. 02:00 Sat, 382km: Peaceful church pew interlude
I had got a message from Doug – if you arrive after midnight, sleep in the church. So I did. It was the only time I had to dig out the sleeping bag I was carrying, but it was quiet, I was on a long pew cushion and the sleep was great. 90 mins later shoes back on, out the door and another co-codamol dose.
I was fired up as we had to meet a minimum speed limit over the next three sections due to worsening weather. But as I went up I got all drowsy again. Someone passed me at quite some greater speed. What was going on?
As light broke I felt no better, which was weird. Then I tripped over something and was sick, out of nowhere. Suddenly the realisation dawned, the drugs were having a bad effect and the slightly out of body experiences were related. At midday it was like a switch was flicked – I still felt tired, my feet still hurt, but it was normal tired. Thank goodness that was over.
38. 12:00 Sat, 403km: Best bit of the cheviots: skating on the flagstones. Worst bits: cold, foot pain taking over all thoughts
The path over the cheviots has a lot of flagstones. These were often covered in a layer of ice, topped with a wet puddle. Going round them was too much effort, and I soon perfected a technique of a sideways skid across every one. It was quite fun, and I liked the feeling of the icy water on my sore feet.
What I didn’t like so much was being wet through and barely warm enough. I decided on the spur of the moment to eat my dried meal at Hut 1 in an attempt to close down the bad drugs and keep down the counter acting good drugs administered by the medic for the sickness.
Hut 2 I got much encouragement and more tea and sweets. In between I was filmed by the media team – about 3:45 – 5:10 in the video below + finish at 6:10 if you want to see how it ends!
39. 16:30 Sat, 416km: The final final 5km
I knew about the extra hill at the end, that was fine. But as I came over … the countryside seemed to roll on forever. WHERE WAS THE FINISH?
At some point someone came running towards me with a dog. Who was this? WOW it was one of my friends, Toni, who lived near-ish, had been tracking me and sending jokes all week. She gave me the best words of encouragement and I marvelled at the fact her dog wasn’t off chasing goodness knows what, Uisge could learn a thing or two.
After she left me to finish her long run, the final final 5km hit me full force. My feet were screaming at me and I was annoyed with myself for being late. I had told Izzy to expect me in the afternoon, and had hoped to break with tradition and be on time for once. This was probably the only point in the race where I thought “I’ve had enough, I could quit now!” But not seriously. I bit down on my buff to bear the pain and willed myself onwards, the kilometres counting down agonisingly slowly. Even when I attempted a walk/jog it didn’t help it to go any faster.
40. 18:30 Sat, 423km: The finish: Kirk Yetholm
Rounding the final bend, I could see the archway and the relief that waited … what a strange feeling not to be running euphoric with a second wind … this has never happened to me before! I couldn’t see Andy, Izzy and Uisge but there were so many people and they were ushering me to ‘the wall’.
This is what you do in this race, you kiss the wall of the hotel. I had frankly forgotten all about that! I got there, at which point the troops arrived and I collapsed on the bench, with Uisge giving me the sloppiest welcome. I had done it.
A goal achieved
Reflections
The run up to an event is rarely perfect and 3 months of uncertainties over my ankle didn’t help. I had to change my goals and do what I could, given where I was. On the whole I think I did that – I executed the plan just right, until the last stage when the painkillers and a lack of focus likely lost me a few hours. Going faster on stage 2 would help avoid the situation whereby I slept most of the daylight hours and walked all night!
Some people have asked if it was the hardest event I have done. I think it was the most painful, but not the most difficult. I’m sure you can tell, the state of my feet really affected my enjoyment of the event and are the thing that made it mentally tricky. If I could crack this, it would change my perspective on doing something like it again.
However, I got to the end, which is never guaranteed even if you’ve managed it before. There are other things to do and experience, so the answer to ‘Would you do it again?’ is ‘Maybe, but not right now!’.
Thanks
Massive thanks to everyone who helped get me to the start line and helped me along the way.
Coach Doug, invaluable and I’ve already told him what I think of him. It was partly his fault I chose this race in the first place.
Partner Andy, working with me to fit in training and doing his fair share of the cooking.
Physio Graham for his endless patience and honesty, plus everyone else who weighed in with help this time around interpreting MRI results and advising on the relative risks of taking it on.
Friends for listening to my woes, training with me, keeping me sane, sending me messages and telling me what Roman things to look out for – Izzy, Judyta, Scott, Vicky, Robert, my mum, my dad (for the latter, obviously).
People who I ran with, people at the checkpoints and sometimes people who did both! Ray, Neil, Ian, Grant, Paolo, Geoff, Warwick, Jon, Shane, Mike, Sharon and many others who I don’t know the names of.
Anyone who used the messaging system whether I knew you or not – it makes a difference!
Hokey Cokey Roseland Swimrun
We’ve had our eyes on the Mad Hatters races after hearing great reviews and meeting the organisers at other events, so when we saw a new long course being proposed we signed up! This was so many months / years ago though that it kind of crept up on us 😮 Luckily, we had actually done some fun swimrun adventures and a local event a few weeks before to get in the mood. We also combined it with a holiday in Cornwall exploring the coastal path and attractions at a more leisurely pace to make the trip definitely worthwhile.
The course was a linear one, starting at Portscatho and winding its way 35km along to Mevagissey.
By the time we got off the coach to the start, we were already late and were ushered to the line without ceremony and waved off! Izzy was straight out of the blocks as we dodged round a few people to get to the water and start swimming. Neither of us has done ‘enough’ swim training lately – though Izzy has done more than me and has even made it to a swimming pool! The effect of this is that we are even more closely matched than usual with Izzy definitely having a faster start, so she led off.
The race route took us in and out (and shook us all about) at some ‘interesting’ spots, including places where we had to scramble up the rocks, or use a rope to get safely down the steep slope! On one swim exit we got shouted at to go around even though we were aiming for a perfectly good looking lump of rock 😉 Another entry had a stunning little exit through a rock channel before we were out into open sea.
On the first runs, Izzy was off like a hare, showing the benefits of her interval training, so I concentrated on just keeping up and heavy breathing, no ability to chat at this stage! After the first couple of swims we started alternating, just to give the other a break, though the one behind was always getting cold as much as resting. We then kept whichever order we emerged from the water in on the run as we wound our way along the cliffs through the bracken, grass and wildflowers. It felt like a race where we really worked as a team to keep us moving through at a good speed.
As we had discovered on our mini recce trip of one small part of the course, the runs were best described as ‘undulating’ … which is to say they kept going up and down a lot: I recorded 1300m in 27km of running for the day. However, none were too long and only one had us so hot when the sun peeped out that we were grateful to get back into the water, my squealing at the shock causing some consternation 😀
My watch had a meltdown after the last event, so I had taken the opportunity to upgrade and was loving the mapping feature, helping us stay vaguely on course when there was any confusion, although it did bleep a lot to tell us to take obvious path turns.
Several of the swims involved swimming out and round a point. At the briefing we had been told that the sea was going to be very calm and perfect conditions. As it was, there was quite a swell pushing and pulling us around, which had me thinking this Cornwall lot were hard as nails describing this as ‘calm’ – they did admit later the predictions had been slightly out!
At one moment, I was leading and definitely aiming for the yellow flag. I couldn’t understand why the marshal had put it on the ground and wandered off, but was trying not to faff. Eventually realised after Izzy yelled at me that I was aiming for a lovely patch of yellow lichen on a rock instead! Likewise on another swim, I had to practically tug the cord to get Izzy to pause and agree to turn left 😀
The long 2km swim at the end had the following navigation instructions: ‘Swim out to the paddle boarder, turn left, don’t go too far out because of boats, and not too far in because of rocks. Follow the coastline until you see a beach with a flag’. We were chugging along, no beach in sight, no idea what we were aiming for but keeping the coast on our left and looking for a beach … after about 1500m we found a kayaker, who proceeded to try and educate us about currents and the tide, where to aim and the fact that he ‘didn’t think us two would make it’. This had the effect of me slightly tersely asking him to just tell us where we were supposed to be going, at which point we shot off noticeably faster 😀 . Apparently, if you’re local, you just know to aim for the colourful house on the cliff when you round the corner 🤨 !
I was still shivering after this epic when we got to run through tourist throngs in Mevagissey, swim to a small beach and ascend a very long flight of steps and up a steep road to the finish line.
Delighted to finish 5th overall and first female pair behind 4 male pairs. Even more delighted to find at the end that the sun came out, stone baked pizzas and amazing brownies from the Parent-Teacher Association were on offer and we could all lounge around outside meeting old friends and making new ones (including a large white dog that took a shine to Izzy for a while!). Many thanks to the race organisers, all the marshals and safety crew and everyone else including competitors who made it such a great day.
I really recommend this race if you want stunning scenery, a challenge and a taste of an Ötillö World Series type race in terms of length and difficulty. I also recommend that you do a proper amount of swim training in preparation else, like me, you will have difficulty putting a jumper on the next day 😀
Photo credits to James Street / Mad Hatter Sports Events – or me, if marked as such!
Scurry Events – Yellowcraigs Swimrun
This was my first actual, in person race since … March 2nd 2020! Izzy originally signed up to do this with Andy, it didn’t run last year due to sea conditions. And so this year it came round, and I was the substitute partner, and it was so much fun 🙂
I actually was quite nervous beforehand, being totally out of practice with the whole process of preparing for a race day. We have a bigger (longer, larger field) race coming up, so it was actually perfect timing. It was also so good to be doing a swimrun race on our local patch in East Lothian. We do a lot of training there and it has so much potential.
The route for this event was largely an out and back, with a long swim to start with and an ascent of North Berwick Law at the far end.
With an easterly wind, the sea was quite rough. Despite doing a number of swimrun training sessions already this year, we hadn’t done anywhere near 2km in one go and we were both cold enough for the bum shake by the time we eventually got out 😀 Was fun to do such a challenging loop out to Fidra and back though.
The run and short swim to North Berwick was uneventful. The next part was unmarked, but I had gone through the route on Google street view, so we made a beeline to the bottom of the Law. Here we got mixed up in some other ultra event, but we zoomed to the top, with me doing my very best to keep up with Izzy.
It came sooner than expected, we turned around and raced back down! The final swim before the finish line was only half the length of the initial one, but we were chasing down a male pair who had just overtaken us, and also trying to make it back before risking getting swamped by the line of amassed swimmers doing the aquathlon.
Checking out the second last swim – thanks to Tim Chad for this photo 
Approaching the final swim, bracing for the cold and the chase!
We stormed out and back and made the final sprint for the line, delighted to be back racing again 🙂
Whatever way you look at we were on the ‘podium’; 3rd overall, 2nd females, 1st pair!
Thanks to Peter for putting on our first local event, which all went smoothly, to Andy for taking some photographs to record the occasion and to Izzy for being my swimrun buddy! Next stop, Cornwall!
UTS 100km – the race that almost was
Snowdon range – saving that for the second day!
UTS (Ultra Trail Snowdonia) 2020 was postponed, hung in the balance, reduced in size and, with a week to go, cancelled. I was gutted, but almost certainly less so than the race director who had done everything he could to salvage something for the race this year.
I was all trained, tapered and ready to go. My dad was expecting me and it wasn’t breaking any rules, so I went anyway. My plan was to split the 100km route into two days so that I would neither miss two nights of sleep nor trash my body to quite the same extent. I was fortunate in that my Itera-teammate Chloe was on hand to help with road support and to join me on a couple of legs.
Day 1
The route is a figure of 8, crossing over at Pen Y Pass, so I started there instead of the real start in Capel Curig, and set off on the slightly longer and lesser known (to me) part of the route at about 7:30 after a nights’ sleep that resembled a pre-race one. There was immediate faffing with shoelaces, taking photos of the already incredible views and going slightly off route. The ‘red spot’ path was easy to lose! Eventually I was on track and summited Glyder Fawr alone before descending the scree slope to Y Garn, having a natter with a very chatty lady and heading to a much busier Ogwen.
The day was hot and I was pouring in sweat as I went up to the gap near Tryfan and I knew I was way off schedule already. I still had to stop and admire the goats showing off though. I managed a trot down the other side and I felt like a celebrity as I found Chloe waiting with the chair out, dry robe ready to keep me warm, water, snack replenishment and a sandwich all ready to go! After a rapid turnaround we set off together up Pen yr Ole Wen.
I was grateful someone else was finding the way and knew where we were going as this bit was largely new to me. The views coming across the ridge to Pen yr Helgi Du were amazing, and to top it off we found a group of wild Carneddau ponies as we descended. They were totally unconcerned by our presence. At the bottom I was pleased to see that leg had been done to target time, waved goodbye to Chloe and set off on what ought to be an easy loop with little climbing.
Pen yr Helgi Du
A few minutes in and I found my Camelbak was empty and I had only a 500ml bottle of water. Hmm. The sun bore down and my motivation flagged. The Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir was beautiful but the path was rocky and I was thirsty! I was missing Chloe’s company and feeling sluggish. I refilled a bottle at a stream that was ‘probably OK’ and again at a flowing bit in a bog that was ‘bit brown, but probably OK’ and again at a fast clear river that ‘looked clean but was low down, probably OK’.
The run through the forest was awesome and I remembered someone saying how good this part would be at the end of the race. Unfortunately, just as I reached what looked like civilisation, I was faced with another hill! Torture! This whole section was a mental test that took significantly longer than planned and after analysis, was still an outlier compared to other sections. I feel I need to come back and check it wasn’t just due to terrain but also to some element of heat exhaustion / dehydration.
Llyn Cowlyd – looks stunning, but was a long slog round suffering from the effects of the heat!
Eventually I jogged into Capel Curig where Chloe and a food bag of rehydrated Vegetable Chipotle Chilli with Rice were waiting for me 🙂 I charged up my watch a bit, got my lights sorted, ate and gathered myself for Moel Siabod. Chloe was despatched to the YHA to see if she could check me in and to confirm what latest arrival time would be. I was confident of the next part having done a lot of it before. My tummy was warm and I felt good again as darkness fell and it got cooler. Although I wouldn’t make it back to the YHA by 10, I thought surely I would make it to the last road crossing in plenty of time for Chloe to pick me up and shuttle me there if needed.
I hiked up Moel Siabod at speed. As the light faded, the stars and a thin crescent moon lit the way. I delayed putting my torch on and was just getting used to being out in the dusk. At that moment I put my foot firmly on what I thought was a nice solid white stone in the bog. Like something out of a horror movie, it sunk into a decomposing dead sheep and I screamed 😮 Balance restored, light on, I made it to the top and texted Chloe. She said hostel open until 11 but I was not checked in – should she see me there or the road? An extra hour should be plenty, but I said road ‘just in case’.
It was tricky to find the right direction off the top and I was getting cold from standing around. Soon enough though I was flying down a lovely grassy ridge path. This was amazing running! I would be there in no time. Shortly after, I got to a tighter part of the ridge and the path had disappeared. I was working my way along when a shape loomed out of the dark. I swore and then realised it was someone in army gear, followed by two more, creeping about in the dark with no lights. ‘’I didn’t expect to see anyone up here” I said … and got no reply. Had I just blown their cover?! Maybe the mouse I’d seen earlier had been just as shocked by my own presence.
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- Finally entering the forests above Capel Curig. Lovely run down until the final surprise torture hill…
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- Up on Moel Siabod in the dark, pool reflecting the rock’s shapes.
The next section was interminable as I picked my way down rocky outcrops interspersed with boggy bits. The distance was more than I expected, the whole thing was taking forever and there was no phone signal. I had to deploy mental energy to keep moving in the right direction and not panic as time slipped through my fingers. Eventually I got to a bridleway that I knew, but it was harder to run down than I remembered or imagined! I finally got to the road to find Chloe at about 2240 … wow. She’d been worried, but thankfully had spotted my light bobbing down the hill some time earlier. We flew up to the YHA, checked in, filled a dehydrated dinner and dessert bag with hot water and I was left in my room.
I sat on the floor, peeling off clothes interspersed with forcing down mouthfuls of dinner. I didn’t really feel like it, but thought it was important to eat. Due to being covered in suncream and salt I decided to also shower and dry myself on a spare buff. Good move. Into bed just after midnight and I couldn’t sleep as my tummy staged a revolt … still not sure if this was a result of dinner, dodgy water or just over exertion!
Day 2
After a few hours kip I forced myself out of bed and ordered a breakfast roll. It was a bit dry, but needed and washed down with a cup of tea. I stepped out of the door 15 minutes later than planned and immediately decided to put a waterproof on after all.
First ascent was Y Lliwedd – I have done this the other way a couple of times in recent years. Going up was OK and just needed confidence in scrambling up when the path temporarily disappeared. Along the ridge I think it was easier route finding in this direction, but the wind was blowing and the rain was persistent. It might have helped that the fog hid some of the worst drop offs as it was harder to see what was coming up and how high up I was! I made it off and texted Chloe and some friends who’d been enquiring after day 1 (no reception at the hostel!).
Again, stopping made me get cold very quickly so I set off doing something that might even have resembled running and was soon passing lots of little groups heading upwards looking warm and toasty in short sleeves … Eventually I was taking off a layer as well, as I ran through Nant Gwynant and on to the path round Llyn Dinas. This was one of the longest running sections so far! I was greeted by the crazy dogs, Chloe and dad at the end of the Llyn with unexpected snacks and encouragement. I also put in an order for coke and crisps at the next stop!
Up a small hill and down through old copper workings, the landscape here was quite different and interesting. I was warned about slippery rocks by a chap who we’d talked to at Capel Curig the previous day but had completely forgotten me! Dad met me coming up for a quick wave and Chloe also came out and ran along the fisherman’s path into Beddgelert. The soles of my feet were getting sore by now and my running was distinctly slow.
The fisherman’s path into Beddgelert. Feet were getting a bit sore here, but miraculously felt better a few hours later.
After a refuel we headed up the steep and wild slopes of Moel Hebog, with Chloe coming along and the dogs tugging at their leads and getting impatient. At the next bwlch they diverted back to warm up and I carried on alone, not seeing anyone else on the hills all the way to the finish. This was also a section I had done the other way a couple of times and I think was also slightly easier this way. However, despite having upgraded to a heavier weight waterproof I was getting distinctly chilly and eventually decided to put on my spare baselayer. Very unusual for me! It made an instant difference though and I was glad of it as I slowed right down going over the ridge of Mynydd Drws-y-coed. I slid a lot of this on my bum as the rocks were very slippery and I wanted to stay alive…
I could see my dad and Chloe parked up far below, and was feeling significantly better than I had at the start of this leg, including my feet. I bounced down the hill and was met with more crisps and an apple. My dad wanted me to call it day and finish the last bit the next day, but I knew I would definitely not want to start again then and I also wanted to complete the challenge now!
I sensed he was worried, but I was determined to push on. There was a bit of extra pressure as he would now be picking me up from the finish and didn’t want to be out driving too late. I went clipping up the Rhyd Ddu path on Snowdon with confidence, munching on my new supplies and arranging some on-the-go watch charging. As darkness fell and I ascended, I remembered with dismay that fog and headtorches do not mix. Hm, what to do? I carried on for a while, searching out the worn rocks of the path and moving ever upwards. However, I was soon tripping over stuff and still had a way to go. I had to solve this problem.
I fished out my backup torch and held it low at arm’s length. If the angle was right, this gave me 2-3m of usable light, which was a significant improvement. I managed to wedge it in my belt and felt like I had some sort of groin laser, twisting my hips from side to side to scan for the path as needed! There is a short ridge section near the top, where again I had to always remind myself that this was a very popular path and the ‘right’ way would also be smooth worn rock with no grass.
There was no queue for the summit of Snowdon 😉 , so I popped to the top and then started my way down. Texting my dad before losing signal again I gave a shortest and longest estimated time and then paid attention to finding the turn-off.
Snowdon Summit Selfie!!
The route down was on the Pyg track which I have not done recently, but again is a well-used route. I expected this to be easy to follow … but on sections where natural rock outcropped it was easy to lose the path. I could be just 1 or 2 metres from it and not able to see it. I started paying close attention to staying on the worn rock again, sweeping a few metres either side when I strayed from the path. I felt panic rising as I stood on a particularly large slab having no idea where the path had gone to. The added pressure of getting down within the time bounds I had set when people would start worrying did not help. It was moments like these I had to push down the negative emotions and find clear thought and logic to get back on route and not wander off down a boulder field.
Soon enough the stretches of clear path got longer and then I could see the youth hostel and carpark lights. Unfortunately they were a very long way off and the distance didn’t seem to be narrowing at any speed! This descent was not as breezy as I might have anticipated, but I made it back to the car with 4 mins to spare to my latest arrival time ..phew!
Back home my feet screamed in pleasure as I took my shoes and socks off. I downed a milkshake and fell into bed, where my feet felt like they were on fire whilst my top half shivered! My tummy was fine though…
Despite missing a short section on day 1 I had covered over 100km and 7000m of ascent over some tricky terrain, so I eventually fell asleep tired and satisfied 🙂
Reflections
I was super pleased with how my body held up – a couple of bruised nails and small blisters plus tired legs for a few days, but little else. I could even go down stairs normally and was not ravenous. I had protected my feet better than when I did a different version of the race two years ago. Significantly, I also ate better, taking advice from the training camp last year to heart! More than once I heard the voice saying ‘you might not want to eat, but can you?’. This was one area I had been able to practice a lot and I was so pleased it paid off. It also seemed what I’d managed to do was adequate for the legs, even if I had not been able to go to the mountains.
I’ve not really raced all year apart from a few virtual club events and have travelled a lot less (i.e. not at all), obviously! It’s been interesting having such an unbroken length of consistent training with no races and thinking about the effect that might have had on both how prepared I was and how much stress my body has been under.
I also learnt plenty for the race – not least that I need to go a lot faster on some of the early race sections if I will make cut offs. Course familiarity, marking and race day adrenaline will help with that but I have earmarked a couple of sections for repeat practice, should I be able to. This should also help my feet get more used to rocky running – the Pentlands are covered in too much grassy heathland!
Can’t quite decide whether I preferred the sun (views, dry rocks, dehydration) or the rain, fog and wind (not too hot, feels more wild, can’t see a thing).
Many thanks to Chloe for all her support with food, water, company, photos and lifts, to my dad for support and lifts and Paul for helping with the maps.
Michael the RD has designed a tough technical course, with awesome views on the right day and plenty of challenges both physical and mental. Fingers and toes crossed we can go ahead for real next June!
Open 5 – Yorkshire Dales, Cracoe
Well, I am extremely out of the race reporting habit, despite managing a few races like Malta swimrun, Marmot dark mountains and some local trail events! Maybe I will come back to them, but I didn’t want to miss a write up of this year’s Open 5, not least because it is one I have been looking forward to for some time … more on that later!
This event was relatively close to my mum’s house, so I went down to stay with her. Lucy was otherwise indisposed and despite asking a couple of people, I ended up racing solo. I actually put a bit more effort into preparation than of late, checking maps from previous races in the same area and making sure I wasn’t about to make the same mistakes as 2018…
The weather was somewhat ‘wild’, and we drove through some big puddles to get there. A bit of rain and wind doesn’t phase me though, and I have raced in worse! After some careful map study, I had a plan and set off.
This race was unusual in that we had to bike/run/bike because the run was at a remote transition far from the centre. Pre race emails said it was about 20 minutes direct there. I was dubious since even Google suggested it would take the best part of 50 minutes. I thought I would ‘play it safe’ by going round the road at the bottom anyway, picking up a couple of out and back controls on the way.
After the first one I took a shortcut back to re-join the road, which was already a mistake as it was slow going, muddy and full of gates. Then I hit the river … well it was a river where the road should be. I walked a bit with my bike on my back, then rode a bit … and decided any more controls were out of the question. 1h25 minutes later I got to transition. I wished I had gone over the top – off road and uphill but probably more ride-able, given the circumstances!
Hey hum, the run would be better. But it took me a while to distinguish the first footpath from the river. And then I ‘ran’ along in quite deep water for a bit. Eventually I emerged onto a road and headed to a control in Goredale Scar. I found a couple of guys looking everywhere for the control. I was slightly adventurous peering over some rocks and found it, but wasn’t about to risk getting it – until a chap called Adam bounded in and leapt straight over 😮 So I decided to follow – but with a helping hand!
Off to my first run control – I found the path!
That was very adventurous. I was running well and was soon looping back to transition. I made a mistake missing the giant cliff I had to go round at Malham Cove, which was my first run mistake. Then I wasted the best part of 10 minutes trying to cross the river to get onto a path to another 20 pointer – I gave up in the end and missed it out. Another time when being in a pair might have been helpful …
Then the last control wasn’t where I expected . Along with group of other people we wandered back and forth over the bridge, bewildered. It had been moved from an island to a tree; we were told that at transition, but where was it? By luck, I found it just down the road, but I think it was not quite where the map suggested (on a permissive path rather than the public footpath).
Argh so much time had slipped through my fingers at the end. Back on the bike and I had another plan, doing a loop round on the hill with wind at my back.
So again, I tried to make conservative decisions, I really did. (Can you see where this is going yet?). I missed one out and back and then a second. As I did this I said to someone passing – I haven’t got time for that … I got a funny look as he stopped to peer at the map. Later I realised that was the way I should have been going…
I was looking forward to going downhill with a tailwind all the way home.
Unfortunately I turned out there was also some uphill (details, details) and some slightly tricky navigation that had me doubting my course. The descent down Threshfield Moor was a delight, interrupted only by the occasional drainage channel.
As I popped out onto the road something nasty happened with my back brake and I was already out of time. And now I had 5km into a headwind. EEK. A male pair overtook and I slipped in behind, clinging on for dear life. I was still over 22 minutes late. That might be a record for me…
So, my tactics were all wrong again, I wished I had done the off road hill option at the start and the shortcut at the end, although I did not regret getting some fun mountain biking in. With so many penalty points I was only good enough for 3rd.
However for me, the main event this weekend was my 20,000 CAREER POINTS! I’ve been working towards this for ages, just scraping over last year earning my 20,001th point. I join only three others who have racked up this many, and had my ‘first ever Open 5’ map at the ready – though it was actually an Open 5+ involving a swim to a control and some ghyll scrambling. Wait, not so different after all 😉
Big thanks to James
Many thanks to James and all of his team at Open Adventure for all the fabulous events over the years. I have been to so many different places, had a whole heap of adventures and made new friends. I still miss my winter monthly dose and the opportunity to do something better ‘next time’ – a year is too long! 😀 Until next time!
Itera Scotland 2019 – part 3
Foot stage:
24.7km trek / 8h55 / finish time 15:55 Thursday
A bit of a false start to this stage as we set off down the road the wrong way – transition wasn’t marked on the map in quite the right place!! That’s our story anyway, and we’re sticking to it.
We finally set off up the right path, with me still munching my breakfast and Chloe managing a lot of ankle pain. At transition we had been given information that teams were taking 3h to get to the rafting from the start of the kayak. Andrea and Jon had calculated that if we could just motor this trek, taking opportunities to jog the flats and downhills, we had a chance of making it after all.
The first part of the final trek had some incredible views, including this waterfall
We got into a rhythm, being smoother and helping each other with snacks and drinks and kit adjustments to minimise stopping time. Although this was the stage we had targeted for doing the long course over the Five Sisters of Kintail, we were again short course, but the route here did not lack spectacular views. The path was easy going and we made good time.
As we had to head off-piste it got harder, but I was on fire. I powered up past the waterfall with Andrea and was springing ahead on the downhill to find the best path for Chloe and Jon, whose ankle was also now sore. I thought we might make the rafting after all, and expected the second half to be easier.
As we crossed the road past the Cluanie Inn it felt we passed into a different stage. Andrea and Chloe were able to speed walk whilst Jon lagged behind and me somewhere in between. I tried everything I thought I could to get us back together and moving at a better pace. Near the first ‘top’ Chloe needed to stop and change her socks before she got blisters from the accumulating grit inside. She wanted us to go ahead and she would catch us, but we refused.
I was hopping about on the inside, worrying about the time and sensing it just slipping through our fingers. But I did not want to snap or stress anyone out. Andrea took some of Jon’s kit and we got moving again. But now we had to either go the long way up a bit more hill and further on a path, or cut across.
We followed a team taking the direct line, through peat hags and rough ground, down to a river that proved too deep to wade. As we walked along a bit we were about to decide to stuff it and swim, when the other team found a spot to wade only up to mid thigh level 🙂
The path when we re-joined it was good. The weather had turned glorious. I wanted to run down the other side but could not cajole this out of everyone. As we got to the road, we walked when we needed to run. Chloe’s partner appeared on his motorbike to say hello. It was emotional for her.
It was just before 16:00. The guy in transition told us people were making it to the rafting from kayak put-in in about 3.5h and we might just do it. We got out fairly quickly, though not as fast as the team that arrived with us. We walked down to the river when we perhaps could have jogged. We faffed about getting in and setting off.
Trying to get ready fast at final transition to kayak
Kayak stage:
2.8km total portage / 1h35
6.2km walk / 2h15
26.5km total kayak / 5h / finish 04:20 Friday
Although we were going down a river now, this part wasn’t straightforward either. There were some mini rapids – we nearly came out on the first set but got a lot better at coordinating and steering through the second! Unfortunately there was some more portage where Andrea and I were working our hardest to get through whilst the tendons in my wrist complained loudly and Jon and Chloe struggled.
Back on the water I was asking Andrea “where is the urgency in the other boat?”. She had no answer. We decided to offer a tow, but it was refused; ‘we are keeping up fine’. On the roller coaster of emotions I was now dejected as I knew we would not make it, our speed was just not there. We soft paddled and kept together as we made our way along Loch Garry, with Chloe and Jon falling asleep and hitting each other with their paddles.
As we neared the end of the loch everyone was hallucinating as it got gloomy. The trees formed strange animals and carvings and it was hard to keep our eyes open. I’m not sure we had warned Chloe enough about this!!
Jon suddenly came alive saying we might just make it, but we couldn’t. We arrived at 20:26 – 26 minutes too late.
Later, on the way home, I spoke to Chloe about this. It turned out she wasn’t aware of the urgency – she thought we were home and dry and there was no rush. She also believed they were keeping up, not realising we were waiting. Clearly something had gone wrong with communications and I went over this a thousand times after the race. I take responsibility for not getting us there in time. You could lose 26 minutes anywhere – the nav error on the bike for one. But I also felt I should have understood what was happening better and either found a way to keep everyone motivated and focused or established a shared agreement to give up on it. Learn and move on!
Missing the rafting prompted a slight hypothermic meltdown in Chloe. This was caused by a combination of being wet, tired, not moving, the disappointment of missing the rafting and then being told we had to walk 5km and wait until 90 minutes were up before we could continue. It was all too much and she ended up inside the bivvy bag with Jon, putting on every item of dry clothing she had. Whilst Jon and Andrea looked after Chloe, I shivered and got the kayaks ready for transport. Thanks to the marshals here for helping, and the team who provided some hot water.
Finally we set off, trudging into the dark in search of food in Invergarry. Unfortunately, Invergarry is not a hot bed of food options and by the time we arrived just after 22:00 and stumbled into the pub, we were greeted by a barman who declared he could give us tea and crisps, but he was shutting up in 20 minutes just in case we thought we might fall asleep in the corner. A team arriving after us were given equally short thrift as they had takeaway teas shoved in their hands and were told to leave.
We made the most of what we had, then decided we had to sleep. As luck would have it, we found a road bridge over the path where it was dry with a smoothish surface. We got into pairs into two bivvy bags, set the alarms for 20 minutes (or not) and went to sleep.
As I spooned Chloe I was violently shaking with cold. I was still in my shorty wetsuit, still damp. I became aware of Jon and Andrea talking about it being time to get up. This was just about my worst moment of the race. I really had no notion of whether I was asleep or awake, and kept looking at my watch, unable to decipher what it was telling me. I got my bag back together and trailed behind in a daze as we made our way back to the water.
It turned out later that Andrea’s watch had misted up so she couldn’t see it properly setting the alarm, and I had managed to set the timer for 20h instead of 20 minutes 😮 . We had slept for an hour and a half.
The rest of the kayak was an uneventful paddle down to and along the Caledonian Canal. Chloe taught us some crazy round involving fish and chips and vinegar, dustbins and bottles of beer, which we executed very badly. After a couple of ‘easy’ exits and portage round the locks, we arrived in Fort Augustus and gladly abandoned the kayaks for the last time!
In transition we had a nice corner spot. I found my second of three ticks of the race attached near my eye … and we assembled our bikes ready to go. It was late in the race and despite any rules, people seemed to be sleeping where they fell on the paths outside the door.
Episode 4 – Official Film
Bike stage:
61.7km / biking / 6h25 / finish 13:50 Thursday
Despite faffing with lights, the darkness had lifted by the time we got away. This stage was actually the best mountain biking we had done all race and one of my favourite legs.
I was keeping an eye on navigation in the woods as we followed the ‘Great Glen Way’. At some point we ended up on the high walker’s route, which added a climb and some technicality. On a normal day it would be my preferred option, but I’m not sure it was what we needed at that moment!
I think at this point we were all a bit tired and fractious and were not riding harmoniously. We stopped for 30 minutes of kip somewhere, and again for our first café 30km from the end. The wasps were out in force and we did not hang around, thanks to some speedy service.
The final descent was one to savour, swooping down from high ground it went on and on and was a delight to ride. It landed us in the centre of Inverness, where we negotiated the crowds through the final few hundred metres on a section we had checked out before we left. I’m glad we did as we could weave our way directly to the finish line.
We were greeted by race directors with medals and miniature whisky from Glenmorangie. Jonny was there to do some facebook live videos and make sure we got some pictures! We all made our way over to eat pizza and relax over a meal for the first time in five days…
Episode 5 – Official Film
Reflections
On reflection, this race was not as straightforward ‘fun’ as the one I did in Wales. The rafting deadline loomed large all race and we were under pressure to make the short course, with no room to correct for any miscalculations. It was so disappointing to miss it anyway after all that focus! To play to my own strengths and favoured sports I’d have loved more mountain biking and less portaging 😉
Team dynamics were also very different, with somewhat more conflict and less cohesion. However, racing with that little sleep under such difficult conditions isn’t exactly conducive to harmonious socialising. Everyone laboured under different hardships ranging from sore throats, diarrhoea all race (!), swollen ankles, blistered mouths and feet and who knows what else.
Having said all that, we resolved any issues and made it to the finish line together. We did really well, finishing 12th overall thanks in large part to our early strategic decisions. I learnt a lot and we achieved a lot, though it is still hard to take it all in! Some of the places on the trek stages were incredible and it is amazing to think how crazy some of the race was and what we went through with those kayaks. An unforgettable experience!
For my own part I was delighted to escape with ‘normal’ 5 day race swelling, a single blister and sore tendons in one wrist. All subsided quickly. Worse, was picking up a probable flu virus a week after finishing, which I still haven’t been able to completely shake! The race reminded me how much I do like adventure racing after several years of swimrun focus. Maybe I should look for another one to do … 😉
Many thanks to John Ovenden and support from Lochland Runner, to our live social media updaters Andy and Jonny, everyone who sent us motivational trail mail, the race organisers under Open Adventure banner James, Tom and Paul plus a special one from me to my physio Graham who over the last 10 months somehow helped me rehab my hamstring tendon sufficiently to take part with no pain.
Finally, thanks to my teammates Jon, Andrea and Chloe for being up for going on such an epic journey!
If you like numbers, this is how our race shaped up in totals – distances, times – yes, there is a spreadsheet! You can see our route here, just select our team on the right.
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- Each stage with total time and distance, plus time of day we finished
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- Total time and distance spent on each discipline
Finish line photo
If you missed part 1 – it’s here! And part 2 – here!
Photo credits to Chloe (team photographer!), Rob Howard from Sleepmonsters and Photogractif. Team videos by Jonny Collins.
Itera Scotland 2019 – part 2
Foot stage:
13km trek / 8h45
2h sleep
26km trek / 10h36 / finish stage 16:50 Wednesday
And so we set off up our first big mountain. Everyone was tackling An Teallach. I haven’t been there before, but it turns out it is big, scrambly and has vertiginously steep sides! We were keen to make the most of remaining daylight. As we ascended it got windier and colder. Soon I was wearing all of my clothes save one emergency thermal jacket, including my waterproof trousers. I also had my first ‘moment’ as I felt woozy and incapable of climbing a mountain. This time handing over some kit to packhorse Andrea and taking a couple of gels worked wonders.
It got dark and then Chloe had her ‘moment’, finding the exposure bringing back some difficult memories. We pulled together and made slow but steady progress until we were onto the boulder field, clambering down to the track to the bothy everyone had spotted on the map earlier. We hadn’t slept for about 45h by this point and tempers frayed a bit as we all badly needed some rest. I was worried we would find the place full, but there was only one way to find out.
It was indeed busy, but we found space on the wooden floor and crashed out for 2h, with Chloe opting to brave any midges in the more spacious outside quarters 😀 .
Up we got and we decided to go for at least one of the long course controls. It wasn’t significant extra distance, though it was significant extra climb. It was also intriguingly named ‘tennis court’ and I am a sucker for funny place names.
We were all somewhat muted to start. I was slow as we ascended and also stopped to put protective gaffer tape on hot spots developing on my feet. I wasn’t up for blisters like those I experienced during UTS… There was some ‘debate’ about which way to get to the top, slightly confused by some hints we got at a briefing. In the end, Andrea took off up a gully, with Jon chasing after to check it out and Chloe and I gingerly bringing up the rear. I was afraid of scree or scrambling at the top, and as it was we were holding onto grass as we climbed. Not the most secure, but it was OK in the end.
As you will see later, going for this control was possibly a strategic mistake in terms of race position. However, it was also one of the most memorable and amazing parts of the course that we did – so this time I am happy that we got to experience this regardless. The ridge walk was incredible, and the ‘tennis court’ itself looked like someone had just come and sliced the top off the mountain.
One of my favourite pictures – on the ridge with tennis court second blob along in front of us
On the descent I came alive a bit and even ran. Or maybe jogged. Further down the views of the river cutting through Gleann Bianasdail creating swirling rock formations with waterfalls and pools looked very inviting. I’d like to go back to that and explore. The beauty was only marred as my ‘usual blister’ underneath my little toe burst causing every step to be agony for a while.
After negotiating ‘paths not on the map’ and a slightly sarcastic comment to another team about my ability to identify a graveyard (sorry), we finally arrived in Kinlochewe.
Rachel doing a grand job at midge central, checking we were all in the tent for the required time
This was the first time we had access to our tent at a vaguely sensible time for sleeping, and we had to put it up and stay in it for 20 minutes anyway. We got ourselves ready for the next stage then all clambered in for a couple of hours kip. I wondered if we should have more, or less? But it was too complicated to think. As the rain hammered on the roof, and a French team swore at the midges outside, we drifted off. Not the best sleep, but we needed it.
Stones on the beach as we rejoin a path
Episode 2 – Official Film
Bike stage:
69.3km / biking / 7h40 / finish 05:10 Thursday
We set off just after 21:30 in the dark. It was now obligatory for us to short course this stage. Before we started we had hoped to do more than this here, sketching out a couple of different options. But course changes and our slow speed meant it wouldn’t have been sensible anyway.
After leaving all the map reading to Chloe and Jon on the foot stage, it was my turn again. I confidently took the first turning, with Andrea stopping to check the map. As we waited for her to catch back up she appeared, a bit shaken from a fall as she had tried to adjust her lights. We were all tired.
Peering at the map, I had in mind ‘just follow the double track alongside the loch for about 5km’. I was trying to prove myself by navigating swiftly and keep us moving. Mistake. We passed a junction and hesitated. ‘It says cycle trails this way’ someone said … and I pushed on as that was just a footpath and we wanted the track, right? We were going up and up in a forest and it didn’t feel right. But I stubbornly carried on, not wanting to faff about. As the distance came up, we emerged from the forest. I looked properly at the map and immediately realised my error. We should have taken the path ARGH.
Jon went to investigate a possible joining path and we dithered, eventually turning back on ourselves. I thought it would be quicker just to descend at high speed to the junction, but the team were lagging behind. My adrenaline and drive to fix this was not matched! As I agitated I was annoyed with myself – not a mistake I’d have made in the daylight, and quite costly, maybe half an hour.
It was slow going along the path and I was now doubting myself about where to look for the right turn. Then there came a horrible noise from my bike. Clank! Clank! I stopped, turned the pedals. Clank! Clank! I spun the wheel without the pedals. Clank! Clank! It seemed to come from my bottom bracket but the wheel was the only bit turning. Chloe and Jon came to help – concluding it must be a disaster with my hub. Then we suddenly spotted an extremely large nail embedded in my tyre and hitting the chainstay on every revolution …
We got it out, and Chloe put her thumb on the hissing hole. By the time Jon produced a magic bung gun it had sealed, but we whopped it in anyway. With much relief we were on our way.
Nav was tricky and now I was very careful. There were many paths not marked on the map but once we got onto the Coulin Pass it was straightforward and easy going. I had run this in the opposite direction many years ago on Celtman! But remembered little!
At some point it started raining. And then it was like riding under a shower head. We were on a road by now, and my new coat did an admirable job of keeping me dry, but it was still a bit epic. Near Strathcarron we happened upon a pub with umbrellas outside. We stopped to get extra layers on, but the lady who ran it waved us inside. She had already closed and hadn’t heard about the race before a team stopped to talk to her, but was encouraging us all to make use of the toilets and the back room to warm up and change. What a lovely lady!
Shortly, we were back ascending on a fire road before going over a high point on a rough track. I was feeling optimistic because it was all downhill back to a road from here, and despite being rocky and muddy it was mostly rideable. We went in pairs; Jon and I going ahead a bit, then watching the lights of Chloe and Andrea catching us before we set off again.
The riding came to an abrupt end however, as the path got narrower and harder going. We were forced to walk again, tripping and stumbling as we pushed our bikes on through the dark.
We had made a calculation of how much time we needed from the end of the next trek to get to the rafting on time. We thought a generous 5-6h, and by calculating backwards as we stood on that dark wet hillside, I knew we needed to be starting the next trek right about now…
When we emerged on the road all somewhat the worse for wear, we felt the need for a team hug before we could get moving again. About 10 seconds later Chloe’s light went flat (she was having a nightmare with batteries all race!) but we swapped things around to get us all legal and going again.
Second castle of the race, looking splendid
More road, pausing at Eilean Donan castle and quickly locating the control by looking closely at the map and reading the description instead of heading straight to the castle (we had seen a team searching there for a long time…)
Next transition was difficult. It was now light, but raining, and we weren’t allowed indoors with our kit bags. We dismantled the bikes outside first. I found a seat clamp on the floor and asked the team if it was one of ours. “No!” said everyone. I wasn’t so sure. Jon and I checked – it fitted Chloe’s bike perfectly, it was next to her box … we quietly put it back on and headed indoors.
Teams were getting crotchety with each other as bags were moved and they rummaged around in them. I had to go back and forth for things I forgot first time, and despite instructions I am sure some people were using the showers in the toilets as I queued for an age just to relieve myself.
Before long though, we were ready to set off again on foot for the final trek.
If you want to go straight to part 3 – it’s here! If you missed part 1 – it’s here!
Photo credits to Chloe (team photographer!), Rob Howard from Sleepmonsters and Photogractif
Episode 3 – official film
Planet Byde 