Yesterday I ran my first ever 100km race – The Plague, which
is part of the Roseland August Trail (RAT) set of races put on by Mud Crew
Events in Cornwall. I’d never run more
than 35 miles and hadn’t run at night so there was going to be a lot of
uncharted territory, especially given that my training hasn’t gone to plan this
year thanks to issues with my right lower leg.
But, kinesio-taped to the max, I was stood on the start line at 12:05am
on Saturday 17th August, feeling relaxed and ready to go.
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| Ready to run |
We started by running across some fields down to the coastal
footpath. The grass was soaking wet
which meant that I had wet feet within minutes of starting – not ideal, but at
least the torrential rain which had been plaguing us for the last few days had
disappeared and we were running with a clear sky and a reasonably big
moon. It was very calm and some of the
views as we ran around the coast were really special – a flat sea lapping onto
secluded beaches, gently lit by the moon and only experienced by those “lucky”
enough to be awake at 3am to enjoy it.
The first 5 hours or so of the race went pretty quickly.
Focusing on where I was going, avoiding falling into badger holes, off the edge
of the cliffs or down the endless steps meant that my mind had no time to
wander. The problem with that was that I’d
forget to eat and drink as often as I usually would. I don’t think it caused any major issues as I
realised this fairly early on and so consciously kept reminding myself. I don’t run with a watch though so I couldn’t
do anything like set an alarm. Maybe
something to bear in mind for future...
I enjoyed the wildlife on the night section. Owls were hooting all around us. At one point a bat flew in front of my head torch,
a lot of the rest of the time there were white moths dancing entranced by its
beam. Then as the sun rose lots of
rabbits came out to play.
I ran with people for most of the night. Early on this was my brother Barney which was
really nice – this was also his first race of this distance so it was good to
share a piece of it. I then ran for a
long time with a chap who had an impressive running CV and who entertained me
with stories from last year’s Spine race – it was an honour to speak to someone
who’d completed such a challenge and to understand how he’d approached it. Running with people helped with
navigation. We still got a bit lost from
time to time but were usually able to work together to make sure that the
damage wasn’t too big.
Our worst detour actually came just after dawn. I’m still not quite sure how we went wrong
but we found ourselves at the edge of a field with a thick gorse hedge blocking
our progress and no obvious way through it.
Luckily the light meant that we could see exactly where we needed to be going
and so we did a bit of off piste... This
involved crawling through tunnels in the gorse which had been carved by
cows.
My arms and legs were ripped to
pieces! The subsequent run across an uneven,
sloping field meant that my right lower leg started to ache quite badly which
was very frustrating as it had been fine until this point.
The next stage of the race was a real low point for me and
one where I got very close to pulling out. I stopped to put on a Compressport
calf guard (I’ve found this has helped in training) and to take an Ibuprofen (which
I’ve never tried in training as I don’t really approve of running on
painkillers). And after this I ran on my
own for quite a while. My leg was still
sore and I didn’t see anyone for ages.
At the same time, conversations at previous checkpoints meant that I
knew that I was making really slow progress – it had taken 5 hours to cover 20
miles so indications were that this was going to be a very long race. I convinced myself that I was coming near to
last and that, if my leg continued to give me grief, then I’d have about 10
more hours of dragging my sorry state up and down hills and steps as the
backmarker on the course. It didn’t seem
like a fun proposition. In the midst of
this I came to a field full of horses where 2 were blocking the stile in the
corner of the field and were very stubborn about moving. I could have called it a day there and then!
I knew my family would be waiting for me in Portscatho (4.5
miles from the turnaround point) and so I’d be seeing them soon. But I didn’t reckon I’d feel proud of myself
if I stopped when I saw them. I decided
I’d keep going to the turnaround at 50km and then get them to pick me up. And that’s what I said to them when I passed
them, feeling pretty miserable with the world.
Shortly afterwards I got to the Portscatho checkpoint. I mentioned how slowly I was going and the fact
that I thought I was coming last. The people
on the checkpoint were brilliant at lifting my spirits – they assured me that I
was far from last and was doing really well.
This buoyed my sprits a bit. They
were lifted further as I ran towards the turnaround and realised that everyone
who was in front of me didn’t have the 2 hour lead I’d been imagining. True,
some of them were 1 hour ahead but anything can happen in the second half of an
ultra. The Ibuprofen was also kicking in
at this point – coupled with a flatter section of the route this meant I was
able to run quite a bit and get into a rhythm.
When I passed Brett and Barney I asked them to pass on a message to my
family – that I wouldn’t be pulling out at the turnaround but would see them
back in Portscatho.
I arrived at the turnaround in 8 hours and was greeted with
a hug. Again, the people on the
checkpoint did wonders for me psychologically and I was hugely grateful to
them. I had a small portion of pasta and
tomato sauce and a cup of tea. I also
got out my MP3 player and plugged myself in – this was probably one of the best
decisions I made all race.
After about 10 mins I headed off, feeling significantly
better and with my favourite tunes pumping in my ear. The stretch to Portscatho was brilliant. I ran pretty much the whole way and loved
it. I was feeling really positive. This was also helped by knowing that the 50km
runners were all due to start 10 mins after I’d left the turnaround so I knew
they were chasing me down! In fact the
top two guys passed me at the Portscatho checkpoint and they were flying – it was
impressive to see.
 |
| Applying some vaseline on the way back through Portscatho |
I overtook a couple of Plague runners in Portscatho and was
feeling in a good place when I saw my family for the second time. I stopped briefly to say hello, apologise for
my previous mood, apply some Vaseline and take another Ibuprofen. Then I cracked on. The next stage was quite fun as the 50km
runners gradually caught up with me – they were hugely encouraging,
congratulating me as they went past or patting me on the back. It’s this sort of camaraderie that makes me
enjoy ultra-running above a lot of the other sports I’ve done.
The 50km runners also acted as useful pacers. Once the front guys had gone past, I found I
was able to keep up with the runners on the flats and downhills. On the uphills they would drop me, but then I
turned to my music which gave me a beat that made it a lot easier to trudge up
the endless climbs at a consistent pace.
At some point along this section it started to rain very
heavily. We’d been warned that it would
and I was grateful that the rain had held off for so long. I decided not to stop and put on my
waterproof as it was still reasonably warm so I got soaked to the skin. There were a few dry patches as the day
progressed but for the remainder of the race we were mostly running in
drizzle. With this plus adding the 11
and 20 mile runners to the route as well, the paths started to get really
churned up especially towards the end. It
was lethal and I wished I had by MudClaws on me – they’d have been in their
element on that sort of terrain!
The rest of the second half of the race is a bit of a
blur. I felt stronger and stronger as
time went on and began to enjoy the race more and more. Around Mevagissey I found myself overtaking
lots of Plague runners and that motivated me even more. With only 8 miles to go I also knew I’d
finish the race and I felt really proud of myself especially after my tough
patch at dawn.
The last section was particularly hard cos of the mud and a
lot of people were slithering and sliding around. But I knew I was almost there and so I had a
big smile on my face by this point. The
smile got even bigger as I crossed the finish line – it had been an incredibly
tough race but I’d pulled through and had done myself proud. 100km, 3300m of ascent and descent in 15 hrs
and 58 mins. I came 16th
overall (out of 56 starters). I was also
very chuffed to be 3rd lady and so came home with a trophy which
will take pride of place in our house.
A huge thank you to MudCrew for organising such
a great event. And especially to all of
those who helped motivate me out on the cours.  |
| Me at the finish |
Also thank you to Mammut, Compressport, LED Lenser for giving me some great kit to race in. And TORQ for fuelling me brilliantly as always. Unfortunately the weather meant I didn't get the chance to wear my Tifosi sunglasses though they've been great in training.
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