New territory

It's been an exciting weekend down in the Peak District competing at the Ultra X 50 England event.  We'll get to my race in a minute but for me the best part was seeing my partner Beth complete the bigger event, the 125 X held over 2 days.  When you enter the world of ultra running, it's very different to marathon running or Ironman events.  The whole vibe is different and it's difficult to explain, but I'll try.  Time almost becomes immaterial as so much is determined by the amount of ascent/descent, the technicality of the climbs and the conditions under foot.  So making comparisons doesn't really tell you anything.  I remember in the Marathon des Sables they said if you were a 4 hour marathon runner then the same distance in the Sahara Desert was between 6-8 hours.
We'd camped on the Friday night as the 125 km race (2,847m of ascent) started at 7am on the Saturday morning.  There's nothing like trying to get a good nights sleep under canvas when in the next field they are partying.  Follow that in the morning with freeze dried porridge and you get the point, it's not like falling out of bed and having the Full Scottish! For some unknown reason over 30 competitors had decided not to turn up, perhaps they realised how tough the course was, so up at 5am for a 7am start and around 80 competitors headed off into the hills (27 of them dropped out during the race). I spent the rest of the day going from check point to check point cheering her on and trying to get her through the barrier at 50km which was her previous longest race.  This was "new territory" when you extend your longest race by 50% and no matter how much you prepare for it, you have to experience it.  She did great and descended a tricky path off Mam Tor to finish in the darkness which isn't easy.  Every step is a potential ankle break.
Now for some freeze dried dinner before a night under the canvas again - luxury it wasn't.  We were both running the 50km (1,924m of ascent) the next day, but I was doing it on fresh legs.  I tried to convey to Beth that yes your legs will be stiff and sore but start slowly and the legs will warm up.  Completely forget and never refer to the fact you did 75km the day before - it's not relevant, just go checkpoint to checkpoint and ignore the target 50km.  Once Beth had left I packed away the tent just as it started to rain.
The 125 runners started at 8am and the 50km runners at 10am to ease the congestion and not to demoralise the 125 km runners if they were overtaken by someone on fresh legs.  The start was down hill with long flat sections across beautiful countryside and I was flying.  I just felt good and thought, let's not hold back and take advantage of the conditions.  We started to pass the 125km runners and I passed Beth on a narrow technical section where she told me her knee and ankle were swollen.  That wasn't good news as it would make the downhill extremely painful but "shit happens" in races.  This is much more of a running race than a lot of ultras which I loved.  The hills are not as steep as they are in Scotland but they do go on for a long time.  None more so that the 11km from the last CP which goes up Loose Hill to Mam Tor and the worst bit is, you can see just how far you have to go along the ridge to get off Mam Tor.  The Ultra X series is a younger persons event looking at the runners.  While there is an over 50s section there is no over 60s section which puts me at a distinct disadvantage.  As I headed along the ridge to Mam Tor I tried to close in on a group of youngsters but couldn't get close to them, until the downhill.  Thanks to my Tinto repeats and time in the Scottish mountains, I turned the throttle on full as I started to descent.  I flew past 5 of them as their quads were shredded and they struggled with the last 2.5 km downhill before 1.5km on tarmac with a slight uphill to finish.  I finished in 7hrs 22 mins, was 62nd out of 262 runners and 3rd over 50 - I'll settle for that.
Beth had reached the last check point and it was getting dark and starting to rain.  She still had Loose Hill and Mam Tor to get over and the tricky descent and 11km to cover.  Her battery was running out on her head torch and she was on her own.  She phoned me and it's fair to say I was concerned for her safety - there are no marshals on the course.  But she was determined so she headed off.  One thing the younger runners don't understand is helping other runners who are in trouble or at risk if on there own.  She was left by a few groups and that really isn't on because you could easily fall and seriously hurt yourself.  I was delighted and relieved when she crossed the finished line.  While sobbing and saying never again she managed to head butt me!  Yes we've all been there and within 24 hours she's planning her next ultra.  But she crossed into new territory.  Increasing your longest race by 50% to 75km then running 50km on tired legs the next day after two nights under canvas.  That's the magic of having a WHY, raising over £1,100 for the Beatson Cancer Charity (thank you to all that supported her) and knowing that while she had a choice to give up when she was at her lowest point, cancer suffers battle on.
My new territory was "racing" the 50km rather than being happy to complete it.  My training up to the event had been mixed with various injuries but I used my experience and got the elevation in on the mountains and rested up the week before the race as I was tired and carrying a calf strain that could have put me out of the race if I'd trained.  I flew through the check points making up loads of time on those runners fannying about - you can eat your food on the uphills.  I hunted down the ones in front.  With all these races the competitors all have their own stories as to why they are there.  For many they entered new territory and the question they will be asking now is, if I can run 125kms , as Beth did, what's the next challenge?  Watch this space.  In the meantime we will rest, recover and repair - one ugly swollen ankle and sore knee.  I'll introduce Beth to my "medical team"!