My first 'official' ultra. The report may end up being long, but so was the race!
What an amazing day. It was put on by Ultra Trails, you can see their three events here:
I would really recommended them for anyone considering an ultra. So wonderfully inclusive and supportive. All the food at the aid stations was vegan and gluten free, which was particularly helpful for my friend and I π. Their cut off times are very generous so you can focus on getting to the end not trying to keep ahead of a certain time.
The ultra was just under 40 miles, there were 4 checkpoints. Start to checkpoint 1 was great, we were right at the back and the path was narrow, so there was plenty of enforced walking in the first couple of miles, very helpful to remove any temptation of setting off too fast. First 8 miles was great, super friendly folk at the checkpoint and while we were spaced out there was enough people that we didn't have to think about navigation as you could see people in front of you.
Checkpoint 1-2 (miles 8-15) was very similar to the first. There was a big long hill around mile 13. For the life of me I cannot picture this (and I've tried many times). There was a bit where there were a couple of signs (most of the route relied on you navigating) which were different to the gps file, which lead to several confused runners together trying to work out where to go, definitely part of the fun! We went the right way, got close to the checkpoint, hid in the hedge while some very friendly farmers took a herd of cows past us, got to the checkpoint as a nice group.
Checkpoint 2-3 (miles 15-22) still felt good, being very conservative and walking plenty to reserve energy. Started doing maths about what time I thought we'd finish (these weren't accurate π). Some slow hilly miles, some quicker downhill miles, all as planned. Lovely indoor checkpoint 3 with our drop bags. I had one of the best cups of tea I've ever had (on a par with the cup of tea I had during the Loch Ness Marathon!), I attempted to eat lunch and managed most of it.
Checkpoint 3-4 (miles 22-32) there were lots of very muddy fields where my shoes picked up massive amounts of mud and weighed a tonne. But every time I cleaned them off they picked up more. Plenty of walking here, we'd gone beyond just walking the uphills. But still quite a bit of running too. It had been raining on and off all day, but rain was getting worse here and I think because we were walking more I noticed it more. So while I'd packed my waterproofs not expecting to wear them, they went on and really helped.
Checkpoint 4-finish (miles 32-39.5) The first mile or so we ran. After that I pretty much walked to the end, with some attempts at running in the last couple of miles. It was dark, rain was quite heavy in places, my knees hurt. But we kept going, made it, ran through the finish and now I'm an ultra runner!
It is addictive. I shall be doing more! But I shall continue to find ultras with very nice cut offs π