The Wye Valley One Way 50 & Brecon Beacons 40 2013

The Wye Valley One Way 50 & Brecon Beacons 40

The penultimate and final race of the Welsh Ultra Marathon Series organised by Might Contain Nuts.

Back in October I took part in the penultimate race of the welsh ultra marathon series through the stunning scenery of the Elan valley and along the wye valley path. This race started in the small town of Llangurig in Wales and ends in the village of Glasbury near Hay on Wye.
 at 7.15 am we arrived in Llangurig after a short bus trip from Glasbury, we just about had time for a quick toilet break and pre race briefing before we all started running along an incline towards the hills of the Elan valley. The weather was dull but dry and I had entered the race on a whim after feeling not too run down after the Ultra Trail Of Mont Blanc. I ran the first ten or so miles at a comfortable pace with my brother James, who had also decided to give the race another crack after a good result the year before.
 I had already run in the second race of the series back in the summer in the Brecon Beacons 40 (summer) race and had a good top ten result in a field of over 250 entrants, although I had missed the first race I still had a chance of completing the series as long as I didn't miss the final two races. The rules state that as long as you do 3 out of 4 of the races and one of those is the final race over the Brecon Beacons 40 winter course then you can accumulate points and have a chance in the series.
 Anyway back to the race, once we reached the edge of the Rhayader Dams we had a river crossing to get our feet nice and wet then a scenic run along the trails around the reservoirs before a steep incline out of the Rhayader area to the village of Llanwrthyll.
 By this stage I was feeling quite fresh so I left my brother and pushed the pace a little and on reaching the village of Llanwthyll I was lying in a top ten position. From here I ran steadily onwards on a rolling section along trails and hills and after about 6 hours of running I reached the large town of Builth wells at about the 35 mile point. I had moved up a couple of places and although I wasn't running at my full potential I still thought I could reach the end in under 8 and a half hours.
 From Builth Wells there is a very steep incline for a few hours but having done the race before I knew it was pretty much flat there after. Apart from a wasp sting on the knee I was actually feeling pretty good and managed to catch another guy about 8 miles from the end who was having problems passing a herd of cows. He confessed he hated the animals and that they were chasing him, so I told him to stick right behind me and we ran straight on through the herd without any problems. I was feeling a bit fresher so I picked up the pace again and ran on opening up a good gap.
 I reached the end 8 hours and 25 minutes after leaving the start line and was in 7th place. Another good run and after the results were published I was amazed to learn I was in 3rd place overall. It would seem that consistency is the key. The race was very well marshalled and marked through out and as you can see from the photos the scenery is pretty good too.

 

 

The Brecon Beacons 40 Winter Edition

The final race of the Welsh Ultra Marathon Series took part on a mild winters day at the beginning of December 2013. The start line was a small bridge over a canal in the welsh village of Talybont on Usk on the edge of the Brecon Beacons. There were over 250 entries for the final race and I was currently lying in 3rd place overall but with only 1 point in it I knew I was going to have to run well in order to hold on to that third place spot. The first two places were out of reach with Hugh Aggleton and Patrick Devine Wright in first and second place respectively. So at 7.30am we all ran off on the Taff trail before heading to the village of Llangynidr, I had settled into a top ten position and felt reasonably good although I was suffering from a cold and chesty cough. This was later to turn into a nine day lay-off from running with a course of antibiotics to clear it up but thankfully that was later and not before the race.

 After Checkpoint 1 the terrain started to climb and I had joined forces with another runner Rob Woolley from Australia who was visiting family in the UK, he being only 19 years old had already run The North Face 100 in Australia and seemed to be cruising and was very impressive for a lad of his age. After hearing that I was currently in 3rd place overall he kept with me for the remainder of the race to encourage me and help me through a couple of bad patches. I have the feeling that he could of kept up with the front two but he didn't seem particularly bothered and I was glad of the company and he seemed genuinely interested in some advice I gave him.

  Anyway back to the race and after a couple of short but very steep ascents we reached checkpoint 2 on top of a ridge over looking the beautiful scenery of Talybont reservoir and some of the higher beacons on the far side. From here we were to run along a rocky path and through a wooded section towards the Dolygaer Outdoor Centre and although some of the footing was awkward it was reasonably fast running and reached checkpoint 3 without any problems.

 

 

 At checkpoint 3 we refilled out bottles and continued to run across the bridge which separates Pentwyn and Pontsticill reservoirs, the views around here are pretty stunning but we had know time to hang around and had to climb a steep section in boggy wet conditions underfoot towards the summit of Waun Wen where we headed in a westerly direction towards the main road which splits the beacons in two. We reached checkpoint 4 on the other side of the road in under 3 and a half hours and according to my GPS we had covered over 21 miles which in these conditions and terrain I was quite happy with. The next stretch was to take us northwards along a fire road and pass two smaller reservoirs all the way to checkpoint 5 just down the road from the Storey Arms Centre, upon reaching this checkpoint we carried on regardless to what was the biggest climb of the day towards the summit of Corn Du.

 It was along this section that we caught a group of 3 runners thinly spread out running towards the summit, we managed to catch one up on the ascent and another two on the descent back down towards checkpoint 6 at mile 30. Things were going well up to now but then I was stung by a wasp on the back of my arm, unbelievably I was stung in the last race too on the inside of my thigh. The fact there are wasps about in October and December is strange enough but to get stung in two consecutive races makes me wonder if I give off a sweet honey stench whilst running or maybe it was just the chocolate and jelly babies they were attracted to, who knows.

 Anyway I tried not to let the annoying sting affect me to much but wether it affected my navigation skills I don't know but we completely took the wrong turn and ended up doing about ten minutes in the wrong direction, by the time we had righted the wrong turn we had lost twenty minutes and the three we had just overtaken were able to catch up, but luckily we had quite a big gap on the rest so there wasn't too much damage done.

 After a tricky river crossing we finally reached the final checkpoint at what was supposed to be mile 36 although it was more like mile 38. We had another six mile to go so the overall mileage happened to be 44 mile, but more miles, more fun. The last six mile was through fields and over stiles along the edge of the mountains and back into Talybont.

 Apart from a little game of cat and mouse with another couple of runners, Myself and Rob finished the 44 mile course in around 7 and a half hours in 5th and 6th place. Although I wanted to finish under 7 hours when I take into account the extra mileage and the terrain I am fairly happy with my result on the day. What I am even happier about is the fact that I managed to hold off the other athletes competing for third place overall and even opened up a bigger margin. Thank you to the organisers of the race who put on a very competitive series this year and although I finished second overall in 2010/2011 this result means much more to me because of the stronger competition and my much quicker race teams. I look forward to next year although I have the North Face Trangrancanaria race to do first in March which is part of the Ultra Trail World Tour. I'm also very tempted to do the Ultra Brecon 100 which Might Contain Nuts have organised for July the 5th. Happy running everyone.

 

 

 

UTMB 2013

THE ULTRA TRAIL OF MONT BLANC 2013

What is the Ultra Trail Of Mont Blanc I hear you say, well it is one very tough 105 miles around the Mont Blanc massif and traverses through three different countries, those being France, Italy and Switzerland. The race starts and finishes in Chamonix (France) and is run in a clockwise direction over the Alps and comprises of over 30,000 feet of elevation. The graph below gives you a sense of the ascent and descent and reaches points of almost 9000 feet.

 

 

The race started at 16.30 hours on Friday the 30th of August and the weather was stunning with clear skies and not a cloud in the sky. I felt nothing but emotional as I stood there in Chamonix with 2500 other runners and we were sent on our way to the music of Vangelis's Conquest of Paradise. Here I finally was after months of training and my heart was racing with trepidation and fear, in what was to be the hardest race of my life (so far). I kissed my wife Rachel and daughter Ellie goodbye shortly after I crossed the start line and onwards I ran for what was going to be 36 hours of extreme ups and downs.

 

 

The first 8km were to be the easiest of the entire run and as we ran along a dusty trail track to Les Houches nerves began to subside and each runner settled in to their own pace. Shortly after the first checkpoint at CP1 and as we began to ascend to the summit of Delevret I was lucky enough to shake hands with Killian Jornet and his dad. If you know anything about Ultra running then its fair to say that Killian is the number one ultra runner in the world and in my world is a huge inspiration, so I felt blessed to have met him and he wished me good luck.

 The climb to Delevret was short compared to what was to come later but was a taster of how things were going to be. I had already climbed to almost 2000 metres and things were only getting started. I was relieved to reach the summit and make the descent down into Saint Gervais where a huge party atmosphere was awaiting us all of the likes I have never experienced before

. In fact through out the whole event the support and enthusiasm of the people, villages and towns were unlike anything else Ive seen or heard before. If you've ever watched the Tour de France then you will know how passionate the crowds are, well this was on par with that great event. 

 For the next 20km it was uphill all the way a steady climb to Les Contamines and then a huge ascent that snaked up the mountain to the summit of Croix Du Bonhomme, it was about half way up the mountain that night fell and we all put on our headtorches which gave a fantastic spectacle of a huge line of lights snaking up the mountain all underneath a clear starry sky. Ive never seen stars so clear before and was truly in awe of the mountains underneath the glow of moonlight.

 

 

The next 40km were to be a rollercoaster of night time running, the mountains were truly splendid but the terrain was rocky underfoot and the descents were as hammering on the knees and quads as much as the ascents. The checkpoints along the route were comforting places to be for a few minutes and were stocked with everything a runner could need. Food ranged from cake, chocolate, fruit to more savoury delights such as sauasage, cheese, bread, pasta and soup. There was always a kind word from the volunteers and you left each checkpoint fully prepared for the next section. Some checkpoints were manned by ultra runners such as Lizzy Hawker which was a great boost of encouragement. 

 As dawn broke I was on my descent into Courmayer (Italy) and although I already felt like I had run 100 miles the checkpoint at the sports centre was a welcome sight and I could collect my drop bag and put on a change of clothes and refuel for the second half of the race. 

 On leaving Courmayer I had another 20km uphill section to contend with to the summit of Grand Col Ferret (2536 metres). The weather on this second day was as glorious as the first and although the summits were far cooler the valleys were in the mid twenty's. The views from here were some of the most spectacular I've ever encountered and although every muscle was beginning to ache I was loving every minute if it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next section was the longest descent of the entire run for the Grand Col Ferret to the Plaz de fort was 15km of rocky single track and the poor old legs were beginning to beg me to stop and at times I felt like giving in to their demands. But onwards they went and after a short rest at Plaz de fort I began to ascend again, firstly to Champex Lac (Switzerland) and then on to the summit of Bovine. It was at Champex Lac where things were beginning to get mentally tough, I had been on my feet for over 24 hours now and as if by magic my morale was instantly boosted.

 Through out the race I had been texting my wife Rachel and she had been sending me supportive messages for the duration of the event. In fact she probably had as much sleep as I had (nil) but never stopped encouraging me. I was also lucky to have my brother James back home in the UK who was watching my progress on the UTMB website. He had got word from Rachel that I was beginning to struggle so he put a message on Facebook for everyone who knew me to text me immediately with supportive messages and wow! what a response I got. Message after message came flooding in each one boosting my morale and I was so overwhelmed by the support that the tears began to flow. I knew one thing from that moment on and that was I was finishing this race no matter what.

 

 

 



The light was beginning to fade again and for what was to be my second night on the move and with out sleep it took every effort to put one foot in front of the other. I had already travelled over 130km and with just another 40 km to go I knew it was going to take me until the early hours of the morning to make it to the finish. So onwards I went up Catogne then down to Vallorcine and back into France we were. Every ounce of my body was begging me to stop but I refused to give up and although I was almost asleep at times and having what only can be described as hallucinations I knew that the final ascent was upon me.

 And what an ascent it was! it was if the organisers had saved the best (worst) for last. This ascent was the rockiest, boulder climbing, ladder assisted climb of the lot and from the base of the mountain all I could see was a continuous line of head torches that seemed to go on forever. But I knew once I was at the top it was downhill all the way into Chamonix.

 So I attacked the climb with everything I had and after what seemed like eternity I stood at the summit knowing in my heart that I had done it. It was from the final checkpoint at La Flegere that I text my wife to say I would be in Chamonix in about an hour. The final descent was glorious and as I made it down the mountain, dawn broke. I ran through the streets with my heart filled with pride and even though it was the early hours every one who was up in the town cheered and hollered shouts of Bravo! Bravo!

 In the final half mile I was greeted by Rachel and Ellie and good friend Chris who had come to watch me finish after travelling around France. So as my wife videoed me I picked up my daughter and ran towards the finish line, so happy to have finished the biggest adventure yet.

 

 

 

 

What can I say about the UTMB except it was absolutely bloody fantastic and I haven't got a single bad thing to say about it. If your reading this and think Id love to do that, then put on your running shoes and get training, you wont be disappointed. Out of 2469 starters 1685 finished the course and I was in the top third. Positions meant little to me though it was the experience that I loved and I will be going back. Although I've got plenty more other races I want to do first, including an attempt on a record. Watch this space!

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Run To The Coast (In Memory Of Tom Dallow) 2013

RUN TO THE COAST 2013

 (For St Michael's Hospice and in memory of Tom Dallow)

Hi Guys, I thought it was about time I updated my Blog so I will start with a Charity run I did in July and in my next post (coming shortly) I will do a write up on the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc. I will start with Run to the Coast which myself and my brother James organised after the sad death of our friend and work colleague Tom Dallow. Tom was suffering from cancer and spent his last remaining days at St Michael's Hospice in Hereford.
 We decided in his honour we would run from our place of work in Weobley to the welsh coast ending at Aberystwyth Pier. This would be 65 miles in total and would be in all essence a Cross Wales Run.

 

 The Run started on the morning of Saturday 13th of July and as it would turn out ended up being the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius. The route would take us along the A road to Rhayader then from here we would take the old mountain road past the dams to Devils Bridge then straight into Aberystwyth to the pier.
 We were to be joined by two other work colleagues Craig and Andy who would accompany us along the route on bicycles and protect us from traffic, as well as my wife Rachel in the 4x4 with drink and food.
 It was 6am when we left Weobley and were lucky enough to have most our work colleagues come to see us off, including Toms wife and daughter. The first couple of hours were easy enough and we laughed and joked along route, especially at the fact that one of our cyclists Andy had forgotten almost every bit of essential kit that he needed for the day, I'm surprised he didn't forget his bike,
 After an hour or two we were joined by my Dad and his wife Pat who ended up following us in their little Nissan Micra for the whole journey and who were great support through out.
 On reaching Rhayader (35 miles) about 11.30am this is where the terrain started to get a little harder and the next 3 mile was to be a long uphill climb to the top of the Cambrian hills where the views and scenery were stunning. The weather although beautiful was warm indeed by now and we were stopping about every 3 to 5 miles to fill our bottles with electrolyte and water.

 

 The next few hours were run along quiet small roads with hardly any traffic and it gave the cyclists a chance to stretch their legs a bit as the runners were reasonably safe from traffic. We were also joined by more work colleagues on their motorbikes and cars and every one of them were amazing and would end up following us all the way to Aberystwyth. The support from the public was also great and people even stopped to donate money for our cause.
 We arrived at Devils Bridge (50 miles) about 8 hours into the run and although we were suffering a little in the heat we were both in high spirits and enjoying the whole experience. The next section of the run would take us back on a busy A road all the way into Aberystwyth and this where the cyclists once again became our protection and what a fantastic job they did.
 We plodded on for the next couple of hours and on turning one particular corner we were treated to views of the sea with Aberystwyth and the welsh coast. Its fair to say that I was feeling quite emotional at this point and thoughts of our friend entered my mind and how happy and proud he would of been to see that we were almost there.

 

 And so it was that after almost 11 and a half hours of running we were escorted into Aberytwyth by friends on there motorbike all the way to the pier where we were greeted by an assortment of friends and family. We hugged and embraced one another and after a quick photo and chat we walked down to the sea where we immersed ourselves in the cool water to relieve our aching legs. We had done it.
 I am proud to say we raised over £1000 pounds for the hospice and feel very lucky to have friends and family like ours who supported us through out the day, all I can say is thank you all.

On The Road To UTMB  (Cotwold 45 and Brecon Beacons 40)

Hi all, wells it been quite a while since my last post but I'm happy to say that after a lengthy spell around Christmas time of ulcerative colitis I am now champing at the bit and back to running ultras again and the break didn't seem to do me too much harm as my last two races in preparation for UTMB 2013 have been gone surprisingly well. Lets start with the Evesham Cotswold 45 and then I will follow with the Brecon Beacons 40.

The Evesham Cotswold 45(April 2013)

This would be my first race since the Ridgeway 85 back in August and although my health had been good since the middle of January and I was logging around 60-80 miles a week in training I was still pretty apprehensive on my return.
 The race starts in Evesham and follows 45 miles of beautiful country side around the Cotswold hills and follows the Cotswold way, wychavon way as wells as others. The race is organised by Cotswold Running and after a few moments of silence following the Boston Bombings there was a short 10 minute walk to the start line.
 The race started on a great spring sunny day and conditions were ideal for running, the ground was firm and we all headed off in a group for the first few miles. However it soon became evident that somebody had been playing silly buggers with the course signage so for the first six miles we used our maps or gps to navigate. On reaching the first checkpoint however things were back to normal and I found myself in around 7th or 8th place.
Things had been relatively flat up to now but the climbing (or though know where near mountainous) was beginning to increase. I knew I was strong on the hills as I had been training regularly in the Brecon Beacons in preparation for the UTMB and the hills here were definitely my strong point and as I reached the 2nd checkpoint (little Beckford) I was now in 5th place.
I had my wife and daughter crewing for me again and both were great and meeting me at the next checkpoint and handing me whatever I needed, its always a great buzz to see them both especially when my daughter runs towards me to be picked up for a short while. As I left checkpoint 2 we passed through some flatter fields before reaching the bottom of a nice long climb and it was clear that the two runners in front were slowing down. I hit the hill hard and now found my place in 3rd place as I descended the other side, this is where I joined forces with another runner called Chris for a while and fed off each others energy all the way to checkpoint 3 and then onwards after some more lovely hills into Winchcombe at checkpoint 4.
 As far as any stomach issues were concerned this was definitely one of the best races I have ever done and had no intestinal problems at all, I don't know whether it was the long break over Christmas or just better food strategy which comprised of real food and organic energy gels, but whatever it was I was glad it was working.
 From Winchcombe onwards my running partner for the last 10 miles or so was beginning to flag slightly and I felt great so I pushed the pace slightly and a clear gap soon opened so onwards I ran alone. There were more hills a plenty and I didn't feel taxed at all by these and never walked a single one which I was very happy with and with a few more climbs I arrived at checkpoint 5 (stanway) raring to keep going. I was told that 2nd place was 12 minutes in front and with 16 miles to go I thought it was probably unlikely to catch him up now. However I was going to try my best and so I left the checkpoint and hit the climb hard up to Broadway tower and into checkpoint 6.
 I was now apparently only six minutes behind 2nd place so after a quick kiss from wife and daughter I hurried onwards down hill and even found myself doing a couple of 6 minute miles on the steep descent it was here that in the distance I could make out the shape of another runner maybe 1/2 a mile away. I hit the flat at a steady pace and arrived at the final checkpoint at wickhamford only two minutes behind 2nd.
For the last 4.5 miles I dug as deep as I possibly could and on entering Evesham town centre I had 2nd firmly in my sights and was catching up quickly and with literally 100 metres to go I over took 2nd place and sprinted to the finish tape just 5 seconds in front. What a great race and without doubt one of my best runs. If your wondering about 1st place well the race was won by GB International 24 hour racer Robbie Britton who was twenty minutes in front. So to finish 2nd in a time of 7 hours 11 minutes I was more than happy. I thoroughly recommend this race the organisation was great with some great scenery and plentiful aid stations.

 

 

Brecon Beacon 40 (May)

After a great first race of the year it was time to take on the challenge of the Brecon Beacons 40 organised by Might Contain Nuts. The race is ran over a very challenging course over the Beacons national park and included 9000ft of ascent over 40 mile. The race is billed as the summer version but as we were all about to find out there was nothing summery about the weather at all.
 The race starts from Talybont on usk at the base of the mountains and after an early morning drive and quick registration it was time to get those feet moving for 7 or 8 hours.
 The first 6 miles took us up tor-y-foel a nice 600 metre mountain to start out with which on arriving at the top gives great views of the area. However on this particular morning the visibility was very poor and it was already raining hard. On reaching the top I was lying in around 6th place and comfortably ran down the other side to checkpoint one and with plenty of fluid I ran straight through. This is where I made a navigational error and with a couple of other runners we took the wrong path and it was several minutes before we noticed so we headed back up the path to join the correct route, however I was now in around 20th place and not a happy bunny.
  For the next five or six mile the terrain included a winding single track through the woods and I found it hard to overtake on the path so I settled in until the path became wider and I could manoeuvre around some fellow runners. On arriving at checkpoint 2 (pontiscilli reservoir) I had overtaken a couple of athletes but was still in around 15th place.
This is where the course gets really going though and its a 7 mile uphill climb to the top of pen-y-fan through bog, rocky cliff edge path and howling wind and rain. I struggled on regardless and was encouraged onwards by the parachute regiment lads training on the mountain in what looked like unbelievable heavy backpack, webbing and rifle, As a former Royal Engineer myself I had nothing but respect. I wasn't running too badly now and as I reached the checkpoint at the top (respect to the Marshall in those conditions) I had picked off another 5 or 6 runners and was now in the top ten. The next stage was a steep descent to the base of the mountain at the Storey arms only to turn back round and climb to the top off pen-y-fan again via another path to reach 886 meter peak. By this stage we still had 15 mile to run but I was now in around 7th place and all the training seemed to be paying off as my legs were still feeling strong. From the top of pen-y-fan it was another steep descent to the base of the mountain but this time from the other side which leaves us at the military car park at cwm cmwch, I had a great run down the mountain and even though the weather was still foul and the lightning and thunder had joined us I was loving every minute and was now in 5th place.
 This is where the killer climb arrives after almost 30 miles of running the route now takes you up to the top of cribyn via a ridge and the last section to the top is like climbing a rocky ladder to the summit and unfortunately for me this is where I started to have a few stomach problems. I think my mistake had been ingesting too many energy gels at the checkpoints which were of the variety I had never tried before, I should of learnt my lesson from previous runs but at the time I was trying to make up lost places and just ran through the checkpoints grabbing the gels and moving through eating on the run.
The final 9 miles were far from easy although the main climbs were now over there was still plenty of bog and rocky path to keep us occupied and the final descent back into Talybont was slippery to say the least. Its just a shame that the last 9 miles were a strain on my stomach and I had to stop 3 times for toilet breaks and had to significantly slow down the pace to ward off the cramps and pain. But overall the race had been good and was a great training run for UTMB. So as I ran over the finish line to the sound of cowbells and cheers I had finished in 9th place in a respectable field of ultra runners in a time of 7 hours and 25 minutes. On another day I think it could of been a top five finish but I was more than happy with my day.
 Since finishing this race I have had a few more problems with colitis but as well as my medication I have embarked on a wheat and gluten free diet and have cut out most dairy and the signs are promising at the moment so hopefully come UTMB I will have a diet plan to enable me to run to the best of my ability.
 The plan until then is to do lots more training in the mountains and I am also going to take part in the Conti 12 hour race at the end of June for a bit of fun and camp over for a few nights with family and friends at the race venue Catton Park. Until next time take care all.