For the past few weeks, people have been asking the same questions about me running the 100km trans pennine ultramarathon.......mostly "why??!" and "you do know that you can get a bus??!" Mostly I've been replying, "why not?" or "I want to see if I can do it"
Well after around 6 months of stressing and not doing as much training as I'd like to have done, yesterday was finally the day of my very first ultramarathon!
The first 20km was, even though I say so myself, a breeze! I've recently run a local half marathon in a fairly good time and therefore I thought I'd take it easy and not use up all my energy in the first 5th of a very long slog. At this moment I found my first running buddies, 2 phd students from Manchester and we ran to the first rest stop where we refueled quickly and set off again towards the countryside and the route set out for us. The route consisted of a fairly large urban section and finished off with a steep climb out of Manchester and out towards the villages of the Pennines.
As the saying goes, "What goes up, must come down" after the climb out of Manchester came the steep drop down towards the 2nd rest stop at the 28km mark where my support team was waiting for me with supplies. As we crested the hill it became obvious to me that it was far too steep for me to run down at a fast pace. My new running pals went on ahead as I took it easy on the slope, as they were nearly 10 years younger than me I soon lost sight of them and I carried on with my first of many sections of this ultra which I would take on alone! I arrived at the only rest stop where supporters were allowed to attend before the halfway point to find my girlfriend, my mate and his girlfriend had donned homemade support tee shirts and were doing a fantastic job at cheering, not just me but all the runners. I took this opportunity to fuel up again and have a cup of tea! As I wouldn't see them for a while, I bid my mate farewell and gave my girlfriend a kiss and a cuddle!
I left the rest stop and started the long 28 or so km towards the half way point at Penistone. The route took me along a fantastic part of the Pennines! Lakes and reservoirs towered by cliffs and large hills/small mountains. It was a spectacular view and it was the most enjoyable part of the whole ultramarathon! As I was running, I did start to detect an issue on my quad just above my left knee! This coupled with my right calf cramping up I stopped off at the next rest stop where I spoke with one of the medics staffing it. She treated my leg with an ibuprofen gel and a ibuprofen tablet. With my leg mending I started refuelling from the rest stop, an amazing choice of pick n mix with a huge selection of cakes and other tasty treats. Off I went up into the hills again.
The last rest stop before the half way point was at the end of a long sweeping hill, luckily for me it was all down hill! I had a few guys running behind me but ahead I hadn't seen anyone for about an hour! My spirts were still high and my moral was good and I was happy and able to run all the way to the next rest stop.
The next 8km was a dull slog through an old train route. It was like running down a tunnel of trees which gave you no idea of where you were or how far you had gone! This was where my first doubts started to set in. However I brushed them away and managed to hit the half way point without issure.
Another 5km and the halfway point of Penistone came into view! My support team was there with open arms! The food on offer was pretty good, I went for a jacket potato with pasta in a tomato sauce! Lovely carb on carb! Just what I needed! What I also needed was a massage...........thank god for the massage tent!
With my belly full and my legs refreshed I said goodbye to the "Team Bones" Support team and left on the longest slog before I saw them again, a full 30.5km without seeing them...............I should have seen what was to come coming a mile off! How was I to know that the next 30km was going to be some of the most soul destroying moments of my life!!! I was going to be hitting the wall almost constantly in 15km........but for the moment, I felt great!
And so it went on..............there was a fantastic bit at the beginning where the route took us through a wood where I bumped into 2 very large horses. Had a bit of a chat with the riders who were quite impressed with what I was doing! On I went and I entered the hell that was the route from the rest stop between 66km and 74. Some kind hearted scummy kids had ripped off some of the route arrows! So at times you had to take a guess at the route, lets just say that I may have been one of the only ones who did not get lost on the route.
Arriving at the Wombwell rest stop my spirits were shot! There was still 11km before the next rest where I would see some friendly faces! I grabbed some more food, a drink and only half noticed the 3 guys dressed in Buff sponsored outfits and bottles of water strapped to their chests......little did I know that in 10km one of them would be pace running me back to my support team!
The route to Wentworth house, which was the last rest stop, was one long straight nightmare made up of an old train line turned cycle path! As I was going my girlfriend text me to see how I was going. I told her the truth that this section was hard and demoralising! Most of the last 10 or so miles was stop start walk jog and I was hurting bad! I don't normally run with music but I felt the need to distract myself from the pain in my legs so I was in a painful zone listening to music when one of the guys in the buff outfits came right up to me and yelled "Hi ya" in my ear and scared the shit out of me!!!
Turned out they were marshals of the run and were there to support us if needed. And boy did I need it! They stayed with me a little but I let them go ahead, 3 miles away from Wentworth house I got a huge boost of moral...........my team had tracked me down and they pulled along side of me and my girlfriend gave me a much needed hug, I'm not ashamed to say that as they bid me fairwell I very nearly burst in to tears. With the boost they had given me I had gone through the wall of pain that was holding me back and I was even able to catch the buff guys up the road, my team had gone ahead and were now screaming support from the roadside. I was just around the corner when I saw the entrance to the house, which had a very long driveway, my girlfriend was waiting for me and ran with me to the rest stop!
I arrived to find my dad had turned up to support me from there instead of the end of the race! With emotions running high I knew I needed to rest so I sat with a cuppa and a sandwich and had a "normal" chat with my dad and my team! I needed all of them to get me through the next 12.5km
Off I went alone, another runner came from behind and so I had a little company for a bit. This didn't last however as he was in worse shape than me so I went a head and didn't see him again till the end, when he was in a wheelchair!! So then, Sheffield. After the countryside and having to run across 2 ploughed fields (not easy after 88km) I hit the urban trail again.
The last of the route went through some housing estates and a golf course. The light was going and the route arrows were becoming harder and harder to see! As I was passing meadowhall the route entered the canal towpath. I'm used to this sort of route as I live near the grand union canal but my god it felt long!!!!
Finally the Don Valley Stadium, and the finish line was in sight..........so they send the route all the way round the other side! Grrrrr!!!
Now, as my team tells me. A few people didn't run in, but I thought...........why the hell not! I started running, I was going to finish the same way!
At around 22:30 on the 22nd of June I finished the 100km Manchester to Sheffield Trans Pennine Challenge.
