Race Report - THE HILL ULTRA - December 2015

48 hours

160 miles

1 HILL

If that doesn’t excite you enough; if you’re not on pace to complete you’re off, if you stop for more than 30 minutes you’re off. 

Race full at 40 runners.  First year = 1 finisher, second year = 3 finishers, third year = we’ll see.

I was good to go; well as good as I was going to be. I had missed a fair bit of training due to other things going on, but the mind was focused and I was really looking forward to the challenge.

Thanks to the very empty toll road after a not so empty M25 I got to the start on time.  The Cat and Fiddle Inn was to be our fantastic base camp; warm, welcoming, and full of runners and kit boxes.

I registered, caught up with a few familiar faces, said “hi” to a whole load of new ones, and starting trying to work out what to wear.  It wasn’t cold, and not raining, just WINDY.

 

The wind was already feeling gale force, walking back and forth to the car lugging kit was a mission in itself, Javed was there to help me, lucky too as I couldn’t even open the front door in the wind!

Kit was going to have to be stored inside just to prevent it from blowing away; which would make changing easier anyway, and hopefully quicker, food/drink was fine outside, there was a place to leave it just behind the dibbing station.

So then dibbers. Round the wrist or neck and told you MUST dib at the top of the hill, and back in the car park or the entire lap would not count. I certainly wasn’t to run a lap for free, as fun as it may be, I would need every one of the 55 laps to count.

The start 20:00 Friday night, sirens, cheers, and 37 of us running down the road with the wind behind us, and feeling invincible.

  

No headphones allowed, no problem, couldn’t have heard a thing anyway. The wind was insane. Not one part of the course was sheltered from it. As you ran towards the hill it was behind you, there was one particular stretch it literally picked you up and catapulted you along the path; which would have been great except I couldn’t really see where my feet were landing and I tripped many many times on the rocks.

My legs were feeling good so made the most out of the ‘help’ relaxing and running quicker down this stretch, pretty much just hoping for the best in where it took me. There were several smaller hills along this part and I liked to think the wind would at least be on our side for these.

Through 2 gates, cross a few big puddles (you soon learnt the right way round these sections, having gone to the wrong side a few times and losing my trainers in the mud – not sure who stopped to catch me but thank you!)

At the end of this stretch you turned left, through a gate, and in the daylight (fog allowing) would see the hill in front, it was a bit of a basin, with a downhill section first on stones and rocks, which required a bit of carefulness not to trip, then start climbing up.

I ran the first few, then got into the routine of run/walk the hill. I kept to the same pattern for the rest of the race. The second night did throw me when my green glow stick which was the start of my walk disappeared, when you look at the exact same features, and terrain for 48hrs you notice every little thing.

My walk/run breaks did change slightly on the way back to the start as the race progressed, this was purely down to the wind; it got stronger as it went on and running into it for me became impossible in parts. It always came from the right, luckily there was a grass bank to the left of us which I was constantly being pinned against. The force of the wind would take you off your feet, spin you round and send you backwards.  I went through a not so happy time of tripping, kicking myself, and falling over, having realised this was still only the first night.  

I found the first night hard, I was doubting my fitness a bit too much, I was battered, bruised, was convinced I’d missed a lap, and was getting annoyed I was feeling tired when I never get sleepy during race. I had to sort this out quickly or it was going to be a very long run home.  The runners around you helped a lot, and I remembered why I was here; I wanted this challenge, plus above everything I had family and friends at home tracking how things were going, and as always a pranic team supporting every step of the way.  

Day broke, which makes everything better, I could now see where I was running, and could at last see the faces of people you had been saying “hey” to all night.

I got into a much better frame of mind. I was eating well, drinking not as well, but was pretty content knocking out the laps, and working hard into the wind.

I took one lap at a time, the noise in your ears was deafening, trying to think was difficult but that probably helped in the long run. 

It was simply a case of run/walk/DIB/run/walk/DIB/drink/eat and repeat over and over again.

The other runners out on the course were amazing, the leaders were flying and looking great. I noticed there was a screen by the dibber in the carpark and I became a bit obsessed with seeing each lap register. I was gaining in position, I think I started looking when I was 9^th, then 8^th, 7^th, I was at 6^th for quite a while.

Everyone out on the course was supportive, I had no idea of who was ahead of me or who was winning, but it was nice to exchange a nod, cheer, hey, or whatever when you met someone. You could tell the numbers had reduced, I knew John Duncan and Andrew Ferguson, and ran with them here and there, couldn’t hold a conversation for love nor money though, even back in the pub getting kit you couldn’t hear what anyone was saying to you.

I did not think about mileage at all. It was all laps, they were taking me about 45 minutes, my quickest was clocked at 29, my slowest I have no idea, based on 45 minutes I could tell how long I had left to go, that didn’t help,  so I didn’t think of it like that again! I did however leg it back up the hill on one occasion not quite convinced I had dibbed at all, Noanie was at the top at the time and was she sure I had, nevermind the risk of throwing away 45 mins was not worth it.

After a day of running the second night felt better, I’d got used to the footings, and where best to run, there were less people around so less people to get flung into by the wind, and the number of laps left were reducing.  

I remembering marching up the hill during the second night to be asked by another runner if I could let him know if the people at the top were real!  They were. Well we exchanged pleasantries and they tried to give me a flask of coffee. Looking back now I’ve no idea if they actually were real or not.

I was catching up to 5^th, it was really close, I just kept going, and tried to stay awake, I was definitely switching off at times, it didn’t help that you had to close your eyes into the wind (which when you have been awake so long is always an ill-advised thing to do) plus we now had the start of the promised rain.  

The rain not hard yet but it felt like needles going into your eyes and face, it was yet another thing to try and beat you down. My legs were feeling it, my body was feeling it, my feet were feeling it, injury had caught up with a quite a few people, which was an enormous shame for them, the wind was just causing damage by the constant strain it put on you. 

Those sections that I had been catapulted down and made to run faster, yeah; not so fun anymore, when the legs and feet start to hurt I was having to put the brakes on against the wind.  The soles of my feet hurt to land on the rocks, and my legs did not want to run so quickly any more, I tried to relax and rise above it; it was kind of working, the pain definitely felt worse if I thought too much.  

I went back to focusing on just a lap at a time, then a section at a time,  food was still working well, I just had to keep the mind away from the body and the doubts, and keep telling myself I could do it.  

At last head torches off for the final time, but there was the darkest lowest cloud I have ever ran under, the rain became heavier, and more clothes had to go on. I do not like running in so many layers, especially waterproof trousers, but without them I was freezing.

I was now in 5^th, and feeling better and better about things, thoughts turned to racing not just completing.  I should have done this hours ago, days ago… too late now.  With five laps to go I stripped back down to race kit, I could race these five laps no matter what.  It felt like I was sprinting them, I ran with the wind.

Those first two laps made me; showed me again how powerful thoughts are, pain gone, I ran hard, I took 4^th, and felt fantastic.

Then the rain hit me hard. I froze. I was told the 3^rd place was 30 mins ahead, but he had only two laps to go, I couldn’t make up 30 mins in 6 miles.  I felt like I’d left it too late, had missed my chance …. instantly I went backwards. I struggled to complete the lap, when I finally did I put on every bit of clothing I had.

Those three laps also showed me how powerful thoughts were; and how they can affect you in the opposite way.

My knees and ankles were screaming at me, my feet were burning, I just had to keep it going for 9 more miles, see this as the final challenge, and not lose the 4^th I’d worked so hard for.

Last lap, it felt like I had nothing left to give, gritted my teeth, ignored my ankles, knees, feet, and just imagined myself on the final climb up the road into the finish. That’s all I could do now, I wasn’t going to get a podium finish, but I was going to become the first ever female to complete this course, and that was so very special.

What a brilliant challenge, the weather was brutal, outrageous at times, but I’m so happy to have finished. A MASSIVE congratulations to everyone who completed the challenge, and best wishes to all those who were not able to on the day. All my thanks and gratitude to pranichealing which without doubt pulled me round on this one, and to Noanie, Roz, Stu, Javed and Sharon who always cheered and looked after me at the end.

  

Thanks to Stu and Javed for the photos.