Fellsman 2008

Every now and then you just have one of those races when it all comes together. After a two week taper I felt alright, but I constantly worried that a cold or some unforeseen injury would strike. In other words I was getting to be a bit of a hypochondric. Every 2 minute jog to the corner shop was analysed minutely afterwards for signs of a lack of form. Doubts lingered about the fact that my long runs were only about 20-25 miles and if that was really enough.

After a fairly chaotic morning in Threshfield we got bussed to the start in Ingleton. I was advised that my trail shoes would not be allowed (wrongly as it turned out as a couple of people got away with what seemed like road shoes) so I wore my Mudclaw 330s. Finally under blue skies and steadily creeping temperatures around about 300 'hikers' were set off at 9am. My rough gameplan involved getting up Ingleborough in about 45mins and taking it steady from there. It was easy to settle into a comfortable pace in the middle of the pack, but the sun was giving a taster of what was to come. The drop down from Ingleborough was steady but as soon as we hit the paving slabs, my thighs turned to jelly. The further into the valley the route went, the less wind there was and it was oppressive. I staggered along the road from Hill Inn and although only about 26C I wilted fast. Periodic streams allowed me to pour water on my head and I guzzled water, desperately trying to stay hydrated whilst struggling up Whernside. To add insult to injury a stream of runners steadily passed by. I was having a bad time and my ambition withered to just to getting to Dent before calling it a day. The misery continued into Kingdale as even on the flat bits I had no energy and pace. Still I was roughly on a 13-14h schedule and on the next climb I resolved to at least get to 40 miles before quitting.

After another refreshment stop, where I took on another litre of fluid, I decided enough was enough and I switched on my MP3 player. I was too miserable to enjoy the views anyway so I wasn't missing much. A bit of Bruce Springsteen and Die Toten Hosen and the hills didn't seem so bad. Where before I was struggling now I was even gaining on the runners in front. After Gragareth I began to enjoy the steady grassy running and after a horrible steep descent on a cobbled track I reached Dent in relatively good shape. The skies clouded over to provide some respite. Other runners about me looked as though they were struggling which gave me extra impertus to push on. Perhaps everyone was struggling?

Maybe it was the lukewam milky tea or the ibuprofen, but I felt so much better and enjoyed the next short section of road. In fact all the way to Fleet Moss past Stonehouses was steady and even enjoyable although the very hazy weather spoilt the views. The climbs felt never too bad and the music kept me jogging on. I was still keeping on a 14 -15h target and was happy that I could still drop some time and still finish before midnight.

I had heard much about Fleet Moss and the various ways around it. It looked grim from the roadside checkpoint, but I just took a direct line and plugged through. I hadn't banked on there being so much bog, but fairly easy navigation lead over Middle Tongue at last to Hell Gap and the track to Cray. The steadily dropping distance left to cover after every checkpoint was tagged was a superb motivator. Twenty miles to go sounds so much better than forty miles run.

Leaving Cray I had caught up with a couple of guys and I was keen to push a bit on the hills before the grouping up time, which is a safety requirement when it gets dark. I managed to pull away on the climb to Buckden Pike and opened up a gap so I had some 'waiting time' to recover. It also meant that I had some more experienced runners to help navigate the last bit to Yarnbury from Park Rash! Yarnbury took ages to reach and was a painful experience, staggering in the dark (in both meanings of the word) along hard tracks following an endless succesion of beacons. Once at the road we de-grouped and legged it down, through Grassington, past hordes of drunks in the local pubs and finally up the last cruel hill to the finish at the school. At last there was nowhere else to run to and I could stop!

Due to my mental state I can't recollect what time I got, but it was around 14hs and I placed in the top 10. An absolutely superb result for me and quite unexpected. So it looks as though my training and the length of taper did help. As soon as I stopped my legs locked up and I realised how sore my feet were. I was hot all over and my big toes were black and I was naseaus (in fact I couldn't eat until late the next day). Although my technique of training by running shorter runs at a harder pace got me the fitness, longer runs may help toughen up my legs and feet. I have no idea yet if I would do The Fellsman again, but I would recommend it whole-heartedly. Just don't expect an easy run.