The story starts on the Sunday before Xmas 2013. A few SRC members met up with some speedy lads from Clowne RC to run 21 miles around the Grindleford Gallop course. I remember being pretty daunted by the thought of it. It would only be the second time I had run farther than 20 miles; and, I knew the course had some tough climbs. But, we were only jogging round, and I knew we would stop a few times for drinks and snacks.
On the day, the pace was a bit quicker than expected and the climbs were a bit tougher. However, I felt comfortable for the first 10 miles and at the midpoint rest we all had drinks, snacks and a chat. It was hard to get going again after stopping for 45 minutes, but the last 11 miles went by quickly and I felt strong throughout. We ended up running the course in about 2:52 – a good enough time to place pretty highly in the race itself.
Obviously the idea of actually doing the race came into my head at this point and when fellow club member Rob Jones decided to give up his place a few days later, I decided to go for it.
The race would be a series of firsts for me. First race longer than a half marathon. First race where I needed to know where I was going. First race with a checkpoint ‘dibber’. First race over fells, moors, and trails.
My preparation for the race was not great. I was averaging around 50 miles per week in training, but I was plagued by coughs and colds; I had a dodgy tummy on holiday in Egypt the week before; I bruised my feet trying to keep my mileage up on a cheap treadmill in the hotel gym; and, I knew I hadn’t done enough long training runs to really nail a 21 mile race. But, I tapered my training off the week before, took on extra carbs for a few days, and despite having a head full of snot, I felt pretty good on the morning of the race. I had maps, juice and a couple of gels, and a reasonable race plan: set off quick to avoid the bottleneck through the woods, settle down and hit the first checkpoint in about 24 minutes, and then run steady and strong throughout to finish in about 2:35 – taking gels at miles 10 and 15. I figured that this would be good enough for a top 5 finish. Not bad for my first long race.
When the hooter went to start, I tore across the field and entered the narrow path through the woods in about 4th position. I settled into a steady breathing pattern and prepared myself mentally for the first big climb. I went up the climb in second place feeling good. The eventual winner started to pull away at this point and another runner passed me soon after. I decided to be mature and let him go (a rare moment of good judgment!)
As I ran down the hill towards the first checkpoint at Eyam I felt OK – the 500ft of climbing in the second mile had definitely taken something out of my legs but I hadn’t been too daft. As I ran through Eyam I saw the course record holder Darren King spectating. “Let them shoot off,” he said. Wise words I thought and cruised through to the first checkpoint. As I beeped the dibber thingy for the first time I looked at my watch: 22:58. Whoops. I was going to challenge the course record at that pace and I knew I wasn’t that quick or strong.
As I ran out of Eyam I was determined to settle down. I got into a good breathing pattern and focused on the 600+ feet of steady climbing to the top of Longstone Moor. I could still see the front two a few fields in front of me as I climbed, and, unsurprisingly given my quick start, I had a decent lead on 4th place. As I reached the top of the moor and the end of mile 7, the visibility was awful. I couldn’t see more than 30 feet in front of me. I managed to take the correct right turn, but I then reached a fork that I didn’t recognise from the recce. I had to stop and get my map out – losing about a minute. As I set off again, the 4th placed runner from Totley caught me up. I decided that I would stick with him given that he seemed to know where he was going.
The descent into Great Longstone was rough under foot but very quick – and it turned out my new mate from Totley was a bit of a fearless maniac on the descents. We were down onto the Monsal Trail very quickly and into mile 10 with some purpose. As we started mile 11 after a drink of water at the checkpoint I questioned whether we were both going a bit hard given that we had covered the last 3 miles in just over 17 minutes. Totley agreed and we settled down a bit – covering the final mile along the Monsal Trail in a more sensible 6:19. Interestingly the people at the checkpoint said we were 2nd and 3rd – meaning that one of the frontrunners had either dropped out or got lost.
As we left the trail we hit a short sharp 400ft climb over mud, water and tree roots. My legs felt rubbish. I was paying for the quick start and the last few hard miles. I decided to walk a bit of the climb and get my first gel in – a bit later than planned.
At the top of the hill we took the trail towards Chatsworth and I started to get the first flickering of cramp in my calves. I stretched them out a bit as I climbed over the stiles and the cramp subsided. With hindsight, I think the water and the gel from 15 minutes earlier had taken effect. As we entered Chatsworth side-by-side, I started to feel stronger and I pushed on – opening up a 30 second gap as we hit the final checkpoint in Baslow. The traffic on the road was terrible and I had to literally ‘wait for the green man’ to cross, by which time Totley was back by my side. I started to fade again at this point – just at the point that we started the 700ft climb to Curbar and Froggat Edge. I took my final gel during a short period of walking up the final hill and battled through to the summit. I have to say the support all around the course was brilliant and it definitely kept me going at this point.
As we hit the trail at the top, with 3.5 miles to go, the gel must have kicked in and I started to feel back in the race. I knew that Totley would go down the final descent to the finishing line quicker than me, so I worked on opening up a gap. Despite falling pretty painfully on the rocks halfway along the Edge (my legs literally gave way), I settled in to a hard tempo pace for 2 miles and pushed forward to open up a decent lead. I knew I was sitting well in 2nd place and I was heading for a decent time – well exceeding my expectations. I had 1.5 miles to go – most of which was downhill through woodland. Looking good.
Then the wheels came off…
I have never hit the wall before. Having read up on it obsessively since, I know what happened. I know that my brain and my muscles need fuel to run. I know that the brain is actually really greedy and consumes a lot of energy whilst it is processing data and keeping your body functioning during a race. I know now that I ran out of fuel and my brain started to get confused – shutting down and sending me into a state of panic. As I started to feel faint, I slowed right up and Totley came past me. “I have nothing left” I said with a voice that seemed to come from somewhere else.
I remember looking down the trail and seeing two runners closing in on me. I set off running again, and stayed with the first of them for another 400m or so. But I was confused and unsteady on my legs and I was worried about killing myself on the hellish descent through the woods to the finishing line. I decided to stop and take a few swigs of pineapple juice from my bottle. I knew it was too little too late but it helped me gather myself. A very bemused lad from Stockport came past me into 4th place as I packed my drink back into my bag. I set off down the hill after him, but I couldn’t catch him. These fell runner lads can run downhill I thought to myself as I tried to pick a path where I wouldn’t end up in a heap.
The last mile was a bit of a blur but I crossed the line in 5th place in a time of 2:33. This was quicker than my target time and I should have been pleased. But I knew I had messed the race up.
The biggest mistake I made was probably not the daft pacing – although it didn’t help. It was not hydrating and taking on fuel before I actually needed it. My best two spells in the latter half of the race came 15 minutes after taking a gel – if I had taken gels earlier and added another one or two in I could have avoided the big dips in energy that cost me valuable minutes. Most importantly, I thnk I would have avoided the wall I hit when my body got through my stored energy supplies and the paltry 200ml of water and 200 in-race calories (2 gels) I had offered it in return for 21 miles of hard labour. What was I thinking?
Anyway, to finish the story off, the after-race support was fabulous. Hot salty soup, french bread, piles of cake, good banter with friendly organisers and runners, and the pleasure of seeing fellow club member (and designated driver) Helen Pickford finish the race in 3:20 with a massive smile. As Helen and I left we saw fellow SRC member Carolyn Gaunt finish in 3:41 – she had had a tough time too. Anna Lisa Gentile crossed the line a while later – having decided to take her time and enjoy the scenery.
Would I recommend the race to others? Absolutely – it sells out in 24 hours for good reason. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I do it differently? Oh, yes!
