Unfortunately I don't have many photos from this race - I hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment of this report. The photos that appear were taken either by Rory Coleman or by Jen Salter. More photos can be seen here.
The ULTRArace website which details all of their races can be viewed here.
The story of this race begins in February after recovery from my knee injury. I knew I needed to find a long ultra race as preparation for the Commonwealth Championships later in the year and the ULTRArace.100 seemed ideal as being at the end of June it meant I would have a decent amount of training under my belt leading into the race. Similarly I would be well recovered in time for the big race at the end of September.
Now all I needed was a crew. A 100 mile race taking in one large circuit into the Cotswolds from Stratford-upon-Avon would need at least one person with a car to car carry food, drink, extra clothing, etc. And to dispense it as necessary. Then I remembered that Angie Sadler lived in that part of the world and that she had an excellent crew in Perth 2010 (and also in Hull 2009). His name was Phillip Howells.
I contacted them both in February and to my delight they both agreed to crew for me. Angie told me though that she was having surgery on her foot in April but she should have recovered in plenty of time to help with crewing. But then, at the last minute, her surgery was postponed until early June and I started to get a bit worried.
Meanwhile my training continued. I knew that the ULTRArace.100 would be a hilly one so naturally my training included lots of hill reps and long runs up and down the hills in and around Wharfedale and Airedale where I live in Yorkshire. As I wasn’t training specifically for this race I wouldn’t be doing much speedwork – yes, even ultra runners should do speedwork – as most of that would come in July, August and September before the Commonwealth Championships. In some respects this led to a problem in that I was unsure what targets to set myself in June.
After a bit of thought I decided to aim for somewhere between 17 and 18 hours.
Then I needed a few places on the route that I could use as timing points to make sure I stuck to my schedule. Looking at the route map on the website there appeared to be markers located every 5 miles. Perfect.
By now Easter and been and gone and I had photocopied a series of Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 maps of the entire route and drawn a fluorescent blue line on them to show where I would be running. Also on these maps I had each five mile marker and a note reminding me of my required split times and running paces. I would be carrying a set of these to help with navigation. Being a good map-reader I envisaged no problems at all with this.
Nothing much happened in May except training, training and more training. In June everything went haywire.
First of all Angie’s surgery was moved from the 6th to the 20th June meaning that she would unlikely to be much help in the crewing department because she would be using crutches and would have to keep her foot elevated as much as possible. Having seen Phillip crewing twice previously I was confident he’d be fine by himself. A series of emails back and forth confirmed in my own mind that we would be fine without Angie. Sorry Angie.
And then, only nine days before the race, I received last minute race instructions from the organisers that showed all the checkpoints and their distances from the start. It was immediately obvious to me that this meant the points shown on the route map on the website were not at 5 mile intervals – which meant parts of my photocopied maps were wrong.
And then the official route map on the website changed with the first 7 or 8 miles completely different from what I expected. Hastily I amended my maps and re-measured the positions of my 19 timing points – on my maps and also on Phillip’s copy. Not ideal preparation leading into the final week but manageable.
The very last thing to do was pack all the food and clothes needed for a 100 mile race. To help with clothing choices I did a last minute check of the weather forecast which predicted the first 10 hours or so would be dry and after that it would rain for the next few hours. The rain would gradually turn to showers from dawn onwards.
Right, that’s all the pre race stuff taken care of now let’s relocate to a small village near Cheltenham. Angie had very kindly invited me to stay with her and her family before the race. This was a few months before her foot operation that had now taken place only a few days before the race and ruled her out of a crewing position. Phillip Howells had offered to crew solo and he came over to chez Sadler to go over everything properly, in detail, and prepare for the task ahead.
After that I spent a few hours enjoyably chatting to Angie about all stuff ultra. And then to bed.
In the morning I finished the last minute preparation – mainly putting an electrolyte tablet in each 500ml bottle of drink - and then had a fairly large breakfast before Phillip arrived and we loaded everything into his car. Fifteen minutes later we were off to Stratford-upon-Avon racecourse for the start of my longest race so far this year. The weather was warm and sunny and I was looking forward to the race (but not the overnight rain).
Had a good hour at the start area for last minute preparatory stuff – changing clothes, applying vaseline, talking to other runners, collecting my race number, checking food and kit. At this time I met one or two others who had never previously run further than 15 miles. Very strange – but admirable. Time passed remarkably quickly and then it was time for the short pre-race briefing by Rory during which he mentioned that there are lots or route markers about the course. Most of them are about 20cm by 10cm (8 inches by 4 inches) and are black with a large yellow arrow, often with the letters Ur too. He also mentioned that the route change at the start was mainly down to a much larger number of late entries this year.
And then we were off – across the race course to the east before turning south west along The Greenway for a couple of miles. Even at this early stage Bruce Moore was disappearing into the distance leaving Robert Treadwell and myself chatting away to each other for the next couple of miles.
Through Welford-on-Avon I decided that I was running a bit slower than I should be at this stage so I upped the pace just a touch and was pleased to get to the five mile point exactly on my 17 hour schedule. About a mile beyond the next village, Dorsington, I began the first of my planned walking breaks (10 minutes at the start of every hour) and during that time five other runners came past. I suppose I expected that but I’m not sure they expected someone to be walking so soon.
Through Long Marston and then onwards towards Mickleton passing the first official checkpoint (10.8 miles) in 7th position. My unofficial 10 mile time of 1h 30 showed I was about a minute ahead of my 17 hour schedule but I wasn’t worried at all as I knew the hills hadn’t started yet and they would slow me down. The first real hill came about half way between Mickleton and the lovely town of Chipping Campden.
From here the course spent a few miles climbing to the highest point of the whole circuit at over 310m (1017 feet). About two miles later came my 20 mile unofficial checkpoint which I passed two minutes behind my 17 hour schedule. This didn’t worry me at all because I figured the drop in pace was due to the recent climbing. Continued through Snowshill to the second official checkpoint (20.7 miles in 3h 18) in 4th position having passed three on the recent climb.
The weather all afternoon had been very warm but was breezy at times on exposed sections. In stark contrast to what’s expected when it gets dark, I thought. Not looking forward to that.
From Snowshill it was south on narrow country lanes to Taddington, across the B4077 road and onwards to the top of Sudeley Hill. For much of this section I had another runner in my sights [whose name I can’t remember – sorry] but passed him before Brockhampton which was about a mile before the third official checkpoint at 31.2 miles. I went through here in 4h 56 with Bruce Moore still way out in front (4h 39). I had forgotten about him but wasn’t worried at all as there was still a very long way to go.
Then onwards to Compton Abdale on a flattish section which necessitated a crossing of the A40 main road. I wasted about a minute here trying to dodge the heavy rush hour traffic. Between Compton Abdale and Withington came my 35 mile unofficial timing point which I passed in a pleasing 5h 31 although by now Phillip was urging me at every opportunity to hold back a bit. Running at about 9 minutes per mile seemed very easy at this stage but I knew it would be wise to be careful – my body found that very difficult though.
By now it was beginning to cloud over and leaving Withington on the road through the woods came the first sign that rain was imminent. Within a few miles the rain duly arrived – only about four hours early. I put on some waterproof clothing and continued on my merry way, hoping the early arrival would also mean an early finish. This was the point at which I finally managed to catch Bruce Moore – he was at the side of the road putting on some wet weather gear. As I approached he appeared to be in trouble so I asked how he was. His reply convinced me he was fine. A short while later he passed me again. Following him toward Lower Chedworth he managed to avoid a lorry stuck at a road junction blocking the road, of course I was held up while the driver badly negotiated the corner.
At this stage I was still drinking every 20 minutes as planned and eating almost as often. Trying new foods in preparation for September’s Commonwealth 24 hr Championships was one of my reasons for running this race. Although I was less than half way around the course some of these new foods seemed to be holding up well – especially For Goodness Shakes recovery drinks and breadsticks. Forcing food down after four or five hours is completely different to forcing food down after fourteen or fifteen hours though. I knew that eating every 20 minutes or so was scientifically proven to be the best policy if your body can take that. Mine can but many cannot unfortunately. Obviously this needs testing in less important races.
At Lower Chedworth and the 4th official checkpoint (42.2 miles in 6h 49) I passed Bruce and never saw him again. As usual I didn’t stop other than to report my presence, I had no need of the food or drink on offer. In the rain I wanted to stop as little as possible too. From there it was downhill for a while before running up the short but steep hill through the quaintly named hamlet of Pancakehill. Then on to Fossebridge and a short run north on the old Roman Road named Fosse Way.
The next village was Coln St. Dennis and it was here that, as I approached a T junction, a man got out of his car and pointed me in the right direction. I was in no danger of taking a wrong turn (I had already seen the official route arrow on the road sign) but it was very good of him to help in the rain. Then we came to Calcot which I recognised as being a turning point in the race – literally. This was the southernmost place on the entire route. From here I felt that I was now running back to Stratford-upon-Avon and my mood lifted noticeably. By now I had been running through the rain for about an hour and it was getting heavier.
At about this place (I can’t remember exactly where or when) Phillip loaned me his bright yellow waterproof jacket. Mine was quite a bit darker and by now he had had a comment or two from other crew members in cars not being able to see me well enough from behind.
Then it was a few miles of relatively flat running to Northleach which was shortly before half way. I passed my unofficial timing point near here three minutes ahead of schedule. In fact I took my hourly walking break ten minutes early as I was finding it difficult to keep to my schedule which seemed too slow. Under the A40 main road then on to Farmington and the 5th official checkpoint (51.2 miles). As I entered this village I saw Robert Treadwell for what I think was the final time before the finish. I had begun to notice that the previous four hours or so had followed a pattern: when I was taking my walking break Robert would run past and build up a sizeable lead, I would then chase him down when I resumed running and as the race progressed I was taking less and less time to pass him.
From Farmington I began the second half of the race with Robert in tow. A few miles east to Sherborne and then a long uphill section toward Bourton-on-the Water. By now the rain clouds were making the skies much darker than usual and with the rain itself I just was not noticing the wonderful scenery here in the Cotswolds – it was a case of head down, concentrate, get on with it. Then came the villages of Lower and Upper Slaughter and then over the hill to Lower Swell and the official checkpoint at 61.2 miles (10h 05:38). It was somewhere around here that I finally succumbed to the fading light and brought out the headtorch (and cap to help keep it dry).
From here it was over another hill to Condicote then north to Hinchwick and along a narrow lane through the woods to join the A44 main road after crossing the A424 main road. Along the narrow lane I was acutely aware that Robert was not far behind. Although I was still eating and drinking every 20 minutes it was on this stretch when it became difficult to chew dried apricots and so I substituted them for grapes for the remainder of the race. For Goodness Shakes recovery drink was also becomes less appetising so I had plain water for a while.
I must say I enjoyed the 5k easterly stretch along the main road through Bourton-on-the-Hill to Moreton-in-Marsh. Slightly downhill all the way and no navigation required – a rare chance to relax a little. Just before the town a man approached, obviously on his way home from the pub, and asked Phillip and myself what was happening. After a brief explanation from Phillip he went away suitably awestruck (he probably thought we were all mad really !!! My wife says he’s correct).
The next official checkpoint (71.1 miles) was just at the far end of town and, after passing through in 11h 55:20, the route was uphill north east almost to Batsford and then downhill to Draycott. Round about here I was beginning to feel cold so Phillip gave me a couple of cups of coffee from his flask and I suggested changing my clothes the next time we met. It was about midnight now and I was still aware that Robert was not that far behind but I was also still confident of finishing in around 17 hours although by now I was no longer keeping track of my five mile split times.
Then it was over the hill to Aston Magna followed by a flattish stretch to Paxford. After Paxford the route went the ‘long way round’ to Chipping Campden. Using the B4479 and B4035 roads and not one of the two minor roads which would have reduced the length by at least a mile (maybe two). About a mile before Chipping Campden (which we had passed through almost ten hours earlier) I put on some dry clothes and had another coffee whilst contemplating the biggest hill of the race which was coming up in about a mile and a half – just after the 8th official checkpoint.
At this point I remember saying to Phillip: "less than 25 miles to go now, just like a normal long run." And that’s how I was viewing things at this stage. The rain had made everything miserable and wet – I just wanted to finish and get myself dry.
From here the route continued along the main road, over the railway bridge and turned right just before the first houses in Chipping Campden. After the checkpoint the hill began. I knew it was a long one (over 130m [425 feet] of climbing in about 4 km [2.5 miles]) so I changed my race plan slightly here; I decided to run 500 paces and walk 200 then repeat. After doing this three times I decided that I was managing to run perfectly OK up this one without the need for extra walking breaks, so … I ran up the rest of the hill. Still had a feeling though that I was being chased by Robert, and I suppose that did push me on a bit.
About 400m from the top of Ebrington Hill the road bears right down to Ilmington via Nebsworth. But the race route takes the narrow road on the left going to Ilmington via Lark Stoke. In the dark and the rain I blindly followed the road via Nebsworth and after about two miles I felt that the houses and the way the road was twisting and turning wasn’t as depicted on the map. I continued for a while to a T junction where I studied the road sign VERY CAREFULLY looking for official route arrows and signs to no avail.
it didn't look like this when I ran past ...
I began to feel lost – not good. The sign pointed to Chipping Campden and Mickleton on the left and to Admington on the right. I stopped for a while and tried very hard to find on my map exactly where this junction could be. Thinking that Robert wasn’t far behind I didn’t want to linger too long – but also I didn’t want to get myself lost at night in the Cotswolds. It was just after 2.00am by now and the rain was coming down heavier than ever.
I decided to take the road on the right because the other would take me back toward Chipping Campden where I had just come from. Not being able to pinpoint my location on a map was a very strange, and almost frightening, experience but after about 11 or 12 minutes I came across a junction on the left signposted Admington and Lower Quinton – I knew instantly where I was – and this one was adorned with an official race arrow. I carried on for a minute or so expecting to come across a road on the right to Crimscote, and when that appeared I smiled to myself as I realised that I was no longer lost.
As I ran towards Crimscote I began to think about what had happened but it wasn’t until I next saw Phillip just before the A3400 main road that I was able to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.
He told me that he was in his car waiting for me at a T junction at the bottom of Lark Stoke when, after a while, it became obvious that something was wrong – I was exceptionally late. He looked at his map and realised where I could have taken a wrong turn so he set off back up the hill then turned left to Ilmington looking for me. In Ilmington he came across Robert’s crew (partner) waiting for her runner to come by. Phillip told her that Robert wouldn’t come this way and pointed her to where he would show up, she told Robert that she had followed me down here via Nebsworth and assumed it to be the route.
So, a momentary lapse of concentration had seen me miss out about half a mile of the official route. In the dark and the rain I guess I must have been taking on board some food and/or drink (or perhaps looking at the map) and missed the narrow road on the left.
Phillip told me this when we saw each other next and I immediately knew I was in line for a disqualification. Having been a race director myself between 1999 and 2009 I knew the simple fact was that runners who took short cuts were disqualified.
It never occurred to me to pull out of the race though. The thought process here was that: ‘it’s the race director’s decision and you never know what he’ll decide’. So off I went, exceptionally angry with myself, to the final official checkpoint.
Passed Rory at Alderminster (90.9 miles) in 15h 47 and as I was approaching I noticed the first signs of sunrise and also that the rain was beginning to ease a little. From there it was up the hill to Shennington and then over Long Hill to Loxley. By now I had lost interest in times and I was just concentrating on finishing strongly – even though I expected a disqualification. To do that I had decided to walk up the remaining hills and still push hard when I could because I still believed Robert was not far behind.
From Loxley it was an almost flat few miles to Alveston Hill then south to the A422 main road and back to Stratford-upon-Avon. By this time the rain had at last stopped and it was a welcome relief to actually be able to see where I was going and be only a few miles from the finish. Left along the by-pass toward the racecourse and then carefully following the arrows from the final roundabout to the footpath across the grass which would take me to the finish.
Although I was looking forward to the end of the race I wasn’t particularly looking forward to speaking to Rory. Luckily, and to the credit of everyone involved, things were not prolonged in any way and the conversation only a few seconds after I had crossed the line went something like:
Rory: that was an awesome run Chris
Me (looking at my watch for the first time in hours): that was rubbish
Rory: no, in the circumstances and the conditions that was great
Me: OK, in the conditions that was good
Rory: can I have a word about …
Me: … yes, I know
And that was it. We all knew the score, what had happened and what the outcome was.
Saddened, angry and tired I walked around for a while and put on warmer clothes. At this stage I felt that time was flying by and it didn’t seem long before Robert Treadwell appeared at the far end of the race course. Rory, Phillip, me, Robert’s partner and a few others urged him to the finish as quickly as he could manage where he managed to break the course record by just a few seconds.
I congratulated him before going for a shower and putting on clean and dry clothes. Eventually Phillip and I said our goodbyes to Rory and the others and headed off to find a café for breakfast. Eventually found a place in Evesham where we could have a bacon buttie before heading back to Angie’s house near Cheltenham.
Back there I was given a hug and a cup of coffee before I had to head off to the train station for the lonely journey home. Tried very hard to stay awake on the long train journey back to Leeds and eventually fell asleep at home, in bed.
The following day I began the important and necessary process of analysing the race - what I learned and what I could have done better. First of all was that navigation error. When I took the wrong route that was my mistake, no question, I should have been paying more attention. But in the days following I often asked myself if I should have gone back and run the route properly. As I mentioned earlier ‘going back’ just didn’t occur to me at the time, maybe because I was still 100% focussed on my goals rather than actually winning the race (notice that they are not necessarily the same). I know that Phillip briefly thought about suggesting he drive me back to where I went wrong so that I could run the section I missed. With the benefit of hindsight though, we both agree, that in the overall scheme of things it was better that we "just keep on with the job" as Phillip put it at the time.
These relatively unimportant races offer a great opportunity to learn about how the body reacts to, for example, different foods, adverse weather, hills, different tactics, etc. Many of these things were indeed my goals for this race. My other important goal was to assess how my training has been progressing over the past few months as the Commonwealth Championships approach.
Put simply, I learned more from carrying on than I would have from going back.
"What did you learn" are you asking ? Well, I learned a few important things during those wet 12 or 13 hours in the Cotswolds, including:
1 – I have been lucky and never previously had a sustained period of rain during a long ultra. I knew it was coming in this race and I wasn’t looking forward to it. However, and to my surprise, I coped remarkably well. After a few hours I found myself ignoring it and just getting on with the job. I know this is a psychological thing but it’s boosted my confidence enormously.
2 – nutrition: I found dried apricots and also Turkish Delight very difficult to chew after 8 or 9 hours. Breadsticks were much better although perhaps I should only have one rather than two at a time. I was also for the first time using For Goodness Shakes recovery drink for the protein it contains. That started very well but again after about 9 hours I began to not want it when offered. This was probably because we hadn’t been keeping it cool and I was drinking it warm. Important lessons learned though.
3 – pacing. I wanted to try starting at a more conservative pace and slowing down less than usual. After looking at all the splits and other things I would say that generally the plan worked. I did slow quite a bit in the final quarter of the race but I feel that was my body’s way of letting me know it was fed up with all the rain. For much of the final 25 miles I could have run faster if I’d been pushed. I’ve not often said that in the past after a long ultra.
People to thank:
Phillip Howells for the brilliant crewing in the rain.
Angie Sadler for the bed, breakfast, evening meal, chat and good company.
Phil & Jason Sadler for putting up with me.
Sarah Fuller for loaning me the head torch.
All the other runners and crews for being such a friendly bunch.
Rory & Jen for organising a fantastic race – I’m sure the scenery is as wonderful here as it is here in Yorkshire.
Chris Carver . . . . . . . 17h 43:45 . . . disqualified
Robert Treadwell . . 18h 37:24 . . . course record
Robbie Britton . . . . . 20h 29:58
Andy Nice . . . . . . . . . 20h 29:58
Janet Robinson . . . . 23h 10:26 . . . first woman
Bruce Moore retired before checkpoint 7
No comments:
Post a Comment