2022

Looking back at a fantastic year

It was my intention to open this blog with the first race of 2023 but I am eager to make a start with this new project 😊. As 2022 is rapidly drawing to a close it would be nice to review some of my year’s running highlights, and there have been plenty. The challenge is to narrow it down! My A race was definitely the PDA race in Val d’Aran. This is a ‘by UTMB’ World Series race in the Pyrenees, the Peades d’Aigua (PDA) is the shortest at 55km with 3300m of ascent and 3700m of descent, other options are the CDH at 106km and the VDA at 161km. Since 2022 taking part in one of the ‘by UTMB World Series’ races is the only route of entry by ballot into the Chamonix UTMB races. There are opinions aplenty in the running press on the direction UTMB has taken in recent years, which I’ll let you check out for yourself if you wish. This was my first ‘by UTMB’ event and I entered it because I have high hopes to get through the ballot into the CCC in Chamonix in 2023 (more about that in a post to follow), however I would admit that at times during this very busy race I wished I were in a much smaller event and thought ‘never mind Chamonix perhaps’. Still, the razzmatazz of a UTMB event has definite pulling power, it’s like the trail running equivalent of a big city marathon, something you may want to experience at least once. I would defy anyone not to get caught up in the emotion of the event.

I trained hard for this race. I have run and raced a little bit in the Alps, I love the mountains but I am a very steady runner to start with, reasonable at ascending but particularly poor at descending over technical ground, so my challenge is not to be beaten by the cut-offs in these races, for the PDA 13 hours were allowed. I ensured I kept my base aerobic fitness up all winter, ran a local 42 mile ultra in early March and then started on a 16 week 50k training plan from Higher Running which topped out around 50 miles per week.

On the day the race was both tough and wonderful at the same time. There were three main ascents and descents, the first was very technical and I found it very difficult to get down the mountain and not get timed out at the checkpoint, but I made it, and thankfully the next two climbs had more runnable descents and I reached the finish in Vielha after 12 hours and 39 minutes with still some time in hand. I had longed all day for that moment where I would get to ring the finish bell under the arch.

In the meantime I had been dreaming about taking on the Dalesway in August with local ultra organisers Punk Panther. Having run a few events with them since 2021 I was keen but slightly scared at the same time about tackling 81 miles, twice as far as I had ever run before. Still, I was encouraged by some experienced ultra running friends, I knew I was in good shape having trained hard since the winter, and as soon as I had finished the Val d’Aran race in one piece I entered the Dalesway for just 5 weeks later.

The event tackles the route in reverse, from Bowness on Windermere back down to Ilkley. This was the first time that I would be running through the night so I made sure I reccied the sections I would be doing in the dark. I was also very fortunate that two of my Ilkley Harrier friends very kindly offered support on the night section.

As the day of the race approached the weather forecast gradually went from ‘pleasantly warm’ to ‘hotter than the sun’ and the emails from the organisers urged us ever more strongly to carry extra water and electrolytes, and to wear appropriate head covering. Many runners wisely turned up wearing the legionnaires sun hat more commonly seen at the Marathon des Sables, I managed to find a fetching whitish sun hat with a wide brim in the cupboard. Not the most trendy look for a runner, but definitely the right item for the job, keeping my ears, neck and forehead well covered. As the day went on and got hotter I dunked the hat into streams and rivers regularly to keep my head cool. There was also iced water provided at daytime checkpoints to pour over our heads and soak our hats, much appreciated as normally water stations need to preserve the water for drinking, but they had laid on extra supplies. It was around 30 degrees and a lot of the runners really suffered.

I reached the halfway point at Gearstones 90 minutes later than I had calculated, so my night support had to wait for me. I would normally cover an average of 4 miles an hour on these kinds of events so had expected to take 10 hours, but the heat had slowed me down significantly in the afternoon, as well as having to make longer stops at checkpoints to refill all those water bottles, organise my electrolytes and so on. Darkness fell whilst we were on the moor and when we reached Oughtershaw the most amazing huge orange moon rose over the hills. Cooler now, I managed to run quite a long stretch on the road (downhill) which made up a little for the time lost earlier and we even managed to cover an amazing 5 miles in an hour. When I wasn’t running we were marching. After a stop at Buckden we marched on to Kettlewell having picked up another runner we were now 3 for a bit. The route along the river is rather boulder strewn, so power walking was my preferred option at this stage with my tired legs and clumsy feet. There really is barely any difference for me in pace between very slow jogging and fast marching, and it saves energy and prevents stumbles. At Kettlewell my support runners swapped over and I had a delicious pot noodle, and melon for afters. It truly was one of the highlights of the run 😋.

I managed to run down the road to the checkpoint in Grassington car park but for the rest it was all power walking again. After a lovely cup of tea we pushed on to Burnsall, the sun rose somewhere between Burnsall and Barden Bridge which was very welcome as it was, dare I say it, a bit cold now! Night support over, I pressed on by myself from Barden Bridge to the final checkpoint at Bolton Abbey. Strangely enough I was able to run again, I think the combination of daylight, a good surface without trip hazards, and the excitement of being nearly home gave me a boost and I ran all the way to the Cavendish Pavilion. Just before I got there I was delighted to see a friend from my club coming towards me, she had come out unexpectedly to see and support me, having had very recent ultra experience in the heat too. Considering this was before 6 am that was just amazing! Such a boost. We ran to Bolton Bridge together where she treated me to some sugary tea and a banana she had brought especially. When I reached Addingham some more of my friends came to meet me and run with me to the finish in Ilkley, which was just wonderful. I crossed that finish line after 23 hours and 20 minutes as 2^nd woman and 1^st F50, to say I was absolutely thrilled to bits with that is an understatement! The fact that 12 out of the 38 runners who started in Bowness dropped out before the finish is pretty reflective of the difficult conditions.

This event was definitely one of the high points of my running journey so far and I enjoyed it hugely, though some parts dragged a bit I had no major low points. In my mind I broke it down in 10 mile chunks from checkpoint to checkpoint, rather than thinking about the entire 80 miles. My mantra had been that ‘unless one of my legs falls off’ I will get to Ilkley, the generous time allowed (36 hours) ensured you could actually walk the entire course if need be. Now I have entered the Dales High Way ultra, again with Punk Panther, for May 2023. It will be a lot harder!!