Date: Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st November 2021
Official miles: 80 miles
Strava says: 81.93 miles
Elevation: 9,288 ft / 2,831 m
Weather: Dry and cool, sunny spells
Start: Hessle Foreshore
Finish: Filey
Route type: A to B
Conditions: Dry
Website link: Hardwolds 80 by Hardmoors Race Series
Describe the route in three words: the perfect run
Hardwolds 80 2021 - Race Report
This race has been playing on my mind since I first ran it in 2019. First time round, I had a lot of things going against me, mainly my inexperience (it was the second ultra I had ever entered), but also the horrific weather conditions, you could say biblical, and also the fact that I was ill. I had completed it though, but my mind had visited some very dark places, I discovered a part of me that I hadn’t known existed, a very negative dark side. Most who know me, would describe me as a positive person, so I really felt like I had demons to face on this course, I needed to go back and make amends, put to bed all those negative thoughts and turn all those wrongs into rights. I had nearly entered last year but I was not mentally strong enough to do it and it was a blessing that the race became full whilst I was toying with the idea.
After Faccombe Backyard in July, I knew that I was not only physically fit enough to complete the 2021 edition of Hardwolds 80, but mentally tough enough too. No matter that the race was full, I kept an eye on the Hardmoors community Facebook group and was able to buy someone's place from them.
I stayed in Filey the night before with my friends Sam and Paul aka team Spam. Sam and I left at 5.30am and arrived at West Avenue car park 3 minutes later, the bus was already there. I stepped into the warm bus thinking, well this is already an improvement on 2019. The bus had been late arriving in 2019 and I remember shivering in my car waiting for it to arrive whilst panicking that my watch was wrong and it had left without me. At 5.45am exactly, the bus set off for Hessle. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep but I thought I would conserve energy by sitting with my eyes shut. It would seem that every time the bus driver moved into third gear, the bus would make a loud honk like a goose. The mature group of ultra runners that we all are, a lot of us sat there sniggering every time it happened.
We arrived at Hessle Rugby Club and the organisation was phenomenal. I’d say within 2 minutes I had passed through kit check, registered myself, received my bib, had my bib scanned so it could be paired with a tracker and had the tracker fitted. I pulled out my instant porridge and the kind lady in the kitchen filled it with hot water for me, I let it stew whilst I went to the toilet, no queue for me as often the way with ultras, more men enter than ladies. I sat down and quietly ate my porridge and banana.
I kept wanted to leap into the air and shout out, “Look at the weather, NO RAIN!” but contained myself, people might think I was weird.
The chap next to me told me he wasn’t much of a talker so I took that as a sign to not waffle on at him, probably a good thing as my waffle and excitement uses up precious energy. I popped outside to leave my drop bags in the relevant vehicles and bumped into Silvia Delgado Ortiz, a bit of a legend. Silvi was one of Kev’s (ultra nut friend and head coach at running club) campmates at Dragon’s Back and seems to be entered in everything, she completed the UTMB CCC the week before the DBR! I was delighted to finally meet her. I then went back inside to finish getting myself ready and then took my backpack to the finish line vehicle. A gentleman said to me, “Your bag goes here Lizzie”. I had no idea who he was, he perhaps recognised me from the FB group but it’s just testament to the friendly and community feeling that is very much the ‘Hardmoors Family’.
Race director Jon Steele gave the race briefing bang on time and afterwards we all filed out to the start. Silvi and I stood next to each other and chatted. I didn’t feel nervous, I just felt happy. I do feel this has something to do with the mindset coaching from Lucy (read more about that in race prep).
We counted down from 10 and off we went. I wanted to employ similar tactics to the JCC, mostly, take it easy and slow down at the start. Silvi and I ran together chatting but after a few minutes she told me to go on without her, as her pace was very steady.
I fell into stride after a while with a chap called Philip Kirkham and asked him what pace his watch was showing, mine was showing between 12 and 14 minute miles which I was sure couldn’t be right, he said 9.45 minute mile pace. We agreed to slow down a touch. Phil and I stuck together a little while, Phil seemed to know the name of every hardshal and pointed out Mark Dalton to me, who I did not recognise at all as he was sporting a beard worthy of Santa and long hair worthy of an 80's metal band. Another chap joined us for a chin wag, and Phil remarked that we had already covered 6 miles, I couldn’t believe it, I was sure we’d only been running for 5 minutes! Phil stopped to tie his shoe lace and that was the end of our conversation. It was going to be his furthest run so I hope he completed. The other chap and I chatted for a little while and then we separated. I joyfully ran down a lane and took my phone out so I could take a selfie and send it to my husband.
I heard a loud, “Hey!” from Mark Simpson and Sharon Gayter (who I would properly meet later on) and realised I’d overshot the turn off, I spun around and went through the gate. Hang on, I recognise this! This is checkpoint 1! How can it be? I looked at my watch which claimed I’d only run 8 miles, my 14 minute mile pace at the start made sense now, my watch had obviously taken some time to get itself organised.
As I skipped through the Checkpoint 1 (10 miles) Brantingham at 9.40am shouting hello and wildly waving at the people gathered, one of the hardshals exclaimed, “How happy are you?!” Super happy. It wasn’t raining for a start! I continued down the road and was looking for a left turn. I distinctly remember this point of the course in 2019 as my feet were pretty wet by this time, there is a gate you have to pass through before commencing an uphill track and I remembered the giant muddy puddle and from that moment on my feet were saturated. Well, this time it was completely dry and I bounded over it telling the runner nearby what it was like in 2019. I happily carried on and closed in on a lady called Sharon Lynn, she stopped to wait for me to catch up at a gate and we ran together to beyond Millington. Sharon and I chatted together and she told me she could murder a cup of tea. I told her how I had been caffeine free for the 2 weeks leading up to HW80 and was really looking forward to my cup of tea at Millington, we both agreed that Yorkshire Tea was best. After what felt like 10 minutes we came to a road full of support vehicles, hang on a minute, this was checkpoint 2! How could this be possible? Checkpoint 2 is 20 miles in and surely I hadn’t even run more than an hour at this point?
Sharon and I stopped at Checkpoint 2 (20 miles) Arras Wold at 11.36am and the lovely hardshals refilled my water bladders, they asked if I had a hydration tablet to put in which I did, in fact, as I unwrapped the tablet a bit of the foil flew off, the kind hardshal scampered after it and put my litter into the bin. Honestly, nothing is too much trouble for these heroes. I’ve never encountered marshals as professional, kind, supportive and efficient as the Hardmoors marshals. Sharon and I set off again and were joined by Amy Iredale-Mitchell, a rely runner. Amy stayed with us a little while but her legs were fresh so it wasn’t too long until she sped off. I told Sharon that I would eat lunch at midday.
Bang on midday, our stomachs started rumbling and we reached a hill, we both commented how perfectly timed the hill was and we paused so I could get Sharon’s flapjack from her vest, and she could get my wrap from my vest. We happily munched away chatting to each other up the hill, passing a very stinky piggery and silo, so stinky I had to pause my happy munching as the awful smell and tasty food was messing up my enjoyment senses! Having eaten our food and continued to walk a little to let it digest, we fell back into an easy run and I commented that my lunch was an 8 out of 10, a cup of tea and a packet of crisps would have made it a 10 out of 10. It dawned on me that the next checkpoint was Millington and there would be tea there.
We came to a sign that said Wolds Way Goodmanham one way and Wolds Way Market Weighton another, Sharon told me we needed to follow the Goodmanham direction, I had completely forgotten this important detail which race director Jon Steele had informed us but in hindsight it would not have mattered as my gpx would have taken me the correct way. After Goodmanham we came to a really beautiful part of the Wolds Way, Londesborough Park, the sun was out now sparkling off the lake which had come into view.
We were joined by Graham North, who was achieving his 1000 Hardmoors miles just 5 miles in to this ultra. The sun continued to shine. I was very happy. My legs felt good, my feet were dry, my shoes fitted, I was well and healthy and I had trained for this (the opposite of all applied to my 2019 experience). I did however have a funny feeling in my stomach, I couldn’t be sure if it was emotions of excitement and nerves all jumbled together or the start of a funny tummy, I wasn’t taking any risks so shoved a handful of ginger into my mouth and thought no more about it.
We came to a tarmac road and I could see buildings down in the dip, I remembered from last time that there was a massive hill coming out of Millington. I exclaimed to Sharon that this surely couldn’t be checkpoint 3 already? She said that Millington was a pretty small place so it probably was. I was pinching myself, how on earth had we covered 33 miles so quickly? We passed the Millington village sign which confirmed our arrival and my heart sang.
I burst into Checkpoint 3 (33 miles) Millington Village Hall at 1.59pm shouting, “Hello, we are here, we have arrived!”. Much fussing and congratulations from the hardshals followed, I was shown to a seat, handed a cup of tea, my drop bag and soup were placed on the table next to me, I was told to hand over my bladders and any hydration tablets. Yet again, these marshals are the BEST in the business. Then, who should walk in but Mark Morris, one of my three heroes from 2019! If it wasn’t for Mark and his friends Mark Baines and Scott Marrison, I would not have completed, I was so delighted to see him and we sat next to each other chatting,
I felt like Sharon, Mark and I were three school kids eating our packed lunches swinging our legs on school benches.
(We weren’t swinging our legs but it had that happy feeling of occasion). Mark had run an extra 3 miles by following the Market Weighton signs which I couldn’t help tease him about. I had a second cup of tea and a second soup and I have to say, I felt rather good. At this point I took a paracetamol which I had in my dropbag, now this is something I do not normally do but I had thought about this strategy a lot leading up to HW80 and whether it was right or wrong to do so. I concluded that I wanted this run to be as enjoyable as possible to erase the previous painful experience and I would take paracetamol every 4 plus hours on this run. I put the contents of my drop bag into my snack pack and then I went to the loo. I told Sharon I was ready whenever she was. I got my poles out and ready as knew there was big climb out of Millington.
Off we went and I suddenly was overcome with an enormous amount of excitement and hyperactivity. Oh my goodness me that caffeine from the 2 cups of tea had kicked in quickly! I shot up the hill at a power walk, over taking people left right and centre, I was singing a song and at the same time shouting to Sharon, “I’ll wait for you had the top!” I passed another Sharon and at the top took some photos.
I kept remarking that I was riding a caffeine wave. I told Sharon that it was very important that we had a party on this 11 mile section, as in 2019 this particular section was one of the worst experiences of my life.
We reached another hill and I said again, “I’ll wait for you!” off I went like a rocket with my magic sticks riding my caffeine wave.
A little time passed and I realised that I really needed to make the most of the caffeine high as I wasn’t sure how long it would last for and I really wanted to enjoy this section. Sharon and I came to another lady and the pair seemed well matched in pace, I gradually pulled away from them. I reached another hill and powered past about three men, they looked a bit surprised as this demented singing woman came merrily by. I passed through the field that I remembered well from 2019. I hadn’t been sure if I was on the route as I couldn’t see any other head torches, I had stopped to check the tracking on the website but had got really cold doing this and my brain had been too mushy to understand what I was looking at. This time though it was daylight, I could see another runner in the distance, I had my gpx showing me I was on the right route plus I had a map that I actually knew how to read.
I came to a tarmac section and looked at my watch, 3.33pm. I passed a guy and told him, “This time in 2019 my head torch went on in 7 minutes time!” I’d already passed the place where I distinctly remember stopping to get my head torch out and then started thinking, “I wonder if I can make it to Thixendale without stopping to put my head torch on?”
Before long I reached my valley of demons, 3.39pm. Now, this was the place that last time I was my most miserable. I had been on my own in the dark, it was wet and boggy, it was slippery, there were steep hills to my left and right, there was nothing to hold on to to steady myself and stop me from slipping in the mud, I was plagued by this white cloud in front of my face caused by my head torch shinning on my breath in the cold rainy air, the cloud prevented me from seeing anything. But this time, what a difference! It was daylight. It was dry. I had my poles. I wasn’t ill. My feet were dry. My body felt comfortable. I wasn’t afraid, I knew where I was (I felt like last time I could have been lost). I was not alone (I could still see the chap ahead). And above all, I was happy. I stopped to take a selfie of this very special moment. I knew that I was going to LOVE this section.
I noticed that it was slightly uphill too, I hadn’t noticed that last time because everything had just been a long hard slog. I said hello to the cows and joyfully ran past the gentlemen who I had gradually been closing in on. I got to the fork and took the left one, he called to me and told me it was the wrong way (phew, that could have been annoying). The light was beginning to fade and I was still wondering if I could make it to Thixendale without a head torch, now that would be something! I saw a lady walking and called down to her, it was a bit of a zig zag and I do wonder if I would have missed the sign post if I hadn’t had seen her. I asked her if she was ok. She had pulled something and told me she was retiring at Thixendale. I popped out on to tarmac and could see the glow of Thixendale, the light had gone now but I knew that I could do this little section without a torch, it was 4.41pm and a sign informed me that I only had half a mile to go to Thixendale. I turned into the street that the checkpoint was on and could hear the horn honking from team Spam. They shouted and cheered me in and I bounced into the Checkpoint 4 (44 miles) Thixendale Village Hall 4.46pm (estimated arrival) whilst shouting to Sam to get my chicken mug. I gave Sam my baseball cap and took off my arm warmers and tee shirt. On went my merino, warm hat and head torch. As I had taken my merino out of my snack pack, it meant I would not have had a spare warm layer so I took a warm layer from the crew bag and put that into my snack pack. In a flurry of activity the hardshals had sat me down, placed a tea in my hand, taken my bladders and hydration tablet for a refill. I sat there happily munching my wrap and realised Amy was next to me, she had completed her section of the relay. I then spotted the ready salted crisps, just when I thought this day couldn’t get any better! I relocated myself outside so I could chat to Sam and Paul whilst contentedly eating my 10 out of 10 feast.
They told me about their day and explained I had a steep uphill followed by a steep down. I was almost ready to leave and Sharon came in, it was so nice to see her! I had a wee and went to leave, hang on, it was drizzling! I went back into the hall and put my waterproof on, I got the map out too. I felt a little anxious setting off because it was now pitch black and it was shortly after this point in 2019 that Mark, Mark and Scott took me under their wing. I was very much going to be self reliant now. Off I went keeping an eye out for the hill to the right, there it was. Up I went and my eyes very quickly adjusted to the night. When the down hill came I chuckled to myself, it was exactly as Sam had described, I really hoped that they had a lovely walk.
I’d not been on the move for long and had gone from feeling a bit chilled as I set out from the hall to now feeling rather hot. I also thought I might need a wee but wasn’t sure as I had only just been. I kept thinking, am I too hot? Do I need a wee? and then realised it had stopped raining. Well, I will most definitely stop then to take my jacket off and see about needing a wee. It’s just a little thing, but when you are many miles into an ultra, it’s the dead of night, pitch black and in the middle of nowhere, it is quite a liberating feeling having a wild wee exactly where you are rather than hunting around looking for a private bush somewhere. I giggled as I relieved myself and thought how silly I was to appreciate such an odd thing.
I had 10 miles to the next checkpoint and knew I would be passing through Wharram Percy. The sign from Wharram Percy soon arrived 5.57pm and I went over a little wooden bridge, the night sky looked incredible. I got a little confused here as I lost the signs for the Wolds Way, I circled around the church and then had a look at the map, there didn’t seem to be a gate anywhere. I clambered over the fence and tripped my way through a boggy field, I then saw what looked like could be the path on my left, it was, phew. I got on the path and spotted the reflection of the acorn (the emblem of the Wolds Way).
I was nearing the next checkpoint and was following a tarmac road, funny really as I only remember boggy trails from 2019, I hadn’t realised there were so many little road sections! I power walked past two guys and reached Checkpoint 5 (54 miles) Settrington Beacon at around 7.19pm. I had a cup of Coke whilst the hardshals refilled my bladders and took a paracetamol as it had been nearly 5 hours since the last, I texted Sam to let her know I was leaving the checkpoint. I informed the marshals that at this point in 2019 I had been crying. As I left, I giggled to myself, because actually, at this point in 2019 I had been utterly miserable, if my husband hadn't got lost and had been waiting for me at the checkpoint, I’m pretty sure I would have given up as it is just a short drive back to Filey from here. I merrily carried on my way and enjoyed the sound of the leaves as I waded through them. I wondered if that perhaps this was the section where I had suddenly got really slow in 2019 and the boys had started pulling away from me, I’d felt frightened that I’d be lost forever and had to really dig deep to catch up with them. At 8.07pm I came across a sign post which made me laugh out loud.
I strode up the hill, grinning from ear to ear for I had my poles with me and I knew I was so much more experienced now at getting up hills. I was happily chatting away to myself saying things like, “How on earth did you get up this hill without poles?” in fact, I was quite impressed I’d got up it without poles. I then wondered if it had been this hill that I had crumpled down to my knees and literally crawled up whilst weeping quietly to myself. I couldn’t be sure, but it may well have been ‘that one’. I also realised that there had been an underlying mantra that I had been repeating to myself again and again throughout the run, it was, “Well, this bit is easier than last time.” I can’t be sure when I started saying this, in fact it could have been from as early as arriving for the bus, but I certainly said this phrase to myself many, many times.
I am going to say something now that will infuriate many people, but to put it simply, this Hardwolds 80 was easy. There. I said it. But it was. When you compare what I was experiencing throughout this run to the ordeal that I went through last time, it really was a piece of cake.
I was running through a field, enjoying the moonlight, listening for the twit twoo of the owls and then all of a sudden I was lying face down in said field, with three of my limbs stretched out like a starfish, my left leg was down a gigantic hole. When I say gigantic, the hole came up to just below my knee! It happened so fast I didn’t even get chance to swear, let alone for my tummy to go all wobbly with nerves or my head to go all dizzy with shock. My Garmin was making an odd noise, I looked at it, it had started a 10 second countdown, at the end of which my husband would receive an emergency SOS message with my gps coordinates, I’d better cancel it, I was fine! I then did what any self respecting ultra runner would do which was to stand up, immediately take my phone out and take a photo of the hole.
I then did a quick mental body scan, is my ankle broken? No. Is my knee twisted? No. Am I ok? Yes. I could see another runner in the distance so bellowed at the top of my voice. "MASSIVE HOLE. KEEP RIGHT." I continued on my way and thought, well that could have been game over! I hoped that no one else would fall down it.
The runner who had been behind me was Mark Simpson, he caught up to me as I was walking along a narrow grassy path, I asked him if he wanted to pass but he said he was happy behind for the time being, I am always super cautious on those narrow grassy paths as I find then quite tricky to run down as I am fearful of tripping. Mark and I stayed together pretty much the whole way into Ganton. Earlier on I had been a bit worried about this stretch as it was the longest between checkpoints, 13 miles. I had reminded myself that all the 11 mile stretches so far seemed to not take that long and it was only an extra 2 miles on top. Mark and I came to a sign which I thought said Ganton 6 miles but on closer inspection I realised with glee that it said Ganton 3 miles. I told Mark how I was ready for my pizza. I’d eaten all my food so I resorted to my emergency stash of shell less Skittles, I knew that my blood sugars were dropping and these 3 miles might be a struggle if I didn’t eat something. Mark and I saw a van with the numberplate ending RUN, this was ultra running legend Sharon Gayter's (2x LeJOG record holder, Commonwealth gold medal holder for running 140 miles in 24 hours, various world records) husband who was also acting as crew for Mark. I asked Mr Gayter if the lights we could see were the lights of Ganton, he informed us that they were the lights of Sherburn, just the next village along. Mark and I continued on and passed Tina Brown who was walking, I would later find out that she was in fact falling asleep and was really struggling to stay awake. Mark and I popped out of the trail and onto the short downhill stretch to Ganton, I was ecstatic, in a few minutes time I would be sipping tea and chomping on pizza. Before I knew what was happening, my windmill arms started, I bounced down the hill shrieking, “PIIIIIIIZZZZZZZA! CUP OF TEEEEEEAAAAA! CHICKEN MUUUUUUUG!”
I boinged past Sam and Paul and galloped into Checkpoint 6 (67 miles) Ganton Village Hall at around 10.05pm and loudly announced my arrival, it seemed that everyone paused mid mouthful, cups stopped short of lips, eyes and brows raised at my dramatic entrance. I was shown to a seat, my drop bag handed to Sam. A veggie pizza was put in the oven for me and I was given a glorious cup of tea in my chicken mug. I excitedly told Sam and Paul about how it could have been game over in the hole, showing them the mud just below my knee to prove how deep it was. Mark sauntered in and quietly sat down, perhaps he was embarrassed to be associated with me! I used the bathroom, enjoyed my cuppa and devoured two slices of pizza. I organised my bag with the items I needed from the drop bag and gave all the spare bits to Sam and Paul for safe keeping. I took the spare batteries from the crew bag to carry with me, just in case my head torch ran out (it did not). I babbled away to Sam and Paul and Mark got up to go, saying he wouldn’t wait for me but was sure I’d catch him. Tina came and went too. I went for a final wee and at around 10.30pm headed back into the night. I felt a little sad to be leaving the cosy hall, heading out into the depths of the cold night. I again reflected back to 2019 and contemplated the two extremes of my experiences. I knew that I had just run the longest stretch of 13 miles, and it was now only around 12 miles left to the finish, it would be over before I knew it.
The next checkpoint was just a short 5 miles away and was past RAF Staxton Wold at Flixton Wold, aka Flixton Hotel and Spa, we’d been warned to keep an eye out for the Flixton werewolf and to howl to announce our arrival. Very shorty after leaving Ganton I’d seen a sign saying 3 miles to Staxton Wold, sure enough, after not too long I recognised where I was and could see the line of lights in the distance, I ran past the RAF base and remembered how last time this stretch of road seemed to be never ending, and how the rain had been driving into my face the whole time. This evening, it was dry and quiet. No rain. No wind. Just the pad, pad, pad of my feet. The base signified 3 miles covered, another 2 and I’d be at the checkpoint. How can it be possible for me to be over 70 miles already? The time had flown by. I ran down a potholed track and came to a path. The Garmin informed me of a left turn ahead. Here we are. Ah. Now that’s steep! I chuckled and recalled how in 2019 this 5 mile stretch had taken me around 1 hour 40 minutes, I bet you this hill had eaten a large chunk of that time! Not today though, I had my poles and could see the top already, this was so much easier this time around. I continued onwards and in what felt like no time at all, my watch was informing me that the next checkpoint was just under a mile away. I could see there was a steep hill down, a steep up and a welcoming glow at the top. As I trekked up the hill and made myself known by giving a werewolf howl (it wast’t my best effort and I hoped they realised it was a wolf howl and not a howl of pain!) I asked the marshal if anyone would jump out at me dressed as a werewolf as I was concerned I might react by having a mild panic attack! I had made a to do list of things to do, refill bladders, have a Coke and take a paracetamol. The Flixton werewolf showed me inside the tent at Checkpoint 7 (72 miles) Flixton Wold at 11.48pm and I stood inside their cosy den, the fire burning bright, a unicorn head on a fence post (sounds a bit gruesome but it was a nice decoration) and a pan of sausages warming. I was offered a hot drink but I stuck to my plan and had a cup of Coke. I made my farewells and headed back into the night. Next stop Mark Dalton at Filey Brigg.
I broke this section down into two parts in my mind, I would be on the trails for perhaps around 5 miles and then I would leave the trail to pass through the village of Muston before heading through a couple of fields and down to the Filey seafront. The tell-tell signs of a road were in the distance signifying the near end of the trail. A line of street lamps and the sound of cars. I was jolted out of my thoughts by a head torch coming towards me, never a good thing. I let him take charge of the situation as he seemed to know exactly where we should be. It involved clambering out of the field into a ditch, travelling along the ditch a little before climbing up a very steep bank through a prickly hedge and then crossing a very soft field, he pointed out the tree line where we should have been and within a few minutes we were on the correct track, phew, that could have been a real disaster right at the end. We stuck together a little while but I was having to wait longer and longer to hold gates open for him so once we reached the pavement on the outskirts of Filey I lengthened the gap between us. I knew this part of the route very well indeed. I was surprised I hadn’t caught up with Mark or Tina by this point, they both must have got a second wind. I trotted down the steps and was surprised at just how normal my legs felt. I jogged along the seafront enjoying the sound of the waves and mentally prepared myself for what lay ahead. The out and back in 2019 had nearly broken me, it was a never ending ice rink of slippery mud, I could barely stay upright. I have run this section many, many times now to prepare myself for this finish. It’s really not very long and the steps really are not so bad. I reached the Strava segment known as the Ouchy Ow steps and bobbed up them, knowing there would be no PB today but knowing I must not walk. Out onto the cliff tops and I recalled the uneven terrain, I used my poles as I did not want to take any risks. Within a matter of minutes I was at the steps leading down. I had walked this section on Friday to remind myself just how short it really is. I avoided looking for the flashing light marking the turn around as this had really messed with my mind in 2019, I just focussed on the surprisingly easy job at hand, which was to run. As I passed through the gap in the fence, Tina jogged by on her ‘back’. I knew I would be able to catch her. I reached the stone of Checkpoint 8 (80 miles) Filey Brigg at 1.58am and shouted “MARK DALTON! MARK DALTON!” His weary head popped out of his tent, “Shall I run round the stone?” “If you like.” came the reply. I didn’t run around it, I skipped, manically laughing as I did so. It was a gentle downhill now pretty much all the way to Cargate Hill. I caught Tina up on the steps, I stayed behind her on the down, we chatted together, I passed her on the across and bolted up the steps in front of her on the up, “Where do you get all your energy from?” she asked, “Tea!” was my reply. I felt guilty for a nano second overtaking a lady in the final mile, but actually it is normally me that gets overtaken at the end so it was my turn now to be a meany pants. I called “well done” to the chap I’d climbed through a hedge with as we passed on the steps. I was on the pavement now. The end was minutes away. I turned up Cargate Hill and walked it. At the top, back into a run. I started giggling Beavis and Butthead style. Two figures stood at the corner, it was Sam and Paul. They ran with me.
I turned down a road too early, they called me back, what was I doing?! I know this bit! I turned towards the Sea Cadets building, windmill arms and screaming began, I remembered how people would be sleeping so tried to stop shrieking. I burst into the Sea Cadets building at 2.16am, babbling, shrieking, skipping, jumping, bouncing and boinging, I stood stock still, “I’ve done it! I’ve bloody done it! Sorry for my language! Oh my God I did it!” The people within the hall were on their feet, the cheering, the applause, it was indeed a very special moment. The reception I got was as though I had broken a world record, but I had, I had broken my own record. I had achieved what I set out to do which was to enjoy this course and smile the whole way round. Almost irrelevant that I had knocked 3 hours 45 minutes off my previous time, that was a little happy bonus. I was aware of a familiar sound, I looked at my Garmin, in 3 seconds time my husband would be receiving an emergency SOS from me, opps, my energetic finish and sudden stop had actually set my alarm off!
What’s in the snack pack?
Red pepper hummus, guacamole and Red Leicester wrap
2x bars (Nakd & Fulfil)
Malt loaf snack size
Shell-less Skittles
Sugar coated stemmed ginger
Mints
Dextrose
Paracetamol
2x 500ml bladders water - 1 plain, 1 with Hi 5
Spare Hi 5 tabs
Gloves
Spare gloves
Salomon Bonatti waterproof over mittens
Warm hat
Spare buff
Inov 8 Trailshell waterproof jacket
Long sleeved spare layer - Ronhill merino
Vasaline
Spare hair band
Safety pins
Compeed, plasters, surgical tape, spare socks
Harrier Helvellyn Carbon Z-Poles and quiver
Silva head torch
Whistle
Survival blanket
OMM Halo waterproof trousers
ID and bank card
Map and route description/directions
Whistle
Mobile phone
OMM ultra flexi cup
Dropbags
2 bars, 1 malt loaf, 2x mints, 2x Hi Five, ginger, paracetamol, shell-less Skittles, spare socks, Red pepper hummus, guacamole and Red Leicester wrap. Checkpoint 3 - 33 miles
2 bars, 1 malt loaf, 2x mints, 1x Hi Five, paracetamol, shell-less Skittles, spare socks, Red pepper hummus, guacamole and Red Leicester wrap, Cliff energy bloks. Checkpoint 6 - 67 miles
Crew bag for Sam to bring to checkpoint 3, 4 and 6 - spare outfit, portable charger and cable for Garmin, spare head torch batteries, Hi Five tablets, dehydration sachets, Sudocreme, paracetamol, gauze, plastic bags, spare shoes, chicken mug.
Italics denote items I did not use/need.
What I wore: Saucony Ultra ST, Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire, buff, Sweaty Betty power leggings, Stance socks, baseball cap, Blaze tee shirt, OMM arm sleeves (tee shirt and arm sleeves exchanged for Ronhill merino long sleeved top for the night time), Dirty Girl gaiters, Salomon Adv Skin 12 running vest.
Lead up: I’d had a big break from running and exercise over the summer and got back into training from September. I completed many Blaze sessions (outdoor fitness group) which is great for strength and conditioning, I had done two back to back long runs in September (27 miles and 22 miles), a week later saw me complete the Maverick North Downs ultra of 34 miles. I had been to the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons in Wales for two days training (35 miles and 10 miles with lots of elevation). End of October saw me focus on my pace on some shorter runs of 3 miles (work commitments meant that’s all I could do) and the cross country season had started, I had done 2 races but I feel even though the distance is short, the terrain is great practice. Ahead of HW80 I stretched and worked on my lower back and glute muscles 6 days a week for 3 weeks, I did a 22 mile run 3 weeks out and a 15 mile run two weeks out. I went caffeine free in the 14 days leading up to HW80 (best decision I made I think!). Sports massage Wednesday prior.
The Tuesday before HW80 I had a one hour mindset session over Zoom with Lucy Wooldridge of Resilience with Lucy. Lucy was able to work on my mental fitness, providing me with many useful resources to divert my mind from any potential negative or destructive thoughts, she gave strategies to use if I felt as though I wanted to quit, couldn’t do it or wasn’t enjoying it. Mindfulness is not something I would normally bother with, but Lucy gifted me a session ahead of Backyard and the skills she equipped me with helped me to go as far as I did. I felt that I wanted to use every tool I had available for this ultra and Lucy is a secret weapon, if you have any doubts in your mind about a race, give her a call. Lucy will give you the mental strength to overcome any challenges you might face.
Morning preparations: My alarm was set for for 5am but I had been far too excited to sleep, I gave up trying to sleep and got up at 4.40am. I had a Tik Tok tea (caffeine free) and two slices of toast with jam. I had a little stretch and the then ate again at around 7.20am, an instant porridge pot and a banana.
Summary
This truly was the perfect run. I can’t fault any part of it. The route was beautiful and easy to navigate, the people were fantastic, not just the other runners but the hardshals too, they really make a good event great. The weather was ideal, the conditions just right. I had trained well and was well rested. I did not suffer with any stomach issues and there was not one single low point, I kept positive the whole way round. I’m not sure when it was but I did realise I was experiencing the perfect run and I was able to appreciate this with every step. This particular ultra will perhaps never be beaten as all the stars aligned on this day, something you can only dream of to happen in a lifetime of running but it happened for me on this special day.
Lessons learned
Stick to the plan, do not deviate from it. My plan was to take it steady at the start and to eat all my food between drop bags ensuring that I remained well fuelled throughout.
Trust your training - I had put the graft in so could be confident and relaxed on the start line.
Caffeine free works for me! I will certainly employ this tactic for medium to long ultras.
Turn off mile notifications - being unaware of my milage and my pace per mile meant that I was oblivious to the distance covered, this meant that throughout the race I was constantly surprised as each checkpoint came round, I was not counting down miles to checkpoints.
Results:
Chip time: 18hrs 16m 21s
Overall: 33/124
Female: 5th
Hardwolds 80 2021 - click here for results