Chris Hobson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Most years I have started to wind down on the fitness training by this time of the year. I like to tick over gently during the dark months, just doing enough so as not to get totally out of shape so I can be ready to hit the ground running when Spring starts to dawn. This year some health problems that meant that I had to withdraw from the Lakesman 140.6 triathlon in the summer have lead me to booking my 'A' race in December. This has turned out not to be ideal due to the difficulty of keeping the training up in the darkness and crappy weather. I did the event along with wife Liz and her sister Jill. Jill had unfinished business here having entered twice before and once failing to finish and once having to withdraw. This event is a 24 mile hike/run on trails through the Yorkshire Wolds. You don't have a marshal on every corner to point you in the right direction, instead you can download a map of the route or a list of step by step instructions to find your way through the course. Though slightly shorter than a marathon, it is a lot tougher due to the hills and challenging terrain. Said terrain was especially difficult this year due to there having been about two weeks of more or less constant rain leading up to the event.
Our alarm beeped us into life at 05:15. This prompted the thought that I don't actually need to do this and that maybe just staying in bed would be a better idea. Instead we arose and got busy getting into our running stroke yomping gear which had been picked out the night before with an eye on the pretty awful weather forecast. I decided to wear boots rather than trail shoes as I thought that they would be better suited to the conditions. We also had ultra vests which are a kind of waistcoat used by ultra runners that have lots of little pockets for equipment, nutrition, drinks, etc. As we were getting ourselves ready to go I did notice that it wasn't actually raining but that wasn't to last.
We jumped in the car, stopped off to pick Jill up and headed off to Brantingham. We were directed to a nearby pub car park, a short walk from the village hall were the registration was taking place. This event is organised by the East Yorkshire Long Distance Walkers Association and so is a little different from the running and tri events that we usually do. Completing the distance is the priority rather than the time so there isn't any chip timing. Instead you have an A5 sized laminated card with your race number and a list of ten checkpoints on it. You also have a metal disc with your number on it. Once we had ourselves organised there was a short period of sitting around to wait for the start at 08:30. I spent the time observing the different types who were doing this event. Quite a lot of fit oldies with walking boots, some with ski pole type things, these people would presumably be walking the whole distance. Some super fit looking younger persons who were somewhat lightly dressed, I guessed that they were probably going to run the whole thing. Our plan was to walk the uphill parts and run the flat and downhill sections. I also noticed that there were lots of ultra vests, the majority of entrants were wearing one.
At half past eight we got going, it wasn't raining at this stage but it wasn't long before it started. The first checkpoint is a guy with a bucket that everyone throws their numbered metal disc into. This is so that the organisers can account for everyone who is out on the course and will know if anyone goes missing. I set off running at a slow and steady pace until we reached the first climb which I started to walk up. It seemed that half the field ran past me at this point. There then followed alternate walking and running along chalk paths, muddy trails through woods, lots of kissing gates* and fairly steep slopes. It wasn't long before my lack of really serious preparation for such a tough event started to show up. I was in pain whether I was walking or running really and was soon having a pretty miserable time of it. I sort of got so used to the rain that I didn't really notice it but the spectacular views were obscured by the general greyness and the fact that I had my head down much of the time. The entrants had become very spread out so I was travelling alone for quite a lot of the time. Each time we reached a checkpoint we had our little card punched and were treated to a feed station under a gazebo. There was all kinds of browser food, malt loaf, crisps, salted peanuts, sandwiches, diced cheese, jelly beans and all kinds of stuff like that. There were drinks including tea and coffee, you had to bring your own mug for these. I just had cold drinks and kept refilling my little bottle. At the half way point there were hot dogs too. Now and then I would walk and run in the company of other entrants and chat to pass the time. I also tried to make sure that there was always someone in sight up ahead so that I didn't have to consult my instructions. At one point I caught up with an ageing ultra runner who spent the whole time telling me how utterly miserable he was about having become too old to do it anymore and how good he used to be. After a while I put on a bit of pace and dropped him before he talked me into killing myself. I then spent the next few miles looking over my shoulder to make sure that he wasn't catching me up again. A couple of walkers with ski poles passed me and they were travelling at such a cracking pace that I never saw them again even though I was spending some of the time running. At one point I became quite cold and started running again just to get myself warmed up. I found the whole thing very tough but I did start to perk up a bit at about the two thirds done stage. I was following a guy who, it turned out was a first timer but was making a pretty good job of following his instruction sheet. Eventually I passed and dropped him and latched onto three women who were setting a better pace than I would have preferred but I put in the extra effort to stay with them until the finish. I don't think that I can say that I have ever been so pleased to see a village hall before. It was just bliss to get into the warm and change out of my wet clothes and get some hot food inside me. I then settled down to wait for Liz and Jill.
So there we are, another masochistic challenge tackled and beaten. My time was 06:35, position 177/295. Wearing boots may have been the wrong decision as I did get a few blisters and I don't think that I would have done with my trail shoes. Liz and I are both very stiff today, myself more so than I have been in a very long time. It feels great to have completed this well known local event and to have crossed it off the bucket list. Liz says that she will never do it again but I have a slight itch because I know that I could have been much better prepared. I suspect that I could achieve a better time just given better conditions, the course this time having been so muddy. We can now relax for just a little while before starting to get ready for the London Marathon in April.
*A type of gate that pivots between two short fences in a 'V' shape that prevents people from leaving it open and letting livestock out.
Our alarm beeped us into life at 05:15. This prompted the thought that I don't actually need to do this and that maybe just staying in bed would be a better idea. Instead we arose and got busy getting into our running stroke yomping gear which had been picked out the night before with an eye on the pretty awful weather forecast. I decided to wear boots rather than trail shoes as I thought that they would be better suited to the conditions. We also had ultra vests which are a kind of waistcoat used by ultra runners that have lots of little pockets for equipment, nutrition, drinks, etc. As we were getting ourselves ready to go I did notice that it wasn't actually raining but that wasn't to last.
We jumped in the car, stopped off to pick Jill up and headed off to Brantingham. We were directed to a nearby pub car park, a short walk from the village hall were the registration was taking place. This event is organised by the East Yorkshire Long Distance Walkers Association and so is a little different from the running and tri events that we usually do. Completing the distance is the priority rather than the time so there isn't any chip timing. Instead you have an A5 sized laminated card with your race number and a list of ten checkpoints on it. You also have a metal disc with your number on it. Once we had ourselves organised there was a short period of sitting around to wait for the start at 08:30. I spent the time observing the different types who were doing this event. Quite a lot of fit oldies with walking boots, some with ski pole type things, these people would presumably be walking the whole distance. Some super fit looking younger persons who were somewhat lightly dressed, I guessed that they were probably going to run the whole thing. Our plan was to walk the uphill parts and run the flat and downhill sections. I also noticed that there were lots of ultra vests, the majority of entrants were wearing one.
At half past eight we got going, it wasn't raining at this stage but it wasn't long before it started. The first checkpoint is a guy with a bucket that everyone throws their numbered metal disc into. This is so that the organisers can account for everyone who is out on the course and will know if anyone goes missing. I set off running at a slow and steady pace until we reached the first climb which I started to walk up. It seemed that half the field ran past me at this point. There then followed alternate walking and running along chalk paths, muddy trails through woods, lots of kissing gates* and fairly steep slopes. It wasn't long before my lack of really serious preparation for such a tough event started to show up. I was in pain whether I was walking or running really and was soon having a pretty miserable time of it. I sort of got so used to the rain that I didn't really notice it but the spectacular views were obscured by the general greyness and the fact that I had my head down much of the time. The entrants had become very spread out so I was travelling alone for quite a lot of the time. Each time we reached a checkpoint we had our little card punched and were treated to a feed station under a gazebo. There was all kinds of browser food, malt loaf, crisps, salted peanuts, sandwiches, diced cheese, jelly beans and all kinds of stuff like that. There were drinks including tea and coffee, you had to bring your own mug for these. I just had cold drinks and kept refilling my little bottle. At the half way point there were hot dogs too. Now and then I would walk and run in the company of other entrants and chat to pass the time. I also tried to make sure that there was always someone in sight up ahead so that I didn't have to consult my instructions. At one point I caught up with an ageing ultra runner who spent the whole time telling me how utterly miserable he was about having become too old to do it anymore and how good he used to be. After a while I put on a bit of pace and dropped him before he talked me into killing myself. I then spent the next few miles looking over my shoulder to make sure that he wasn't catching me up again. A couple of walkers with ski poles passed me and they were travelling at such a cracking pace that I never saw them again even though I was spending some of the time running. At one point I became quite cold and started running again just to get myself warmed up. I found the whole thing very tough but I did start to perk up a bit at about the two thirds done stage. I was following a guy who, it turned out was a first timer but was making a pretty good job of following his instruction sheet. Eventually I passed and dropped him and latched onto three women who were setting a better pace than I would have preferred but I put in the extra effort to stay with them until the finish. I don't think that I can say that I have ever been so pleased to see a village hall before. It was just bliss to get into the warm and change out of my wet clothes and get some hot food inside me. I then settled down to wait for Liz and Jill.
So there we are, another masochistic challenge tackled and beaten. My time was 06:35, position 177/295. Wearing boots may have been the wrong decision as I did get a few blisters and I don't think that I would have done with my trail shoes. Liz and I are both very stiff today, myself more so than I have been in a very long time. It feels great to have completed this well known local event and to have crossed it off the bucket list. Liz says that she will never do it again but I have a slight itch because I know that I could have been much better prepared. I suspect that I could achieve a better time just given better conditions, the course this time having been so muddy. We can now relax for just a little while before starting to get ready for the London Marathon in April.
*A type of gate that pivots between two short fences in a 'V' shape that prevents people from leaving it open and letting livestock out.
