I've never written a report before, apologies for the length!
The Ultimate Trails 100km is a looped course from Brockhole close to Ambleside in Cumbria crossing 6 Lake District Passes with a leg busting 14,000 feet of ascent. These things usually come about through a process of egging on and roping in between myself friends and family, however on this occasion I saw a link about the event on the Lakeland Trails page and grabbed my card and entered ... Friends Sue, Kim, Emma, Liz, Wayne and Andy all did the same!
The course director is Gaynor Prior who I know from helping her out supporting a Bob Graham last year ... I didn't know Gaynor was director when I entered and suspect I may have paused if I did (only because I might have been able to predict that the course would be beautiful but deadly!)
I was coming in to the run with a DNF from the L50 hanging over my head on the downside, but fresh back from a week running in the Alps on the plus. I'd helped Gaynor at a different event a couple of weeks earlier and received a message asking if I could lend a hand on registration so at 12pm on Friday I was up at Brockhole putting up tents for myself and Sue. The camping was a fair way from the car park not a problem on Friday, but taking it all down on Sunday and lugging it back to the car was far from fun.
I headed up to registration to get myself signed on before helping, usual set up of number issue, kit check and timing chip issue. The timing chip was on a lanyard similar to the K2B which was a
surprise as I was expecting the usual wrist Dibber, it was disappointing to find that there was no
competitor tracking system, most big events update as competitors come through CPs so family and
friends can see progress ... Still this brought with it a sense of freedom it was just us and the course no one watching or commenting!
Once everyone was registered Graham held a short race briefing explaining that the course would be fully marked and that the overview map issued at registration was not to assist navigation - I personally have an issue with people being out on the fells with out a map and some method of knowing at least where they are so both map and compass were in my kit - I had decided that I would be better off getting a nights sleep in my own bed 10 miles down the road ... Hmmm the best laid plans, by the time my 6 year old had tumbled out of the top bunk grazing her back (using all my kit graze plasters) and I had made a 1 hour trip through closed roads due to the Kendal Torchlight to
replace the plasters in my running kit I was wishing for a damp cold tent and peace and quiet.
I collected Sue at 5am and we headed up to Brockhole, it was with slight frustration we parked the car in the pay for parking area (at £8 per day many competitors were frustrated)
At 6am with no ceremony we were on our way a short loop of the grounds and out on to the trails.
The first section climbs from the edge of lake Windermere on to Robin Lane before crossing Garburn Pass to CP 1 at Kentmere, this is a straight forward section which I know well but the tight time barriers in operation at every checkpoint had made me worry, as it was I set off running well overtaking a number of people on the loop and holding my position as we climbed to arrive in Kentmere 20 minutes up on my vague schedule, Sue was in a couple of minutes later we grabbed a
quick drink of coke, topped up bottles and both grabbed a couple of ginger biscuits (these were to
become a major source of nutrition in the run).
Section 2 heads over what feels like an impenetrable wall, Nan Beild Pass is usually shrouded in
moody clag that builds from its hefty mountain neighbours (Harter Fell & High Street) but this
morning a cloudless blue sky framed the fells and standing on the top looking at the sparkling waters
of Hawswater and Kentmere Resivoir was an amazing sight, it surprised me how few runners took a
moment to take it in. The descent is mix of small rock, scree and slippy slabs of rock, in my salomons this is a favourite descent but today I was cautious in my Hoka's. Sue was suffering with cramping in her calves and feet so we picked our way down reminiscing about various race broken bones amusing and scaring in equal measure two lads who were with us on the descent.
We arrived at the checkpoint in good time and grabbed a handful of crisps and more ginger biscuits and set off round Hawswater, we took the section easy the sun was out, it was warm and perfect (you could say we forgot what we were doing and were enjoying it all far too much) Coming in to Brampton I pushed ahead slightly running down the road and as I arrived I was over taken by the wonderful smell of bacon sandwiches, I asked where they were and the marshal pointed at a plate ... a plate with a lonely half a bacon sandwich ...my mental thought processes went ...
we had been talking about these bacon sandwiches for hours, still if I ate it quick she would never know, but I would know, did I care, dam it I did ... I tore the sandwich in half and handed Sue a tattered, squashed sorry looking half sandwich, she looked unimpressed. That or nothing I said. Just as we were leaving I noticed a blue Helly top on the back of the chair Glyn was sitting at, it was soggy with sweat and eye wateringly wiffy but thinking of him suddenly needing a spare top through the night and not having it I bravely looped it round my waist. Arriving at Howtown we just missed them but finally caught them at the half way point in Patterdale ... my to everyone's amusement it was not Glyns top I removed it and gratefully handed it to a marshal glad to be rid of it (hope it made its way back to its owner)
We were all in pretty high spirits at the checkpoint and made Gaynor run around after us before heading out on to the toughest part of the route, the time plan had always been to get through the Dunmail CP by 6.30pm as after this you would be held back to cross Watendlath with the sweepers. It seemed however that our enjoyment and general faffing might have put this in doubt and seeing Geoff Cox standing at the top of the forestry track gave us a panic, I pulled a pleading face and he let us through 6.27pm!
The climb on to Watendlath is my favourite part of the whole route, however once out on the moor an error in my recce became clear where I had looped round the side of the fell on a fairly easy path the route climbed through bogs seeming to go on and on in the failing light. We stopped to put our headtorches on before starting the steep descent to the village. The CP was in the bothy billed as having a log burner and beds!!! probably better that neither of these existed and once we discovered like many of the CPs they were lacking in essentials (milk + real food) we made a fairly quick exit when a large group arrived with the sweeper.
The next section is long, it was dark, we were shattered ... not much to add to that! We'd been pretty much in a group since leaving Patterdale but on this section Glyn and Andy pushed ahead, then at the bottom of Stake pass Sue and I set of climbing ahead of Liz and Wayne. Liz was having a nightmare with her feet and a row between her toes and a pair of injinji socks slowed them down. By the time we came to old Dungeon Ghyll Sue was ahead of me and I noticed a head torch high on the fell to my left, I stopped and tried to work out what it was doing there ... was I imagining it? (this was plausible I had been interested in the Egyptian Spinx sitting on a rock earlier and while wondering what it was doing there it stood up and wandered off to eat some grass, and I'd made some interesting twists and turns as sheeps eyes became indistinguishable from the glow sticks - safe to say the lack of sleep on Friday was having an impact) Just as I could see the drop to Sticklebarn the headtorch began to descend quickly on what seemed like a path that would intercept with the path that I was on. Now there are clearly a lot of rational explanations for why another runner may be on that fell, not one of these occurred to me, I was about to be murdered, raped and pillaged, I did the grown up thing burst in to tears and dragged my broken legs in to a run, I arrived gasping in to the checkpoint and attempted to explain my close call with certain death, but before I could get the words out one of the radio guys wandered in to explain to the crew that even taking the mast right up the fell hadn't worked. Oh! I shut up and ate Sues chips (oh yes finally some food) and a ginger biscuit.
We headed back out in to the night leaving Wayne and Liz sorting themselves out. We didn't know it until the next day but the sorting was all an act, they had decided to stop but they didn't want to put the idea in our heads so let us go thinking they would follow - I can't thank them enough for that.
Out on the route we met a French girl looking confused, there were no markers through this whole section but luckily we know it well so the three of us stuck together, again a fortunate coincidence as the battery in my headtorch failed and she had a spare. Ambleside checkpoint was the only place on the route I thought of stopping but an old friend and marshal Richard had been posting updates on my facebook and it was here that he decided to show me the messages and encouragement that had been posted there ... I sulkily wandered back out in to the night leaving Sue and Corrine(?) faffing and headed up in to Skeghyll woods my least favourite part of the route.
The girls soon caught up and as we reached the top dawn broke, the drop back to Brockhole seemed endless but in the way these things always happen suddenly we were stood on the road and the entrance to Brockhole was in sight, we all looked a bit taken aback and headed in to the car park as a car screeched round the corner and parked at a crazy angle, we all tutted irritated until Rich hopped out and started to clap. The field was deserted and the rain had started as we dibbed in and walked up the steps to the event centre for our goody bag and hot meal ... also known as a t-shirt, soup & slightly stale bread :( Overall we had enjoyed the event, yes the CP's had run out of food and milk for us but the marshals had been so friendly we'd been forgiving, yet somehow this was a blow, cold knackered and hungry the lack of medal or any finishers item was hard to take, we gathered our things said goodbye to Corrine and set off back to the tents, as the rain hammered down we decided to pack up and head for home.
Almost a week has gone by since the event and in some ways it seems unreal and I have found myself questioning if I even did it, the photographer after halfway didn't stick around for the back of the pack so there's no photo evidence, I had no blisters (in fact my feet are in a better state today than a week ago), I was at Dallam running club on Monday climbing and descending, and of course no shiny medal hangs on the kitchen wall as a reminder! I checked it out with Rich and he seems to think I did do it, so I will take him at his word. It's an incredible route, dare I say it more varied and interesting than its Lakeland counterpart, but the atmosphere was lacking - I suspect only for us at the back - and it is that, that will make me pause when entries re-open for next year. Although my husband logically suggested I could just run a bit quicker. If you want a new challenge then go for it, hopefully the route will be better publicised before hand to ensure people can recce properly, and some of the small things can be tweaked and made better.
Thank you to all those who kept us company, and entertained us along the way (Karl, James, Speedy old guy, quiet man with poles, Green top man, Liz, Wayne, Glyn, Andy, Corrine) to everyone who marshalled and organised (Kim, Bev, Sally, Goeff, Rich, Zoe, Gaynor and Graham - to name only a few)
I'm not sure I'm cut out to write race reports any more than I am to run ultras but I suspect that like the latter I will probably keep up the former :)
