The finish! :)
38 hours and 8 minutes! At the third time of asking I've managed to get round the 105 miles of the
Lakeland 100.
It wasn't pretty and very slow but it was all about finishing. Very hot
and humid conditions gave way to torrential rain and thunderstorms on
Saturday evening neither of which were condusive to moving fast in the
hills so I'm very happy to have made the finish with a couple of hours
to spare. The stats tell a tell with 124 finishers from 274 starters.
The full results can be found
here.
I started slowly in the heat anticipating I could pick up some time in
the cool of the nightime. The usual stomach problems slowed my pace from
Black Sail onwards but I was picking up places on the climbs and
descents and holding my own on the flat. I arrived at Dockwray, my 2011
end point, feeling stronger than I'd ever felt at this stage of the race
but the wheels did come off slightly on the long leg to Dalemain after
i miscalculated on the water and ran out. My aim had always been to
arrive at Dalemain before the Lakeland 50 race started which I managed
with a couple of minutes to spare arriving at 59 miles in 17:28. It also
meant the magical experience of being clapped into the checkpoint by
750 runners!
The lowest point of my race came around the 65 mile mark. Despite
stuffing my face at Dalemain I hit the wall again and ran out of water
dropping into Howtown. I took 20 minutes to sort myself out but was
still moving slowly on the leg over to Mardale losing 50 minutes on my
35 hour schedule. Apologies to the Howtown check point volunteer who walked in as I was fixing some chafeage issues!
Crouched in a clump of bracken off the trail for a quick break I heard a
50 mile competitor quip "Look - he's evaporated" on spying my bag
dumped by the side of the path. I wasn't far off in the heat of the day
and was looking forward to the rain promised by the black clouds which
were ominously building. The first crash of thunder and driving rain
came 30 seconds before the Mardale checkpoint at just over 24 hours
gone. From here it was head down in full waterproofs and keep moving.
the checkpoint was incredibly busy with everyone trying to get under
cover so I grabbed a couple of sandwiches and set off quickly feeling
strong in the cooler condition.
My stomach problems had now resolved themselves and I set a comfortable
pace through the darkness. The rain was bouncing knee high and there was
a river coming down Garburn Pass. Ambleside was a welcome sight
although the crowds from earlier in the day had headed home. Accepting
that my target of 35 hours had slipped away in the conditions I opted to
spend a bit longer in the checkpoint to ensure I was in good shape to
get to the end. However on the climb out of Ambleside the sleepmonsters
arrived for the first time. There had been plnety of frogs and toads on
the path enjoying the rain but now they were everywhere and all
different sizes!
The Langdale checkpoint loomed out of the rain like a mirage. Sofas, open fires and a pounding soundtrack.
The marshalls were all only wearing shorts and t-shirts so it must still
have been pretty warm but there were a lot of cold competitors huddled
under space blankets. I started to get cold quickly so opted to head
back out in to the weather wearing everything I had. A calculated risk
as I didn't think I had much in reserve to deal with any problems but
the fear of an embarrisng rescue by my old Mountain rescue team should
push me that little bit further or at least out of the valley!
Dawn arrived suddenly at Blea Tarn but the rain didn't let up and many
of the trails were still ankle deep in flowing water. Foolishly I'd
never recceed the final leg from Tilberthwaite to Coniston despite
hearing plenty of horror stories about the nav and the stone staircase. I
drank my thirteenth and final cup of coffee and quickly set off. My
constant companians from Ambleside were a team of young ladies running
the fifty as a team of three. I'm afraid I wasn't very sociable by this
stage but I'm sure I gave them something to laugh about as I fell asleep
on my feet with my head resting on my cheat sticks. Helena had stopped
to deal with an unconcious competitor with a head injury just before
Mardale but had caught up with her team mates Ann and Judith and was
marshalling them (and me) towards the finish.
The final descent was long and painful as my body suddenly tightend up
and seemed very fragile. I lost one place just before the end, beaten in
a 'sprint' finish after 104 miles! Good effort Gary.
I managed a trot to the line where a few brave souls waited in the rain.
However the reception on entering the John Ruskin School was pretty
amazing with a couple of hundred folk cheering people home. I was cut
free from my shackle (Sportident band) and received my medal and
t-shirt. I lasted about 40 minutes before I fell asleep in my chair but
enough time for a very welcome bacon sarnie! A couple of hours sleep in
the van and back up for the final presentation and story telling which
marked the culmination of a great event.
