This isn't an obstacle race, but it is a huge challenge to try and balance, sleep, hydration, fueling, alongside tactics, kit choices and some pure and simple trail running over a 24 hour period
I rolled the camper van up next to my teams tents, popped the roof and, that's it, I'm set up for the weekend of running, camping and general larking about. The race starts at 12 noon on Saturday and finishes at 12 noon on Sunday. Teams, pairs, and solo runners have 24 hours to clock up as many 10 kilometre laps of a stunning and challenging hilly, mixed terrain, trail route. I was in a team of 6 with mates from a local running club who are all experienced trail and cross country runners and one runner who only had ever ran on roads! The running order had allreadt been set by the time I arrived, and I was going to be running in the 6th position.
As I wondered round the event village, with food stalls, clothing stalls, massage tents and all sorts of kit available to purchase, I just kept bumping into familiar faces from the OCR community, I knew there would be a handful from posts made on Facebook, but I wasn't expecting to see dozens! I spent an hour making a short lap of the event village as I kept stopping to chat and catch up with so many friends, old and new.
My first lap was at 1610 and as the baton (snap-on wrist band) was passed to me I shot off hungry to get some running in, I had spent the last 4 hours watching and cheering runners around the course, and just wanted to get my shoes on a run this beautiful course. I went out way too quick, but it is so easy to do so as the start off the course goes directly through the camp site, and people a lining the first 200 metres, cheering and ringing cowbells in support. The course is a beauty, a mixture, of grass, technical woodland single track, wide forest roads, and tractor trails. ZERO tarmac, ZERO concrete, ZERO pavement and very little flatness. I was just loving the course and having such a great time weaving past slower runners and walkers.
When I got the start / finish line my team mate was waiting in the transition pen, so I quickly snapped the arm band round his wrist and went in search of food and water. It had taken 5 hours for all 6 of us to complete a lap each. which meant I had roughly 4 hours to warm down, hydrate, eat, change, rest, eat again and then prepare for my next lap. So I grabbed a jacket potato and headed back to the camp site and chilled out with my team and talked tactics, and course highlights and low lights. You can't have a bunch of runners sitting round in camp chairs with out a discussions on trainers either!
I was due to start my second lap at 2115, and dusk was settling in nicely, so I would be running with a head torch for lap 2. The open running sections through fields were fine without the head torch on, but the wooded sections were a bit sketchier in the dark, so it was time for full beam. My head torch is only average so I had to wind my speed down and concentrate on the ground in-front of me a lot more on the more technical sections. Running trails at night is so much fun and this was perfect as parts of the course were just light enough to not bother with the head torch either. After I had finished this lap I, changed grabbed some light snacks and necked a bottle of Lucazode and headed for the camper van to try and get a few hours sleep before my next shift at 0245. Turns out you don't sleep well and have crazy ass dreams when you try and sleep through a MASSIVE sugar rush.
It was pretty chilly, but the event village and transfer area was still buzzing with people and excitement. A steady stream of runners exchanging wrist bands and going off for night time laps was very impressive for half past 2 in the morning! Once I had been passed the baton I was off at a steady pace into the dark. My legs felt pretty heavy and the root and stones which I would normally skip over, kept catching my feet. So I walked through a few of the more technical section. At this point I also wish I had invested in a much bright head torch. My head torch is great for camping and general use, but just wasn't quite up to job of full night time trail running, so I was slower and more cautious than normal. It was great time time lap and this time I went straight back to the camp and only rehydrated with water before getting in a few hours sleep. I was woken a few times in the night to campers close-by been aggressively woken up with classic:
"DAVE, DAVE, WAKE up its your turn to run"
"F***, F***ity, F***bags, F***"
I woke when it got light and had some breakfast fruit and coffee before a good session stretching and foam rolling. The camp site was alive with the smell of BBQs and bacon and people sitting around eating and chatting. I was REALLY looking forward to my 4th lap, and being able to attack the course in full day light. When I went out the ground was a little slippy from the morning dew, but it was just amazing to be back out on the trail again. When I got back from my 4th lap there was time for our team to put in 3 more laps, so MB went off for his 5th lap and I headed back to camp to see who else was up for a 5th. The other 4 team mates were packing down our camping area, but injuries and fatigue had put them all out of contention for 5th laps. So I decided I would do another one, so grabbed some water and a couple of flapjacks and headed back to the transition area.
When MB returned, I gave him the option to run a second lap now or have a 60 minute rest while I do my 5th. He opted for the rest and I trudged off for my 5th Lap. This was going to be slow, I had little energy and my legs felt like lead. But my spirits were high so I chatted with walkers and slower runners. I didn't bother trying to run on a most of the hills and happily walked and took in the atmosphere and views. Things were going great until about kilometer 7 when a good mate caught up with me. We chatted as we ran, but DT is a beast of a runner and with out realising we had picked the pace up. I tried to encourage him to run off, and not let me slow him down, but he was here to run with a mate so he wasn't about to let me slack off. It was a brutal 3 kilometers to the finish line but DT and his mates were legends and we skipped across the line hand in hand. I pass the baton over to MB and off he dashed for his SIXTH lap!
This is such an awesome event. So many amazing people doing amazing feats of speed, endurance, and teamwork, so many people putting in their longest distances ever, and breaking their 'ultra-virginity'. This isn't a race, this is a genuine festival of running!
Strava:
Lap 1 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987833
Lap 2 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987835
Lap 3 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987843
Lap 4 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987844
Lap 5 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987842
Sneaked in a pre race parkrun too! - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987836
Kit:
HeadTorch - Petzl Tikkina
Shoes - Invo8 Terraforms Lap 1 - Brooks Pure Cadence Laps 2/3/4/5
Socks - Unbraded from Aldi
Top - Mudstalce running T-Shirt Laps 3/4/5 - Team Derby Runner Vest Laps 1/2 - BTwin Longsleave base Lap3
Shorts - Nike DryFit Running Shorts
Watch - Polar RC3 GPS
Extras - Mudstacle seamless scarf
I rolled the camper van up next to my teams tents, popped the roof and, that's it, I'm set up for the weekend of running, camping and general larking about. The race starts at 12 noon on Saturday and finishes at 12 noon on Sunday. Teams, pairs, and solo runners have 24 hours to clock up as many 10 kilometre laps of a stunning and challenging hilly, mixed terrain, trail route. I was in a team of 6 with mates from a local running club who are all experienced trail and cross country runners and one runner who only had ever ran on roads! The running order had allreadt been set by the time I arrived, and I was going to be running in the 6th position.
As I wondered round the event village, with food stalls, clothing stalls, massage tents and all sorts of kit available to purchase, I just kept bumping into familiar faces from the OCR community, I knew there would be a handful from posts made on Facebook, but I wasn't expecting to see dozens! I spent an hour making a short lap of the event village as I kept stopping to chat and catch up with so many friends, old and new.
My first lap was at 1610 and as the baton (snap-on wrist band) was passed to me I shot off hungry to get some running in, I had spent the last 4 hours watching and cheering runners around the course, and just wanted to get my shoes on a run this beautiful course. I went out way too quick, but it is so easy to do so as the start off the course goes directly through the camp site, and people a lining the first 200 metres, cheering and ringing cowbells in support. The course is a beauty, a mixture, of grass, technical woodland single track, wide forest roads, and tractor trails. ZERO tarmac, ZERO concrete, ZERO pavement and very little flatness. I was just loving the course and having such a great time weaving past slower runners and walkers.
When I got the start / finish line my team mate was waiting in the transition pen, so I quickly snapped the arm band round his wrist and went in search of food and water. It had taken 5 hours for all 6 of us to complete a lap each. which meant I had roughly 4 hours to warm down, hydrate, eat, change, rest, eat again and then prepare for my next lap. So I grabbed a jacket potato and headed back to the camp site and chilled out with my team and talked tactics, and course highlights and low lights. You can't have a bunch of runners sitting round in camp chairs with out a discussions on trainers either!
I was due to start my second lap at 2115, and dusk was settling in nicely, so I would be running with a head torch for lap 2. The open running sections through fields were fine without the head torch on, but the wooded sections were a bit sketchier in the dark, so it was time for full beam. My head torch is only average so I had to wind my speed down and concentrate on the ground in-front of me a lot more on the more technical sections. Running trails at night is so much fun and this was perfect as parts of the course were just light enough to not bother with the head torch either. After I had finished this lap I, changed grabbed some light snacks and necked a bottle of Lucazode and headed for the camper van to try and get a few hours sleep before my next shift at 0245. Turns out you don't sleep well and have crazy ass dreams when you try and sleep through a MASSIVE sugar rush.
It was pretty chilly, but the event village and transfer area was still buzzing with people and excitement. A steady stream of runners exchanging wrist bands and going off for night time laps was very impressive for half past 2 in the morning! Once I had been passed the baton I was off at a steady pace into the dark. My legs felt pretty heavy and the root and stones which I would normally skip over, kept catching my feet. So I walked through a few of the more technical section. At this point I also wish I had invested in a much bright head torch. My head torch is great for camping and general use, but just wasn't quite up to job of full night time trail running, so I was slower and more cautious than normal. It was great time time lap and this time I went straight back to the camp and only rehydrated with water before getting in a few hours sleep. I was woken a few times in the night to campers close-by been aggressively woken up with classic:
"DAVE, DAVE, WAKE up its your turn to run"
"F***, F***ity, F***bags, F***"
I woke when it got light and had some breakfast fruit and coffee before a good session stretching and foam rolling. The camp site was alive with the smell of BBQs and bacon and people sitting around eating and chatting. I was REALLY looking forward to my 4th lap, and being able to attack the course in full day light. When I went out the ground was a little slippy from the morning dew, but it was just amazing to be back out on the trail again. When I got back from my 4th lap there was time for our team to put in 3 more laps, so MB went off for his 5th lap and I headed back to camp to see who else was up for a 5th. The other 4 team mates were packing down our camping area, but injuries and fatigue had put them all out of contention for 5th laps. So I decided I would do another one, so grabbed some water and a couple of flapjacks and headed back to the transition area.
When MB returned, I gave him the option to run a second lap now or have a 60 minute rest while I do my 5th. He opted for the rest and I trudged off for my 5th Lap. This was going to be slow, I had little energy and my legs felt like lead. But my spirits were high so I chatted with walkers and slower runners. I didn't bother trying to run on a most of the hills and happily walked and took in the atmosphere and views. Things were going great until about kilometer 7 when a good mate caught up with me. We chatted as we ran, but DT is a beast of a runner and with out realising we had picked the pace up. I tried to encourage him to run off, and not let me slow him down, but he was here to run with a mate so he wasn't about to let me slack off. It was a brutal 3 kilometers to the finish line but DT and his mates were legends and we skipped across the line hand in hand. I pass the baton over to MB and off he dashed for his SIXTH lap!
This is such an awesome event. So many amazing people doing amazing feats of speed, endurance, and teamwork, so many people putting in their longest distances ever, and breaking their 'ultra-virginity'. This isn't a race, this is a genuine festival of running!
Strava:
Lap 1 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987833
Lap 2 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987835
Lap 3 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987843
Lap 4 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987844
Lap 5 - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987842
Sneaked in a pre race parkrun too! - https://www.strava.com/activities/354987836
HeadTorch - Petzl Tikkina
Shoes - Invo8 Terraforms Lap 1 - Brooks Pure Cadence Laps 2/3/4/5
Socks - Unbraded from Aldi
Top - Mudstalce running T-Shirt Laps 3/4/5 - Team Derby Runner Vest Laps 1/2 - BTwin Longsleave base Lap3
Shorts - Nike DryFit Running Shorts
Watch - Polar RC3 GPS
Extras - Mudstacle seamless scarf
