Tackling my first ultra I didn’t know what to expect. Yes, I’ve done marathons, but the ultra is a completely different being!! To start with it’s a lot more relaxed, the people within the scout hut were happy, chatty and calm, there was none of the usual nervous runners checking their Garmins and rearranging the gels on their race belts. We heard our names over the loud speaker to start and we departed the scout hut. Thankfully Dave had hold of the maps and had loaded the route onto his Garmin. I would struggle finding my way out of the car park – navigation is not my strong point.
The route goes through a housing estate and then onto farmers fields, over stiles, through fields full of the stickiest mud known to man – we took half of the mud with us. However, Dave did enjoy the feeling of being 3 inches taller. There were lots of lovely hills, a hairy A-road crossing and stunning scenery.
The manning of the checkpoints was spot on, smiling people happy to make you a hot drink and fill you up with biscuits and jelly babies. Encouragement from fellow runners and walkers was outstanding.
I’ve been struggling with Plantar Fasciitis which normally dulls after the first few miles, however this reared it’s ugly head and I was in complete agony. We soldiered through to the end much to the thanks of Dave, his encouragement was relentless as were his attempts to make me laugh. I couldn’t have done it without him.
On our return to the scout hut we were greeted by yet more smiles, huge congratulations, but even more welcoming was the hot soup, tea and cake. All of the above for the amazing price of £12!!!!!!
Would I do it again? Hell yeah, it was brilliant
race report by Lee Hill