Claire House Excalibur Event @Moel Famau, North Wales - 21st May 2016.
I will start by saying that this was my second time at this great event, and last time I took loads of photo's on route as I tried to get any rest I could during the event and a proper glimpse of the beauty of my surroundings on the day.
This year I decided to try not to stop as often, as I already had the pictures and it would be nice to get a slightly quicker time if I could by not stopping as much. That and the fact it rained a lot, and quite frankly pictures of white rain clouds and mist are pointless.
For this reason I will put some of last years scenic shots in this years blog so you can see what I am talking about on the run and the route. I will try and keep this blog a bit shorter as well, due to the fact I wrote a very long and very detailed blog about it after last years event, which you can read here if you like:http://fitnesswithgru.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/5500ft-of-ascent-thats-up-welsh.html
So onto the 2016 event....
The night before...
The day and night before involved mainly trying to stay off my feet as much as I could to rest them ready for what lay ahead, and multiple visits to the pasta shop for my lunch and tea so I could attempt to 'carb up' a little to try and keep my energy stores stocked up.
I was getting anxious a little which is new to me and something I have started to suffer with a bit over the last year. It's not always something I can pin point normally, but this time I knew it was the thought of forgetting something on the day, or oversleeping and not getting there, or my lift falling through and being unable to get to the event location in North Wales.
I resolved this the best I could by taking the rare step of packing my required kit list into my run vest/back pack the night before, as opposed to the morning of the race. Due to being out on the hills and dangerous territory in the wrong conditions, you had to carry waterproof top and bottoms, hat and gloves, compass, map and emergency food and water. I also packed an emergency blanket, an extra clothing layer, a woolly hat, small first aid kit and loads of gels, energy bars and an emergency chocolate flapjack!
I felt better after it was packed and then started to pack my second back pack, as I needed one to carry food and drink for the journey/breakfast and a few other clothing options for the event as I wasn't 100% what the weather would bring and it's also worth bringing spare clothes for after the event as well so you can put some dry, clean and fresh layers on.
The morning...
4.30am and I was awake for probably the 4th or 5th time, as per usual I didn't sleep that well, but as I went to bed at 9.30pm I did at least get some sleep. I work late shifts normally to near on midnight and am normally awake til 3am so my body clock did suffer a bit.
I couldn't really eat as it was too early, which was a disappointment as I only managed one piece of toast and a coffee. I chose my running clothes for the day which would consist of compression shorts, secondary shorts, short sleeve compression top, a 'Run or Cake' tech t-shirt and my PSPA charity vest. I also took the last minute decision to wear toe socks to try and prevent blisters from one toe to another from running down steep hills and a secondary pair of socks which were SealSkinz waterproof socks! These are fully waterproof and as I could see from the forecast that it was going to be wet, and I knew my feet would get very wet/soaked through, I thought it would be worth the risk as wet feet cause blisters and often bad ones. I managed to get both pairs comfortably within my Hoka Challenger ATR's which were my trusted trail shoe, and the same pair I wore at the event last year, so I knew they would be the best choice.
5.52am and I was on the Southport train to Moorfields in Liverpool,I was totally amazed that there were trains at this time in the morning, but extremely thankful as I was originally faced with a £35 taxi fare.
7.00am and my lift for the day Sarah J arrived, and we were good to go on our journey into Wales.
I am extremely thankful to Sarah for the lift to the event and back, so THANK YOU again Sarah.
We got there nice an early at roughly 8am and the car park was already busy, but we got a spot OK and sat there for a while eating various snacks while it rained a lot and we waited for registration and kit check from 8.30am onward.
Registration was quick and efficient, and would of been quicker if my compass hadn't fallen to the very bottom of my carefully packed bag and I had to rummage for it and pull half my stuff out of my bag and then repack it all again.
The walkers who were walking the course today set of at 8.30am after a bright and cheery race brief and thank you's from Claire House Events Fundraiser Rebecca, and we clapped them of on their merry way while they got a 1 hour head start on us.
It was also time to say our hello's to our fellow friends and runners who were doing the half marathon or full ,and the odd one who was already here for the newly introduced 10k which would start an hour after we started.
I saw many running friends including Derek, Rachel, Liz, Ultan, Tom, Keith, Darren, Steven and a fair few other faces that looked familiar.
The race.....
It was now 9.30am and after another race brief, and alarming news that there had been some DofE type people out on the hills the day before and some signs had been tampered with. We were told that if in doubt use our map!! Slightly alarming if your not running following the map step by step, but it is a well marshaled course and they did say "It is extremely difficult to get lost on this course" famous last words, I know people who can lost on a straight road.
So off we went up the fire road from the start that appeared to of got steeper than last year, and then the heavens opened up with a power shower. People were rapidly starting to look like drowned rats, especially the ones who hadn't chosen to wear their waterproof top at the start. Not their best decision.
I had to run with my hood up for a while as the rain was too much for a run and bear it approach, and the water was going down my neck and under my waterproofs, and my running cap was rapidly getting soaked through. This wasn't the most comfortable way to run but if it keep me dry it was worth it.
I did find this section of the run easier than the previous year, but I suspect I may of paced myself better by holding back at times and running an even pace up and down the fire road as it crawled around Moel Famau itself by the longest possible route.
The first check point was a splitting point where the half marathon runners and the full runners split up for a while, and it was onward on to the full route for me as the field thinned out due to there being less runners.
The second check point and aid stop came and went a bit later after a long section of fire road, and I didn't need to stop for water. It was at this point that I discovered that my waterproof seemed to of lost it's waterproofness, especially as I could feel water building up inside my sleeves, and I was pretty sure it wasn't sweat or condensation at this early point in the race. I undid my cuffs and straightened my arms and out came a steady stream of water! New waterproof clearly required, but it's done me well over the years.
It wasn't too long before I approached the turn off point towards the top of Moel Famau. Unfortunately the route teases you into thinking after your long run around and up Moel Famau that you may get to the top soon, but you turn off to the right before you get there. They save the pleasure of topping Moel Famau until the 24/25th mile of your marathon!
Down we went down some very wet, muddy and now very slippy trail and path, and multiple slips and falls from fellow runners, but thankfully not me. This section was nice as it was downhill and not too steep further on and you could make up a little time and let the legs run free, but it was very slippy and you ran fast at your own risk of losing your dignity by falling on your a**!
Check point 3 came and went and I took my first gel as it was now roughly 1 hour in and it was still raining fairly hard, so my hood was still up. I did feel better than the previous year again at this point which gave me confidence, but it was quite warm last year so that made you quite tired as well.
Onward and upward and it was the start of the up section again as we started up towards the ridge line of the Clywdian range. This was a fairly narrow path of sorts and you spent most of it behind the person in front, but you could pass if you wished with a friendly excuse me etc.
On this section the ever friendly official photographers for the day SportSunday.co.uk were there waiting for us at 1 of 2 points. The first point was next to a little plank across a stream and I could see David from SportSunday sat there with his umbrella and I slowed to let the runners ahead spread out a little to get a good chance of an approach shot as well as a crossing shot. Sadly a group of walkers who were not part of the event thought it was funny to hold us all up while they tried to get their picture taken crossing the plank. The approach shot was lost because we were all backed up and David was dealing with the walkers.
I did eventually mutter 'Come on guys!' and the last one finally moved on, this allowed for the girl in front to get her picture, and then for me to get mine. A little bit further up the hillside and we met Laura from SportSunday who took a second shot, and if your lucky you are still smiling at this point...
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| Trying my best not to slip in while looking at the camera, although to be honest I'd be no wetter if I fell in! |
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| Happy to see I'm still smiling, despite my very wet waterproof. |
Onward and upward we continued up to check point 4 at the ridge line, and then rapidly down the side of the hillside which strangely enough had rain clouds below us as well as above which gave us a perspective as to how high we were.
The scenery is nice here and you could capture a glimpses of the surrounding valleys etc, and there was the odd bit you could see basking in sunshine!
We continued along the hillside still going down and quite steep and rapidly as well. We went across what they usually refer to as 'Teletubby land' but as always it was more home to Poo than to Po as there was a large amount of sheep and cattle grazing here and quite frankly offloading a fair few slip hazards as they went.
After the downhill came some pleasant bits but I knew full well what was coming up next, as what goes down must go up, and in our case a long long long way up as we suddenly hit a right turn and were directed straight back up the hillside back to the ridge line but this time no zig zagging or angled path but straight up! it started nice and then within 30 ft it was calf burn time, as the lactic acid build up in your calves due to the step angle your feet are at as you walk up puts a lot of load on them and they get pumped full pretty quick.
I remember it being hard last year on this stretch and it went on and on and on, and I don't remember it being that long last time, but it was exactly the same route. To me that is the hardest bit as it goes on for so long and the lactic acid burn comes and goes as you try and take little pit stops for a rest.
Finally at the top and it was the T junction and check point 5 were yet again the half and the full runners split up, and the halfers had the glory of 'Mount Doom' to look forward to as they turned right and back towards home and the finish..
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| Mount Doom/Moel Famau in the distance on the far left. |
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| The full runners turned down this route, looks innocent enough.... |
The full runners as we were aptly called on our race numbers now had the glory of the ridge line to run along for a while to flush out the lactic acid/lactate out of our poor lower leg muscles. I did however forget what awaited a little further along as we started to enjoy the scenery again and the rain seemed to of stopped for a bit.
One thing you learn at this event and this route is there are a lot of ups and downs and a lot of steady and often enjoyable bits in between, a bit like life and to be honest when you run for charities or to raise money for charities you often have to remember that We/I chose to be here today and to have legs full of pain, but at least I had that luxury, at least I had that choice. I have friends and acquaintances who don't have this luxury and I run these events to raise money for them and their respective charities. I was blessed by God with a general fitness and overall health that allows me to do this stuff and as long as my legs will carry me and I can raise some money and awareness for the charities I run for, then I will continue to do so.
This applies especially to this years charity cause for me, which is the PSP Association, PSP/CBD is a degenerative disorder often mistaken for Parkinsons and it is not nice to see loved ones go from living active lifestyles to non active in a short space of years. I run for them and hope the research that donations fund will go some way to help find a cure for this condition......
Onward...
Onward with the run and check point 6 was rapidly approaching, only problem is it's down a very steep hill to a car park, and guess what? there is a bl**dy big hill behind it, and guess where we go next?
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| Check point 6 is down there at the car park, and the next port of call after it is straight up that hill behind it to the top! |
By the time I'd got to the top of Moel Arthur and by walking it my legs had reverted back to feeling destroyed again so any thoughts about it being easier went out the window, but I knew I could finish the event from here as I knew what the rest of the course entailed.
So after the top of Moel Arthur it was a bit of small up and down and if your lucky flattish running and then a steep downhill and onto another car park and check point 7 and along the Offa's Dyke Path up to Penycloddau Fort. Then onward to check point 8 at roughly 15 miles or so.
We would visit this aid station twice, once now and then we would run out on a loop and back to it again later. I tried a few Tortillas as a snack there as I didn't feel like anything else they were offering as I had taken a gel every hour so far and was supping a HI5 Source energy drink which I usually use on events and in training as opposed to just water.
I went out on the loop and shortly realised despite having a light snack that I was in fact hungry, it was probably kicked of by the snack as I now got hunger pangs. This is a bad sign for me on long runs as for me that means if I don't eat I will run out of energy and feel dizzy weak and lightheaded if I don't take something on board. Gels alone don't usually stop my hunger pangs so I usually carry small snack size Mars bars to keep my stomach happy. On events this long though I carry full size Flapjacks and in this case I had a Chocolate flapjack with me as my emergency stash.
The next next section out on this loop was a long slow gradual up, followed by another and another so I used this time to consume the entire flapjack followed by a gel and what was left of my energy drink as I knew this stretch was better to walk and eat as shortly after it was another long downhill.
Flapjack consumed, energy saved and I continued on down the downhill and through some nice little nooks and cranny's along this loop and some nice flat bits that I could finally get back to a normal running pace, although not far on I realised this wasn't a good idea as it goes up again and I now had no uphill running legs whatsoever.
After the flats and walking the small uphills again I was slowly catching the guy who I had cat and moused for the last hour at least, as we were going a similar pace overall. This section was very quiet and I didn't see people for a while which gives you an idea how far apart some of us were.
I reappeared at check point 8 again and topped up my water and took a few paracetamol as the downhill bits had slammed my lower back and my back muscles were seizing up. This check point was quite a busy one, within no time several people arrived behind me and several going the other way also. While I had a rest a drink and took the tablets and had a chat with a marshal I let several people go ahead which meant that my competitiveness would make me want to catch them up again.
It was now of towards what was check point 6 last time, but I would be soon hitting the 20 mile mark which is where the nasty little thing called the 'Wall' normally stands. Last year I had delayed my gel for that hour until I found the next check point, which was further away than I thought and I royally hit the wall without even seeing it coming as suddenly I went hot, dizzy, faint and extremely hungry within 30 seconds. I at this point last year ate a full on flapjack and walked for 1.5 miles while pretty much a dozen people overtook me.
This year I felt OK as I had ensured I took a gel every hour with no delays and the earlier flapjack at mile 15 or so had clearly kicked in. I took another gel now anyway as it was time and I ran on, but soon realised this section was a long gradual uphill around the hill range to check point 6 again, so I decided to walk for a bit on this section to conserve energy for later. No one passed me this time as they were all clearly doing the same, and I caught sight of the guy ahead again who was walking bits as well.
Eventually I came up to check point 6 for the second time and I could see half a dozen who had passed me at the previous check point while I had rested. They were currently trying to walk back straight back up the steepest hill section that takes you back towards Moel Famau from the car park at Moel Arthur. They didn't look they were even moving from a distance as it's that hard.
At check point 6 they were all bright and cheery and they offered me a vast selection of goodies and cakes, but sadly I couldn't stomach anything as I was full of gels and energy drink and fit to burst. So sadly I had to say thank you but no. I had a brief chat while I looked up at the others struggling up the hill and then said my thank you's and proceeded up that dreaded hill!
I got up it fairly well compared to last time, I did have two little breathers to help the legs cope and I took in the beautiful scenery as I rested, it is truly breathtaking up there and worth all the pain of getting there.
I carried on now for the long stretch back towards the impending 'Mount Doom' in the distance which was roughly 3-4 miles away across the ridge line which consisted of many ups and downs and was in no way flat. Along this route you also go back through the original check point 5 where the halfers had turned right to head back towards the finish while we had turned left to do the full route.
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| Mount Doom/Moel Famau way of in the distance. |
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| Moel Famau slowly getting nearer as we hit the original check point 5 where the halfers had turned to return towards the finish. |
Along the range I went and back towards the original check point 4 which we pass through again. It was along this bit that I caught sight of a selection of people ahead of me, mainly the half dozen I'd seen earlier. They were spaced out over a long distance and I tried to slowly catch them up and ensuring I ran as much of this stretch as I possibly could.
Final miles and the last big climb!
As the impending Moel Famau approached I managed to pass 2-3 of the people in front by maintaining my running a little more than they did. By now we were clearly all knackered or at least had tired legs, but mine were not too bad although obviously very painful on long climbs up.
The last section up Moel Famau was a leg burner and tough as nails, but we all got it done. I saw a few more ahead and caught up with them at the top and I proceeded straight through the check point and aid stop while others stopped for sweets,snacks and a rest etc.
I was at this point past the half a dozen people I had seen earlier and was now hoping to find a few more on the brutal downhill section down Mount Famau, all 1.4 miles or so of it. This is a good section of the route for me as I wear Hoka's and they are well cushioned especially in the heels so I can pound down hills in them. This downhill was long and I did slowly pick a few more people of on this section at least 3-4 I think, there was a lot of knackered people coming down that hill and I think they were clearly saving their legs to get to the end as pain free as possible. I said 'Well done' to anyone I passed on the way down as I ran like a loon down the hill to the finish.
Finished!
I was surprised to find I had finished on 5:34:30 which was 12 minutes faster than last year, some of this was probably from not taking pictures this time around, but then again I walked more tactical uphills than last year to conserve energy so gained there I guess.
I felt great at the finish, my legs were in good condition and I was still pumped full of endorphins from the downhill. I was greeted at the finish with a cracking medal which is also a bottle opener and a goodie bag that contained a cracking t-shirt, along with soap and shampoo which would be well needed to get all the mud off, and of course a food and drink voucher for the great caterers who were there with Welsh beef chilli and a Vegetarian garlic and pesto pasta!
I was also greeted at the finish surprisingly by my lift Sarah who I thought for a minute had blitzed the marathon and beat me by a mile, but she had decided to change down to the half marathon during the run due to an injury problem and also tired legs from a fantastic 65 miles during a 24 hour event a week earlier!
Fellow runner Keith R had blitzed the run with a run of under 4 and 3/4 hours! great time for a tough course and good practice for his upcoming Montane Lakeland 50 attempt.
We waited on for a fair while to greet in other runners we both knew and it was good to see Tom and Ultan come in before we left as I knew they would be out longer than me but I wanted to be sure they had finished safely and to congratulate them.
It was now the journey home to Liverpool and for me a train back to Southport after a walk through Liverpool in all my muddy running gear and shorts and some funny looks, but it was a proud walk.At least I could still walk, normally my legs would be mashed a couple of hours after a marathon, let alone a hilly one. So I am very happy my fitness and hopefully endurance has improved slightly since last year. Especially as I am running the Hoad Hill Marathon at Ulverston in August and the Snowdon Marathon in October, all for the PSP Association charity.
THANKS TO...
Can I just say a massive THANK YOU to all the Claire House Events team who put this fantastic event on, I will return in force next year with lots of enthusiastic 'Run or Cake' members who are already keen to sign up, many of them after attempting the 10k this year.
Big THANK YOU to all the marshals, the volunteers and the Mountain Rescue service who attended on the day and spend many hours out in all weathers.
Big THANK YOU to Sarah Jackson for getting me there and back in one piece.
Big THANK YOU to SportsSunday for cracking pictures of the day as always.
Big THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to my charity cause so far this year' 3 for PSP' especially the generous donators who have got me over my original target within days of announcing it. I will do my best to do you proud through out the year and spread awareness where I can.
If you can donate and support my cause then please do so at the link provided in the paragraph above, or on the link on this blog in the right hand side column at the JustGiving link.
If you want to know more about the PSPA charity and PSP itself please follow this link and spread awareness if you can as it is often wrongly diagnosed by professionals and Doctors.
God Bless you all.
I now have a 100% organic cotton clothing online store via TeeMill. All profits from designs on my store go to charities. Some of those charities are mountain rescue teams in Wales itself. Please take a look and share around if possible, and hopefully consider a purchase.
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