JONATHAN ALBON'S RACE BLOG

www.jonathanalbon.com

I had read about a fabled event where men pit themselves against horses in a near marathon distance race across the hills of Wales. Little did I know that one day I would actually be taking part: in a turn of events about a week before the 35th running of the Man v Horse Marathon I got a call from Pete Rees asking if I wanted to give it a go. Of course I couldn’t resist the temptation.

The Man v Horse Marathon began in 1980 following an argument between two locals discussing the relative merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain... and essentially who would win in a race. The first running of the race was shortly after, with the horses winning easily.

The course was changed in 1982 to provide a more even match resulting year on year in very close finishes - sometimes with the horse winning by only a few seconds. It took 25 years before Huw Lobb became the first man to beat all the horses. I am told the course has changed further still since then but at least we could start our running of the race with the knowledge that it could be done.

Pondering how anyone could ever beat a horse and on asking a few previous competitors I learnt that the horses speed is matched by a runners ability to run on rough terrain. Pete also noticed during the race that horses are a bit useless running downhill... something I had plenty of practice in from running the Welsh 1000m Peaks Race the week before. The horses would also have to take a mile detour around some especially uneven ground and stop for a vet check at the half way mark. Thinking the runners have got it in the bag? With a top speed of a horse at 54.7mph I certainly didn’t think so!

I decided not to think about the horses and just concentrate on the runners. And I was told some good runners were there, including the legendary Huw Lobb and two other past winners of the event. So as we got started I was pleased that I could hold the pace of the leading two up the first long climb. As we reached the first technical section of running the pace dropped and I felt comfortable. We ran as a three until the first big downhill, I let my legs go and enjoyed the felling of bounding down the soft grassy slope at full speed. At the bottom I looked back to see I had built something like a 100m lead on the descent. I hadn’t planned to be in the lead, especially not this early but I wasn’t going to wait so I ploughed on through the first relay changeover point in first place. 

The hills were nothing compared to what faced me a week before in Snowdonia but did put a serious dent in my km times. Trying to manage my effort levels I worked cautiously up the hills and let fly down them. My lead grew and I started to flirt with the idea I might actually win this historic event.

Through the halfway point and the vet check (for the horses) I was still going strong but a niggle of a thought had just lodged in my brain...I needed the toilet. As I ran I thought I could hear the thunder of hooves in the hills, this made me keep checking over my shoulder, often expecting to see a 4 legged beast come charging by. I now definitely needed the toilet and didn’t want to get caught by a horse with my pants down. I quickly took care of business a couple of meters from the track and was thankful for the fact this wasn’t the London Marathon and that there was a nice handful of moss within easy reach. Back out running, still in the lead and feeling a bit lighter I dug in for the second half.

Still feeling strong, working the up-hills and enjoying the downs, through the second relay changeover point I was still leading but always nervous as to where my competitors were. The horses start 15 minutes behind the runners for safety reasons but I was still expecting to get over taken at some point. As I ran a small road section someone in a car shouted there was someone “20 yards behind and closing”. Swearing at myself I couldn’t believe I had let myself think I could actually win. I dug in and upped my pace a little, after a km and a straighter section of track I looked behind only to find no one in sight... the word gullible sprung to mind.

The following section was a wide gravel road through a forest. I zoned out and managed to take a wrong turn coming to a dead end… shit! I doubled back, again swearing at myself. After 400m uphill I came to the turn I should of made but in my confusion took another wrong turn and started running the wrong way round the course, after 200m I met another competitor coming towards me. After a short conversation I made a U turn and was back on track. The guy I had met was in a relay team and informed me I was still winning.

The scare had shook me up, but with under 12km to go I could afford to up the pace and slowly start to empty the tanks. It was at this point the first horse overtook me. It was a sight to behold as the horse, seemingly effortlessly, charged up a hill that had reduced me to my lowest gear. To add insult to injury the rider jokingly offered me a lift.

I was sure now one horse had caught me I would have a steady stream of horses come flying by. As I negotiated the final tracks, paths and fields none did. I finished something like 5 minutes behind the horse which meant he had beasted me by about 20 minutes. Three other horses ended with a faster time than myself, giving me a final position of 5th...but 1st human (without a horse). Happy is an understatement, I had only been thinking of it as a race against the other runners, so as far as I was concerned I had won.

Drinking a litre of chocolate milk and getting myself a ‘Horseplay’ ale to recover I set about waiting for Pete to come in. The race was just shy of a marathon distance but was far more difficult due to the terrain. Pete had never ran this far but did amazingly well to finish strong after visiting what he described as “some very dark places”. I think he learnt too many gels or food is better than too little.

I have always wanted to take part in a fell race: on Sunday I got my first chance and on arriving in North Wales it was clear I was in for a baptism of fire! I had chosen the Welsh 1000m Peaks Race, also known as ‘The Snowdonia Summits Marathon’ - a course that takes in all 5 of the 1000m peaks in Wales finally finishing on top of Snowdon. At 21 miles it isn’t the longest race in the world but with self navigation, 2800m of elevation gain and extremely rough terrain I knew I wasn’t in for a PB.

Clare (also part of team inov-8 OCR) and I were travelling up on the morning of the race. This meant the alarm was set for 2 in the morning, leaving us just enough time to get to Llanberis, register and jump on the bus to the start.

As we arrived the weather was atrocious…the car park had turned into a river and the organisers were facing a tough decision as to whether to cancel the event because of electric storms in the mountains. We got ourselves registered and tried to find the toilets just as the power to the building cut out. We were in for an interesting day.

Thankfully the weather was clearing. By the time we stood on the start line the rain was stopping and the storms had passed. The wind was light and it was strangely warm and humid in the air. This meant jackets came off and the race was on.

I met some of Clare’s friends that were also taking part. I got chatting to Chris Burn who had participated the year before and managed an astounding 2nd place. We ended up running the first two thirds of the race together; his knowledge of the mountain and navigational skills were great, I definitely owe my eventual win to him. I had a proper map in my bag but had printed small map cards which, it became clear, were not in enough detail to use with any confidence. I always knew where we were but didn’t have the confidence to strike out alone until we got to the Pyg Track for the final ascent up Snowdon. I’m not sure of the etiquette of fell racing but if it were an orienteering race I would definitely feel bad for basically following for so much of the race…

Chris and I led from the first control and a third of the way in I forgot it was a race and simply enjoyed running through the mountains taking in the epicness of what I was doing. We would walk many of the hardest ascents, some of which included scrambling which was a novel (and slightly scary) first time experience for me.

After a small navigation error at the beginning and even with some low cloud to find our way through we were still in the top spots two thirds of the way in at Pen y Pass. It was clear I was feeling stronger than Chris so after he pointed me in the right direction I forged ahead. It was a good job I did, as little did we know we were being hunted down by Colin Donnelly, who was later described to me as a fell running legend and still seems to be going strong even in his late 50’s! Collin had won the race 12 times before and wasn’t going to give up the 13th easily. Luckily I had enough steam in me to power up Snowdon, only starting to slow nearing the very summit of Garnedd Ugain, the last peak before Snowdon and the finish. As I was descending after 300m I passed Collin going up; this was the first time since leaving Chris I thought my win could be in danger and was surprised to see someone else in second. Collin had done amazingly well to reel us in but had run out of time; there was just a small climb left to the summit of Snowdon and the finish.

Once finished I jumped up the steps to the actual summit before retreating to the cafe for a beer and to warm up. After everyone had finished it was still a 5 mile hike back down to Llanberis…thankfully the sun came out and we enjoyed the walk down, convincing ourselves it was good to stretch out our tired legs.

After some navigational errors and what she described as a lack of ability at running downhill, Clare came in 4th. Still a fantastic result but knowing her she will be disappointed and use this to push harder in training.

I really enjoyed this race and am proud to have made it home first. Unlike a lot of other races I take part in, this race has much history behind it and has been running as a fell race since the early 70’s. There are many fell races around and even though they are quite low-key they are extremely fun and challenging. 

At the weekend I completed my first ultra marathon: The Northants Ultra 35 - Shires & Spires. To be classed as an ultra marathon a race simply has to have a distance greater than that of a marathon. Considering this was to be my first ultra I chose a 35 mile race, a distance I considered the next step above a marathon but below the likes of a 100km race. Held in Northamptonshire it was a self navigation race using OS type maps; the course was undulating with about 600m of total climb and the weather was glorious… if not verging on a bit too hot!

I have always wanted to compete in an ultra marathon. To run further than 26.2 miles seems strange to most people but to limit yourself to simply running a marathon and no more could be seen as equally strange, especialy considering how the marathon distance is essentially random and 'made up'.

My goal for this race wasn’t to go out hard. I simply wanted to prove to myself I could comfortably run the distance and see how my legs performed. Following my marathon performance earlier in the year, I was confident the extra 9 miles or so wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Having this distance in my legs should also prepare me for the 73km 10 Peaks Challenge later this month.

The first thing I realised on arriving is what different tactics are chosen for carrying water, food and gear in an Ultra. This ranged from what I would call a big enough rucksack for a 2 day mountain marathon to simply carrying a water bottle. I chose to use my inov-8 race ultra 1 (minimalist bum-bag) with one of the 500ml bottles of water, using the other pocket for my phone, compass and Cliff shot blocks - which served as my main source of energy during the race.

As the race got underway I enjoyed the relatively slow pace, trying to stay relaxed and enjoy the views in what was a lovely piece of countryside. Running an ultra definitely produces a different sort of pain to shorter distances: aching knees is the first you notice but in the background it is as if someone has opened the tap to your energy, letting it slowly drip away. I figured the best way to stay on top of this was 1 Cliff shot block every 15 minutes, washed down with water from my bottle and the 5 checkpoints around the course.

I spent the first half mostly running with the eventual 3rd place finisher, Andrew Pace. He had run the race two years before and come better prepared for the navigation side of things so corrected many a wrong turn made by myself. Finding footpaths can be difficult at the best of times, so I was glad to have the company and directions. We chatted about many things which added to the experience and made time pass that bit quicker. At 20 miles I forged a head for the last time completing the last 15 miles without making any huge navigational errors and feeling strong as I ran. I crossed the line in just under 4hr15mins, which I was told is around the course record.

I was pretty happy considering at no point during the race did I feel I was pushing particularly hard. I got a bit of a stitch in the last 5km but put this down to getting complacent about drinking and eating so close to the end.

With RedBull being renowned for holding some of the most extreme sporting events around, it came as no surprise to hear that they hold the steepest running race in the world! At just 400m it sounds more like a sprint until you learn the winners do it in around the 5 minutes. Held on an Austrian ski jump the average gradient is something in the region of 70%, with runners starting at the bottom and finishing at the top… it’s that simple.

I was travelling out for the weekend with inov-8 OCR and friends; it was the first time I’ve been to Austria and I have to say it is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. Driving from the airport in Salzburg we were all stunned by the scenery. We arrived a day early so had time to relax, take in the sights and soak up the sun… Ross even organised a mini OCR for everyone.

As we arrived on Sunday for the race just about everyone was swearing when we got our first glimpse of the ski jump. The hill is in two sections; the first, a grassy slope with the steepest section at 79%, the second is the ski jump itself, a concrete ramp at about 70%. The men were to run in heats in order to qualify for either the A or the B final. The heats were to the top of the grassy slope (about 260m) and the finals to the very top (400m).

I was in heat 1 and therefore first to run from our small contingent. Considering this was going to be the shortest race I have ever competed in (by far), I didn’t know what expectations to have.

After a small warm up I took my place on the start line and waited for the countdown, the gun sounded and we were off! After about 30m I found myself up front; it was hard work but I was surprised at how easily I was leading so slowed my effort to just stay in front of second place by a couple of meters. I got into a nice rhythm just putting one foot in front of the other reaching the top in 3 minutes, the exertion had taken its toll with my legs and lungs burning but I felt I had more to give and had won my heat comfortably.

Jogging back down the mountain I could hear the next heat getting under way and started to think whether I really wanted to do it again; even at a reduced speed the ascent was pretty painful! Once at the bottom I sat in a cold stream for 5 minutes thinking it would help my legs recover, grabbed some food and tried to relax as it would be another 4 hours till the finals got underway.

Ross also made the A final and Adam just missed out by 0.1seconds so qualified for the B final instead. The ladies didn’t have to do heats so Clare was already set to compete in the afternoon. She looked a bit apprehensive as she got underway but soon got her game face on and smashed up finishing in an immense second place.

Lining up for the final I had no idea what to think, I was standing next to Ross and we were both smiling even though we knew the amount of pain we would be in shortly. The gun sounded and we were off again, trying to mimic my pace from the qualifying heat I put my head down and started powering up the slope. Having watched some of the other competitors in the heats I opted to use more of a bear crawl technique in the final. This felt fast and before I knew it I was leading again and had a big smile on my face.

After the first 150m it started to get hard, at 200m something switched in me that said ‘ease up now, pace yourself’…thinking back this was the start of the end for me and once a couple of people passed me things started to go downhill, fast. We reached the top of the grassy slope where we had finished in the morning heats and I was in third. We started up the ramp to the ski slope and what followed are some of the most painful minutes of my life, it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other and slowly claw my way up getting slower and slower. My legs had nothing, my mind was trying to propel them up but all I could take was what felt like baby steps as a steady stream of competitors overtook me. I heard people screaming my name but nothing registered, I could feel the heat of the sun beating down onto my back and I just wanted it to be over. Without caring about the race, my position or anything else in life I just wanted to reach the top and collapse. Slowly I was getting there, within a meter someone dived in front of me to steal one more position, I didn’t care, all that I thought was ‘you’re in my way and I want to die in the shade’. I crawled over the line and it was over. Never have I deteriorated so quickly in a race.

Ross soon joined me in the shade and I could tell he was also glad it was over; before I knew it we were surrounded by friends all ready to get the after party underway and celebrate the completion of one of the shortest and most sadistic races we had ever entered.

Thinking back, if the race had been the same distance as in the morning I would have paced myself perfectly…this left me with nothing for the ski jump. There are probably many studies that could explain what happened to me talking about lactic acid and thresholds etc. but I just couldn’t maintain that pace, for that long, on that steep a slope. It’s easy to criticise myself and say I paced it terribly but without having done it before it’s not exactly an easy science. In the end I crossed the line in 13th place, I never expected to win but felt my fitness levels warranted being in the top 10. I’m not disappointed in my effort because I pushed myself over the edge and still carried on to finish but I am disappointed in how I paced myself. I definitely think to have taken part before is a huge advantage and I’m sure we will be back next year to face old demons and with an even bigger UK party.

Talking with Ross on the drive back to Salzburg we laughed at the fact I have run many long hard races and never ‘hit the wall’ but seem to have done just that after 260m in a 400m race.

The weekend was immense fun and I learnt a lot from the race. A painful race is always good for training as well… the thought of being in that much pain again will always make you push harder in training so it doesn’t happen again.

…continued from Dirty Weekend.

On awaking, eating whatever I could get my hands on and walking down to help the guys pack up the tents I found myself looking forward to Nuclear Rush. I had heard they had built some great Obstacles and always put on a good event. It is a 12km course held at the ‘Secret Nuclear Bunker’ in Essex. A qualifier for the world championships and with prize money available, this was going to be my second race in as many days.

Driving down I assessed how I was feeling and whether I was confident of beating the competition that was missing from Dirty Weekend the day before. Thomas Blank was entered as well as RPCC and a few others like Jason Brunnock. My energy levels were good, my legs felt fine (except for the skin after those nettles) and my spirits weren’t even dampened by the cold, windy, wet weather… it was going to be a good day.

On arrival I quickly got ready and was on the start line ready to rumble for 10 o’clock.

As a team we all like to take time out and do events like the majority of people, primarily for fun. This gives us the opportunity to actually take the time to fully enjoy each obstacle and have a laugh with friends. After a far heavier night than I, Ross and James decided to do just this at Nuclear.

Adam was coming up to race with fresh legs but had a slightly disappointing race after losing his way on the log carry… he didn’t seem too bummed though, as everything else about the event was so enjoyable.

After a fast start (thanks James) we all settled into our rhythms with Adam and me taking an early lead. Being a bit over keen we found, and went under, a net which wasn’t on our course (it was on the 6km course), realizing afterwards that the leading pack were shouting at us running off in the opposite direction I couldn’t help but laugh. Re-over taking Ross who was ‘on-a-jolly’ wearing a Ramones t-shirt made me laugh and I was leading again within a km. From then on I just enjoyed the course and the obstacles incident free, I got a bit cold in the later stages but finished the 12km in just over an hour, ahead of Thomas in second.

My little sister, Beth, managed another epic win, making this the second ‘1st place Albon dominated OCR’ of the year!

Chatting afterwards we all agreed Nuclear was an amazing event to both race or just complete. In fact everything about the event ticked all the boxes for me and I had a blast.

A highlight was the best OCR slide ever created, a zip line and the log carrying section which included going up a river under some nets! I couldn’t give the Monkey (Gorillas) Bars as much as they deserved, reaching about 10-15m I dropped and started negating the trench/mound jumping forfeit.

The entire course seemed really well thought out; Nuclear really did deliver with all the obstacles and some really interesting running sections.

An extremely enjoyable weekend and an epic way to finish the Winter/Spring OCR season. To top it off Pete from Mudstacle presented me with an amazing drinking tankard for winning the first ever Mudstacle league. The league really has been excellent and a massive step forward for OCR as a sport in the UK.

The Rat Race Dirty Weekend is billed as the longest assault course in the world. At 20 miles (straight with no laps) it is a long way and they certainly plough a lot of money and effort into building an extremely memorable course. Not only is it a great course, with every type of obstacle you can imagine…there is also a camping option and a music concert! The weather was looking bleak with a forecast of much rain and wind, so I was pleasantly surprised to arrive on the Friday night to a sunny campsite where people were happily pitching tents in the dry. Through the night the weather really did turn nasty; fortunately I was sleeping in the van and woke to the relaxing sound of rain hitting the roof.

With such changeable weather it was a tough decision as to how many layers to wear. Especially as there is a lot of water on the course and even a fair amount of swimming. I ended up in a compression thermal base layer top with my new team inov-8 vest, shorts and x-talons. I did get too hot at some points during the race and found myself looking forward to some of the water sections to cool off! Even if this did mean I had to watch Ross swim of as I was left doing what a martial described as ‘doggy paddle’!

It was made clear from the start that for the first wave this was very much a race as well as a challenge; there was a substantial purse on offer and a set of rules was even released providing guidance on obstacle completion and assistance etc.

I was feeling strong and being a long course I was confident I could finish on the podium. My main competition, as ever, was in the form of my own team mates, Ross, James and David. The majority of RPCC were absent but we had heard that Conor Hancock, who beat Thomas Blank into third at last year’s Spartan Beast, was going to be racing as well as Seb Palmer and many others.

The course was similar to last year’s but with some subtle changes. The most welcome change was less time in the reservoir, the inflatable icebergs had been replaced with floating platforms to clamber onto, hang tough type rings, a high jump and a massive slide. There was still a fair amount of swimming but the combination of shallow water and really deep silt made for the real challenge, too tough to wade through and too shallow to swim… some interesting techniques were tested.

Ross and I were close throughout the first half of the race; I would push on during the running sections with Ross catching me once we got into anything deeper than a puddle. This made for a fun time and we chatted as we ran, discussing the course and reminiscing about how we felt at the same point a year ago. Completing the Ewok Village together was fun…the year before Ross struggled through it with cramp and I couldn’t remember it due to being so cold after the lake.

This meant, like the year before, Ross and I got to the monkey bars at the same time. In a somewhat less embarrassing display we both managed something like 2/3’s of the way meaning we could negate the forfeit of barrier hops. From here we completed the ‘Men’s Health Zone’ and were sent onto another loop out for the final 7 miles. I felt strong and pushed on enjoying the relatively flat running section, eventually managing to finish ahead of Ross with Conor beating another competitor on the final walls into 3rd. James suffered with a little cramp at half way but did incredibly well to push through the predominantly running based second half to cross the line in 5th. Clare hadn’t had the ideal run up to this race but still managed to fight the other ladies off to come 1st. She was caught at half way but David ‘Hero’ Hellard also appeared with some encouragement and extra energy gels to help Clare pull away once again.

I couldn’t not mention the stinging nettles which could be described in many ways, sadistic being one of them. All the front guys must have suffered and deserve a big thanks from the following 6000 who might not of even noticed the blanket of trodden down ‘stinging bastards’ they were running over. Three days on and my legs are still talking to me in white noise type sensations.

With the race over we turned our attention to inov-8 OCR’s true talent, drinking and marvelling at David’s ability to talk to just about anyone. After he had given a few complete strangers a hug we bumped into the Dutch Mud Men and continued the rest of the night chatting, drinking and enjoying the concert with them. The Dutch really do know how to enjoy an OCR!

Saturday was Judgement Day. It was the first event from the organisers and much anticipated; with the majority of the course kept secret all we knew was that it would be roughly 10 miles, take place in an army training village and be extremely tough!

I was feeling quite good for the event and ready for anything they would throw at us. We got the feeling there would be a lot of carrying obstacles and my legs were feeling strong from cross-country skiing and snowshoeing the week before whilst on holiday. And the course did not disappoint! In total we must have been carrying, dragging or flipping something for about 4 of the 17km. The sandbag carry deserves a special mention: it must have weighed about 20kg and was to be carried for about a mile up and down hills...on the carry there was also a memory test, rope climb and ladder climb! There were loads of the usual obstacles like walls, hay bale vaults and barbed wire crawls as well as some novel ones, like climbing under a train carriage and through a helicopter cockpit.

Judgement Day was more of a challenge (no timing chips) but was still a race as far as the first wave was concerned. The start was fast but within a km we were already into the tyre carry, over 600m long, up and down a hill. This thinned the field out somewhat and I found myself leading, a position I held through to the end with Ross and Sam coming in joint second. It was a top performance from inov-8 OCR with Clare claiming first female, Adam taking 4th, James 5th and David 7th to add to Ross’s and my performance.

The course had a mixture of obstacles, carries and exercises all designed to wear you out before entering the FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Areas) village. For me this was the highlight of the race; the village is usually out of bounds to the general public and offered some truly unique obstacles...it is probably my favourite section of any OCR I have ever done. Having the chance to experience this is not something to pass up and I am already looking forward to the second Judgement Day where the organisers are hinting they will use far more of the village.

When I completed The London marathon for the first time last year I was sure the perfect nature of the day could never be replicated, the weather was immense, I was injury free, I ran faster than expected and generally had a wicked time. This year the lead up was completely different but the result was exactly the same, I smashed my time, the weather was epic and I had a blast, again!

Last year I didn’t have a specific marathon training plan but did lengthen my runs and spent the last couple of weeks resting up and preparing mentally. Having not run a marathon before, or even ran that far before, I had no idea what time to expect but I had given myself the goal of 2hr 48min (4 minutes per km). I managed 2 hr 43 mins, which I was told for a first marathon was impressive.

With my time from last year I could have applied for a place in the 2014 marathon but never looked into how or when to do it. I also had lots of other races to think about so thought to myself, no big deal, I’ll skip it this year. It was two weeks before that I started to regret this decision, the marathon is a special experience and not one to miss, even if you don’t want to race hard.

This coincided with a friend mentioning they had managed to get a spare place. He wasn’t 100% sure until he picked up his number the day before, so I was left on tender hooks waiting to see if I could run. The plan was I would run round with him taking in the sights at a more leisurely pace, this also meant I could keep my training up, not wasting any time resting beforehand.

Travelling to Greenwich on the Sunday morning I could tell the weather was going to be epic, full sunshine without a cloud in the sky, I had my sunglasses on and could already taste the cider I was going to re-hydrate with afterwards. On meeting my friend he said I was free to run whatever pase I chose, I stuck to my guns and said I wouldn’t race, I would stick to his pace. I’m not sure what made me but standing in a que for the toilets 30 minutes before the start I thought… I should race, so I did.

The only thing I needed was a couple of energy gels to get me to halfway where they would be provided from then on. Luckily on asking the lucazade table for some they said someone had handed some unwanted gels in earlier. Banging… I had two gels, set my Garmin to pace me at 3min 45 secs per km and headed for the start. I was going to smash it.

There was a lot of overtaking for the first miles and I found myself weaving onto pavements and verges trying to get past the crowds. The year before I was religious with my pace until the halfway mark and even refused to speed up so I wasn’t behind the guy in a mankeeni. This year I was more relaxed and when I was put in the same situation sped past Mr Mankeeni as fast as possible. This more relaxed attitude to pacing meant I was two minutes ahead of schedule at Tower Bridge, which is just shy of the half way mark.

I still felt strong and new from then on I could just empty the tanks. I gradually sped up eventually achieving a personal best for every distance up from 10km and finishing in 2hr 32mins 56secs. A great time and more than 10 minutes faster than the year before.

The training I have been doing must be paying off but I can’t help but think whether with better tapering and pacing I could have broken 2:30, I guess I will have to wait until my third marathon to find out.

This weekend I took part in my first Dirty Dozen (DD) Race. I was very much looking forward to this 12km obstacle race, mainly because I had been hearing how good their inaugural event was last year and the fact that this was a qualifier for the ‘OCR World Championships’. Dirty Dozen have also announced they will be titling the winner of their September event as the ‘Obstacle Racing British Champion’.

The course was awesome and had a few new obstacles I hadn’t done before, including a traverse wall, some sloping monkey bars and an Irish table. These were joined by the usual suspects including cargo nets, water submersions, a fire jump, a tire drag, a log carry, walls, wire crawls… the list goes on. Even though the event was held on primarily flat ground, clever route planning continually had us either clambering up mounds, fording streams or dodging through wooded sections. One running section was even a lap of a motor-cross track!

With the flat terrain and the dry ground it looked to be a fast race as Doug, the event organizer, called the ‘Elites’ to the front of the first wave. There was definitely anticipation in the air as to how Doug was going to slow us down.

As we got started I found myself really enjoying the first running sections; the weather was warm, the sun shining and I felt comfortable with the pace we were setting. This soon changed after a few more obstacles when we got to the tyre drag… I could never have imagined how dragging a tyre through mud and water could be so different from over grass. It felt as if I was dragging a tractor tyre! I was leading heading into the drag, but by the end (after over a km) I had dropped a few places and was feeling a lot less fresh. It wasn’t until another good running section that I managed to pull back a comfortable lead allowing me to take the obstacles at my own pace.

Through the second half I felt fast and by the end I had built a 5 minute lead over Sam Cherry in second place and Ross in third. Also worth mentioning my little sister who smashed round to take first out of the ladies - even after having to complete Burpees at both the Irish table and the final wall for not being able to complete them alone!

At a loose end for what to do at the weekend I found myself organising a late entry into X-Runner in Derbyshire, a 5km per lap assault course that competitors would have to complete twice. Set in some fairly picturesque grounds, the course looked like it would have everything including mud, fire and water. With sunshine also forecast it was shaping up to be a great day.

I had time to quickly look at the website and was surprised to see X-Runner  billing themselves as tougher than many other big names including the Nuts Challenge, Survival of the Fittest and Tough Mudder. I thought this was quite a bold move…many other races have either big budgets or a permanent course or both, plus, by making a course seem too hard you may start to alienate some participants.

As it turns out the course was planned well. It wasn’t as challenging as I was expecting but all the key elements were there and the obstacles well built. This made for both a fun and fast course!

It was an early start for the racers and I didn’t find myself with the usual comfortable amount of time to prepare. Rushing to get ready and without safety pins for my number I ran over to meet the other 15 or so people waiting to begin in the ‘Elite’ wave. I recognised and greeted a few familiars, also being a bit further North there were a few new faces!

We started quick, soon filtering into racing positions. I took to the lead after the first few obstacles and held through to the finish line, making it home 2 minutes ahead of Seb Palmer in second.

It’s hard to pace an obstacle race as there are many unknowns which will affect how much energy you will use and how fast you will go. Having laps makes it easier but it is still not straight forward. The quantity of marsh in this race really did suck the energy out of me and I ended my second lap a full minute slower than my first.

Clare also came in first for the ladies giving inov-8 OCR both top spots.

I enjoyed the day but am starting to yearn for a challenge of my own. I enjoy trying to race as fast as possible but there is a different level of satisfaction through attempting something you are unsure you will finish. Thinking back to last year’s Death Race and OMM I look forward to trying something truly special, even if I don’t succeed in completing it.

Rock Solid was my first middle distance OCR of the year. At 10km, speed was going to be essential unlike in The Nuts Challenge where pacing, energy consumption and clothing are far more important. Rock Solid is only in its second year of existence but with so many excellent reviews this was one to look forward too, especially with the weather which was set to be glorious.

As a team we travelled down on the Friday night leaving us fresh and ready for the race on Saturday morning. inov-OCR are commanding a strong position at the top of the Mudstacle league, but Rock Solid was a high scoring event and set to be a real race with the best from RPCC elite making the trip down.

I was feeling good and managed to keep my legs fresh even though I got a good quantity of training done in the week before. To get the balance of training, resting and racing is difficult but I felt I managed well in the two weeks since the Nuts Challenge.

The race started fast, not helped by the fact we were all lying down when they said go. This left a frantic scramble to get into a comfortable position, which was at the front for me and the rest of inov-8 OCR. Followed closely by RPCC Elite we charged over the first obstacles before setting into a steady pace soon broken by a set of hill reps…

I managed to stretch out a good lead and was roughly a minute ahead by the 3.5km mark where I was pointed in the wrong direction. On arriving back at the log carry I doubled back and was thankful to see Ross and Sam coming towards me having gone wrong as well.  Together we found the correct route and upped the pace with Adam and David not far behind.

By the time we made it back to the event village I had a 30 second lead though this diminished slightly with my somewhat ‘girly’ attitude at the water submersions. Thankfully, there were a few running sections to come where I managed to build my lead to nearly 2 minutes - eventually finishing in first ahead of Ross in second and Sam in third.

I also took the opportunity to run the course a second time later on in the day; joining Pete from Mudstacle as well as Adam and Ross we embarked on what was a thoroughly enjoyable second lap. Soaking up the sunshine and taking the opportunity to enjoy the obstacles at a leisurely pace I marvelled at how the organisers had managed to create a course which was equally fun to race or just take part in. Even being fuelled by some exceptional Otter ale I did feel myself start to get cold towards the end of the lap and was happy to don my DryRobe to warm up.

It was a great course with some stand out obstacles including the barbed wire crawl in water, the head dunkings (especially the one with ice), the high jump and an array of perfectly sized walls. Rock Solid also have ‘The Green Mile’, an obstacle free mile of running mid race. The organisers provide a timing split for this section creating an interesting sprint in the middle of what turned out to be a 12km course.

The Nuts Challenge is a 7km assault course where competitors have the option of 1, 2, 3 or 4 laps. I’ve always opted for the Tough Nuts (28km) option and currently hold the course record for the September (and much warmer) edition. However, for the March version of the race I DNF’d last year after 3.5 laps; too cold to continue safely, I was beaten by the course…

Second lap

Although it was not as cold as last year, the conditions on the day were grim! It was the muddiest / slipperiest course I have ever ran on, requiring a massive amount of energy just to move forward - let alone haul yourself up and down steep banks and hills. This showed in the final finishing times with mine being nearly an hour longer than last Septembers Race. Needless to say: without the added grip of my inov8’s I would probably have been an hour longer still. The wind also had a part to play, with already wet clothes being deep chilled in exposed areas of the course.

I have learnt a great deal since last year and would like to think the added experience is what helped me through. I was better prepared clothing wise, as well as listening to my body during the race and adapting to try and combat fatigue and hypothermia. With that being said it was still a battle; by the fourth lap I was pretty empty and glad to finally finish, get a cup of tea, and snuggle into my DryRobe to warm up.

Fourth and final lap…

This year the Nuts Challenge definitely felt like a race and I found myself asking for updates on my position surprisingly often. In previous years I have won by an hour and a half or 40 minutes so to have someone only a minute behind me for the first lap certainly changed my attitude! At one point in the race I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, but someone telling me a slightly mis-calculated lead time forced me to suck it up and get moving quicker. As it turned out I was a lot further in the lead than the person originally thought.

Fastest lap times from the weekend’s version of the race. The 4 lappers / Tough Nuts set the majority of the fastest lap times with the quickest set by Sam from RPCC Elite and myself. 

Anyone who completes 4 laps in winter should be immensely proud, especially if it was your first time on the course. A special mention will have to go to team mates Ross Macdonald and Clare Miller as well as Sam Cherry and James Appleton who set immensely quick times over four laps even though they were virgins to the course and format. I don’t think I could have matched their performance without my knowledge of the course and experience of racing there previously. Since my first Nuts Challenge in 2012, I have completed 15.5 laps of the course and needed every bit of that experience to get round safely on Sunday…

My lap times with a total time of 3:47:59.

Team inov-8 OCR (which I am privileged to be a member of) had a fantastic launch weekend. With the performances we put in I really think we have set the bar high for other teams to match. Our next event will be Rock Solid Race in Exeter on the 15th March. Stay tuned!

This weekend I travelled down to Doug Spence’s house to try my hand at his mini assault course in an invite only time trial format OCR.

The course was made up of ‘not your average obstacles’ proving much more difficult than a run of the mill OCR.  This posed as a different challenge than what I have been faced with previously and I was intrigued to see how I would fair, especially as it has been whispered I am more of a long distance ‘specialist’ and the estimated finishing time for this course was just 4 minutes.Though running is my strength, I have a fairly good strength to weight ratio and even though I am not the most flexible of people tenacity seems to propel me through obstacles pretty fast.

The hardest part of the course was the first stretch consisting of an inverted wall, monkey bars, pipe climb, balance beam, cliff hanger, and a rope traverse… this was the first 50m or so. From then on the obstacles were a little more spaced out consisting of a timber box structure to climb up and through, an inverted cargo net, tyre flip, timber A-frame, a series of walls and a caving ladder to finish.

Monkey bars

Rope traverse

The balance beam proved to be a dark horse of an obstacle (as usual), rendering most people’s first attempt (including mine) a failure. Instead of taking the 20 burpee forfeit, most chose to restart later in the day. One person who made the balance beam (and every other obstacle for that matter) look easy was the Mudstacle pull up competition winner Jason Brunnock. He was first up and set a blistering time of 3min 40sec, most exchanged looks of bewilderment at the swiftness he completed each obstacle – looking calm and smooth and not even like he was rushing onto the next.

I bailed my first attempt falling off the balance beam and felt I should wait to have another try. Adam Teszke however was given a 10 burpee forfeit for coming of the cliff-hanger but smashed through regardless to complete in an impressive 3min 47secs. Not knowing how to feel about the task at hand and wondering if I was capable of completing the course Burpeeless, let alone in a winning time, we tucked into lunch… chilli con carne and the best brownies ever tasted!

Tyre flip

Cave ladder

Slightly full I was up second after lunch and ready to get it over with. The balance beam and cliff-hanger had dried out considerably throughout the day and I managed a surprising 2min 47sec lap. This meant I moved into the lead and Jason had to counter…and counter he did, chopping a massive margin of his previous time coming in with a 2min 58sec. Still not good enough for first but an impressive display of strength and speed!

All ladies completed the course which is a massive achievement in itself but the fastest time was set in an impressive 8min 1sec by Fi Silk (also the Mudstacles female pull-up competition winner).

A fun day and a far cry from my Fan Dance challenge the weekend before, but just as satisfying to come away in first. My next challenge will be an 80km ice skating race from Uppsala to Stockholm in Sweden. Although I will be unable to race in the elite class without a licence I am looking forward to the challenge nonetheless. Check back for a blog on my experience in three weeks’ time!

On Saturday I took part in my first race of 2014: The Fan Dance Race…

Last year the organisers of the race saw my profile on the Judgement Day website and challenged me to take part. Once I read what the race was about and a bit of background about the event organiser, Ken Jones, I got myself entered and started preparing for this hilly running challenge.

The Fan Dance Race, organised by Avalanche Events, is a recreation of one of the challenges used in the selection process of the UK's Special Forces personnel. A gruelling 24km race over two sides of Pen Y Fan, the highest mountain in the Brecon Beacons. There are two options when taking part: load bearing and clean fatigue. I chose to take part load bearing which would require me to carry a 35+lb (16kg) rucksack with food and water in addition.

Pen Y Fan

With a couple of training runs carrying a weighted rucksack and having spent a week in Norway cross-country skiing and snowshoeing over Christmas, my legs were feeling strong and I was confident I could put in a good show. I had also run in the area whilst competing in the OMM so I was familiar with the type of terrain I would be faced with and what the weather could be like…and the weather was actually as atrocious as it was during the OMM; this added to the challenge with high winds, low visibility and torrential rain to contend with!

As I explained in my post race interview with Mudstacle, I used a slightly smaller bergan than most people whilst still carrying the required kit and weight. This gave me the advantage of a smaller more manageable load.

Some of my race kit

On arriving at the event centre I was informed the start time had been changed due to poor weather and the load bearers had already started… whoops! With no time to loose I was given a 'mini start' and headed uphill a little uncertain of what pace to try and keep. I had started 21minutes late but knew I could adjust my finishing time accordingly.

The start line next to the famous red phone box

I started overtaking people half way up to the summit which spurred me on. On reaching the top I continued to push hard and settled into a fast pace descending to the half way point where I was to turn around to head back. Being an out and back route I knew I could calculate my distance behind the leaders from where I met them on their return journey. As it turned out, as I reached the half way mark the leaders were just leaving it…I had caught up the 21 minutes by half way. This meant I could pace myself through the rest of the race confidently in the lead and that I would be the first finisher which is always nice. I managed to jog the majority of the way back up Pen Y Fan but my pace was reduced to a snail's pace in the last section up Jacobs Ladder.

Navigation adds another dimension to this event; even though the route is straight forward and all on paths, with low visibility there were still times when I was uncertain as to whether I was completely on the right track. I did take a slightly wrong turn but realised after 100 yards that I was starting to ascend Cribyn so cut back over to the correct path. The route just below Corn Du was also altered slightly due to high winds.

The route marked in red

Once I made it back down the mountain it was an honour to shake Ken Jones’ hand and receive my finishers badge to signify the completion of the challenge. For having the fastest time, I received an awesome framed section of the map and a Nite Hawk T300 watch with a carbon fibre reinforced base - it only weighs 64 grams!

Finishers badge and prizes

During the event I was imagining what it would be like to be attempting to complete the course as the recruits do with more weight, a rifle and at the end of two weeks of hell…not a nice prospect. I feel as if I have gained a tiny perspective of the mental a physical toughness of those guys as this is an extremely tough challenge even with fresh legs and holding energy gels instead of a rifle.

The next day I met up with Mark Ford, my OMM running partner, to re-run one of the legs where we had a poor route choice. A fantastic weekend in the Brecon Beacons and I will always look forward to running there in the future... whatever the weather.

This weekend was my last scheduled race of the year and once again it was a race where I was defending my title having won the previous year...

The Survival of the Fittest race series works its way around the UK before the final race at Battersea Power Station, London. This was the final time the race would be held within the power station due to the development works that have already started.

It’s worth saying this is more of an urban obstacle course race, making the running extremely fast - so when coupled with some shorter distances than advertised this race can produce some extremely quick times. Last year I won with a time of 35 min 29 seconds.

'Carry a keg' obstacle

I wasn’t as confident as usual standing on the start line. I had heard there would be some very quick runners attending and once again I was up against Ross Macdonald (who needs no introduction - see past posts).

Once we got going I was feeling quite fast and settled into a good pace early on. I took the wrong turn in the first maze but still managed to pull out a lead over the running section in Battersea Park. I built on this lead through the final obstacles allowing me to haul myself over the final wall in first position.

Winning time of 33 minutes 40 seconds

With the day race won and only the shorter night race left Ross and I were determined to have a good time and finish the season off in style. During the day we found ourselves watching the rugby in a pub…I had a modest drink and Ross had, shall we say, a 'few' more... 

After a swift jog to the train station and a rushed registration we made it onto the start line for the night race just in time. We had already discussed introducing our own ‘pint of beer obstacle’ as we were racing but I have to admit once we started racing I wasn’t looking forward to it...

I got into the beer tent about 45 seconds before Ross and started pathetically sipping my drink. Once Ross joined me I could see he was serious, downing his much quicker! Nevertheless I managed to finish up 20 seconds before him.

The 'extra' obstacle

Having less in me than Ross definitely paid of for the final 2km; I felt pretty sick but after a big burp I was off again and managed to cross the line first.

What a day and with my title defended (for now) we took full advantage of the beer tent...

The Spartan Beast obstacle race is the grand finale of the UK Spartan season. Spartan have already held many ‘Sprint’ (5km+) and ‘Super’ (10km+) events across the country earlier in the year, but were returning to Pippingford Park to hold the ‘Beast’ (25km+) also labelled The Spartan UK Championships.

The build-up to this OCR was the biggest I have ever seen; many believed this to be the first time top obstacle course racers were going head to head at the same event (an occasion I can see happening more often in the future). Thomas Blanc had won all other UK Spartan races this year, I have had a relatively successful year competing in non-Spartan events as well as being last year’s Beast winner, and many other top racers were already known to be attending (including Ross MacDonald and Sam Cherry) and the promise of a £10,000 purse would tempt many more.

I had an interesting build up to this race. 2 weeks before I ran in the OMM covering 80km in the 2 day adventure race. On my return from Wales I felt fine but a couple of days later I developed a pain in my knee leaving me unable to run or cycle. After a couple of days rest to let it settle down and just 7 days before the Beast  I decided to try it out  with a bit of orienteering, the rough ground aggravated my knee but thankfully didn’t hinder my performance. With another week of rest I was confident I would be 100% standing on the start line at the Beast…

Pippingford Park is set in a valley giving the organisers the chance to plan a hilly and wet course using the abundant small ponds and rivers on the valley floor. Plenty of rain in the lead up to the race made the going especially wet, whilst completing a small warm up jog I could almost feel my Inov8s being sucked of my feet by the ever worsening mud.

As we waited to start, the rain became torrential and stayed that way for the majority of the race. Once we were off Ross MacDonald and I enjoyed the first 5km catching up, laughing and joking staying relaxed completing the first of the obstacles which included walls, pull-ups, a ladder climb, tyre carry and more. We soon returned to the event village where S**t got real…Both Ross and I missed our first attempt at the spear throw leaving us to complete 30 burpees while Thomas and some others ran on into the lead. With a turn of speed I had caught them in no time with Ross not far behind. However, the four of us then managed to run off in the wrong direction… bollocks. By the time we tracked back to where we had gone wrong, no other racers further down the field had come through so we got down to business with our own mini re-start to the race. 

The start

Burpees following the missed spear-throw...

By the time we had covered another 5km and the 4 of us were still neck and neck, I decided now was my time to create a gap and as we left the event village for the final time I managed to pull out a lead up a long hill. Next were many different obstacles involving carrying heavy object which allowed me to build on my lead. Unknown to us we had roughly 10km to go at this point which included many long sections of running over some rough and boggy ground. This proved especially painful for my knee and by the time I returned to the even village it was giving me a fair amount of pain. Thankfully it wasn’t hindering my performance and through the second half I had built up roughly 3 minutes lead…which (as it turns out) I needed.

Atlas stone (35kg)

The final obstacle was a 25ft rope climb, in what I can only describe as the most anti climatic finish of my life as I only managed to get half way up before sliding back down to be told to complete my 30 burpees. Once these were done over the line I went to claim the prize money of £1,501 and another trip to the USA to race next year… not bad for a day’s work! Ross came 2nd following a similar finish to me and a nice chap called Conor finished 3rd putting me and Ross to shame by hauling himself to the top of the rope. 

The failed rope climb...

Top 3 - Conor, Me and Ross

I am happy with how the race went but feel I only took the victory because of the quantity of running (my strength) in the second half. This race has highlighted weaknesses in me that I would have to address if I were to compete with the likes of the OCR athletes across the globe.

I am disappointed with not making it to the top of the rope climb… many excuses could be made but ultimately my technique and strength weren’t good enough. I am confident with more training and some practice I would have flown up it but on the day after 20km of running it wasn’t to be. I have decided cross fit may benefit me in this way and will definitely be looking for a gym in London as soon as my knee is better!

My knee is especially sore now and seems to have taken quite a beating, with the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest race in just a week I am unsure if it will be able to take the abuse… only some more rest in the coming days will tell. 

Ice-pack on knee...done being a Spartan for today