Pre-Race Thoughts and Plan of Attack
So I’ve started writing this the Monday before the Hardmoors 55 as I start to think about preparations ahead of the weekend. I feel a little less prepared than last year, although this year I know what to expect having already completed the route. I’ve got a somewhat stretch target of under 11 hours and as I look to pull a schedule together for the race and compare it against last year’s time, it feels a hard day out at the races. The following quote kind of hits the mark:
So that’s that, just going to have to dig deep. I’ve pulled the schedule together by taking the average time of 4-5 runners who achieved the sub 11 hours for each leg and then added any remaining time over the legs. I may find myself 5-10 minutes down on the first leg of this race, although I’m not going to panic as I don’t think it will become apparent if it’s achievable until the later legs.
Originally I was going to be running this with a friend who was recovering from an ankle injury and we would have been taking sections like Roseberry Topping a little easier, now he’s took the wise decision to rest his ankle a little further I’m going to look to push the first two sections a little harder and try and maintain my schedule. The weather is currently showing sunny intervals, with a chance of rain later in the afternoon and breezy, so that could slow things down a little. I won’t be hanging about a checkpoints (in, offload rubbish, grab my drop bag and out).
Kit Choice, Fuelling and Drop Bags
As my schedule has me pushing the pace a little at the start, I need to ensure I get my kit choice, fuelling and drop bag right. Time lost from removing layers, lacking energy or faffing in checkpoints could make all the difference to the 46 minutes and 28 seconds I need to improve on from last year. Some area’s I know I can pick some time up are:
- Maybe my downfall this time, but took the first 20 miles steady and paced myself….
- Spent 5 minutes or more at Osmotherley faffing with kit and food
- Low mood and energy from Osmotherley to Sneck Yate and walked a little more
- Sneck Yate to White Horse, struggled to push the pace and run
- Stomach issues leading up to White Horse and very little left in the Tank after the steps
- Very little running from top of White Horse to finish
- Only a minute but trying to find my headtorch at the bottom of my bag
Kit Choice and Weather
I tend to run hot, so if it’s going to be anything but freezing I’m going for short shorts. I’ll have my wind proof and leggings at the top of my back in case I need to wrap up, otherwise as mentioned before that I’ll be pushing the pace and therefore keeping warm.
Jasmin Paris – Barkley Marathons Race
Before I get into my blurb and just in case someone has been living in another dimension recently, I was following the updates from Eion Keith on facebook the night before the race and couldn’t go to sleep until I knew if Jasmin had managed the impossible. I’d not being following the progress all that closely and was updated more by running friends asking me if I’d be following and who was still in the fight. By the time i’d finished my kit prep i’d heard Jasmin was into her 5th and final loop and at the Tower with just about enough time to get back (if she could run a similar time as she ran the first loop!!).
Eion’s updates didn’t come quick enough, with the announcement of Ihor Verys finishing first (well deserved after his Big’s Backyard Ultra assist), John Kelly finishing strong, then Jared Campbell and Greig Hamilton finishing with 21 minutes to “spare”. Now the question was can Jasmin make it back, I waited, I refresh his page, I waited, I refreshed his page. The deadline came and passed, no news…. then a new post as I press the refresh button 3 times per second…… Eion post reads something along the lines of “feck, feckity, feck.. deadline missed”, I immediately resign myself to maybe we’ll see it next year, would have been a great achievement. I refresh the page one last time to view the comments and someone has commented “She’s done it!!” I refresh more again and again, Eion’s next post Jasmin has done it.
It’s not been said enough yet, this is one of the greatest ultra-running performances of the age and with that inspiration I’m off to try and get some sleep with the firm belief if I dig deep tomorrow I’ll have every chance of achieving my goal.
Race Day
So race day is upon us and I have the usual disturbed sleep (not helped by the excitement of Jasmin finishing the Barkley’s Marathon). I wake to watch Jasmin’s final run in and finish, make’s me immensely proud of her (I’m not crying, you are). I’ve got 2 young daughters and Jasmin is exactly the person I want them to look up to and maybe even inspired them to get into running ;P.
As everything is packed, it’s porridge and load the car up, bundle my tired wife and kids into the car and we head to Guisborough to start. A last minute chat with my wife on my plans, so she can keep track via the Open tracking link and no sooner have we set off I’m queuing at registration, bib in hand, tracker attached and back at the car getting ready. Ooops nearly forgot the old lube, quick pit stop in the toilets and I head up to hear the race brief and head up the steps to the start line.
I see Stephen Pugh taking pictures and supporting his sister who is racing today and then manage to be just behind James Campbell who was looking to complete his 1,000th Hardmoors mile with a quick pat on the back and good luck we’re set off. The pace feels a little strong for me and I would normally drop off a little, but as eluded to before I’m pushing the pace for the first 2 sections and so it’s gonna feel tough. I try and relax into it and talk with runners around me and as we get a little higher up the wind starts to give us the first sign of what’s to come.
Roseberry Topping soon came and went and as I approach Captain Cook’s Monument I check my watch and feel it’s going to be tight reaching Kildale Village Hall as per my schedule. I push on up to the monument and put the work in to run down to the Village, the steep slappy road reminds my quads about the backyard ultra 3 weeks ago, I quickly put these thoughts to bed and push on. I approach the checkpoint and check the time, 5 minutes down on my plan…. No worries it’s close enough and there’s room to pick that up in the later sections if I’ve got the legs.
I planned ahead for the potential kit check here, last year the Hardshal’s (Hardmoors Marshal’s) had asked for my head torch and I agonisingly dug into my bag to find it as what felt like an eternity passed by (vital minutes, more like seconds I couldn’t afford to lose). So this time I’d put my head torch at the top of my bag, quick flash of that, grabbed my drop bag, refill of bottles and I’m out the door. It still felt far too long, but was maybe 1-2 mins. I see Karen Nash ahead and catch her up to say hi and asked how she was, “I think the wheels have come off” she replies. I’ve raced alongside Karen a few year’s ago and have no doubt Karen will be soon passing me as she’s an incredible runner and a great inspiration to me and the ultra community.
So I push on up the hill toward Bloworth crossing, this open section section lives up to it’s name as we turn straight into the wind for the next few miles. This is when I start to lose my head a little, with the wind in my face and choosing to walk/run vs. running the whole section last year, I start to do the math. By the time I reach Urra Moor I’m in a real sulk in the knowledge I’m not going to get near my schedule. I’d “raced” my first backyard ultra 3 weeks before and the reality of my recover was apparent coupled with the time already lost, i’d settled into the reality I wasn’t going to be near the 11 hour mark.
Just before I turned into a running version of the grinch, Paul Readman caught me up and was a instant boost to my moral. I’d met Paul at the end of the Hardmoors 30 in 2023 and ran into the finish together only to bump into him and run some of the Hardmoors 55/Roseberry Topping Trail Marathon in the same year. A few grumbles about the weather and a catch up on how his training was going, future race plans etc. etc. I’d soon picked up my pace and my mood had improved with the thought of let’s just get this done now (just the small issue of the 33 hilly miles still to traverse).
Over the road at Clay Bank, straight up the steps to shuffle my supplies around and top up on water as we head up the first of the ups and downs (the three sisters). I’ve been really struggling with my gut in the later stages of races and chose to go with only Tailwind and Gels today, but as I climb someone has dropped a picnic bar…. Must be a sign, so with no one immediately ahead of me I’ve decided it’s fair game and I eat half of it. I think coupled with my newly found moral boost and the chocolate I get my run on once on the tops no sooner to be given a cramp warning from my leg’s.
Quick rummage in my shoulder pocket and I’ve taken a salt tablet and push on, with the hills passing generally quickly and I start to settle into a good rhythm and catch Paul up again for a few more chats. We find ourselves together pushing the long meandering straights down and around to Osmotherley putting a really good shift covering the ground well. I get talking to another Runner (Trevor) and get to experience the “Steps of Doom” with him (forgotten pain from last year), with those out the way we drop into Osmotherley while being greeted by Duncan Barnett marshalling. My plan for all checkpoints was to be in and out in minutes, but that plan had gone to rat sh*t sometime ago and the pizza just looked to good to pass up.
A coffee, slice of pizza and a couple of pieces of cake and I’m very comfortable at Osmotherley. This means one thing and one thing only, time to push on. Quick flash of my survival bag, a wave for Duncan and off we go again. I felt so much better heading out of Osmotherley this year than last year, I’d really struggled to eat after Osmotherley the prior year and worried a little this might happen again so tried not to push the pace to much while my food settled.
You think the worst is over from here, but again some sections of forgotten pain are still to come with short sharp climbs and then a long drag around to Sneck Yate. I can See Trevor a couple of hundred meters ahead of me and try to close the gap for some company, but he’s soon drifting into the distance and I’m left with my own thoughts and trying to remember the route ahead and how far the next checkpoint is. What seems like an eternity I’m dropping down a slappy hill to be told by some spectators the next checkpoint is “just” over this next hill, I don’t remember this hill and have a sit down for a second prepare myself for the climb.
Sitting up I see Paul catching me up, I start off up the hill to pause and admire the “view” while he catches up. We drop into the checkpoint together and I take a seat while Paul pushes on, not before telling me to get up and I’m only allowed 2 mins there :D. I pick myself up and head out no sooner to sit next to the gate for a moment, I few words with myself and I push on. In hindsight while typing this and reflecting this section is really beautiful and has a winding rolling trail that would be great to enjoy on a training run, but with 40 miles in the legs I just want to be done now.
It’s a slog to the White Horse and very glad to see Micheal Swain and his merry team, Sausages or soup it didn’t matter. just a few people to talk to while I rejuvenated to the final push. Soup was just what a needed and I took a coffee to go, and made quick work of the steps (surprisingly). Took my bag off at the top and enjoyed my coffee, took in the scenery and even had time to take a quick picture. Wouldn’t it be nice if my car was waiting for me a Sutton Bank and I could drive home now before the night sets in….
Feeling slightly recharged I told myself I’ll walk to where the track breaks off and get stuck in to the finish, much to my surprise no sooner had I started to run I felt like absolute sh*te, even had to sit down for a minute. I pushed on walking, but had no energy to run and the though of these last 7-8 miles walking was crushing. I only had gels with me and just didn’t feel like one a this point and knew this was going to be a loooong slog to the finish unless something changed, maybe if I ate my emergency chocolate….. The thought was quickly dismissed as the fear of being disqualified after traversing the 54 miles for eating your emergency food wasn’t worth it (well not yet).
Maybe if a had a few chocolate button or some wine gums, WINE GUMS!! I’ve got a stash of 5 “just in case wine gums”, they’re a struggle to get down and the last one sticks to my throat. These 5 little bundles of joy have an instant effect on me and I’m soon running again, I mean I’m shifting! While my mood and energy levels are great I push on and the terrain is wizzing by. I’m soon passing 3 runners, another runner and catch another running up (this is Karan Saward), I would later have a good chat with her and Anthoni Gerundini at the finish.
For now we chat briefly while too and throw past each other, until I’m getting my walk back on and Karan pushes on looking strong. I know the last climb/s are coming up so preserve my energy, with these out the way I see the light of Helmsley and 3 runners head torches ahead of me. I’ve still got the wine gum energy in me and push on to catch them up, I slowly wheel them in and just as we start to cross the final fields before Helmsley I catch one up and instantly nearly throw up. I didn’t catch his name but he stopped and check if I was ok and was thankful for that.
A little jaded by how quickly that came on I pace myself a little and let him and the others pull away from me, while I’m left with thoughts of how the hell did Jasmin Paris push through no doubt many bouts of sickness, nausea and fatigue throughout that 60 hour ordeal…. With that in mind I pull my thoughts together and push on to try and finish strong, running down the road in to Helmsley, across the road and trying to keep the momentum up the road towards the finish, I stopped again by a potential to be sick. A quick look over my shoulder and a headtorch is catching me up so I try and run again only to be forced to walk again, one last look over the shoulder and really didn’t want to lose my position so forced myself to run into the carpark and onto the finish.
A bit of hustle and bustle, tracker removed, results print out handed to me, what’s you race number?, here’s your t-shirt, here’s your medal, oh and Justin don’t forgot your RunFurther Spot prize….. I had three different people talking to me and handing me items, I was a little confused with hands full and trying to remove a sticker to place it beside my name on the RunFurther board to acknowledge I’d taking a spot prize (Injinji Sock, what else). In the end I asked a lady if she wouldn’t mind doing it for me as the task of removing a sticker was beyond me at that point.
I find a empty chair, plonk myself down and just sit for a moment while gathering my thoughts. I soon come around, head over for a cuppa, toastie and a bit of cake with some sense of normality returning to my body. I check my finish time and shrug to myself as it’s not the outcome I would have liked, but the one my body and mind was capable of today. I then had a good chat with Karan Saward and Anthoni Gerundini who pinched my phone to take some snaps of Karan collecting her 1st place trophy for FV50. Well Done Karan, super effort!
Race Reflections
Now I’ve had some time to reflect on my performance on the day i’m fairly happy with the result. If I genuinely want a better time at this race and others I need to commit to strength, speed work and race specifics. rolling up three weeks after doing 104 miles at a backyard ultra and hoping to give a 110% is just not going to happen. I am happy with my running, but need to reflect on my plan of attack, that in this case should have been go out and enjoy it, while using this race as prep for the upcoming Hardmoors 110.
Hardmoors, Jon and Shirley Steele and the Hardshals
Just a nod to all of them at Hardmoors Races, just an excellent bunch of people creating a special community and most enjoyable challenges (in the ultra sense). Thank you one and all for making these events run as smooth and as safe as they do.
Author: Justin Bramall
Passionate about all things ultra running, from tackling epic distances to embracing adventurous challenges. I thrive on pushing limits, exploring new terrain, and sharing the grit and glory of the ultra world.
