For the last few months I’ve been really out of sorts with training, I’ve let all my races pass without attending and I’ve really struggled to get over the effect of having Covid19. However, during that time I have seen ASK really flourish in her triathlon training and this weekend saw the culmination of all the hard work come together as she took on the Peebles Triathlon (held in Galashiels) and did brilliantly.
It’s been really rewarding watching her transition, pun intended, from the excellent runner that she already is into this multi-sport athlete. She did a lot of her swim training in cold lochs, her running and biking was often on hilly, winding trails and it was all a bit cobbled together by the GingaNinja and I using what little we actually know to provide her with enough guidance to make the start line and be ready for it.
But as a spectator and, perhaps more pertinently, as a parent it’s hard to watch your child rock up and stand next to kids that are several centimetres taller than her and alongside some kids who looked like seasoned triathletes already! I’ll confess I didn’t get a good nights sleep before the race.
And even as she took her place in the water I was worried that she would get cut adrift from the rest – but as they started them off in two waves I was amazed at how quick she looked in the water. She certainly wasn’t being cut adrift, she was more than holding her own.
When she climbed out of the water and crossed the timing mat at 1 minute 41 seconds and did the couple of hundred metres run to transition I thought she looked tremendous. Sadly we then hit the one issue of her race, and the thing we had worked on a lot in the weeks leading up to the event, the transition.
The reality I suppose though is that all the work in the world though goes out of the window (sometimes) on a race day and this for ASK happened in T1. She forgot to put her t-shirt on before her helmet and so had to take it all off after being almost ready to bike and then her number came away from her shirt and she required a bit of assistance from a very supportive and helpful marshal to deal with it. But all of this took extra seconds and so her T1 was slow and accounted for a quarter of her entire race time.
However, despite the setback she came thundering into the bike section and was on the heels of the next competitor but was bizarrely refusing to overtake for whatever reason and whenever the athlete ahead slowed a little so did ASK. I did wonder if she was worried that she might get lost but whatever the issue she made good time on the bike and when I next saw her she was coming round the corner and into T2. She barely noticed either myself or the GingaNinja crying out support as she hurled her bike and helmet down – deciding sensibly to leave her bike gloves on for the run.
As I watched on and saw the pile of bikes at transition I noted that ASK, presumably because she was the shortest racer, was also using a smaller bike with smaller wheels than everyone else – made me wonder if I should have already upgraded her bike and I found myself immediately looking up Frog bikes to see if she would fit on the next wheel size up! (Not quite).
Out of T2 she was as quick as any of the racers in front of her and with just a 600 metre run to do I hoped that all those years of training would pay off for her. ASK runs at a consistent 5 minute kilometre pace over a 5km distance and is able to sustain a faster pace over shorter distances and so 600 metres here should have been under 3 minutes.
But I’d perhaps made a mistake of telling her to be sensible in the run, at least until she could see the finishing line and then give it some welly – advice she really did take to heart. Her run of 3 minutes and 20 seconds could be bettered but her sprint finish was stellar! Two feet off the ground for most of the sprint? Reminded me of myself in my younger days!
As I stood near the finish waiting for her I was stupidly nervous and when I saw her I called out to her but she sensibly ignored me and the GingaNinja and focused on the finish. She crossed the line and thought nothing of looking around for adults – she was far too busy with medals and bags of Tangtastics – but when she did finally catch our eye she was elated with having finished and finished so brilliantly.
No, she didn’t win but she also didn’t come last, nor finish miles behind everyone else – she finished in a way that will give her confidence to improve on some small errors and be a little more competitive when overtaking opportunities present themselves. The important thing though is that she’s very happy and super keen to go again and I’ll be encouraging that and hoping she can inspire me to a return to fitness!
The event itself was a brilliant and well organised day and I enjoyed it so much I’d consider the adult version next year. The guys at Live Borders deserve a massive round of applause for co-ordinating this and ASK is certainly eyeing up a return! Can’t wait!
As we walked down through the rain and wind from the campsite to the Kerrera ferry I think we all wondered what madness had we gotten involved in, but here we were, as a family, about to be part of the Craggy Island Triathlon from Durty Events.
In a twist to our usual family adventures it was the GingaNinja who was competing meanwhile I and the child would be on volunteering duty at the junior triathlon event. We headed for our crossing to the island about 8.30am and lined up with dozens of other competitors, spectators and volunteers. It was a real electric atmosphere as we waited those few minutes to board one of the many boats that was whizzing people and gear to the registration.
What I can say is that in organisational terms the whole team worked brilliantly and not just Durty Events but also the islanders who help make this happen. Boats moved across the water transporting competitors in a constant sea of movement – it was a magnificent sight and when we arrived on the beautiful Kerrera we were greeted by the brilliant hustle and bustle of the event that was even more electric than the mainland.
Before we had departed the slipway we made our first new friend of the day – a lovely chap called Adrian, who had competed the day before and had come back to volunteer on day two. Myself and ASK chatted with him and others for quite a while as we awaited the beginning of the briefing for volunteers.
At a little after 9.30am (too busy chatting to competitors, so we were a few minutes late) we headed to the volunteer briefing and caught up on where we were supposed to be and what we would be doing. Diane lead the briefing and gave clear and easy instructions and noting any pressure points that might occur during the day. ASK and I had been handed junior stream crossing duty on the bike and run section and we needed to be there for about noon – so we had time to spare and with that we got chatting to other marshals like Linsey and Freya who were both awesome and ambled around supporting the GingaNinja and some of the other competitors as nerves started to get the better of them.
Thankfully the GingaNinja got into the spirit of things and made a few new friends herself including the awesome Pauline and Jane who were competing as a relay team in the triathlon, I had no idea that there would be so many brilliant options for this event and this gave the whole thing a vibe of being super friendly and incredibly inclusive – it had a really welcoming feel that just lifted the spirits even if the rain was bouncing down on top of you.
But with time ticking away competitors needed to head back to mainland for the start of the race – yep that’s right – registration is on the island but the start is on the mainland – you’ve got to swim back to the island to complete the bike and run sections!
What a superb and brutal idea!
Anyway ASK and I took up a spot overlooking the swim exit and cheered everyone into transition while awaiting the arrival of our athlete. The GingaNinja should have been quick in the swim and I was probably expecting a time of about 11 or 12 minutes but as the first swimmers came out and then the next and the next she wasn’t there.
In the water you could see the current was strong and it found swimmers being dragged significantly off course and this was going to be a massive drain on them as they pushed for the slipway. The GingaNinja, who would argue that the swim is her strongest discipline, struggled in the early stages and resorted to breast stroke until she found her footing.
By the time she was in gear and back into front crawl mode she had used up the energy reserves in her legs and lost a bit of the competitive advantage that a good swim would have given her ahead of the sections she wasn’t so confident in.
However, she pulled herself out of the water to a rapturous roar from the crowd, pulled the big girl pants on and managed to jog up the hill into transition where a battle with a wetsuit awaited. ASK and I followed as quickly as we could offering as much encouragement as we could.
ASK and I shouted advice down to her but she looked pretty pissed so I let her get on with it and instead turned my attention to the gentleman who had just approached me. Paul is one of the key organisers of the event along with the rest of the Durty Events team and the awesome Duncan (the wonderful ferryman and also my original co-conspirator in the special reason for being on the island).
What was my special reason for being there? Well, I had contacted the team at Durty Events to ask if they could help me in proposing marriage to the GingaNinja.
On one of of our test trips to the island, in the months before the event, Duncan had identified himself as co-organiser and so when we were there for our final test trip I stopped and asked if he might be able to help. Duncan with his broad smile and a little twinkle in his eye said, ‘leave it with me’.
And now as the GingaNinja was pulling the bike up from the grass to head out on the course, plans were being finalised for me to be able to ask her to marry me front of all her fellow triathletes.
But before any of that could happen there was the business of marshalling the junior race. ASK and I had been stationed at one of the outlier but most beautiful points. So at about 11.45 we, and Adrian, made our way up to our marshalling points, saying hello to the other event volunteers as we went by and cheering the adult race competitors as they hurried past us.
Looking into the sky, the grey had now disappeared and what remained was beautiful, blue sky! This was wonderful and I had no doubt would make marshalling a much easier task (especially with a 7 year old in tow) and also a more mentally enjoyable effort for the juniors.
ASK set herself up by the directional signage, grabbed herself a hot chocolate from the flask I had brought and sat upon her recently purchased inflatable seat (from race sponsor and local Oban outdoor wear store Outside Edge, a really good shop to visit might I add). The only problem, that I wouldn’t discover until we were packing away was that she had planted the seat in the sloppiest sheep shit imaginable!
Could have been worse of course she might have dumped herself in it.
Within minutes of our arrival at the marshal point we saw our first bikers, ASK steeled herself for motivational cheers and frantic arm waggling to inform the athletes the direction to go. I on the other hand found myself a little rock amongst the sea of sodden ground and stood just above the stream of water that the competitors would have to get through to continue onwards.
Adrian would later describe my motivational cheering as like an old style PE teacher on steeplechase or cross-country day as the runners were hitting the water! That said I like to think I was a little more encouraging to those that looked like they needed to hear that they could do it! We whooped and hollered at all the young athletes until both ASK had become rather hoarse.
What is undeniable though is that I was incredibly impressed by the skill, speed and tenacity of these young adventurers and I very much admired their abilities – from the youngest to the oldest they all did an amazing job. ASK also really enjoyed being part of it all and wanting to have a go herself. She called over to me at one point as one of the younger athletes came through and said, ‘that boy only looks about 8, I could do this next year when I’m 8’.
Of course I explained she was a bit too young yet to meet the age requirement but when she is old enough she’s welcome to try – but she’ll need to improve her biking skills first because there’s no way she’d get through the mud with her current bike riding.
What I do know is that while the biking was impressive from the juniors it was the running that really impressed me, those who had perhaps fought with the bike a bit, looked sharp in the run, and even on the boggy, muddy, slippery conditions there was real grit shown from everyone. If I had been wearing a cap as I stood on my rock I would have doffed it in the direction of each and every one of them.
With the race all but over ASK and I ate some lunch, a delicious curry pie for me and a macaroni pie for the child. As we were finishing them and with no athletes having been seen for some time we caught sight of the other marshals heading towards us collecting signs and so we joined them, clearing the field of event signage – leaving no trace.
It was a lovely wander back with some lovely people, good chat and Teddy the black Labrador that had been hanging round the food tent earlier and looking to snack on any tasty treat that a careless athlete might have lost.
But now it was back to the real event of the day for me and that was taking place back at the finish line.
We deposited the race signage at the registration tent and then ASK and I set ourselves up at the finish line hoping that the GingaNinja would be here soon. The Durty guys were keeping a special eye out for her so that they could time things as efficiently as possible and this meant that when I arrived back I knew she had already been out on the run for about 45 minutes.
I spoke to Paul and said if she isn’t back in 15 minutes then they should just go ahead with the prize giving – I had no intention of keeping cold, hungry and exhausted triathletes from getting home but the Durty team seemed very relaxed about the whole thing and just played it by ear.
I however, was anxious, very anxious.
Although the GingaNinja knew the deal we agreed many years ago – complete an ultra marathon, a long distance walk of 100 miles or an any distance triathlon and we would get married she would have little or no idea that I would have roped in the help of the event organisers to force her, through embarrassment, into saying yes!
I kept checking my phone to see if she was in trouble but nothing she was still out there. Other triathletes crossed the finish line to great applause and while I was happy for them I was nervous for her and then Paul came over and said, ‘she’s a few minutes away’. My heart started racing but I got myself together and headed down the final strait so that ASK could finish it with her mum and then with prize giving underway I needed to move the GingaNinja and ASK into position quickly without giving the game away.
I stripped her of her soaking kit and hurled her dryrobe on, I gave the child a camera and with just a minute to spare we were settled at the prize giving at which point I was almost immediately called up to the front of what felt like a million people.
Now I had relayed my story and what was about to happen to lots of the people at the event and almost everywhere I looked I saw someone who knew what was about to happen.
With microphone in hand I began.
‘We’ve been on a million and one adventures together… I wondered if you fancied a million and one more… starting with this one…’
At which point I removed from my pocket a ring that had been specially made for us by a wonderful lady called Sally Grant in Burntisland and moved to the traditional single knee position.
‘Will you marry me?’
The GingaNinja moved from the crowd, looking rather sheepish and then whole world fell silent and disappeared. She came, took the ring from my rather trembling fingers, which would refuse to fit on her triathlon fattened sausage fingers and said yes.
I informed the crowd of the answer and there was a cheer to break the silence and more importantly there was an easing of my breathing. Hellfire I even cried, which is most unlike me.
Holy turd. She said yes.
The Durty Stuff But enough of this you aren’t here for the emotional proposal stuff you’re here because of Durty Events. What I can say is that the Craggy Island Triathlon must be a massive logistical challenge but the team make it look effortless. It was smooth, it was brilliantly executed and it seemed to be very elastic, if something needed to adapt then the team could move with that need. Brilliant.
Location In terms of location I think Kerrera might be a little hidden gem in Scotland’s arsenal of little gems. The place is full of little secrets to uncover as you explore and it is certainly worth seeing the castle and the views across to Mull and the mainland but there’s so much more to the island. The islanders themselves that I met on my various visits were incredibly friendly and welcoming and there’s a real community spirit about the place. Then you’ve got the event route which the GingaNinja described as ‘absolutely glorious’ and you’d have to agree, it has absolutely everything in it, all muddily packaged in to about 22km of eventing and the junior route was equally exceptional – you don’t get this kind of thing everyday.
This is an event worth doing as a seasoned eventer or first timer – it’s something you’ll never forget and never regret.
Marshalling & Volunteering As for marshalling? Well I definitely had a pretty easy time of it, I answered a few questions from some of the competitors and spectators, then got a fantastic view of the junior race for a couple of hours – it was a truly wonderful experience. What I can say is that it was brilliant and everyone should try and give a bit back by doing some volunteering and let me assure you that you’ll have a great time if you choose to do it in a Durty Events kind of way. Importantly though any kind of volunteering and marshalling makes a difference in any kind of endurance sport and your participation makes it so much easier for events to take place and for athletes to be supported.
Mountain Rescue It’s also worth noting that this event also serves as a fundraiser for the Oban Mountain Rescue and I can’t think of a service that deserves your support more, you can donate to them at any time (or your nearest mountain rescue) because without their dedication and commitment, events like this wouldn’t really be possible. We might think we’ll never need their aid or their exceptional skills but on the day we do then I’m glad I’ve donated to keep them going.
Thanks And now to a few thanks, first of course is to Durty Events and team, not only did they provide a triathlon event that my partner was keen to participate in but they made room for me and my little piece of proposal mischief. Paul & Diane especially you have my thanks.
To Duncan, our wonderful ferryman, co-organiser and all round star I must say thank you for being a brilliant support and a real gentleman, you inspired all of the madness of the proposal at the event! Plus being sped from the island by you was the perfect end to a perfect day.
To Freya, Linsey, Adrian and all the other volunteers and marshals – your company, wisdom and videography skills were much appreciated, I hope we one day come across each other in another muddy location.
To the many competitors who took part, especially those such as Jane and Pauline who we chatted to throughout the event it was a pleasure to share the Craggy Island Triathlon with you. Congratulations to everyone who took part you were amazing snd my apologies if I’ve forgotten to mention you.
To my little munky, ASK, the 7 year old marshal and daughter who managed not to moan at all, despite soggy feet and missing her mum. She was a superstar and came away wanting not to be an ultra runner like her dad but be a triathlete like her mum.
And finally to the GingaNinja – thanks for finishing and for saying yes.
And so that’s one of the Tales of Kerrera, what’s yours? And what will your next adventure be?
Durty Events have lots of lovely looking events to get your teeth into (or volunteer at). I know I’ll be signing up to a first triathlon with them (probably Craggy Island) and the GingaNinja is already eyeing up both the Foxlake and Aviemore Tri events. It wouldn’t surprise me if we become not just durty but filthy regulars because these guys know how to put on a splendid event. You can find out more at durtyevents.com and let me assure you I’m not paid or sponsored to say any of this they are just a brilliant events team.
Apologies if I got a name wrong or if I missed anyone out – it has been a mad few days but thank you to everyone and see you again soon!
I was having a think the other day about televised sport and in particular – free to air televised sport. I have a very limited interest in football any more and sports like rugby, cricket and even track based athletics have never held my attention for long periods. However, my boss introduced me to the crown in Scotland’s TV sporting output – The Adventure Show.
The Adventure Show looks at the best eventing north of the border that’s just a little more obscure, a little on the wild side and a genuine contender for ‘crowd pleaser of the year’.
Why do I mention this? Well, I want to see the same thing down here on the BBC (or other terrestrial option) proper. I’ve got nothing against cookery programmes, DIY shows and pricey period romps but think about a show dedicated to mountain biking, ultra running, sky running, orienteering, kayaking, triathlon, coasteering, OCR and all the other things we, as adventurers, want to see more of.
The BBC Trust found in their own research that …members told us that audiences across the UK think the BBC’s services are performing well. However, Councils suggested that more television programmes made by BBC Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be broadcast on the national networks
However, according to an analysis published in the Radio Times, ‘£35 million will be cut from the BBC Sport rights fund, and with several deals set to end soon, that means much-loved terrestrial sports could go.’
We’ve already seen a steady decline in sporting coverage over the years on terrestrial TV as sport has become bigger and bigger financially and Murdoch has moved almost everything to a pay for view model. Therefore BBC and other terrestrial options have focused on the gala events such as the Olympics and then exploited them with over-analysis and spread ideas thinly – glossing them over as bonus content. But maybe there could be a shake-up in strategic thinking and this could in part be by looking at what our country is actually doing and bringing them some of that.
I was looking at the list of what the BBC currently holds and what they’ve given up/lost (Wikipedia not necessarily the font of all knowledge I grant you), which you can see here but it provides an interesting insight to the focus of BBC Sport. There’s a lot of sport, especially in the radio coverage, but very little that crosses those boundaries between sport, entertainment and real adventuring people, not parodies of real people like ‘Total Wipeout’.
My idea would be to bring real sporting people to the fore, much like the Adventure Show does. I can imagine a piece of programming which follows the adventures of people like @abradypus or @borleyrose – dedicated hours of television where adventure was the key, not just running, but everyday people being brilliant. Think of it as an outdoor double bill being paired with Countryfile.
The UK is currently in a golden era of adventuring – you only need to look through social media to see the kind of insane stuff that people are getting up to – shouldn’t we be promoting this? Let’s also remember that BBC Trust research found that, ‘77% of audiences thought that fresh ideas were important but that only 61% thought the BBC had fresh ideas’. Time for a fresh look at what you’ve already got and how that could be further improved?
It’s a simple idea that might give BBC sport a return to credibility with real people at a fraction of the cost of your sporting crown jewels. I’m not saying we get rid of the Olympics, football, athletics or our once a year fascination with tennis but these things are all riddled with scandal, financial irregularities and cheating – why not look at sports that are a little more niche on the outside but infinitely more inclusive on the inside.
Trust me BBC (ITV, C4 and Five) watching Susie Chan at the MdS or Cat Simpson crossing the Atacama or James Elson winning Country to Capital will make for compelling viewing. It harks back to a time when the BBC had programmes like Kickstart, minority sports that today would be considered cool – believe me, bikes crossing wet and slippy logs inspired me to a life more extreme!
It’s not just that though, I’ve written previously about struggling to connect with sporting ‘celebrities’ and I don’t believe this is just me. As a nation we aren’t as fit as we should be and I wonder if a programme such as this would help in the promotion of wellbeing – not focusing on the elite and instead focusing on ‘those that do’. Inspiring equally real people to engage in sport.
I’d like an adventuring show that looked at costs, promoted the best of low-cost adventuring to ensure this didn’t become the equivalent of a Top Gear, that while entertaining, was well beyond the reach of mortal men. I’d like to see kit explored, nutrition, attitudes to the psychology of sport and other nuggets that could provide a gateway to exploration for everyone. Of course at the heart of it I’d want to see entertaining, breathtaking adventuring with gob-smacking scenery.
For those of us who’ve watched The Adventure Show (I do it via iplayer as we don’t get it in London – do we Beeb??!!) I think we can see it’s not made for a million pounds an episode! This stuff is happening regardless of whether you televise it or not so maybe you should get more involved. To the BBC especially, you’re a public service broadcaster and while I think you do a brilliant job with the resources you have I believe sport needs a rethink.
Come on Beeb, come adventuring with us and bring the nation with you! Get in touch with Triple Echo Productions and see if they fancy extending the Adventure Show nationwide! Or talk to the ever growing adventuring community and see for yourself the potential of joining us outside.
As an aside, if you aren’t going with thought number one can you at least dump the London Marathon and Great North Run from the schedule and replace it with some less charity focused races! I’m a bit sick of the celebrity and fancy dress focus of the coverage.
On my day I’m okay at running, I can cycle and I’m pretty shit at swimming, so I thought I’d enter the Virtual Triathlon and see if I could stumble my way to a medal. On Monday of this week I got out the old iron horse, prepared my swim kit and then went to work. The idea was that I’d do the run first then jump on my bike and then off to the pool to finish off before it closed. It started well I did a very hilly 5km in 24minutes, changed swiftly into my cycling shorts and hit full pelt uphill into the wilds of Kent. I was moving swiftly and well and the first 10km couldn’t have been more fun. I charged up the final hill and into a local country park where I allowed myself a lap or three of the car park to ensure I got to swim having done more than 20km. With my distance about right and Movescount keeping track I thundered out of the park for my favourite bit – the fast downhill.
As I did I could feel the first heavy splashes of rain and I knew I was going to have to ‘give it riz’ if I was to avoid the oncoming storm. I pushed on through the now heavy headwind and felt the rain bashing against my face. I could feel that my control wasn’t all it should be and yet despite my lack of skill in cycling I pushed on. I hurled myself into the big downhill, now thundering along and it was here that I was caught with an intense combination of head and cross winds. The bike (otherwise known as Ultrette) dipped into the space between the road and the grass and what control I had disappeared.
I was in a bit of a heap and bleeding but thankfully not too seriously – as far as I could tell in the darkness! I picked myself up, photographed the scene, called the GingaNinja, switched off Movescount and then ran 3km pushing my bike so I can meet up with transport home. I was cold, soaked and I didn’t know how to reattach my chain (not that my bloodied hands were working!).
I got home and tweeted my experience – and thank you for all the very kind support – but I was deflated. I’d damaged my bike, failed to get to the swim and just plain old fashioned failed. What to do?
The following day I did the swim, I fixed Ultrette and then yesterday I got my arse back out running and cycling.
The sad thing was that the fall dented both my confidence and my body and so it was a slow swim (525metres), a slow cycle (21.8km) and a slow run 5km). When I went out first time I felt really alive – but the second time I felt like I just wanted to get it done. However, this shouldn’t detract from what a bloody awesome idea for an event the VirtualTriathlon is and I would highly recommend getting involved in either the sprint or super sprint distance.
I’ve been racing quite a lot since the turn of the year and this has been helped by my participation in the VirtualRunnerUK events. I was incredibly pleased to see that they had decided to run a Sport Relief event as it made sense that we might all fancy a bit of a go at something different and so a few days before the Sport Relief weekend the entries opened for an any distance and time event in cycling, swimming and of course running.
Sat in the comfort of my armchair I mused to myself about the fun I could have doing all three and in no time at all I was signing up to the swim, then I was signing up to the cycle and finally the run. It was then that it occurred to me that I could turn this into a personal triathlon and so I set about planning a route where I could minimise the transitions – because the swim section would realistically have to be in a pool. I planned it to be a cycle followed by a run and finished with a swim.
What actually happened was this
On the Friday – the first day of Sport Relief, and the night of the televised event , I went out and did a light 10km, this was unintentional but it served the purpose of completing the run section if I didn’t manage to do anything else. The reason I was worried was that my OHs mother was visiting and this meant that there would be non sporting activities that I might have to engage in – meh.
However, I revised my plan so that everything could be completed on the Sunday morning – nice and early and with a shunt in the running order. My VirtualTriathlon would be a 5km cycle, 500metre swim and finished with a 5km run (although there was a second 5km bike ride to allow me to get home from the pool). The first part was the 5km cycle, I span out of the house and hit the road – pushing my bike as hard as I can manage, which to be perfectly honest isn’t that hard and I did the hilly ride in about 16 minutes. It wasn’t anything spectacular but I was saving myself for the swim section which I knew would be the hardest part for me. The transition from cycle to pool was just under 8 minutes, which I didn’t think was that bad considering I needed to lock the bike up, get entry to the pool and change.
I hurled myself into the pool and began swimming the 25metre lengths, struggling as always when I’m in the water. I was alternating between freestyle and breast stroke as I’m not strong enough as a freestyler to do the 500 metres. So with all the energy I could muster I powered up and down, over and over again – so much so that I lost count of my lengths and therefore ended up doing about 625metres, although the Suunto can’t be considered definitive in its accuracy in the pool and it was probably more like 500metres. However I powered though the distance in just over 13 minutes and even with the time consuming transition I was still in good form. As I was swimming I made the decision to dry as little as possible out of the pool and throw on my running gear and thunder out of the leisure centre – leaving behind my bike kit which I would pick up later. This method meant I was held up for less than 10 minutes between getting out of the pool and starting the run.
Straight out of the door from the centre I knew a slowish route up a hill and back again. It was at this point that I could feel the hunger I normally associate with about mile 18 of a marathon and I had neither food nor water on me. Hmmm, this was difficult but I wasn’t likely to stop now and in reality I was flying.
Bang, kilometre 1 gone, bang kilometre 2 gone – I was expecting my feet or my back or my hips to suddenly implode and I’d need to use my Friday night 10km as my run distance. Thankfully kilometre 3 and 4 ebbed away into the ether and I was on the return to my bike and other kit. Sadly I came up a little short at 4.89km but in an excellent 16.32 – probably looking at a 17.30 5km which is the fastest I’ve gone in a long time.
For a while I sat at the wheel of my bike, feeling like I was going to puke – but I didn’t and when I finally stood up I knew I’d done something brilliant and I have VirtualRunnerUK to thank for the opportunity.
I realise the phrase Project: ThunderClunge might be a hint offensive to many but believe me it is very appropriate for the situation I find myself in and in fact Project: ThunderClunge will adapt its name in about 100 days to Project: ThunderPunch which in context is actually probably more offensive but hohum.
What I’m trying to say is that this thing is actually having an effect on my ultra running! Arse!
The Project has managed to knock a bloody big three month window in my schedule without even hinting at injuring me further than I already am and this has meant some rejigging of my running schedule for 2014 and I’m now hoping that my entry into the CCC doesn’t come off because that’s at the eye of the storm. With all this in mind I’ve therefore been looking to cram more running into the first half of the year and towards the back end of the year. Thankfully I’m lucky enough that things like Country to Capital, St Peters Way and SDW50 will remain unaffected and touch wood NDW100 won’t take a hit either. I should then just be coming out of the other end of Project ThunderClunge to be able to compete in the Winter 100 if Centurion ever make any more announcements .. I’m on edge about getting a place for that one .. anyway I was looking round for another 2 UTMB point run and had seen the Pilgrims Way and thought that would be ace but just my luck – it had sold out. I started the search again and not fancying travelling up to the Lakes or Wales because of the distance and difficulty in reaching the start lines I looked a little closer to home. Annoyingly the company Ultra Trails has now folded and so I couldn’t run with them again but there was the Race to the Stones which takes place not a million miles from my OHs parents home. I quickly checked with Twitter who described it almost universally as overpriced and a perhaps not the greatest race to run (especially of the ultra options in the area) and while I agree it is overpriced for the distance it fits in quite nicely with where I need to be and also my qualification aims for the 2015 UTMB. I’ve also managed to chat to a couple of chaps who had competed in it and their opinion that while it wasn’t the best route you’ll ever run it certainly wasn’t the worst and is a well organised and good event to do. Therefore I’m headed to the Race to the Stones in pretty good cheer, although £120 poorer, I’ll let you know in six months if I thought it was good value.
I’m now contemplating a few other bits to supplement my ultra running this year, probably highest priority is a triathlon and there are currently two that catch my eye, the first is the Bewl triathlon where I would hope to banish the much hated ‘Curse of Bewl Water’ and there is the Red Venom event in Southport, near Liverpool – this has the benefit of being near to my dad and I’d have a place to stay, transport, etc. Both have a lovely sprint distance available and there is the standard as well. The only other triathlon that I might consider would be the Midnight Man which is organised by the amazing people who brought us the Dartford Bridge 10km and they too have multiple distances available and I’m pretty sure I could be competitive at one of these.
In addition to this I’ve been invited down to the New Forest to run a 20 miler which could be good fun but the dates I think clash with other races in the season and so that one might be missed but I’m likely to sign up to both the British 100 and the Kent Roadrunner marathon because although I ran it last year I did rather enjoy it and both the National 100 and the Kent Roadrunner are at the Gravesend Cyclopark and I think a track base ultra marathon would be a uniquely excellent opportunity (or perhaps a very dull experience … we shall see). However, I’m normally the one hands out ideas for races but this year I’m a bit stumped, I’d like to a run more new races, so maybe the Ashford Half Marathon, but I fancy a few 10km, maybe a few adventure races like the Major Series or Wolf Run or even the Nuts Challenge but as with all of these there are only so many race days available and I have to be mindful of both my body and Project ThunderClunge.
So runners, what would you recommend for a race day this year? What are you running? And just how far will you push yourself?
You’re watching the road
You’re watching the sky
You’re watching the arse of the pretty runner in front of you
You’re waiting for the horn to go off
You’re anticipating the moment you cross the line
You’re thinking of your sprint finish
And you’re thinking that you really want to beat the guy stood next to you because he’s a bit of a dick.
Let me start properly by saying that I loved running the Dartford Bridge 10km race. Yes it had much to shout about as an event, it was flat, fast, easy to get to, good range of post race snacking, an excellent and reasonably price tea wagon, it had an announcer who was an absolute legend bringing us home along the final stretch and it had a race organiser who I found it an absolute privilege to chat with.
Anyway as I am sure you are aware I’ve been on the comeback from injury recently, after a year of niggling and not quite so niggling injuries I’m still not better but continue to race but the injuries are slowly easing and therefore I decided that this was to be an on the day entry. I rolled up at 8am, nice and early – handed over my £16 and got hold of a precious race number. The people organising the event were an absolute delight and I enjoyed their company for a bit before strolling off for a steamy cup of delicious tea and a wander around the course.
Being early let me watch the build up play out quite nicely and although the field could hold about 400 runners there was about 250 there which gave it a nice enough race atmosphere when combined with the supporters. The race was set to kick off about 10am and so after a quick change of clothes, a deposit in both the bag store and the loo and I was ready. My aim was under hour but in my head I had about 52 minutes.
I set out from the back of the course with my fellow tweeter @RichKisbee who I’d met just moments before the start of the race and after a minute or so I threw the gauntlet down to myself and kicked on passing a couple of other runners who I either knew or knew by sight. The reality is that the course wasn’t the most picturesque but it wasn’t without its charms and with both Essex and the Dartford Bridge in the background actually I quite enjoyed it. As the first lap came to a conclusion I grabbed some water, had a laugh with the crowds and some of the marshals and picked up my pace. I’d had a slightly slack moment between 3 and 5km which was going to affect to my finish but this was due mainly to the fact the injuries I had been suffering with were back and kicking at me. Anyway the second lap had a slightly faster pace, I’d picked myself a runner up who was using me as a pacer (Kimberley, I found out her name near the final corner so I could shout her in!) and I felt I could manage a sub50.
With a faster push towards the final kilometre I knew I could start to pull away from Kimberley and continue overtaking people. In the distance I could see the clock counting towards 50 minutes, never have my little feet and Hoka pushed so hard to cross a line and failed to deliver – I really didn’t have much of a sprint finish left in me. However, I crossed the line with the clock at about 50:14 which gave me a 49:30something finishing time and I’d take that at the moment. I collected a decent medal and some lovely biscuits and swiftly turned around to congratulate Kimberley who had been my shadow until the final few hundred metres.
Anyway, after standing on the sidelines to clap in some of the later finishers I can quite happily say this was a great little race and I will certainly be turning up to this again next year. The people at the Dartford Bridge Triathlon are a great group of people with a great series of events. This was a race with something for everyone and I look forward to seeing you all there next year.
UltraBoyRuns 