When I was DNFing at the Trod, Mel Steventon mentioned that she was organising a hundred miler in January. That put the LAW on my radar and gave me a tentative target.
The LAW100 (Lady Anne Way) is a non-stop run of the Lady Anne Middleton Way, a long distance path commemorating the 16th century noblewoman and her lifelong project to restore her family castles. It starts in Skipton, at the gates of Skipton castle, and runs to Penrith castle, visiting all the Middleton castles in between. I was immediately interested because I'd read about Lady Anne when I lived close to Skipton, and visited various of the castles. Plus, a linear hundred miler is a massive long line on the map. About 2 weeks before the race date I decided I was probably just about fit enough, and put in an entry.
After much deliberation, weather forecast watching and plan changing, I had a definite kit list by the day before the race. Once I packed it into my OMM Ultra 15, I didn't have enough room for food.
Damn.
Being hyper cautious in unfamiliar situations, rather than reduce my kit I opted to take a bigger pack. A quick stitching job on my ancient OMM 32 litre and the immediate problem was solved.
Registration was on friday night, so I'd opted for a B&B in Skipton. I ate mid afternoon friday, then just had snacks in the evening. Saturday morning I scoffed down some pain au chocolat and coffee, and we walked across to the start. I dropped off my finish bag & drop bag, said a few hellos and chatted with Bob Nash about the weather we could expect. At 6am by the church clock we all set out from near the castle gate.
The robins were singing as we came up into Embsay. The rain hadn't started, neither had the wind really and it was a lovely pre-dawn day.
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| Cemetery at Embsay. A bit omen-y |
I was aiming to keep to around 11 minutes per km, alternating running and walking. All was going according to plan as far as Burnsall, where I got a lovely surprise as Claire joined me unexpectedly for a few miles. Over the moor tops between Burnsall and Grassington the wind was starting to pick up quite strongly, but nothing like what was to come.
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| Approaching Barden Tower |
Claire headed off at Grassington, and I carried on towards Kettlewell. The wind was starting to get really high, and I was struggling to keep on the path. Getting some of the gates open was starting to get tricky. As we dropped into Kettlewell a couple of other runners and I tried a chorus of "f*ck off wind", but it didn't work.
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| Only four? Felt like more. |
I didn't hang around long in Kettlewell - some soup and peanuts and a cup of tea and back out. The run along to Starbotton was more pleasant - there was still a strong headwind but much less than on the tops. I chatted with a few people as we approached Cray and climbed up to the top, then it really hit again. Across the moor top we were getting buffeted really badly, difficulty making progress and knocked around. That took a long time, and by the time I passed the VP on Addleborough Road I was already starting to feel a bit tired.
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| Wharfedale |
I came down into Wensleydale and got a nice respite as I headed east with the wind behind me, then had a longer stop in Askrigg as my feet were starting to bother me. A change of socks and a couple of slices of pizza, some cubes of cheese and some crisps, topped up the food in my pack from my drop bag then on again. On reflection not having more food at Askrigg was probably where the trouble really began.
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| Doesn't look bad from here... |
It was dark as I left Askrigg, and the path meandered around the valley bottom in places vaguely familiar from walking with friends. A short road section before Cotterdale, then the last big climb up Abbotsdale Fell. The sky was crystal clear and the view of the stars was amazing from the top, but the wind still hadn't dropped and it was getting cold.
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| Addleborough |
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| Addleborough again as the sun started to set |
The route along the valley side above Mallerstang is a lovely stretch of path, particularly by day but also at night. It was cold, and I was hungry and at one point stopped by the path to shovel down some food.
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| Bolton Castle |
My feet were really starting to get troublesome now, and my mood was a bit unstable as well as I approached Pendragon Castle. This is a short out and back, and I stopped another runner from carrying straight on and hence missing the CP. We walked up the hill to the CP, chatted with the marshall for a bit then both got going. We chatted as we ran along the next section towards Winton, and since we were maintaining about the same pace just naturally settled in to running (or rather walking) together.
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| Getting dark close to Hardraw. |
By this time my feet were quite painful. I think this was down to a combination of things:
- I generally keep my lacing fairly loose. That meant my feet could move too much in my shoes
- I was wearing liner socks under my drymax socks. That trapped water against my feet
- The Lone Peaks are fairly squishy. I need to experiment with them tighter to see if a closer fit stops my feet twisting in them.
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| The 'Water Cut' in Mallerstang |
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| Sunrise in Eden |
We followed the diversion implemented the night before, and my phone immediately pinged as Claire spotted I was off track. I reassured her we were doing the right thing and kept onward.
At Kirkby Thore we'd decided to spend half an hour. It ended up being more like 45 minutes as I tried to do something with my feet to keep me going. Crew member Stuart put my shoes and socks on one of the space heaters to dry them out a bit while I ate some hotpot and various other bits.
We left Kirkby Thore and, after a slight route divergence where we missed the footpath, and a long wait for a break in traffic to cross the road, we got onto the side of the river. Michael and I were talking about pets as we crossed the field, then as we reached the river bank I was delighted to find Claire waiting for me. She'd talked about potentially fetching me from Penrith but since I was so far behind schedule I wasn't sure what was happening. She walked with us for a while, then picked up her car and drove back to Penrith, planning to walk in the last couple of miles with us.
On the final road section 10km from the end, where Penrith was actually in sight, something awful happened in my right foot. It felt like someone had taken a blowtorch to it, and it wouldn't bear my weight. With hindsight this was probably my big toenail detaching. For a few minutes I thought I was done, I couldn't actually walk at all. I bound it up and immobilised it with crepe bandage, removing all the odds and sods of blister plaster, micropore etc, then with the help of Michael's poles I managed to limp on. There were others around limping in similarly abject ways - I supposed that's just hundred milers for you. Michael and I dragged each other through the last 20 miles or so, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have finished on my own.
Towards the end of the 4km Clifton Bypass road section Claire popped up again, and walked with us the remainder of the way through the rain.
As we approached Brougham Castle the darkness fell and the heavens opened. The rain was heavy, and carried on for the hour or so it took to reach Penrith castle from here. I was thoroughly chilled and very, very glad to finish. Claire ran me round to the Wayfarers to pick up my kit and after a couple of brews and some cake we headed home to Calderdale, passing Skipton a mere couple of hours later.
So that was my first hundred miler. Having hoped to get in under 30 hours, I did 36. The wind was part of the problem, my feet a worse one.That was my own fault, I hadn't understood the impact of loosely fitting shoes with wet socks over such a distance. The first of several lessons to learn from it. The biggest issue was food. For complicated reasons I didn't eat anywhere near enough at CP1, or CP2. After that even if I'd have eaten it would possibly have been too late. It was a good race though - the crew were really supportive and helpful and the route takes in some amazing scenery.
Lessons learned, good and bad
Food: My feet slowed me down a lot, but thinking back I think lack of energy was the biggest problem. I simply didn't eat anywhere near enough. I carried quite a bit, but could probably get more in my drop bag. Cheese and onion pasties were the key food this time. Cheese & crisps were good. Mash was ok. Cocktail sausages were a welcome change. Surprisingly there was relatively little I could eat on the CPs. In future I think I need to plan for little or no reliance on CP food.
Feet. My feet got wet early on, which wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't move around in my shoes so much. I tightened the laces at Winton but the damage was already done. I think the liner socks held the moisture against them as well. The Altra Lone Peaks are not my favourite shoes, but I did the Bullock in them OK. I think I've just got in the habit of wearing my shoes too loose. Something to experiment with. Most importantly, more socks in the drop bag.
Light: I had my Zebralight on at about 130ln to get 12+ hours out of a battery. That's fine for easy terrain, but it was really difficult for picking my way across fields where the paths were vague, and I think made the footing worse than it had to be. The headstrap isn't comfortable for around 20 hours of use across the weekend either. I saw a lot of people with LED Lenser Neo10r, which takes the same 18650s as the ZL. That would give me a good main/backup combination, since the ZL is as bombproof as they come, just not that comfortable.
Carry: the 32l OMM was big and a bit empty. I could maybe have managed with the 15l OMM by carrying lighter, but the two biggest things in my pack were the Prism jacket and the waterproof. For winter I'd rather carry a good waterproof and warm layer. I was certainly deeply glad of the waterproof in the heavy rain of the last couple of miles - an ultra light waterproof would possibly have been cold and nasty, especially if conditions had been bad for longer. With the Fellsman on the horizon I need to look yet again at carry options - with my food issues I don't think I'm going to cram Fellsman kit into my 12l vest, or maybe even the 15l OMM.
Poles: take them just in case perhaps. At least for the next hundred miler. Without Michael's poles for the last few miles I wouldn't have finished.
First Aid Kit: blister plasters were more or less useless. Micropore, gaffa tape and crepe bandage were what I used mainly.
Clothes: Ron Hills were fine for such a long period, especially in conjunction with waterproofs.
Windproof: I ignored my misgivings about the paramo, which was a mistake. It's OK, but the hood is annoying in very strong winds and actually funnels cold air in. Next time take the Montane windproof and use a warm hat.
Waterproof: The Columbia Outdry waterproof is like being indoors. I was so glad to be so enclosed and dry in the last few miles.
Waiting time: according to strava, my moving time was 27:45, which means I spent nearly 8.5 hours not moving. For 50 milers I'd normally breeze through CPs quite quickly; I'd decided to take more time on the hundred but seem to have massively overdone it. This was largely due to foot maintenance.
Carry/wear list
- OMM Classic 32
- Ron Hill tracksters
- 2 Awdis base layers - short and long sleeved
- Kalenji undershorts
- Drymax summer weight socks (I had the winter ones on for the last 40 miles which were much too hot and gave me a rash)
- Bridgedale insulating liner socks (didn't need, probably made things worse)
- Altra Lone Peak 5 shoes
- Zebralight H600w & backup H53w
- evadict waterproof trousers.
- Montane Ember insulating layer
- Inov8 AT/C insulating layer (abandoned soaking wet in my drop bag at Winton)
- Montane Prism insulating layer (safety layer, unused)
- Columbia Outdry Extreme waterproof jacket
- Paramo Fuera windproof
- Buffalo mittens
- Ron Hill everyday gloves
- Buff primaloft
- 2 or 3 standard buffs
- phone and watch cables
- 2 Romneys mint cake bars
- Montane prism hat
- Montane cap
- Garmin 20x handheld GPS
- Garmin Fenix 6s watch
- 2 spare AA batteries (required at 28 hours)
- 1 spare 18650 battery (used at Winton CP)
- Griffin GP17 charger (used at Kirby Thore CP for watch)
- Harrier FAK
- possibly other stuff, still finishing the list
Drop Bag
- plastic freezer box of crisps, pasties, cheese and quorn sausages
- pair of Drymax summer socks
- pair of Drymax winter socks
- pair of Bridgedale liner socks
- more spare AA batteries
- thermal leggings
Food
- sainsbury cheese and onion rolls
- cheddar cheese blocks
- crisps
- mash/tartex mix
This was my 19th Ultra (18th as a race).
