My first hundred earlier this year didn't go brilliantly and left me a bit dented. Afterwards Karen Nash suggested I enter this years LDWA 100. I was dubious at first, simply because of the start location - on the TPT at Wombwell is very close by the RRR start and while I like the RRR for what it is, very little of it is scenic. A closer look at the route had me intrigued - I haven't done that much in the Peak, particularly in recent years and the TPO would give me opportunity to link up more disparate parks of the map. I've done quite a lot of LDWA events, both as a walker and as a runner and love them - I'm not really much of a racer and the challenge culture of the LDWA suits me.
As the time got closer I was feeling reasonably OK about it. The Fellsman didn't quite go according to plan, but that was a clash between weather and my poor planning. I'd finished slower than hoped but in good order. I was feeling that the TPO would be OK.
Originally I intended to drive down on the Friday morning and park the camper on site, leaving Claire free to do something else. In the end she offered to take me along to the start and pick me up afterwards, so I was spared the prospect of driving back after a short sleep Saturday.
Friday morning arrived and we got up at a civilised hour, had some toast and headed down to Wombwell. The school was a bit fiddly to find, but we managed eventually. The 9am start was heading out just as we walked up the school drive, so it was quiet and registration was speedy and slick.
Kicking around before hand we drank a couple of cups of tea, said hi to a few people (quite a few of the Runfurther regulars were in attendance), then as 10am approached it was time to head for the front of the school.
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| Sun and smiles at the start |
Event coordinator Aaron gave a cheerful and rather touching briefing and we got going a few minutes before ten.
My intention was to keep the pace low for the first hour and I did, sort of... the going was pancake flat for the first 20km so I made good headway without burning out, at around 8 min/km. CP1 was a water stop only for me, CP2 at Penistone was a quick stop, sandwich from the amazing buffet and a cheese roll & some peanut butter from my supply.
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| The Holmfirth legs-express |
Once the ground started to get a bit more hilly around Holmfirth I slowed off a good deal, Claire joined me around here with a bottle of sun cream and we trotted on together to CP3 Bird's Edge. Since this was around 20 miles-ish I stopped for a brew and changed my socks - precautionary since they weren't wet, but after the maceration I got at the LAW100 I was taking no chances.
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| Nick and his notorious Austin Powers shorts |
Claire headed homewards to feed the cat, and I got onwards to Holmbridge. Holmbridge CP was run by West Yorkshire LDWA, and I had a nice cheese salad wrap and a cuppa before heading up the steep climb towards the reservoirs.
The self-clip at Ramsden res was obvious, and I carried on through the woods feeling pretty OK. Although I'd intended to run just from the GPS, I found that I always needed the RD in my pocket to know where the self clips were. A bit better prep would have been to mark them on my run plan**. The next section was a tough climb up Black Hill, followed by what was for me the highlight of the whole route. The run over the top of Laddow Rocks was stunningly beautiful on such a lovely day although the ground is distinctly gnarly under foot. I haven't been this way for at least 8 years, last time would have been the 2013 Trigger and I hadn't realised how good the view is.
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| Laddow Rocks |
Crowden CP5 offered tea and pizza. I ate as much pizza as I felt was polite, not wanting to take more than my share but knowing that it was one of my best bets to be able to eat safely. 3 slices felt OK, and I got going again. Along the long, long, flat path to Dinting Vale. Disused railway is not my favourite surface, but I developed a fondness for it during the TPO as it gave me chance to tick off some fast miles. I spent some of the time talking to another entrant from the SW of England, who I thought I recognised but apparently didn't. Weirdly, my eTrex batteries died along this section - normally I'd get upwards of 20 hours out of a set. I can only assume that I put some half discharged ones in. No big deal, I had 2 spare sets in the pack.
At Dinting Vale I was feeling a bit flat - 60-ish km in and starting to need to ease off a little. The pack was settling down into the same group of people - Nick and I were rarely more than a few hundred meters apart, and a few others the same. I had another cup of tea and ... toast, I think.
Dinting Vale to Hayfield CP7 is a bit of a blur, I stopped for a cup of tea in Hayfield and Kevin Hoult arrived with another runner - having caught up the 3 hours lead we had over the 1pm starters. They were both full of energy and as they left just before me I saw them disappearing up the hill at great speed. People were walking down from the housing estates into the town to go to the pubs, all dressed up and clean. We were 70km into a 160km run and.. not so clean.
The next two sections up to and along the Mam Tor ridge were probably the toughest going. Nick and I were about level, just chatting occasionally since we were both deaf in an ear so struggling to talk. Nick's main torch (an impressively venerable Petzl Myo XP) was playing up and mine was kicking out enough light for both of us which made things easier on this section. Towards the top of Lord's Seat I started to feel badly cold and low on energy. The wind was strong and bitterly cold. I knew I needed to stop, eat something and layer up. I hung on for a while waiting to top out but false summit after false summit in the growing dark discouraged me and I stopped to layer up and eat (cheese and malt loaf). That got me moving again although I was already badly cold and by the time I reached CP8 Mam Nick I was shivering violently and needed to warm up fast. I put on waterproof trousers and a primaloft and immediately felt a little better. Someone brought me a cup of tea and a pot noodle (having verified there was definitely no meat in any pot noodle, even the beef). My legs were stiffening up and I struggled to get going up Mam Tor, but once on the ridge again I was able to alternate running and walking until Hope. The Pot Noodle was too much carb with not enough fat, and gave me some cramps and nausea but I got through it OK. Coming down into Hope village off the ridge I missed the path and had some faffing around to do, but got there OK in the end.
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| Temporarily abandoning at Hope |
Hope was the complete low point for me. I was OK when I arrived, if a little nauseous. The hot food option was pasta with sauce and optional grated cheese. I asked for some sauce and cheese (pasta is pretty much guaranteed to give me agonising stomach cramps almost immediately), but I think the sauce must have been heavily sweetened (or maybe it was just the natural sugars in the tomato) because I went into complete freefall. I ended up sat at a table unable to get myself moving at all, wanting to cry but not being able to, wanting to get moving but not being able to. I took a chance on a single jelly baby to pick me up and one of the volunteers suggested I take a few minutes to lie down, and just perhaps 5 minutes off my feet turned out to be enough. My body sorted itself out and I felt fine. I got rid of my contact lenses in favour of glasses.
Taking my leave in French and English I cracked on at a good pace to Hathersage CP10. This was probably one of the fastest sections - I made up a lot of lost time and got to Hathersage feeling good. A helpful volunteer offered to try and sort me out a veggie fry up, and at my request included a good dollop of cheese. This was definitely the turning point. I ate, changed into clean clothes and marched out into the growing dawn.
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| Delicious fry up at Hathersage |
The route up to Stanage Edge was a new one for me. It was a pleasant run through farmland, followed by a gentle climb up to the edge that I had done before. I bumped into Jenny Wyles here, so knew Ken wasn't that far ahead of me (he finished about an hour in front). Once on the top I missed the turn down onto the bottom track, and rather than retrace my steps I followed the top of the ridge a bit further until I reached one of the side paths. I was a bit puzzled by where the CP could be until I read the RD and remembered the farm at the end of the track. Sadly when I reached Moscar CP11 the strong winds had stopped them being able to get the marquee up. The volunteers plonked me into a comfy chair sheltered by someone's car and I scarfed down a couple of packets of crisps with some water, then got going again. Kudos to the marshals at CP11: weather and circumstances were against them and they still made us welcome and comfortable.
The next section to Worrall was rather pretty, passing through some lovely countryside in a valley I've never visited before. There was obviously a grand house here in the past, with follies and rhododendrons. Or maybe it was just an outlying part of the Wentworth estate. By Worrall CP12 I was settling into 'day 2' and feeling tired and achey, but OK. I caught Nick here, and stopped for a quick jacket potato with cheese.
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| Nick at Worrall |
The next section was a bit urban, through a suburb and an industrial estate then into the woods. The woods between Worrall and Wortley were lovely but... that climb on the forestry road was absolutely interminable and very frustrating. I was starting to see people getting on with their day - a couple of mountain bikers, an unfortunate young woman trail running in the woods who was treated to several of my most revolting burps until I spotted her...
Claire met me at the top and we had a pleasant jog down to Wortley CP13. Nick was just ahead of us until we passed him near the bottom of the woods, and he had a very noticeable lean on. At CP13 my food options were a bit limited and I ate a few actual meat sausages, and some crisps. I also picked up a few jelly babies for emergency boosts. Nick had been looked after by the volunteers and left ahead of me looking slightly more upright.
Claire stayed with me on to Tankersley, which was another pleasant, mostly wooded section. Tankersley CP14 would have been a very fast stop, I didn't intend to eat but someone offered me a fish finger sandwich. I accepted it with utter joy and headed back out. Claire was going back to her car at Wortley, and I went on to Wentworth.
Wentworth felt like a long, long way. The private road through the estate seemed to go on forever. I know this area OKish, having visited the area a few times with family. I reached Wentworth cricket club and ate some crisps. Nick was here too, battling on. One of the 1pm starters arrived, who turned out to be someone I'd run with on the Fellsman a few weeks ago. We had a brief chat before he shot off, and I trundled off rather more slowly.
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| Me in my 80s sci-fi coat in the famous rapeseed field |
Not much left now. Elsecar meant that my paths would link up with previous runs, which pleased me a lot (more on that another time). As I crossed the field above Elsecar a dog took great exception to me - probably the smell, or possibly my horribly tasteless coat. Just before the descent to the TPT I spotted Claire waiting for me, along with Mick Cooper who was on CP16. Jack was lurking further down the hill as well, and we all ran in to CP16 together. Jack immediately stuck a Prince Charles mask on my mush, and took advantage of my weakness to grab a few photos.
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| We are bemused |
With a mere 10km to go I felt like it was nearly done. Claire and I ran/walked along the TPT back to Wombwell. Not the prettiest of routes, but I'd had lots of beautiful scenery already. I knew 31 hours wasn't quite achievable, although as it turned out I only just missed it, and we alternated run/walk and maintained a good pace.
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| This is what standing up after a 5 minute break at 96 miles felt like |
Stumbling through the door at the school I was greeted with cheers and applause from all the other entrants and volunteers in the school hall. This was a brilliantly organised finish, putting the gathering place for completed walkers right by the finish where they could support new arrivals. My final clock time was 31 hours 3 minutes, which I was well happy with. Later analysis showed that I'd spent 6 hours in CPs, but that was more or less intentional.
Some food and tea, a shower, and eventually we headed for home. I was constantly falling asleep in the car, and once home crawled into bed and slept through to the following morning. By tuesday lunchtime I was feeling OK enough for a steady 5km flat run.
The 2022 LDWA 100 was a stunning event, probably the most enjoyable run/walking event I've done in 15 years of races, LDWA Challenge Events and Open Challenges. The organisation was flawless, the volunteers from the various local regions all so helpful and supportive, and the route was beautiful and very well planned. I learned a huge amount, had a lot of fun and hope that another LDWA 100 could live up to it.
**Because a lot of events provide tallies with the distance in miles, I usually produce my own separate sheet with distances to CPs, pacing and any key information (and a reminder of the length of time my head light will run in different modes).
Kit
- Raidlight performer t shirt
- OMM flash 0.5 tights
- Buffs x 3
- Montane Coda cap
- Drymax lite mesh socks - 1 pair on, 2 in the pack, 2 in the drop back
- Altra Superior shoes
- LED Lenser Neo10R head torch
- Zebralight H600fw backup light
- SOL bivi
- Awdis base layer in the pack
- Columbia Outdry Extreme waterproof
- Evadict waterproof trousers
- Montane Ember insulating layer
- Harrier FAK (tweaked)
- Garmin eTrex 20x handheld GPS
- Oakley Currency sports glasses (clear prescription) in their case for late at night.
- Exped dry bags
- Maps in Ortlieb map case
- Route description laminated with sticky backed plastic
- UD body bottle
- Money & card in a dry sack
- Earplugs (I get ear problems when wind and rain gets in my ears)
- lip balm in a tin
- Whitefurze 300ml screw top container as a mug (nicked this brilliant idea from Tony Wimbush)
- 4 eneloop batteries
- OMM windproof gloves
- Montane prism hat
Drop bag
- OMM 0.5 flash tights
- Awdis short sleeved base layer
- Awdis long sleeved base layer
- 2 pairs socks
- underwear
- harrier running poles
- skin-so-soft
- face flannel
- buff
Food carried
- Romneys mint cake (emergency food)
- 250ml container of peanut butter
- 100ml container of peanut butter
- 6 x cheese and onion pasties (ate 4)
- mini malt loaves and mini cheeses (ate some)
- G&B dark chocolate in a silicon bag, ate most of a bar
Food in drop bag
- 6 cheese and onion rolls
- one malt loaf
- 250ml container of peanut butter
- cheese
- dark chocolate
Food eaten at CPs
- CP2: cheese sandwich
- CP3: crisps
- CP4: cheese salad wrap
- CP5: pizza
- CP6: toast
- CP7: Not sure - possibly just my own food and some tea
- CP8: pot noodle
- CP9: pasta sauce, cheese
- CP10: fried breakfast; cheese
- CP11: crisps
- CP12: jacket potato with cheese
- CP13: cocktail sausages, crisps
- CP14: fish finger sandwich
- CP15: crisps
- CP16: crisps
Things that went well
Shoes were the right choice, good balance between stability and comfort
pacing - I was still running intermittently to the very end
Food - mostly. One big meltdown at Hope, and some gas and nausea after the pot noodle but otherwise I didn't eat anything troublesome and ate enough
I ran/walked alone for the bulk of it, although I was around the same people most of the time and never that far from Nick. I found that a comfortable amount of company, I had lots of time to myself but the reassurance of fellow entrants nearby, and the spells where Claire joined me gave me a massive boost.
Things that went less well
I should have taken a windproof as well as the waterproof. I left the windproof behind to save a bit of space at the last minute. I'd have saved myself much more sweat by bringing it along.
Look at the route in at least a bit of detail ahead of time - understand what's coming up and in particular when I'm going up high and for how long.
Sunblock. P20 beforehand is easy.
Carrying the zebralight as a backup, it's bulky with the head strap. I could usefully carry it without. Alternative might be to carry an AA light, with spare batteries and a spare main light in the drop bag.
I struggled to get gloves on, and the OMM gloves don't work brilliantly with my phone. Buffalo mitts or prism mitts would have been better.
Things I learned
If I want to get faster at 100 miles I can whittle away at my CP time, but I'm not massively bothered.
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