Supporting on the EBB

Claire was really keen to do a hundred this year. She'd originally joined the LDWA with that in mind, and had wanted to do the Trans-Pennine. Fitness, confidence and the lack of a qualifying race meant that she couldn't, but with the Bullock and several other longer ultras to her credit (including an outstanding 3rd F performance at the PWiaD) she was definitely ready.

We debated about different races for a while. The Punk Panther Dales High Way looked like a possible but, with a 36 hour cut off and only 2 weeks after the Fellsman, Claire wasn't sure she felt confident about it. In the end, despite serious reservations about the relatively small amount of climb, she entered the EBB100.

One thing you can be sure of with the LDWA Hundred is amazing support. Everyone is there with the express purpose of making it the best possible experience it can be, and getting you to the finish if you possibly can.

I tried to cover all the "not actually running/walking" stuff. I booked us into self catering accommodation in Moseley for the weekend. This meant that while Claire was out roaming around the west Midlands I had somewhere to go eat/sleep etc. The original plan (which went a bit awry) was somewhere with a bath for a good soak afterwards, but I managed to find somewhere pleasant at short notice.

We drove down to Birmingham after work on Friday. Google maps tried to take me through the ULEZ, which would have cost a bonus 12 quid in the camper, but apart from that it was straightforward and we landed about 8pm. Dinner didn't take long to cook, and we had a fairly early night with a couple of glasses of wine.

Saturday morning we headed down to the rugby ground for about 11, leaving plenty of time for registration (for the 12 o'clock start). This had been the source of some agonizing. The organisers had only talked about the 10am and 2pm starts, asking runners to take the 2pm. This meant averaging 5mph for the first 20 miles, which was do-able but didn't leave much wiggle room for variations in pace. The 10am on the other hand meant going painfully slowly for the first 20 miles. At the last minute there was mention of a 12pm start, which Claire grabbed enthusiastically.

At registration Claire collected her tracker, tally and mug, then we sat around for a while. We bumped into Imtiaz, who was volunteering on the event, and chatted about the EBB, the Dales High Way and the upcoming Stanza Stones.

At 11:55 the walkers set out (at a rapid running pace) with Claire at the very back trying to go steadily. I wandered back towards the stands with Imtiaz, then got in the camper to plan out where I was going to meet Claire first.

Lickey Hills looked like a good candidate, I'd wanted to do that section anyway, so I headed in the direction of Kings Norton. I popped into a local Nisa to grab some food for the day/evening, and followed the sat nav to the Lickey Hills visitors centre.

Once there, I made myself a brew and read for a bit, then changed into running kit and ran out towards Waseley Country Park.

It was a hot day, Lickey Hills wasn't massively busy though, and it was pleasant running through the woods. Coming down the steep slope just before the CP I encountered a lot of EBBers plodding up the loose mud and gravel, and the first queries about whether everything was OK (I obviously looked like a reversing EBBer!). I made it to the checkpoint at Rubery and stood around for a couple of minutes chatting with a couple of other people who were supporting their family members.

I set off from the CP into the Waseley Hills park and almost immediately bumped into Claire. We ran together into the CP then I sat outside chatting with some other spectators in the sunshine while she grabbed some food and water.

Head to the right of the 'DPB'

That done, we set off into the Lickey Hills leg.

Claire was pretty jolly, although a few things were hurting. Her rucksack straps were rubbing her collarbones pretty painfully and she'd padded her shoulder with her windproof. We climbed up into the woods of the Lickey Hills park and ran on along the ridge in the sunshine.

Beyond Lickey Hills we had a strange little excursion through Barnt Green railway station, then into Alvechurch and the CP at the church (Ark St Leonards).

I turned back here and ran back to the van, dodging oncoming runners and walkers. I spent a lot of time over the two days saying things like "people with tallies have right of way". As I arrived back at the van in the Lickey Hills car park, some fast moving people were arriving. I think these were probably the 2pm starters.

Back in the van I grabbed the map and looked at the tracker, to see where the next sensible place would be to catch Claire. We had a longstanding joke about Aston Cantlow because an obscure piece of legal precedent is named after it (long story), so I decided to head for there.

At Aston Cantlow the Irregulars were setting up their CP. What I later discovered was the food van arrived at the same time as me. I parked way the other end of the village out of the way and set off back along the route to find Claire.

Once you crossed the road near the village the way was marked with hazard tape. It soon became obvious why as the nettles and umbellifera crowded over the path.

'The path'

First of all I found the current front runner, who had set off at 10am and made quick progress. We stood around chatting for a while then separated. Next I met Nick, who was making better progress than he expected. I was pleased to see Nick doing OK, retiring from the Fellsman had knocked him back a bit.

Once I cleared the gnarly overgrown paths I was on pleasant arable countryside for a couple of miles. I had a little warning of reaching Claire as someone from PFO & Rossendale Harriers let me know she was just behind. I met her in a lovely field of buttercups.

We ran on together. She was now 20+ miles into the route and starting to feel it a bit. We crossed various little streams on interesting metal bridges, passed an old Riley turned plantpot and followed a scenic canal section for some considerable way.

 Eventually we found our way to Aston Cantlow. I waited outside while Claire went in and got a sandwich and refilled her bottles.

Someone here recognised us both and knew me from Runfurther and this blog which surprised me. I mostly write this so that I can look up the details of the kit I carried and the experiences I had on a race for my own reference. I never expect anyone else to read it!

Moving on to the wide field track out of Aston Cantlow Claire was feeling a bit low. I was going to be heading back to Birmingham for the evening and she was feeling low on energy. I pestered her into eating a packet of crisps that she'd been putting off, and that made a big difference. We had a big soppy moment and I headed back to Aston Cantlow to pick up the van.

I drove back into Birmingham and grabbed some shopping for the following day in the Tesco near Moseley. Back at the apartment I plonked some salad on a plate, had a couple of glasses of wine and planned out my morning rendevous. Meriden looked like a good meeting spot. Off to bed once I'd got a tentative plan. The neighbours were playing some extremely loud hip hop but I can sleep through just about anything.

At 6am I took a look at the tracker and was very awake immediately. Claire had said she'd probably walk quite a bit overnight, but it hadn't really worked like that. If I was going to meet her near Meriden I had to get going quick. I had a coffee and some malt loaf for breakfast, made another coffee and got out the door.

At Meriden I parked up at the CP. Put plenty of sunblock on, hitched up my pack and headed out. This was a pleasant section and at 7am it was a lovely fresh day. The route crossed some huge arable fields and squirmed through some tight overgrown corners. Claire was running through one of these when I found her. She'd had a fantastic night section and run most of the way through it. Stratford had been  a town centre full of drunks, but generally she'd had a great time running through the night. We both love night running so I wasn't surprised by this.

We got on to Meriden across the many fields. Meriden CP was rather plush, like a wedding venue rather than a CP. The marshals hadn't seen many people yet, which should have given me a clue that Claire was doing rather well.

Bottles filled, food eaten, we cracked on through Midland villages, past scenic churches and less scenic dual carriageways and HS2 works.

I'd decided I was going to stick with Claire for 10km past Meriden. That made a 30km run, as I'd run out 5km on the other side. At 9km I realised I'd have to get my arse in gear or I'd miss the run in to the finish the way she was going. I took my leave and ran at a brisk pace back to Meriden.

Back at the Rugby club I dropped off the van and headed out along the route into the finish. My aim was to get past the final CP before meeting Claire. I passed a guy I recognised wearing a flag as a cape and said hi, and a few other people I'd seen the day before (but surprisingly few). The route through Small Heath wasn't as run down as I was expecting.

I reached the CP in a rather strange location on the edge of an out of town shopping centre, to find that Claire was already there. Jack and Mick were feeding her and filling her bottles and she was ready to leave. I got my own bottle filled, we said 'bye' to Mick and Jack, and off we went.

I was amazed at the pace she was making at mile 96. We ran the bulk of the remainder of the route, along the side of the beck and through many many road crossings. We finally made it back to the rugby club through the woods and I peeled off to the 'non walker's entrance, while Claire went through to the sound of ringing bells to be relieved of her tracker.

She'd completed the 100 miles in 27 hours 15 minutes. 

We sat and drank tea for quite a while after. As usual Claire didn't feel like eating straight after, so in the end we headed back to the apartment (5 minutes drive away) and she grabbed a couple of hours sleep while I sat drinking tea and reading. 

I popped back to the rugby club a little later to pick up Claire's drop bag, in time to catch Nick who'd finished an hour quicker than the trans-pennine. 

I'd laid in pizzas and ice cream for the evening, along with some beer and wine so we had a nice relaxed evening reading the many many congratulations messages on Strava, Facebook etc. Claire hadn't wanted people to know what she was up to in case things hadn't gone to plan, so a hundred suddenly popping up on Strava was a surprise for most.

We stayed on until the Monday morning then headed back to Calderdale in the busy Bank Holiday traffic. Claire was delighted to have completed something she'd placed so much store by, and was happily assimilating the experience. We had loads to talk about on the journey home, not least plans for 2024 and Speyside.