So, Sunday 7th April 2013 arrived and bright and early the whole family got up and we drove the 90 minutes to Buttermere. For those of you that don't know Cumbria that well, it is not unlike Cornwall in that whilst driving distances are not far in terms of time it is due to the narrow lanes and general geography.
It seemed a beautiful day and as we dropped into Buttermere from the Portinscale direction numerous cyclists were climbing up out of the village as I looked across at part of the route of the Lakeland 100 miler that I sadly failed to finish (My Lakeland 100 race report). The beauty of the area is really beyond compare and at least this time I could see the route that back in July 2012 I was running in the dark. The sunshine on the lakes and the snow on the mountain tops and the new "just born" lambs frolicking around, just made the whole scene amazingly picturesque.
We arrived at the race car park (a field in the village) and straightaway I could tell it was going to be a well organised race from the High Terrain Events Crew. Polite car park marshals and then the registration was completed with ease and no fuss. I then changed, took the boys off to the local toilet facilities and jogged down to the start area adjacent to Buttermere lake itself. Everyone was buzzing and it had been a long time since I last entered a short distance race and watching the good runners completing their warm ups caused me some concern. My plan was to always just turn up and run in an event with others to feel part of something but run at slightly above my base heart rate, (up to 80%) and not try and race it. After all, I have not done any top end training, everything has been done at base level.
However, I was soon caught up in the moment and the good advice I give to the cyclists I coach in Time Trials (as effectively I was planning to do the race as a Time Trial but at 75 - 80% of my maximum heart rate) seemed to disappear from my brain. Cara and the boys arrived a few minutes before the start by which time I had noticed that 300 metres after the start of the race, you ran over a narrow bridge and then about 50 metres further on, through a narrow gate. I readjusted my plan, decided to start near the front and go for it until I was through the gate and then ease off, instead of building up over the first few minutes to my target heart rate and then maintaining that.
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| Start area |
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| Start area |
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| Start area |
Cara recounts, "I was so proud of you and the boys were really excited, saying when you ran over the bridge and through the gate "look Daddy is in 13th place!" They then watched for a couple more minutes before you disappeared from view and you were slipping all the time until you reached 29th place. It was so funny to watch!"
Mistake 2. Stick to your original plan and remember you are running against top class and some professional runners. Dean Karnazes I am not and never will ever get close!
Anyway, back to my run. I did get through the gate in a reasonable position but straightaway I realised that I was way over my heart rate and did not even need to glimpse down to see that it would be stupidly high. I eased off to try and get my body back into some semblance of order but realised (as I know happens) that it takes time to over compensate and so runner after runner past me. We ran through Burntness Wood (also on the course of the Lakeland 100 mile route) for 1.25 miles and then turned back on ourselves and climbed higher and back into the woods, through the woods and over the very rocky path, before passing close to the start and next to Scale Force waterfall at 2.2 miles. Scale Force is the highest waterfall in the Lake District with a single fall of around 120 feet. The waterfall - or ’force’ - totals about 170 feet and is hidden in a deep, tree-lined gorge; it was once eloquently described by William Wordsworth as ’a fine chasm, with a lofty, though but slender, fall of water’.)
A large group of spectators clapped us through and then we were off over rough path and tree routes out and around Crummock Water I had now managed to level off m heart rate to my target and seemed now to be keeping my position. The scenery was just stunning, so much so that after 5.3 miles I looked out across Crummock Water and back towards the start and I just had to stop and take a photograph. I thought to myself, this is fun, I am never ever going to be in the prizes (not even for my age group) and I am running to enjoy it, so I stopped (to the amazement of one runner and took the below picture)
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| View at 5.3 miles looking back |
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| mile 6.3 |
I was greeted by my family briefly before the boys then returned very quickly to Buttermeres lake shore and continued to throw stones into the lake as they had been doing since I had been away.
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| With my medal and Buttermere and Fleetwith Pike behind |
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| The Finish |
All competitors were then treated to tea/coffee and cake at the nearby Croft House Farm Cafe which also served really good value food, so we stayed for lunch. I also met a person and colleague from Cumbria that I follow on Twitter @ChiefInsp Justin Bibby who had an excellent run finishing 9 minutes ahead of me. A real pleasure to meet him.
The race was won in a course record and amazing time by Ricky Lightfoot of Salomon Racing in 58-54.
All in all, a great event with excellent organisation. Thank you to all at High Terrain Events.
Final position - 99th
Distance 10.27 miles in 1-36-43 at 6.37 mph pace with 1012 feet of climbing
Runkeeper showing the route
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