It was a last minute decision to enter this when I
discovered a gimme pass-out due to Jenny & Jade going shopping for the day
in Cambridge, James out drinking and Jess at hockey tournament – it would have
been rude not to!
It was first-time for this new event starting at Pateley
Bridge. Along the Nidderdale Way, up onto the moors, then back down along the
Nidderdale Way to Pateley Bridge. I was treating this very much as training for
The Spine and after a normal week’s training with absolutely no taper, I was
interested to see how I’d go. I was also trying out my new Salomon Speedcross.
An early start on a cold, winter’s morning got me to Pateley
Bridge just as the sun was breaking through. The forecast was for cold but
clear conditions. The first 200m was ridiculously icy which pretty much set the
tone for a lot of the race. Running along the edge of the reservoir I did
manage to go “A over T”, bruising my knee and my pride! The views and weather
were gorgeous – it was a lovely morning to be out. My legs felt a bit heavy for
the first few miles but I soon settled into the leading 4 or 5 as we started
the climb out of the valley up to the moors.
I was very much going for Day 1 Spine tactics – walk
anything more than a slight hill, run the flats and down. Consequently, I was
losing a little distance going up but soon caught it up at the top. The views
were spectacular and we made good time across the moors. I moved into 2nd
place for a while but there were no significant breaks and I soon settled into
4th. Had a flat spell along the last few miles of the tops but as we
came down to Ribbledale again, I gave myself a good talking to, and my legs
returned to normal.
A few flattish miles were followed by a good climb and then
treacherously icy descent. Saw a mountain biker slide off, but pretty much
escaped undamaged myself. After a quick visit to the men’s (!!), I suddenly had
a real surge of energy and pushed on into 3rd place.
With about 4 miles to go, I was feeling great – full of running – feeling chuffed – chasing 2nd – running up a hill when I should have been following the reservoir edge!!! Oh no, attack of the missed turns!! Quickly assessing my map, sorted out the error and ran cross country, through a major bog where I temporarily lost a shoe, and back on course – probably a 1km detour, and probably now in 4th
Rather than my usual pissed off thoughts, I got angry at
myself and really started pushing it. This was by far the fastest I have ever
finished an ultra. I soon reeled in 3rd place again and ran strongly
to the finish.
For my efforts, I received a 3rd place medal in the shape of a Snowman (now proudly hanging on our tree) and a Christmas cake. There were superb cakes for all and a great locally made pork pie.
This was a really fun race – organisation was spot on and
really friendly. Lovely route, excellent sign posting (!), and great food both
before and after. I’ll definitely be looking out for more events from Rob
Jarman and the Never Rest team
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