First of all though you have to get there - I had forgotten how much organising goes into getting all your kit, food, maps, support and life before a big adventure race that involves kayaking, Mountain Biking, Roady Cycling, Fell Running and some Swimming!
I thought I would plan a couple of months in advance so I would be totally organised - one week before the event I had finally found a boat to borrow, my bike had fallen apart and I hadn't even looked at the route on the web so had no idea where I was off to!
So - Boat - sorted - I got a great offer from fellow Macc harriers runner Phil, who kindly leant me a superb sea kayak with posh paddles and all the paraphernalia that goes with kayaking, he gave me a go in the boat on the canal near Macc and it paddled great and I had not forgotten how to do it - phew! So I said yes to the boat and sent off my qualifications to James the Race Director as you have to prove you can kayak too - luckily my certs were stored to hand in the back of beyond in the last tub I looked in, in the back of the dark loft - everything takes so long find!
Next up - make sure I can still run - oh phew had just done my best ever race so that was sorted - the shoes got packed!
Next up - go out biking with mates and break your bike, never mind I have another - oh no I broke that one too! Spend the next two days at the bike repair shop in Hathersage (who are brilliant by the way) sorting one frame and about 6 wheels into something that resembled a working bike - it worked - I picked it up the day I was leaving and had four wheels working so I could have an off road set and a roady slicks set (we were only allowed one bike).
Maps I did mostly at midnight for a few nights leading up to leaving so at least I knew what I was doing and when!
Food - decided I needed healthy food - so spent a couple of afternoons preparing food and freezing the stuff so it would last longer in the van fridge. Also pre cut veg for other meals and made yummy flapjack.
Also secured a mate of mine as a support driver - poor guy had no idea what he was letting himself in for - me in race mode is probably not a good thing especially over four days - but I promised his brother I would not Kill him and hopefully he would find no reason to Kill me!
Last of all (oh after clearing the van of the shite it did not need in!) was a mascot - we all had to race with one - I found a 50 pence Barbie Doll in a local charity shop, made her a Buff Suit and called her Buff Barbie of Team Run Like a Girl.
We were ready - picked Nick up from Macc on the way - ate our food on the way up to Cockermouth to a Youth Hostel so we could get up early and head off to Whitehaven for the start and the first of many kayak sections.
Day 1 - Uh Oh - the wind was up - the waves were crashing over the sea wall and even if they'd said the kayaking was still on I would not have got in my boat - it was a BIG sea! So we all ran to St.Bees - phew - I can do this now - obviously not as fast as the rest of the racers as am sure I was pretty close to last (must remember to make sure there is more slow people in my races to make me feel good!).
A quick change and onto the bike for a roady section over to Crummock Water. Nick was great he had my boat waiting for me in transition and all I had to do was get the thing down to the water on a trolley (no help was allowed by support drivers) - so off I trotted (or is that plodded) and all went well till the wheel fell off - bugger - the wheel fell off - and this is the first kayak section and we have many more portages to go - bugger - go and look for the split pin then - bugger I can't find it - so improvise with a small karabiner. A solo girlie overtook me - bugger!
Paddle - well I would have if the wind had not kept pushing my paddles out of my hands - it was very extremely horribly windy - I thought of giving up kayaking forever! then came the portage - oh god this trolley was not going to work - the wheels were too small for those rocks - not a path to trolley along more of a path to swear at whilst trying to carry a boat that is too heavy to pick up - back aches - can't walk any further - cry - get some help from lovely team 58 - phew - eventually did the kilometre of rough rocky terrain and found some more windy water to paddle - so then it hales, thunders and lightening - umm - not sure I like this either - am definitely giving up paddling forever!
I stay in the van in transition cos I don't want to go up Robinson in that weather - eventually I brave the weather and get up the hill to find Jim (one of the marshals) had been there through all of that weather - gave him a hug for that - the sun came out now so hopefully he had a better afternoon! I had caught up some blokes from a team and one of them said "Hello Kaz" - I must have looked puzzled as he then said "you don't know me but I know your van!" - ah - the van with flowers has been spotted - he must be a Derbyshire resident (later found out he was!) - that just spurred me on to run faster and get over to Dale Head and down Cat Bells - bit of competition - it worked - I flew - and caught up another male solo called Ben - that spurred him on and off he sped! I met him again at transition at Nicol End where we had to get ready for a swim over to Keswick.
I found a lovely smooth bit of concrete to stand on and preceded to undress and get my wetsuit on (well it was cold and I'm obviously a wimp compared to the hard nuts that swam in their running kit!). I started to hear some shouts from the water from the safety guys and the photographers - they told me to turn round - I did and yep - I had been moonying through the window of the cafe - great - that went straight on sleepmonsters.com race report! Oops - sorry to ruin some poor tourists afternoon tea - hey oh!
The swim went well - well I didn't drown and I got to the other side - where I ran off in my wetsuits slippers into Keswick - umm should have asked Nick to take my trainers to the end of the swim - bit stony that track! Still I get into town wearing rubber and running like a girl as usual - poor tourists subjected to that look!
I got to the finish - I had done day 1 - and it was still daylight - excellent - oh and no need for a shower seeing as I'd swam the lake! And I wasn't last! 3rd girlie and 27th overall (teams and solos).
Day 2 – Staggered starts – about 7.20 am I set off on a roady ride to Thirlmere – great another kayak stage – phew the water looked flat and the lake edge was only about 10m away – no trolley or carrying – that is much better – maybe I will like kayaking today and continue to think the sport is something I like! I did like it – the water was flat and the boat went straight and then it all went wrong – the portage at the other end of the lake was another long one – luckily a lot less than a kilometre but still too far to carry but when you don’t have your trolley with you, you have to carry (the boat was far too expensive to drag – unlike those clever people who had hired a plastic boat and didn’t care what they dragged it over!) – I carried – it hurt – the physio after this is going to cost a fortune – bugger! I did get it to the gate at the edge of transition and then just shouted for Nick and he came running over and helped – phew – he was doing a great job. He’d made coffee perfectly and had all my running kit ready for the slog up Helvelyn. Not a hard steep up hill at all – well it was – but at least I wasn’t carrying a boat! I got to the top in a complete white out of fog or mist or whatever type of clag it chose to be, found Phil (a marshal) in a bivi bag hiding from the wind and then set off down Striding Edge – just as the clouds dispersed, the sun came out and the view appeared in front – wow – the ridge looked fantastic and the lake down to the side was beautiful – felt good to be running again – see I seem to like running now – I am sure in my 20’s I was a kayaker, then in my 30’s a biker – does this mean I have to like running for all of my 40’s – god this is gonna hurt! The downhill was a perfect rocky skip of a downhill – I lapped it up. Next up – oh lets carry my boat for a bit – Nick had made me some nice sandwiches and another hot drink and then off I went towards the water (somewhere!). I found it – swore at the boat – the paddle – probably the marshal (with an apology straight after) – definitely the land – got in the boat and immediately forgot the portage and paddled down a gorgeous little river under bridges and overhanging trees and through reeds – wow it was lovely and the boat was ace and I loved kayaking again! Then Ulswater came into view – blimey it looked long on the map let alone when you got on it! – All went well till the wind picked up – then came the doubts and the swearing at the waves pushing me in the wrong direction and the waves for trying to eat me up and the lake for being too long! Everyone overtook me – oh how demoralising – I feel so slow. Getting out of Ulswater was up another gorgeous creek with fantastic houses lining it with seats and barbeques and people chillin – oh for a chill out! No – just one more small carry – it nearly killed me getting the boat onto my shoulder but got there. Nick had more sandwiches and coffee and all my kit ready and my bike ready for me to swap the wheels and off I set – only to return within the first 10 mins cos I had forgotten my pump – would have needed it if I had not gone back for it – typical – must remember my pump next time! The uphill was good, I was on a bike on solid ground not carrying a boat – excellent – so stop enjoying it Karen and get on with it – oops I go the wrong way down a superb downhill in completely the wrong direction – needed an extra uphill – turn round find the real track and now get on with it – whilst telling myself I am a plank over and over – how can a navigator do that – was the downhill so good I had just enjoyed it and not looked at the map or was I getting crap at navving – not acceptable – try harder and concentrate – things will only get worse if I loose concentration – the new downhill was even better! Good choice of tyres too – well done – less of a plank now as have forgotten the mistake and just start enjoying the ride. Eventually I catch Ben up again – wow – didn’t expect that – we chose different routes and then end up finishing at roughly the same time in Kirkby Stephen with Maria (the girl who overtook me on day one kayak one) just a few minutes behind – I am loosing time to her all the time – she’s good – but then both of us are loosing time to Nicola even quicker – she’s super human! Again I finished in the daylight (about 4.15pm) and had plenty of time for a super hot shower and loads of home made curry – which then made me feel faint in the race briefing later on that evening – so missed most of it as I spent the entire evening slumped on the floor feeling awful! Was still 3rd – so was still happy! Well I was happy whatever as there was no more kayaking!!! (29th overall)
Day 3 – Short run over Nine Standards in the morning to end in Keld – we were supposed to see our support cars and drivers half way along on a short road section so they then knew to move to Keld for transition – my Van was not there – it’s not hard to spot with all it’s flowers but it wasn’t there – panic – panic again – ask people to tell Nick I have gone through and then panic for the next half hour – then forget and just run on cos what else could I do – the weather was good, there was no boat on my back and I was enjoying the run (again – weird!). Eventually I get to Keld – blimey it took a while – but there was the Van and even better there was Nick with all my bike kit (minus a helmet and shoes) in the transition shed – he ran off and got my forgotten kit and I changed – hopefully only moonying a couple of cows in the back of the shed, Nick panicking a bit cos I was just strippin off – hey ho - at least I wasn’t in front of a café window! Then off for a mountain bike ride over to Castle Bolton. What a very good ride – some nice riding and again I liked my off road tyre choice (a semi slick on the front and a 1.5 mud claw on the back), kept my speed up and rode well – till I cheekily saw some riders ahead walking a rocky downhill section – so I blasted past on my skinny’s feeling good – then promptly had a puncture – bugger – oh lets change my inner whilst watching the droves of racers file past me! Oh well – quite a quick inner tube change and then off on an excellent really really long down hill – what a blast – found Nick with more sarnies and more coffee to gulp – a quick change onto my roady slick tyres and off towards Northalerton (having seen Ben, Maria, Nicola and everyone else fly past me) – I caught Ben – wow – I must be flying – and stayed ahead all the way to the days finish but not quite enough to get ahead of him. Still 3rd and now 30th overall out of 45 starters – must try harder tomorrow and not slip out of the top 30.
Day 4 – A really early start again – this time at about 6.15am – oh god – the cycle ride to Osmotherley was so hard – my legs don’t work that early in the morning – maybe I over did the cycling yesterday and I’m gonna die today - must push on and get to the run – oh god nearly wipe out on the first downhill corner – the wheels skid, I panic – go up the bank – it luckily pushes me round like a burn and off I fly down the hill to Swainby and a “quiet” transition – me quiet – oh god – remember whisper – you can do it – nearly managed it until I said thank you Nick as I was leaving for the run with my biking helmet still on! Forgot my correct map too – back into transition sort myself out and get on up the hill! The legs are slow and heavy – the sandwiches taste like heaven – I love German Rye bread with cream cheese and avocado – now my preferred race food! Thank you Nick you are a star – they were the perfect sarny! Get up onto the Cleveland Way – someone has made it a lot hillier and longer than I remember – still I push on – it is the last day – the sun is out – I feel good and I can push! I run into transition with still no- one having overtaken me as arrive same time as Sue (from Way up North pairs) and Alex and Sarah from team 58 my kayaker life savers. We then mountain bike along the Cleveland Way and I am feeling really strong now and loving eating the miles up and over taking teams who started before me this morning. I get into transition from my best section so far still with Sue, the 58ers and two others from a team literally just behind me – wow – I was loving my bike and I surprised Nick he was ready but wasn’t expecting me for about another hour! Next was roady wheels for the final push to Robin Hoods bay – the droves started overtaking from the minute I left transition – but I still felt strong and powered on and even the surprise hill in Rushwick before the Middlewood way trail was a mere blip in the scheme of things – I was close to the finish and someone had said the finish was a downhill – excellent – couldn’t wait! The wind got up and was dead ahead and I had to peddle hard to keep moving downhill all the way to the finish – but I’d done it – I got the medal and so did Nick and I had loved every minute of it. We then swam in the sea and drove home!
I came 3rd Girlie and 26th Overall
- I will kayak again - the portages did not put me off - just need to practice - get better and get a lighter boat!
- Thank you James and Lisa Thurlow for organising such a superb event
- Thank you to all the race marshals, behind the scenes crews and other peoples support for all your cheering and encouragement along the way
- BUT my BIGGEST THANK YOU is to Nick for not killing me and putting up with my probably selfish "pass me this" attitude, my demanding cups of tea and coffee and sarnies, my smelly body and kit and for getting up so early every day to drive my kit and feed me and look after me so I (we) could get through this - we made a great team - it worked and we have the prize to show for it!
