Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Beacons Ultra
This weekend saw me and about 60 other finely honed endurance athletes (yeah right...) gathering in the sleepy town of Brecon, at a time when most sensible folks are still tucked up in their beds... it was, of course, the inaugral Brecon Beacons Ultra!
The brainwave of Martin and his team at Likeys, this is set to become a regular fixture on the Ultras calendar. It covers 46 (some say 47) miles around the Brecon Beacons National Park, in two large loops. Although it was a nearly 4 hour drive for me, I was keen to do this one as so many folks from the forum were also taking part, many of whom are also doing the MdS next year.
I got to the bunkhouse in Brecon Friday night, after a detour to Likeys for some kit (a headtorch that bloody works!!) We had all decided to have a group chilli night, kindly and most ably organised by Carol. It was great to meet everybody and, thanks to knowing each others online persona, we were all comfortable with each other from the word go. The meal was great and Craig (from Switzerland) had even brought Champagne and Lindt chocolate!
Carol had bagged us girlies a dorm- I shared with her, Rach and Gilly, who sadly wasn't able to run due to an injury but had decided to come anyway and volunteer her services at the checkpoints for the race- a real star! I still hadn't replaced my camera batteries, so have, erm, borrowed some of the pics Gilly took on the day! Carol provided much entertainment by demonstrating her specially adapted kit- she is going to go to the desert better equipped than James Bond!
6:00am Saturday morning came round all too soon, and I think I won the prize for most annoying mobile alarm (most people have a nice little tune or radio- not me- my alarm has a bossy sounding woman shouting- "The time is 6am... it's time to get up!" I made my porridge and sorted kit for the day; Carol very kindly gave me a backpack that had been given to her; it's a Raidlight one, and has actually completed the MdS so could be a good omen! The actual start of the race was from the Rugby Club next door; it was a sunny morning, but very cold and frosty. Martin, Matt and Sue greeted us, and then we were off! The first 4 miles were along the canal, to the first checkpoint at the start and finish of the laps; the first lap was 23 miles long, with a cut off time of 7 hours- anyone arriving back here after 3pm would be directed back to the canal and bunkhouse.
Carol had planned to do one loop due to a persistent injury, but still wanted to make good time, and me and Rach planned to try to make the cut off time and go for the full route. As it was fairly tight, we decided to jog the canal stretch to give ourselves some time in hand.
Rach, Me, Sharky and Carol
After the first checkpoint, the route followed the canal for a couple more miles to Talybont-on-Usk (I stayed here for a week some years ago!) Carol had dropped back a bit, and me and Rach left the canal to pick up a forest 'fire road' which followed the length of the Talybont Reservoir. Although easy walking, this bit seemed endless as there were limited views, plus it was slightly uphill all the way.
The View Over Talybont Reservoir
Carol caught us up, and we made our way along the track, and out on the road to the next checkpoint at 14 miles. This is where the route got really interesting, as we headed through more forest and uphill proper, to the 'gap' next to Fan Y Big (where do they get these names from?!?) After a nasty steep scramble down to a stream, we had a long, gradual climb up to the top of the gap, passing several weary looking TA blokes out on an exercise, with fully laden packs and carrying rifles. Rach asked them how heavy their packs were, and was told 40 kilos- and I thought I was carrying a lot! It stayed sunny and clear all day, which was great, although it did have some drawbacks later...
Beacons Scenery
At the top of the gap was another checkpoint- god knows how he got the landrover up there! We realised we had covered 17 miles and although we were last, we were making good progress and should hopefully make the cut off. However, this was soon to change... we were warned that the descent was a little icy, which was an understatement- as I went down on my bum we realised that all the rocks were coated with ice! This has to be one of the worst descents I have ever made! Carol lent me a collapsable trekking pole, which helped a lot, and then the ice gave way to running water, so we started making good time again. We descended to the 19 mile checkpoint, 'Wozza', where I expected a nice easy road walk.
My hopes were dashed when we were directed down a small, narrow path with the warning that 'it's rather uneven', which certainly turned out to be the case- very narrow, rocky and with branches ready to whip the unwary in the face. As we were gingerly picking our way along, we heard the cry of 'coming through', and the lead runner lapped us, running down the path as though it was the smoothest tarmac!
We did have some easy road and field walking, before more road walking to Pencelli and the end of the lap. We kept expecting to see the checkpoint and were convinced we had gone wrong, but made it at 2:30pm, with half an hour to spare til the cut off point. Gilly was here and gave us encouragement. Carol turned for home and said she'd get the kettle on- she told me to keep hold of her trekking pole and gave the other to Rach.
I swallowed some pain killers and me and Rach set off once again along the canal to Talybont, wondering why on earth we were doing this! My legs were starting to ache a little, and I could feel a couple of 'hot spots' on my feet but just couldn't be bothered to stop and sort them out- I will have to be more disciplined on the MdS! The 'fire road' through the forest seemed even more endless second time around, and we felt as though would never actually reach the road. To add to the misery, it became dark whilst we were plodding along, so we broke out the headtorches- it was a real luxury to have one that worked!! I was a little freaked when I saw something glowing green in the beam of light, but it turned out to be a sheep's eyes. I don't know who was more startled! I was so glad I was walking with Rach as I honestly don't think I would have done it had I been on my own.
It was lovely to see the checkpoint again, this time 33 miles in, and we caught up with Sharky, Mike and Dave, who were eating pork pies. We walked with them up to the gap, and could see the lights from the Landrover guiding us in from quite far away. It was a clear night, with loads of stars, and was quite beautiful. As we reached the checkpoint, we could see another light making its way up towards the gap- this turned out to be Julian, who was sweeping the route. Making our way down the gap for the second time, we realised that there was a price to pay for the clear, sunny weather- the ice had now extended more or less all the way down to Checkpoint Wozza! I must have fallen on my arse at least five more times, and have a lovely bruise to prove it! God knows what my language must have been like! I walked in the stream when I could, figuring there would be no ice, only to find that the water was freezing over... and my wet feet rubbed my nicely developing blisters. Thank god for Carol's poles... the lads went on ahead, Rach kept waiting for me; Julian caught us up and walked with us to the checkpoint, where they were giving away fruit and nut chocolate... which cheered me up nicely!
Julian stayed for a chat, and me and Rach set off down the narrow rocky track for the second time. I had been dreading this, but after the horrors of the gap, it didn't seem so bad... I was so glad to see the road though, and looked forward to some easy walking. But once again, my expectations were cruelly dashed as we soon realised- the hard way- that the roads were also covered in ice! It was quite patchy too, which meant that one minute we would be striding along, and the next sliding everywhere like Bambi!
The fields were at least easy walking, on frosted grass. One was full of sheep, which was quite eerie as we suddenly had loads of glowing green eyes in our headtorch beams. We had another sporadically slidy road walk back to the lap checkpoint, where Gilly had waited for us- she offered to act as sweeper and walk the 4 miles back along the canal with us. Rach was really striding out, she is certainly a very strong walker. My legs were aching, and I could count at least four blisters- it was also so cold that when I went to take a drink, my water bottle had filled with ice and it was like drinking a slush puppy! We caught up with Sharky, Mike and Dave, and shortly after saw a lone head torch bobbing towards us. To our delight, it turned out to be a rather innebriated Carol, who had downed most of a bottle of Vueve and decided to come and meet us.
We had quite a hero's welcome home, which was so great! We got in just after 11:30pm, which was fine as the time limit for the challenge was 11:59pm- so mission accomplished! God- it was cold when we stopped! The bottoms of my leggings had frozen stiff, poor Rach was shivering, and ended up in a heap of padded jackets and blankets. We were really looked after by Gilly and Carol, who filled her hot water bottle for Rach. After some veggie chilli and crusty bread, we went next door to the bunkhouse and had a hot shower, which took me a while as I was struggling to move. My legs had siezed and the blisters were making themselves known- one on the ball of each foot, which had both burst, one on the end of the second toe on my left foot, which was like a balloon, and what looked like blood blisters at the end of two toes on my right foot.
We had to still be up quite early the next day as Likeys were holding a MdS seminar in the theatre at Brecon. I woke up feeling like someone had stolen my legs and left me two wooden posts! It was a rather slow, painful hobble to the seminar... we did, however, get a special prize of a hat each- the 'Lantern Rouge' award!
Following this were the inevitable goodbyes, and the feeling that we had all shared something rather special... the drive home was rather uneventful, but I must have looked a picture trying to walk to the service station!
It's now three days after the event, and my legs are only slightly aching which is good... the blister and toe nail on the third toe on my right foot are still rather painful though, especially when I am walking.
My running shoes are in rather a sorry state though... but it was a fantastic weekend!!!
The brainwave of Martin and his team at Likeys, this is set to become a regular fixture on the Ultras calendar. It covers 46 (some say 47) miles around the Brecon Beacons National Park, in two large loops. Although it was a nearly 4 hour drive for me, I was keen to do this one as so many folks from the forum were also taking part, many of whom are also doing the MdS next year.
I got to the bunkhouse in Brecon Friday night, after a detour to Likeys for some kit (a headtorch that bloody works!!) We had all decided to have a group chilli night, kindly and most ably organised by Carol. It was great to meet everybody and, thanks to knowing each others online persona, we were all comfortable with each other from the word go. The meal was great and Craig (from Switzerland) had even brought Champagne and Lindt chocolate!
Carol had bagged us girlies a dorm- I shared with her, Rach and Gilly, who sadly wasn't able to run due to an injury but had decided to come anyway and volunteer her services at the checkpoints for the race- a real star! I still hadn't replaced my camera batteries, so have, erm, borrowed some of the pics Gilly took on the day! Carol provided much entertainment by demonstrating her specially adapted kit- she is going to go to the desert better equipped than James Bond!
6:00am Saturday morning came round all too soon, and I think I won the prize for most annoying mobile alarm (most people have a nice little tune or radio- not me- my alarm has a bossy sounding woman shouting- "The time is 6am... it's time to get up!" I made my porridge and sorted kit for the day; Carol very kindly gave me a backpack that had been given to her; it's a Raidlight one, and has actually completed the MdS so could be a good omen! The actual start of the race was from the Rugby Club next door; it was a sunny morning, but very cold and frosty. Martin, Matt and Sue greeted us, and then we were off! The first 4 miles were along the canal, to the first checkpoint at the start and finish of the laps; the first lap was 23 miles long, with a cut off time of 7 hours- anyone arriving back here after 3pm would be directed back to the canal and bunkhouse.
Carol had planned to do one loop due to a persistent injury, but still wanted to make good time, and me and Rach planned to try to make the cut off time and go for the full route. As it was fairly tight, we decided to jog the canal stretch to give ourselves some time in hand.
Rach, Me, Sharky and CarolAfter the first checkpoint, the route followed the canal for a couple more miles to Talybont-on-Usk (I stayed here for a week some years ago!) Carol had dropped back a bit, and me and Rach left the canal to pick up a forest 'fire road' which followed the length of the Talybont Reservoir. Although easy walking, this bit seemed endless as there were limited views, plus it was slightly uphill all the way.
The View Over Talybont ReservoirCarol caught us up, and we made our way along the track, and out on the road to the next checkpoint at 14 miles. This is where the route got really interesting, as we headed through more forest and uphill proper, to the 'gap' next to Fan Y Big (where do they get these names from?!?) After a nasty steep scramble down to a stream, we had a long, gradual climb up to the top of the gap, passing several weary looking TA blokes out on an exercise, with fully laden packs and carrying rifles. Rach asked them how heavy their packs were, and was told 40 kilos- and I thought I was carrying a lot! It stayed sunny and clear all day, which was great, although it did have some drawbacks later...
Beacons SceneryAt the top of the gap was another checkpoint- god knows how he got the landrover up there! We realised we had covered 17 miles and although we were last, we were making good progress and should hopefully make the cut off. However, this was soon to change... we were warned that the descent was a little icy, which was an understatement- as I went down on my bum we realised that all the rocks were coated with ice! This has to be one of the worst descents I have ever made! Carol lent me a collapsable trekking pole, which helped a lot, and then the ice gave way to running water, so we started making good time again. We descended to the 19 mile checkpoint, 'Wozza', where I expected a nice easy road walk.
My hopes were dashed when we were directed down a small, narrow path with the warning that 'it's rather uneven', which certainly turned out to be the case- very narrow, rocky and with branches ready to whip the unwary in the face. As we were gingerly picking our way along, we heard the cry of 'coming through', and the lead runner lapped us, running down the path as though it was the smoothest tarmac!
We did have some easy road and field walking, before more road walking to Pencelli and the end of the lap. We kept expecting to see the checkpoint and were convinced we had gone wrong, but made it at 2:30pm, with half an hour to spare til the cut off point. Gilly was here and gave us encouragement. Carol turned for home and said she'd get the kettle on- she told me to keep hold of her trekking pole and gave the other to Rach.
I swallowed some pain killers and me and Rach set off once again along the canal to Talybont, wondering why on earth we were doing this! My legs were starting to ache a little, and I could feel a couple of 'hot spots' on my feet but just couldn't be bothered to stop and sort them out- I will have to be more disciplined on the MdS! The 'fire road' through the forest seemed even more endless second time around, and we felt as though would never actually reach the road. To add to the misery, it became dark whilst we were plodding along, so we broke out the headtorches- it was a real luxury to have one that worked!! I was a little freaked when I saw something glowing green in the beam of light, but it turned out to be a sheep's eyes. I don't know who was more startled! I was so glad I was walking with Rach as I honestly don't think I would have done it had I been on my own.
It was lovely to see the checkpoint again, this time 33 miles in, and we caught up with Sharky, Mike and Dave, who were eating pork pies. We walked with them up to the gap, and could see the lights from the Landrover guiding us in from quite far away. It was a clear night, with loads of stars, and was quite beautiful. As we reached the checkpoint, we could see another light making its way up towards the gap- this turned out to be Julian, who was sweeping the route. Making our way down the gap for the second time, we realised that there was a price to pay for the clear, sunny weather- the ice had now extended more or less all the way down to Checkpoint Wozza! I must have fallen on my arse at least five more times, and have a lovely bruise to prove it! God knows what my language must have been like! I walked in the stream when I could, figuring there would be no ice, only to find that the water was freezing over... and my wet feet rubbed my nicely developing blisters. Thank god for Carol's poles... the lads went on ahead, Rach kept waiting for me; Julian caught us up and walked with us to the checkpoint, where they were giving away fruit and nut chocolate... which cheered me up nicely!
Julian stayed for a chat, and me and Rach set off down the narrow rocky track for the second time. I had been dreading this, but after the horrors of the gap, it didn't seem so bad... I was so glad to see the road though, and looked forward to some easy walking. But once again, my expectations were cruelly dashed as we soon realised- the hard way- that the roads were also covered in ice! It was quite patchy too, which meant that one minute we would be striding along, and the next sliding everywhere like Bambi!
The fields were at least easy walking, on frosted grass. One was full of sheep, which was quite eerie as we suddenly had loads of glowing green eyes in our headtorch beams. We had another sporadically slidy road walk back to the lap checkpoint, where Gilly had waited for us- she offered to act as sweeper and walk the 4 miles back along the canal with us. Rach was really striding out, she is certainly a very strong walker. My legs were aching, and I could count at least four blisters- it was also so cold that when I went to take a drink, my water bottle had filled with ice and it was like drinking a slush puppy! We caught up with Sharky, Mike and Dave, and shortly after saw a lone head torch bobbing towards us. To our delight, it turned out to be a rather innebriated Carol, who had downed most of a bottle of Vueve and decided to come and meet us.
We had quite a hero's welcome home, which was so great! We got in just after 11:30pm, which was fine as the time limit for the challenge was 11:59pm- so mission accomplished! God- it was cold when we stopped! The bottoms of my leggings had frozen stiff, poor Rach was shivering, and ended up in a heap of padded jackets and blankets. We were really looked after by Gilly and Carol, who filled her hot water bottle for Rach. After some veggie chilli and crusty bread, we went next door to the bunkhouse and had a hot shower, which took me a while as I was struggling to move. My legs had siezed and the blisters were making themselves known- one on the ball of each foot, which had both burst, one on the end of the second toe on my left foot, which was like a balloon, and what looked like blood blisters at the end of two toes on my right foot.
We had to still be up quite early the next day as Likeys were holding a MdS seminar in the theatre at Brecon. I woke up feeling like someone had stolen my legs and left me two wooden posts! It was a rather slow, painful hobble to the seminar... we did, however, get a special prize of a hat each- the 'Lantern Rouge' award!
Following this were the inevitable goodbyes, and the feeling that we had all shared something rather special... the drive home was rather uneventful, but I must have looked a picture trying to walk to the service station!
It's now three days after the event, and my legs are only slightly aching which is good... the blister and toe nail on the third toe on my right foot are still rather painful though, especially when I am walking.
My running shoes are in rather a sorry state though... but it was a fantastic weekend!!!
Labels: Beacons Ultra
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Well don Steph, It must have been hard starting the second lap, but you did it.(What do people at gyms know"Average Fitness" ?.
# posted by 
: 10:31 PM
: 10:31 PM
Terrific report Steph. It really brought it all back to me. I'll attempt a report soon!
Hope the blisters and your bum are well on the mend.
Hope the blisters and your bum are well on the mend.
Thanks Shane and Al- starting that second lap was pretty tough, it would have been so much easier to have carried on back to the bunkhouse!
I still have bruises in unfortunate places....
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I still have bruises in unfortunate places....
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