Enduroman 200 mile ultramarathon

Well were do I start!

I got the t-shirt and even earned a trophy, if your interested how hard it was read on :-)

Last year I entered the Enduroman Double Iron Triathlon which went unexpectedly well. I loved the event and not just because of the result, it had a tremendous friendliness to it were everyone is looking out for each other. I knew that I would be back again this year, the problem was what event to enter? It needed to be special because it was initially announced that it would be the last Enduroman for some time!

The numerous events held at Enduroman were a quin either continuous or 5x1, to attempt this needed a lot of time to train which I simply didnt have, there was also a triple  with the same formats available but I intend to take on a triple in September. I have thought about doing the double again and aiming to go sub 24 hours but I fancied something different for this year. This left the running events of which there could be 6x1 Marathon (a marathon every day for 6 days) and Run to the Max were you choose how much and when you run over the 6 days, for these events I couldn't get the full six days off work. This left the 200mile ultra marathon.........to be honest I think I had already made my mind up to have a go at this a long time ago and found excuses not to attempt the other events on offer, it had a certain appeal to it :-)

Stats

So the Enduroman has many events happening at the same which meant the run course is occupied by all participants at some time through the week. It is a 1.1 mile looped course that has everything, difficult downhill rutted trail, tree roots (which get higher as you get more tired) littered around the back of the course around the lake then a cruel steep hill up towards the finish section.

Yes you heard it correctly it is a 1.1 mile loop which meant going around the sodding course a total of 182 times! The elevation per loop isn't a great deal but multiply that by 182 times and I got the figure of about 23,500 ft (according to my Garmin) all to be done within a 60 hour cut off.

This was going to be a mental game as much as physical.

Preperation

Well this will be short! Since probably September last year I seemed to have a niggle here or there, most notably has been my troublesome calf, my IT band causing knee pain (which caused me to abort The Hill event back in December) and a pain underneath my right foot and a weak ankle because of too much rolling over.
These injuries limited how much running I could/wanted to do. With only 3 weeks leading up to the event I decided not to do any off-road running because of the realistic chance of rolling on my my ankle, one more roll and I am sure I would not be able to start the event, My choice was to run to work which was a 20 mile run but wouldn't give me the hill work I wanted. I managed this a total of 3 times! the furthest distance I had covered since January, bring on a 200 mile slog!

Pre Event

As we got to Avon Tyrell which is were the Enduroman event is held I suddenly remembered how difficult the course was, this coupled with the lack of training I decided to weigh up my options. I had already wiped out the idea of completing the full 200, my real goal at this point was to try a sub 24 hour 100 mile and to then see where I could get to within my own 48 hour cut off ideally aiming for 150 miles (the furthest I would have ever ran).

I tried to occupy my time as much as possible in the lead up to the event by helping people already competing were I could. Dan Earthquake who is in charge of all the swims even allowed me to be chief puller outer (getting people out the lake when they have completed their swim) but mostly my time involved eating all my food I had brought for the entire week, or as athletes call it carb loading.

The Race

Race briefing was held on the Friday at 12 midday with the race starting at 2pm. Having only 6 athletes (idiots) turn up it was fairly brief and without any fanfare.

Within the first 500m it was clear who was going to be strong in this event, immediately Steve Wyatt and Lloyd Purvis shot ahead as if it was a single marathon, they looked the business and running together as a team would only help their journey. Meanwhile the rest of us took it steady with me just slightly faster running at what felt to me a comfortable pace. 

First Marathon

The first marathon (24 laps) felt fantastic (as they always do) and most importantly I didn't feel any of the niggles coming to bite me which they normally do within the first 20 miles. I was starting to have a bit of hope.....I was regularly taking in water from my crew (my dad) which again is something I normally forget to do.

Double Marathon

With just over 30 miles done it as at this point it all started to fall apart. My IT band flared up again and immediately started affecting my knee and therefore my running, I was having to land heavier due to compensating and was now needing to take it easier on the downhill sections. Luckily it was tea time. Avon Tyrell have a canteen and provide cooked food, my dad would get me a take away, so I sat by the tent leg raised eating my first bit of warm food, it was already getting a bit too comfy, a quick 20 minute power nap should sort me out.

The bad thoughts of failure were already going through my head but these were quickly overridden at the thought of traveling all this way and dragging my dad down just for a marathon distance. No this was not going to happen so I cracked on.

I eventually completed the second marathon in a time of about 11:30 which was much slower than the double marathon I did last year (after having already swam 4.8 miles and ridden 232 miles) so it was apparent this was going too be much much tougher (I now realised how much fitter I must have been last year).

Throughout the first night was fairly uneventful eat run/walk say ouch repeat.

At some point during this stint I heard that Lloyd Purvis who was running with Steve Wyatt had dropped out due to feeling ill. He commented that it was the worse he had ever felt in the first 20 miles, I think he made the right call considering there would be another 180 miles still to go. I hope he comes back next year to exercise those demons, I for one will be giving him as much support as possible because he became a great welcome sight full of cheers and support from the sideline.

Where's the medic

Some point through the following day I decided I needed to seek some medical help from Rich Bell of Extreme Medics. At the race briefing Rich had mentioned to get help before the condition becomes untreatable. I got on the table and he identified the problem immediately as having a banjo string for an IT band (the curse of the non stretching triathlete). The medic being a 6ft monster did his best not to hurt me whilst massaging the leg, I only cried and swore a little bit, he then sent me off on my merry (miserable) way.

Onwards and Up(down)wards

Throughout the night all I could muster was a power walk, down hill was too painful and uphill was a waste of energy. I met up with Thomas Hayward at this point who despite feeling good physically I think he wont argue that he was having a few mental problems, tiredness was getting to him and the thought of the overwhelming distance still left to do. We chatted about all kinds of things, the usual ultra running nonsense, family, future, the meaning of life. The only thing we couldn't solve was how many laps or what distance we had left to do. Simple mathematics was comically entertaining but seemed to pass the time.

Lake Dip

At some point through the Saturday morning I went back to see the medic to see what else he could do. The previous visit had only subsided the pain for a few laps. He gave me another 'pleasant' massage and this time gave me a magic pill and said that's about all he could do for me, rest is the only thing that may help.....bugger.
I was now way down from were I wanted to be never mind getting close to the 200. I needed to do something time to take a dip into the lake to see if that sorts the legs out. I stripped down to just my shorts jumped in for a cold 10 minutes with the fish nibbling at my sweaty feet. When I was in the water my legs were actually starting to feel a little better unfortunately this was just the numbness kicking in.

A new low

It was now approaching tea time again and I was basically feeling awful, I kept smiling but I was hurting badly. I decided it was time to eat and rest. I quickly threw my food down set my alarm for an hour, took my shoes off and instantly fell asleep with my legs raised up on one of my bags.

Two hours later my dad shouted into the tent checking if I was there. He too had fallen asleep and when he woke up he assumed I was still out hobbling, I honestly cant remember if I had either slept through my alarm or had woken up and given up by going back to sleep.

I was in agony everything was hurting, it took an age just to sit up, my dad made a brew while I made a change of clothes (I had sweated like mad whilst asleep).....shit......big mistake I couldn't get my feet back into my shoes, not even close! Luckily I brought a pair of my trusty Hokas that I occidentally bought a size bigger than normal, I only just squeezed into these! Damn I had to continue.

Magic touch

I continued to power walk as best I could for a few more laps trying to assess what hurt the most/least and whilst walking up the steep tennis court section I held my hands on my hips and started to pinpoint areas on my glute where I normally massage with a ball. Having got to the top I attempted to run like so many other failed attempts before this but this time I could actually run (well it still wasn't fast but I was moving)

I don't really know how long I kept this up for but it seemed like days, I was hearing comments throughout like 'you are flying', all that was going through my head was to use this energy while I still can! I was still hurting but my mind was now able to deal with the pain and block it out.

Throughout the Sunday day I refused to sit or even stop I had learned that stopping is what was causing my knee to lock up further. If this happened it was taking a full half a lap to get myself going again.....I dreaded needing to take a pee stop! all my food was on the go including the hot food. A full Sunday roast including gravy is difficult to get down you whilst on the move but I managed it.

Brain fade

From approximately 6pm on Sunday afternoon it became just a blur, I remember Steve Wyatt completing his last lap in reverse and he still looked fresh as a daisy (that man is a machine!). I think it was around this point that the wheels started to really fall off again, it suddenly hit me how much I still had left to go, I still had just over a marathon distance in order to get to the finish line!

This was the time that in a bizarre way I am most proud of. I proved to myself that I had a strong mind, I wanted to quit so much with every lap even when there was on 5 left. 5 laps although was only 5.5 miles was still going to take me nearly 2 hours! But I just kept on going in the dark and at this point there were not many people left in the turning circle and who could blame them (except the awesome Carl Howells and Suzy Coates) and only me and Thomas left on the course.

The Finish

I eventually got to the last lap and so off I went with Carl Howells keeping me company (its lucky he did come with me otherwise I would have got lost). 

Normally when I get to the finish section a huge adrenaline rush surges through me and the finish line is an awesome experience. This time for me there was no excitement, just sheer relief. I recall the words in my mind "Thank f@ck for that!". Finishing time was around 61hrs 30mins and only the second person to have finished

Finish line with my dad whos birthday it was!

The man himself Edgar - Thank you

Dan Earthquake gave me fantastic support throughout

Thomas was not going to be that long behind and I wanted to see him finish so I hobbled into the building and lay down on the couch. Some time later I was woken by Dan and Edgar, Thomas was on his way in. It was now a race between me getting off the couch and Thomas coming into the finish....I only just made it!

Aftermath

The awards ceremony was only a couple of hours away. I didn't bother getting changed, flopped into the tent and fell asleep. I woke up an hour before the ceremony so that I could get a shower (I stank!!) and grab breakfast sitting down on an actual chair!

The Three Amigos Me (2nd), Steve Wyatt (1st), Thomas Hayward (3rd)

Reflection

The race was always going to be tough, did I underestimate it? Absolutely. It was put into context when one of the heroes doing the continous quin ironman said that I/we were nutters!

If I didn't have my injuries and had time to train properly for it I know I could have taken a large chunk off my time, would I do it again to prove this...not a chance. It took me to places I don't particularly want to get to again in a hurry.

Finally there are so many people to thank especially Edgar, Chris and Dan for putting on this fantastic week of events. My dad for being my support crew and in his first week of retirement too. Everyone else that were either support crew or taking part in the event.

I will be back to Enduroman for more

But first I think I need a rest