Ultra 39 - 43

Ultra 39 Ennerdale Trail Ultra

Ultra 39 was supposed to be the Round Rotherham and the Ennerdale Ultra would have been number 40.

I had stopped with Dave Cremmins at the Premier Inn a couple of miles away from the start of the Round Rotherham 50.

First thing Sat morning we arrived at registration and caught up with Garry Scott and Mark Dalton who we would be travelling to the Lakes after the Round Rotherham, I had a great time catching up with Sharon Gaytor, John Vernon, Martin Dietrich to name a few before the race started. Alas Rotherham wasn’t to be. Minutes into the run I was in a lot of pain with my knees and my legs didn’t seem to have any speed in them, after 20 miles of pain and struggling on I asked Dave to head off without me. I pulled out at the next checkpoint after about 25 miles, 2 miles off an Ultra but I had had enough. I was given a lift back to the start and spent awhile chatting to Ian Symington and Dan Shrimpton plus others. Later on I caught up with Sarah Booth, Andy Norman, Dan Aldus, Charlotte Charmain and Nic Ham (I apologise if I have missed anyone) After a lengthily chat to Si Berry The gang (Mark Dalton, Garry Scott, Dave (The Creminator) Cremmins and myself ) set off to Buttermere Youth Hostel via a chippie in Ripon. Buttermere Youth Hostel is beautiful and we had a 4 person room for less then £10 each. The next day I toed the start line with a knee support on courtesy of Mark Dalton and wearing a pair of inov-8 x-talons courtesy of Rorie at Runfree. My aim was to concentrate on landing midfoot to prevent any overpronation which may aggravate the knees. The course for us was 2 loops of the Ennerdale valley, each loop was about 16 miles, while there where other runners running 1 lap and a 10k option was also available. The event was organised by High Terrain Events and was sponsored by Salomon and 9 bars (I love 9 bars, Gluten free, high in omega 3, healthy fats and a massive 8grams of Protein, plus they taste pretty good as well! )

The weather was perfect, chilly but the sun was out reflecting the mountains in Ennerdale Water. The scenery was just beautiful. I ran with Garry and Dave for the first lap, the second lap I dropped back quite a bit and ran / walked to the middle way checkpoint and then with a reasonable amount of decent I picked up a good pace. In the last 5 miles I came back alive and passed 7 runners finishing with a sprint. My knees had given some pain throughout the 30 odd miles but no way as bad as the day before at the Round Rotherham. The combo of X-Talons and a support bandage seemed to help. I had also given my new pack ‘The North Face Enduro 13’its first proper outing and it had passed with flying colours. I finished the 32 mile course in 6hrs 20 mins.

We left Ennerdale and headed to Keswick and yes you guessed it! The chippy. ;0))

                                                                      Garry Scott

L-R Mark Dalton, David Cremmins, Me, Garry Scott

Ultra 40 Tadcaster 28

Ultra 40 was a 28 mile run around my local area, Tadcaster--Boston Spa-Wetherby-Bramhan etc

My run was racked with pain. Knee pain, hips and quads too where screaming out in agony. A tough 28 miles. (Ran in Salomon Speedcross)

Ultra 41 Kilburn Kanter ( plus extra miles)

Ultra 41 was the 24 mile LDWA Kilburn Kanter, an event which as you can guess starts at Kilburn in North Yorkshire. Very close to the White Horse on Sutton Bank. The village is beautiful and the route was too. I had a little chat with Sharon Gaytor before the start and later ran with Andy Knowles (A great way to catch up with a good mate) The event took me on several paths around the North York moors I hadn’t been on before so was a big plus. No knee pains.!

A pain free run ;0) (Ran in Inov-8 x talons)

                                                                   Andy Knowles

Ultra 42 Hardmoors 55 (recce 28)

Ultra 42 was 28 miles spent on the Hardmoors 55 2013 route (Reverse 2012 route) with Shirley crewing. A great day out with some stunning views. (Ran in Inov-8 x talons)

Roseberry Topping

View over to the coast from Guisborough Woods

Ultra 43 Osmotherley Trail Marathon 30

Ultra 43 was ran with Garry Scott and what a good day with great company. Initialy the run was to recce the Osmotherley Trail Marathon Route (Hardmoors 26.2) The course was measured at 30 miles (gps) The weather was beautiful and we chatted the whole way round, no knee pain and felt as fresh as daisy
(Ran in Inov-8 x talons)