The Housman 100 ultra

Last Saturday was the annual Long Distance Walkers Association 100 mile event, the highlight of my year.  This time the event centre was in a school near Ludlow, Shrops.  I got the train down the day before and stayed in the YHA in Leominster, joined by a few other competitors.

Having arrived at checkpoints too early last year, I decided to start at 12pm instead of 10 this year.  I watched the 10am starters go off then spent 2hrs fuelling myself with food and water.  Unfortunately by 12, the rain had started but it cleared within minutes and stayed away until the very last mile.  Otherwise it was cool but windy.

About 50 (out of 569) of us started at 12 and as soon as the first uphill mile was completed we started to string out but I ran with 1 guy for the first 20 miles.  There wasn’t much of the route that was runable but I ran every bit that was until about mile 90.  My pace was far more even than in previous years – starting at 4.5mph, down to 4mph after 30 miles and down to 3mph after 50 miles, but I definitely ran less overall.

The first few checkpoints were very strung out and the food wasn’t great – sausage roll and wine gums at CP1 (8 miles), sandwiches at CP2 (Titley, 20 miles), quiche and fruit / rice pudding at CP3 (Evenjobb, 27 miles).  From CP2 I ran on my own except for the odd 10min when I passed people or they passed me – a bit lonely but it did save a lot of time waiting around in checkpoints – in most I was in and out in less than 10min.

From about 20 miles, I was already trying to count down the miles and I could feel my trainers rubbing – normally I never notice the 1^st 30 miles.  I’d been overtaking the 10am starters from 2hrs into the race and continued to do so throughout the race.  This helped to encourage me on knowing that I was already 2hrs up on them, but on the narrow paths, it did sometimes slow me down.

CP4 (Knighton, 35 miles) was reached in daylight and had great jacket potatoes, bananas, custard and cakes.  Then there was the worst climb of the route and darkness fell at about 10pm, a few miles before Newcastle (45 miles).  There was a hairy moment when I pulled my head torch out of my bag and the batteries flew out across the field but fortunately 2 walkers helped me find them in the dark. 

After a bowl of pasta I set out with another man along Offa’s Dyke but we didn’t stay together long.  Fortunately, route finding was quite easy in this section and the night passed quickly.  CP6 (Mainstone, 48 miles) was a real disappointment – 1 mile detour downhill into a village hall to get a dry cheese roll then back the same way!  It seemed funny running through the town of Bishop’s Castle in pitch black at about 2am on route to Lydham (CP7, 55 miles) for breakfast at 2.30am.  Here I changed socks and put on some Compeed which seemed to help.  I declined the full breakfast as I had been feeling a bit sickly for several hours – cereal and toast for me.

The next leg was a real slog – 11 miles over the very exposed Stipperstone Hills up to Habberly (66 miles).  I saw only the odd person from that point onwards.  It got light at about 4.15am but it was dull, cold and windy.  I started to feel a bit sleepy.  There was a good cake selection at Habberly and with 2 thirds done, the miles started to slip away.  However, for the next 2hrs I couldn’t keep my eyes open and once woke up walking on the other side of the road to where I started.  All I wanted to do was lie on the ground and sleep.  When I ran I woke up but most of the route seemed to be uphill. 

Eventually I reached CP9 at Bridges YHA (73 miles) and had a cuppa, crisps and sweets then I felt fine.  A few of the people staying at the hostel came to chat and looked very confused when I asked if they had finished their cycling for the day – when I looked at my watch it was only 8.30am but I had been up for 25hrs and had been walking in daylight for 4hrs so it seemed like late afternoon.  I missed a sharp shower while I was in the tent there.  From there onwards, I could remember the route well from the recce and it seemed to fly by.  I was doing 3mph (I know that sounds very slow but that includes time in checkpoints etc) so I thought I would probably make it in under 30hrs.

There was a water point and self clip on top of the Long Mynd then the next CP was at Edgton village hall where there was a great spread of salad, cakes, sweets and jacket potatoes.  This was Devon and Cornwall group’s CP which is always the best.  After that there was an open air CP at 91.5 miles with cakes and sweets then a CP in Bromfield hall but I just grabbed a snack and kept going to get it over and done with.  It was only then that my blisters got too sore to run but I kept up a good walking pace until the last 2 miles when my feet were soaked, the hills were steep and then the rain started.  I overtook one guy on the last mile but otherwise finished alone to the usual standing ovation as I entered the event centre.  This year I was even interviewed for the DVD because I looked so young!

About 60 people had finished before me but many of them had left 2hrs before me so it was only when I looked on the website after I got home that I found out I was 26^thout of 569 starters (only 380 finished) and I was 2^nd girl.  I didn’t really enjoy the race as much as normal probably because I was on my own, but I will do it again next year.  The winning man did it in 22hrs09 and the 1^st lady did 28hr06 – maybe that will be me one day!  I have recovered faster than ever and feel raring to go and do the 3 Peaks tomorrow.