Round Ripon Ultra 2015 Race Report

Round Ripon 35 mile Ultra

 

Position 60/130 starters

Time 7hrs 08mins 48sec
 

at the start line with Anna and my folks in the background

The Round Ripon Ultra (run by Go Beyond) was my first step into the fabled 'Ultra' territory. How did it go? Fairly well is the short answer, but this is an ultra and my time wasn't the quickest so grab a coffee, and a cake to so you're ready to hear the Ultra version.

The route and elevation profile

Anna and I headed down to Harrogate (about 25 mins from Ripon) on Friday. We were spending a long weekend there to try and make the most of the event. Thankfully, my folks also made the trip and we had a bit of a family get together on the go. It also meant that Anna would have a little company while I was out in the mud. The weather forecast looked good for race day and we woke to a little fog with the forecast that it would burn off in the afternoon. Pretty much perfect running weather. After a great Italian meal on the Friday I settled in to bed at about 23:00 and up at 06:50 some how still ending up running late, changing in the car, and missing the race briefing while on the toilet. Thankfully I did remember a couple of key things:

1. My Garmin etrex10
2. Put Vaseline everywhere.

Neither of these things should be underestimated.

After a quick run about getting ready it was start time. This meant that I didn't have time to get nervous or worry about anything in the build up. After a chat with my better half I decided to wear my heart rate watch as I had a cold the week before and a really tough work week. I also think it put Mrs Aboveaveragewife at ease.

The start was great and we all headed off down the road without too much fuss at Studley Royal, took a right turn and then stopped to get through a gate. Yorkshire has a lot of styles and gates.  After that stop we were off, everyone seemed in good spirits and there was a lot of chat. I planned on making sure that the first half was ran slowly to ensure that I felt good for the last 9 miles as I'd only ever ran 26.2 miles before...

Anna having convinced me to wear my HR monitor was probably a good idea as the first 9 miles were constantly spent trying to slow down and keep my HR under 150bpm. Ideally it would have been under 140bpm but with the recent cold and the rush to start I gave up on that after the 1st mile. It was in these first few miles I was hyper aware that I couldn't take a deep breath without my chest hurting, a lot. Now normally this would spell alarm bells but I had strained or tweaked something muscular on the left side of my chest the day before. It didn't stop me doing anything but I did have to force myself to take a good deep breath every 20 mins to make sure I was breathing properly. It was also clear that good posture helped so I tried to run with good form well into the race, glad that I was wearing a bum bag and not a vest or shoulder bag.

Up until the first check point I spoke to loads of really nice people who were also running the Ripon as a UTMB qualifying point. I was also surprised just how many people were doing this as their first Ultra. It also did  a lot to help me feel less over whelmed by the distance. To checkpoint 1 we were mostly running through fields or on Landrover tracks. The scenery and terrain changing enough that you always has something else to look at.

Checkpoints are something new to me and when I came into the first one I was glad to see that although towards the back of my target I was feeling really fresh. Once at it, there was lots of water and energy drinks available with some rather amazing fruitcake too. I took a little of the fruit cake (there had been rave reviews online) and walked on. If I'm honest I was shocked at how many people were stood having a chat. The marshalls were great and very friendly but even If I'm not at the business end of the race I still wanted to minimise my loses. I took the cake (it was amazing and got better at every checkpoint). I Then walked the next 1km eating my Jam sandwich, I had packed one for each checkpoint. I also made a quick call to my parents and Anna to make sure they knew I was okay and feeling good.

I had asked them to take over my social media to try and update how I was getting on and send me any messages that might help in the later miles, this was going to be fought in the head more than the legs. More on that later.

After my first break it was easy to start running again. I had pulled away from a really nice group of runners just before the first checkpoint and then they passed me during my food walk  I managed to catch them up for a bit and then slowly moved forward. This meant that I was mainly running on my own from checkpoint 1 to 2 catching someone every so often, having a chat then carrying on. Again everyone was so friendly and helpful making sure I didn't go wrong on the route or offering advice.

During one of the sections through the woods I met a nice bloke in white who reassured me that I would make the cut off time no problem, he must have seen the worry in my head. Despite the reassurance I kept pushing on thinking I was behind schedule doing a really poor half marathon time for me. Then suddenly the next checkpoint appeared. I even asked a man how far we'd run. 15.1 miles. At this point I had my HR watch, Garmin 10 watch AND my Garmin etrex. I still couldn't do the maths. It just shows you running and maths shouldn't be done together. Still the section through the trees showed me that I could speed up a little and I was feeling good though the other half of me kept saying "don't be the idiot that blows up" So I re affirmed to myself "get to 26.2 miles feeling okay then see what you have". 35 miles means a lot of talking to yourself- or at least it does for me.

Checkpoint 2 and 3 were only 4 miles apart but this was a hard section with a lot of steep uphill on tarmac. I had decided to power walk all the proper ups- a proper up can technically be defined by  anything that makes you look up and think 'F&%k sake'. It was at this point I first met the first of a group that I ended up running a lot with. Dalgety (I forgot to ask his name) was really nice bloke who lives in London and works in Dalgety bay every so often. He had done Comrades a few times and wes clearly very fit. He and his partner were doing the event for a bit of fun without any proper training. He said he was just going to run until it wasn't fun anymore. How impressive is that? "What are you going to do on the weekend?" "Dunno, prob just go for a run see how far I can go." 35 miles that's how far. 100% badass.  This 4 miles stretch was also where I read the text messages Anna had relayed to me and they did make me think I better stick in this and get a move on. Thanks to everyone that left a message, it was only a wee thing but it helped a lot.

At checkpoint 3 Dalgetey (I wish I had asked his name) stayed for a chat and I walked straight through, not before I got some more cake. I figured that they would catch me up fairly quickly. Straight out of checkpoint 3 was down hill and through some fields so I decided against my plan to walk the next km and eat and just ran on. It felt fast but I doubt I was breaking any records. I enjoyed this section the most. It was over moor land and with the mist not quite lifting it was really atmospheric.

Yorkshire, even in bad weather it looks cool

more of the same

It was around this point that I started running with a guy called Nick we ended up running a similar pace with him pulling away on the ups and me catching on the downs.

Dalgetey and another runner (Yellow Vest) also caught us and we ended up running the rest of the way as a four. This really helped as there was a couple of sections where I wouldn't have started running again after a walk without them pushing  me on. It was also helpful to have advice on the route to make sure we were on the right direction. I actually think Nick could have pushed on ahead but he wasn't sure of the route and  my Garmin was a helpful tool.

This was an interesting aspect of the race. In the last 9 miles there were a lot of very quick sharp turns in fields, through farms etc. It would have been easy to get lost even with the garmin. At one point we caught a really nice couple that helped us a lot on the route. The bloke had recced the route and although marginally slower than what I wanted to run the time I would have lost from getting lost was more than I would have gained from going ahead. What's that about haste and speed. It's also much easier to keep running in a group than on your own.

The signs you follow, though there aren't as many as you think

The last checkpoint at 29 miles was a great site. and we all new that we had broken the back of the race. I think we all decided to try and crack on and I put a lot of effort into that last 10km only walking a few of the initial uphills. Sadly I don't know what time I did for it but it was definetaly the hardest 10km I've done.

Checkpoint 4, they promised beers

The best part about that section was that the conservative 1st half meant that we managed to overtake a fair number of people towards the end. The finish was down a brilliant drive but it did seem to go on forever. Then suddenly, I heard Anna scream "Come on Paul". I couldn't even see her at that point. All that was left was for me and Nick to try and kick on and finish strong.

The finish was a left then a little up hill that seemed fitting for a run in Yorkshire.

At the finish, the photo is also given to you by the organisers.

Anna tried to run ahead to get a photo of me finishing but she proved to be a good motivation and I beat her on the  sprint finish ;)

At the finish

The finish was brilliant, low key but everyone was in good spirits. I was given my medal and immediately handed my jacket and some coke to drink. Go Beyond, the event organiser had put on some food, a massage if you needed it and there was a wee mobile shop selling some really cool ultra gear. We walked about a little and I thanked Nick for his help and spoke to the other runner (Yellow Vest) a really nice Northern guy that I also saw the next day and had a chat with him. He was certainly walking better than me the next day. I just wished I'd asked everyone's name.... Sadly, I didn't get the ask Dalgety's name or thank him at the finish. He pushed me on a couple of times in the latter miles and it would have been be nice to say thanks. So if you're reading this, thanks.


Just before I headed back to the hotel I asked one of the marshalls if I could get my time and he mentioned there had been two 99 runners. I looked strangely and the marshall asked if I had went through twice after going to the toilet (I hadn't), and the photographer joked one of us must be number 66. I laughed and asked if I could be given the quiker number.

I shouldn't have laughed.

Taking off my number later I realised I had put my number upside down. Thankfully after a quick call it was all sorted out and the organisers were great about it. Once I got back to the hotel and changed we went for Thai food which was great. The next day we had a walk around Harrogate to try and ease off my legs. It took 5 days before I was walking without any aches but much less pain than my first marathon 3 years ago.

Mud, but not too much

All together I had a great time during the run and would definetaly do it again. A big thanks has to go to Anna for putting up with all my long runs and encouraging me to do this event. My parents for coming along and supporting me so well and all the organisers and marshalls for making this event so fun.

Finally, after trying and failing to play about with excel to try and see how I did at each checkpoint I managed to get some of the information and it makes geeky but interesting reading.

START - CP1 7.5 miles - 1hr 19min     102nd place
CP1 - CP2       8.8 miles - 1hr 36min     84th place
CP2 - CP3       4 miles -    53mins          77th place
CP3 - CP4       9 miles -    1hr 48mins    77th place
CP4- FINISH  6 miles -    1hr 32mins    60th place

Apart from being shocked at how slow these times actually are when broken down the positives to be taken from them are how I managed to keep moving up the ranks. For me this makes a real mental difference. Did I go too slow at the start? Could I have suffered  bit more and pushed on? Would I have blown up? I don't know, I just know that this tactic seems to work for me. Maybe, with a little more experience and strength in my legs I should try to push on a little earlier but that's for another blog and another race.

Interestingly, one week after the race I did my first parkrun in ages and got a 40 second PB running Camperdown (not all parkruns are equal) in  22:51. I think this shows that training for an Ultra doesn't just mean running slow. More miles  can also make you quicker.

Next up is the Templeton 10 miles at the start of November. The long term goal is still the OCC application and I'm going to do the Cateran 55 ultra as a warm up/ B race in May. If you fancy seeing how I get on please follow me on twitter, instagram or follow my blog.

Until then Woop Woop.

Follow me on Twitter @HendriePaul or Instagram hendriepaul

Round Ripon, What you need to know.

It's a really well organised race.

You need to know how to navigate the course. you can do this by sticking with some runners, recceing the route, reading the map + instructions they give you. Using a Garmin.*

Harrogate is a good base and has a Bettys

It's a really good first Ultra

The technical top you get is pretty sweet as is the inclusion of a photo in the cost

You get 1 UTMB point

The Terrain is mixed and although you need trail shoes there is enough tarmac to make your feet ache that night. I used Salomon Fell raiser and they worked really well and no blisters but alsp buy some decent socks.

Be constistant in your race planning and pacing.