Lakeland 100 The Blacksail Pass incident

Well where do i start? I was, i feel well prepared for the race and arrived in Coniston on Friday morning feeling strong and up for the challenge. The race starts at 1930 so it felt VERY odd to be just waiting around for the off. They did put on some good lectures and so that passed some of the time. Once off we settled into our rhythm for the run into the dark and most people i feel wanted to get past the really boggy section before the light faded I did manage to do that but felt the two Squaddies i was running with were pushing it a bit. This came to light at CP2 where they just seemed to drop away and left me to try a push a little harder to join up with other runner for the night section. This i managed to do but it may have not been the best move, I think the people i was pacing and working with were a bit better prepped than me but you never know till take yourself to the limit just what you can achieve. I got through Wasdale i was in a good position and began the climb up Black Sail Pass, i had by now slowed OR the lads behind had caught up, a bit of both i think. I was determined not to lose any more places as the lads i was with i have always been close to them a other races so i dug in. The thing i felt happening was that i was not NOT taking food on board and my liquid intake was WAY to low so the die was set for a blow out (but i carried on) We got to a very steep part of the climb and i had been left behind by the lads and in the dark. rain, rocky terrain i did what anyone would do. i pushed harder as i it had to start going downhill soon at about this time i suffered some sort of 2 second black out not to bad on the flat but i made me step to one side and, Down the hill i went, about 100 meters i feel i got up climbed back to the path and for some reason past it further up the hill once i realised this i got back onto the path eat all i could emptied my water re-assed my position and just chugged on. I was getting a lot of pain in my back and this intensified as i chugged on. people caught me ran with me passed me and i took my painkillers over the next few hours ALL OF THEM. I had a 20 minute stop at Blencathra which allowed a good food intake and i felt much better in myself but the pain was not going away. I fought this until the Dalemain half way point, ran straight in registered my number and then eat, drank, took more painkillers loaded up my pack and set my self to go Knothing. my body was screaming and was was not able to control it any more, so i stopped the body then said " so you are finished, let me show you real pain" it did not feel good. I needed a balancing head so i called Alison and explained and received the Paddington stare down the phone not to carry on, i was happy with that

So i just caught a lift back to the Finish and spent the rest of the day and some of the night helping the race team

To say i was devastated was a gross understatement and i have had to come to terms with a number of issues
1 I was not prepared as well as i thought i was
2 I started too fast
3 On a long ultra, gels, Shokblocs, protein bar and too little water cannot be tolerated
4 Strength of mind and body needs to match.

So i have set my self a winter training programme that will correct this and i have also selected addition actions to better prepare myself to complete this epic race. This race was Much harder than P100 and very much more like Mont Blonc with a lot less checkpoints and some VERY challenging terrain, i am sure you would enjoy such a challenge. BUT if you wished to do it reccing the course is invaluable, let me know if the madness takes you.



Look after yourself and happy running
Carl