Race 3/3
Personal Slam 2024: Arc50, Lakeland 50, Wendover Woods 50 (Achieved!)
I last ran this event as part of the inaugural Centurion Running Grand Slam (4x50milers – SDW, NDW, CW & WW) in 2016, so a whopping 8 years ago! It was time to revisit…
A friend said to me at the finish line “2016 is a long time ago – you need to take up a new hobby”. Choice words at that time, and in the moment I felt like I might agree, but no, there is definitely more to come!
Race Overview:
• 52.5miles.
• 10,495ft in Wendover Woods based on 5×10.5m at 2100ft per lap.
• 2016 finishing time 13:53:57hrs.
• 2024 completed in 10:52:20, bagged 1st V50 and a new Age Category Course Record. What more could I ask for?!
The course was in good condition. There had been weeks of rain into a couple of dry weeks. Huge amounts of autumnal leafage were on the course carpeting roots, with potential trip hazards and some slippery downs on the chalk, but generally it was dry and cool at 8-10 degrees, although it felt cooler at the tops – namely Boulevard of Broken Dreams and The Trig.
Wendover Woods Route.
Race Plan:
Pretty basic compared to my usual plans with 2.5hrs per lap, a comfortable buffer to help boost my confidence during the event. I had not been feeling great for a few weeks prior due to missed sleep from an A100 Pacing Gig, a trip to the Lakes for a Mountain Skill & Navigation course, and then dog surgery stress involving sleeping on the kitchen floor. The training had been ‘dialled back’ and adjusted; I waited to see if I would toe the start line. The choice was DNS or finish but no DNF. I listened to my body; during the week prior we were ‘good to go’ as I was feeling much better.
• Finish strong, enjoy a day out on the trails and ideally sub 12hrs (2:15-2:30hr lap).
• Apply revised fuelling/hydration strategy – 70g carbs/hour and 5 mins max.
• Stop slacking, get running! Keep effort levels below 7/10.
Race Outcome:
Consistent laps and happy laps: 1:56, 2:12, 2:12, 2:20, 2:12 with 5 mins included in each lap at the Trig Point for refuelling/hydration.
Race Fuelling/Hydration:
• Fuelling: The aim was 70g/hr without GI distress. Breakfast was porridge, banana an hour out and PH chews during briefing speech. I had prepared ‘packs’ of fuelling for each lap, weighed them and decided to use the Aid Station drop bag due to the weight. Three laps/packs all worked well then sports nutrition fatigue arrived, and I ate roughly half a ‘pack’, swerving more towards carb drink and less actual fuel. This was fine as I knew I had loaded front end and can survive on just carb drink to the finish, along with humbugs. I had run the last 30 miles of the SDW100miles 2021 on carb drink with the same insurance policy of front loading.
• Hydration: 2x500ml soft flasks refilled at each CP. One with half an electrolyte tablet; other with two scoops PH carb & sodium drink, prepared in plastic test tubes.
• Further fuelling: I didn’t eat anything from the Aid Stations except 4 x quarters of banana. Stuck with my Jamaican Ginger Cake as a sports nutrition relief.
• Achieved: Fuel 80g/hr. Minor stomach issues in first couple of laps (too much too soon) but once dialled it back, no issues at all. I kept ALL of the packets and stashed them at the end of each lap in my drop bag so I could tally up the numbers.
Race Nutrition Review Post Race.
Race Report:
We arrived at 8:15hrs (too early) and parked in The Trig field ready to collect my race bib (no tracker for this race, chip in race number). I folded my race number carefully as not to upset the tracker, so it was the correct size to pin to my shorts. Why are race bib numbers so big – my thighs aren’t that huge?
A quick catch up with a friend Emily who was finishing her first Grand Slam 4x50milers this year – some hugs and well wishes.
Briefing at 9:00am –highlights were slippery on course, no crewing, lots of leaves, no crewing, watch out for the roots, no crewing on repeat. It seems some runners in the Ultra Running Community have trouble understanding the difference between ‘supporting’ and ‘crewing’. RD James then spoke moving words about an Ultra Running Community Member who had recently passed; as a gesture they were running his bib around the course with people that knew him. Very poignant; I found myself with welled eyes, feeling grateful to be given the chance to run this course.
After a five-minute walk to the Race Start, a bit of hanging around chatting to a friend from previous years of running the Arc, and then a lady who had last year DNF’d, I did a quick recce of whereabouts I was in the field. I decided just ahead of halfway was about right. I hate being at the front as everyone gets really ‘pushy’ at the start ‘racing’. With some slippery chalky downs and knowing my ‘fairy approach’ to these descents, I wanted to be not at the back, but nowhere near the front either. Tricky…
The first lap is slightly different, which I had forgotten. A bit of jogging down a narrow trail and then it widens out so the more ‘pushy’ runners who had got themselves stuck at the back can then fly past before the route turns sharp left and the first hill hike commences.
There must have been about 250 starters (204 finishers in the end) and having done the course previously I knew there would be some congestion in parts, but equally knew after a while the runners are quite spread out over the 10 mile loop. Go with the flow at the start.
The weather was perfect for me at 8-10 degrees; I was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, arm warmers and fingerless gloves (mainly for my poles). I tend to run hot (must be a ‘woman of a certain age kind of thing’) so love the flexibility of ‘up and down’ with the arm warmers with the ‘up and down’ of the terrain. Warmer in the woods; cooler on the tops and more open areas – you could really feel the drop in temperature as you climbed up to the back of The Trig field towards the end of the loop, and then ran around to the marquee. Apart from that, dry, which was a massive bonus!
I settled into the first lap, with the aim of using it as a reminder of the route. Every time I go to Wendover, I usually start in a different place so the location of various ‘landmarks’ around the course eludes me… but after five laps I am pretty sure I could do the loop in the dark. Oh, I did!
Laps of Darkness
In lap 1 there was a bit of jostling with me stepping aside to allow people past, rather than go headfirst down a slippery path (think Power Lines). A kind runner said, “Oh you don’t have to step aside and let us all pass”. I smiled back and said, “Yes I do, as I quite like my teeth as they are, thank you – plus I’ll catch you all up later”.
I had planned each lap to take roughly the same time (2.5hrs) and wanted to keep the ‘effort level’ RPE about 5-7/10 which meant keeping that HR in check and dialling back the enthusiasm playing the long game for later. Some runners love it when the gun goes off and shoot out like hares. This is not for me. It takes a good 40 mins for me to ‘warm up’ my muscles, brain and general well-being to get into the zone. In the Arc and Lakeland 50, I had pushed for the first 60 mins but no such plan this time due to the nature of the course.
I settled into my practice of strong hiking all the inclines and jogging all the flats and downs. Some of the shallower inclines I actually jogged (on all laps note) as I had worked hard in training on these up to 5%. The inclines (Garmin Climb Pro stated 13-14 of them) ranged from about 2% to 18% and maximum was half a mile, so easily manageable based on my treadmill training and practicing around Caesar’s Camp.
“No slacking, get running” was the order of the day, and every time I felt like a little walk, that wasn’t really an option; it had to be a strong hike or a run… no walking permitted. Game on!
On the hilly hikes, I was pushing my fuel and discovered I like the convenience of the 90g PH gels with the little cap – less wastage and fiddling about trying to open the packs, plus I could store in a side pocket and fish it in and out with my spare hand (other hand on one pole). A mixture of carb drink, PH gels, chews, bars and at 5 miles I treated myself to a chunk of caffeine bar, then at the finish of each lap a chunk of ginger cake and quarter of banana. Perfect!
As the course progressed, I realised it breaks down into 65-75 mins to Hale Lane Aid Station and then 55-65 mins to Trig Point, and repeated this for EVERY lap, repeating the fuelling and hydration plan too. It seemed to work on Lap 1, so why not repeat? It was much easier too for my tired brain as no thinking required. I started to comprehend why some runners love laps for the simplicity of everything… with a drop bag every 10.5 miles, facilities, 2 x Aid Stations, and the opportunity to see friends and supporters. Also, for me, on the last couple of laps finding yourself coming across runners who had gone ahead earlier, who were then being reeled in. Bonus.
Every time I came into the Trig Aid Station it was a welcoming ‘in, out and no faff about’ approach. Volunteers at the entrance shout your number to the drop bag area, who then give you your bag. Then:
• Unpack the next pack of goodies
• Top up water in both bottles, add to one of them a test tube of PH Carb & 1000ml sodium powder and the other half an electrolyte tablet
• Put all the rubbish from side pocket back into drop bag
• Reload pack with new fuel
• Grab quarter of banana
• Return drop bag
• Eat banana
• Out of the marquee running
• Quick look at watch on way in to see the time and same on way out to ensure below 5 mins
That’s 20 mins of checkpoint with minimised faffing – result! A lot less to carry out on the course weight-wise too.
Lap 1: Done a bit quicker than planned; different loop to the rest. 1:57. Not too shabby (a tad quick; need to dial it back a little to 2:10-2:15 for the rest).
Lap 2: Uneventful and in at 2:12.
Lap 3: More fun as a friend came out to support on the course and shouted some cheery encouragement to me and others. Again at 2:12.
Mid-Race Smiles of Enjoyment.
Checked my time for 50k and it logged at 6:17hrs which was a surprise as that was just as quick as when I did the Copthorne 50k in 2022 (6:18hrs) so hopefully my fitness is back to that level. Then reminded myself I still had two laps to go!
Lap 4: Slower as chatting to a couple of runners and the half-light. Not dark enough to have the headtorch on (even though I’d been wearing it since the start of lap 3), but not fully light enough to see trip hazards. Headlamp on the lowest level, jogged on and stopped at Hale Lane to say hi to a friend/volunteer who was starting at 16:00hrs – a quick hug, chat, “see you Lap 5” and onwards. 2:20 for that lap.
There had been a shift change in the main Trig marquee and another friend/volunteer was at the front entrance – a lovely smiley face and greeting. Usual routine and changeover. He said “Do you know where you are in the race?”. I said “In the tent, lap 4 done”. Not sure that’s what he meant!
Lap 5: A great lap powering around thinking ‘the last of everything lap’. On leaving the marquee, caught up with a Slammer. He asked, “You on your last lap?”. “Yippee” I said, “Let’s go get this done and your Grand Slam nailed”. We were off. He was quicker on the technical stuff and I was stronger on the hiking ups and running downs… so we passed each other, were near each other and pushed each other to the finish. Towards the end I lost him as there is a long climb up the Trig so I said, “see you at the finish and let’s go get sub 11 hours”.
It felt amazing to know that it was the last time on all the ‘landmarks’ – down ‘Root Canal’, up ‘Gnarking’, down ‘Power Lines’ and the worst and dullest bit of the course ‘Hill Fort’. The body was holding up, but the quads and adductors were making themselves known on the downhills. Tick, tick, tick through the nutrition for another lap, and I gave myself the treat of my old school Shuffle, loaded with rubbish tunes. Let’s be fair the playlist never changes, and it’s 9 hours of very poor tunes, but totally motivating stuff for me and cue a favourite ‘Running up that hill’ and guess what, I actually was.
Before reaching Hale Lane Aid, I noticed I was starting to catch up other runners including a few female runners – hadn’t really seen any for the last few hours. There were only 30 female finishers (30/204 15%) – not many, but a real bonus when it came to queuing for the facilities at the start! I came across the lady who I had been chatting to at the start who had left me for dust, and we had a few cheery words and “go, go, go, you’ve got this” – she was so going to finish. Delighted for her!
At Hale Lane I was flying and decided not to stop but shout rather loudly “HELLO, NOT STOPPING AND THANK YOU ALL!” as I ran around the corner and jogged up the climb until the effort became strong hiking again. At that point I really enjoyed the course – scooting up the hills, passing people and (what felt like) quite decent running on the rolling runnable ups and downs. Loving this great course, let’s get this done, do the maths again… could I make sub 12hrs – yes just. Hang on a minute, I’ve done my maths wrong… could it possibly be sub 11hrs? Goodness, it might be! So overjoyed and unexpected!
The Finish Line arrived and hurrah 10:52:20! Age Category New Course Record (didn’t know about that until the Race Report was released).
I had a finish line welcome from a friend volunteering in the Trig tent, the polite decline of vegan chilli (no thanks after the LL50 experience), big hugs with Jay, medal and drop bag collection. Then home, stopping via a fast-food establishment to replace lost protein and fat stores (chicken burger and fries on the A41).
Delighted a few days later to receive a V50 Trophy in the post, and Age Cat voucher.
Lovely Trophy Bagged.
What did I learn?
• I still love strong hill hiking.
More work on this going forward for my next adventure.
• I am still comparatively less confident on the technical sections and technical downs BUT getting more confident when it’s not too steep.
Give me a runnable down anyway.
• I’m getting better at runnable ups and downs to a max of 5% incline.
Let’s work to make that 8% for 2025.
• Ginger Cake still rocks, as do bananas!
Sports nutrition isn’t that bad if you select the right stuff and don’t overdose on it.
Big thanks:
• Jay, my world.
• Dafty, for supporting.
• Spencer M, Kerry S & Rachel F, for volunteering and on course support.
• Mike & Nicola H, for Ernie sitting and training runs.
• Warwick G, for training runs and refuelling.
• Nikki P & Katie G, for keeping my body in one piece in 2024.
• Centurion Running Team, for hosting a fabulous event with such cheery and helpful volunteers.
2024 is done. What a great year. Bring on 2025!
