Endure 24

The Glastonbury of running! Live music, pumping tunes, camping, friends...and a 5 mile loop to continuously run around! Team Support were busy so I recruited two fellow physicists; Eric and Richard. We hired a gangster car and bundled way too much food and a selection of trainers in and we were off! The camping was ideal, right on the course, so the guys could be tucked up in their tents and still throw me a Milky Way! Eric is the tidiest guy on the planet, so my nutrition and clothing were soon layed out in the most organised arrangement you may ever see. The set-up struck fear in the hearts of the other competitors (probably). Keen photographer Richard would use his skills to capture my increasing suffering each lap! The 2km of the course we could see from our tents appeared to be rough grass and we witnessed the first ankle sprain before the race even started! I opted out of reccing the route, 20-odd laps during the race would be enough!...and Eric had packed a rather nice picnic blanket for some cheeky sunbathing :-)

Richard and Eric providing awesome support :-)

On the first few laps, I adjusted to the loop, finding the racing line and plotting the next request for Eric and Richard. The 8km lap consisted of 6km of nice undulating trail running through the woods and past the country house and the 2km of death - the rough grass, with a lot of spectators watching your decline! Most spectators were there for the relay teams of 5 or 8 and perhaps weren't so familiar with ultra-running. During the race, their looks would go from super impressed to super concerned about the ultra-runners! It's hard to smile and look healthy for a whole 2km every 8, so the ultra-face was on after the first few laps and by the end of the race, children would pull on their mother's sleeves and say 'Is that one going to be okay?...'

I set off quite fast in first place solo female. It was too hot for running though so after about 6 laps, I started to feel rather ill. The guys gave me a pasta pot to eat on my 7th lap which I managed to eat entirely before throwing it up into the same pot - nice! The non-ultrarunners looked concerned, but the ultrarunners knew there was plenty of time to recover! Just as I thought I'd got away from the medical tent area, only discreetly retching my way up the hill, an enthusiastic medic on a bike pedalled up along side me to ensure I was okay and try to make me stop running! I took it steady for a few laps and got back on it, still in the top four and working my way back up! During the night, I felt strong and enjoyed the company of Konstantinos, the Greek god of running. It was so good, it felt like I could become addicted to running laps forever! The night was lovely and cool, and seemed a lot quieter. Some of the fun runners in teams of 8 were cracking out the beers and there was a great group at the far end of the field, all wrapped up and performing Mexican waves all through the night! The pair-team next to us at camp allowed me the luxury of a cheeky sit down on their camping chair - thanks! I was now back to second place and hoping to catch up on first.

Enjoying the trails with Eric :-)

Thanks to Peter Cook and team for the great photos and support!

As the sun rose up, I got colder! I needed more energy so took another pasta pot and had a steady lap. But then stuck with the steady laps! I always get sleepy at dawn and eventually, I curled up in a ball at a little tent checkpoint in the woods and told them to kick me out in 3 minutes! Lying on the cold ground was a mistake, my thigh became really sore and I shuffled 1km to the next checkpoint where I tried another micro-nap. I was worried that all the other solo females had sped past whilst I closed my eyes and my thigh hurt so much that I limped along - surely I couldn't do any more laps?? On lap 17, I got some ibuprofen and shuffled on. I was now enjoying it so much, tears were streaming down my face and I thought this would be the last lap. But when Eric saw me, he gave me a hug and joined me for another lap. After two laps of him jogging behind me saying 'Come on, Jenn', 'Go on, Jenn!', I pointed out I was actually going...just in case he hadn't noticed our slow forward progression!! He did an amazing job of keeping me moving forward! I remembered I'd bought some generic 'pain relief spray' so got Eric to run behind me generally spritzing my legs haha :-) By the end of lap 19, I was sure that was enough, but the thought of hanging around the crowded finish with so many worried looks being cast in my direction wasn't so tempting (I did look a complete mess by now!), it would be nicer to retreat back into the woods! 20 laps would be 100miles too, so without a pause, poor Eric was taken for a another lap!! This would be his first 15miler! :-)

Still shuffling along in the morning!

After 23hrs and 50 mins, I finished my 20th lap and would now definitely be 2nd or 3rd. The commentator announced as I crossed the finish line, that I was probably in the top 5...'what??!' 3rd place would have to be really strong to overtake me now. If she got back before the 24hr deadline, we would have to battle it out on the 21st lap. I sent Eric to watch out for her coming into the field, so I could get a headstart on our next lap if required. I was now a bit paranoid that she'd just spring effortlessly into the field and straight on to the next lap! But thankfully, it was past 24hrs when she arrived and I had already curled up into a ball on the grass! I was super happy to have held on to 2nd place! :-)

Crying on lap 17! But still moving :-)

First placed Katie won a place in the Thames 184, an unsupported non-stop race on a tow path which made us laugh! :-) What an awesome weekend! A million thanks to Eric and Richard, who managed to provide excellent support for the entire 24hrs, an endurance feat in itself! :-)

The Yomp - 23 miles

The Yomp is a brilliant 23 mile fell-race/hike for all the family, with half and quarter versions available. It starts in Kirkby Stephen whenever you fancy dibbing out (hello leisurely breakfast!) and follows a great circular route. Team Support were released from pasta-cooking duty to jog/hike the Full Yomp and boyfriend Andy was sprinting off with the aim of sub 4-hrs. I'd say our legs weren't fresh after Jura the previous week, but Karen Nash managed to slot an extra 5 miles in before making it to the optional 8am mass start after doing a little race called the Hardmoors 110 (only 113miles!) the weekend before!! So our legs were really great! I'd achieved my best ever fell race result of 5th place last year and was hoping to equal or better that, and my time.

The weather was perfect, the route was relaxing after Jura and the fellow Yompers were very pleasant. The downhill from Nine Standards is my favourite part - a brilliant, gentle, swooping descent with excellent views. I temporarily hovered outside a sweet shop selling slush puppies 200m before the finish, wondering if I should buy one now or later, and wondering what puppies had to do with partially-frozen water in the first place. This pause cost me several places, leaving me with joint 9th female - oops! It's amazing how close the times can be when we've mostly dibbed out at seperate times, so we're not chasing each other, it's really hard to judge! But I was happy to skim 6 minutes off my time, maybe another 6 next year :-) And I went straight back down to the slush puppie shop :-)

Team Support did very well (I'm a bit worried that Father Bear might actually beat me one day!!), Andy got his sub-4hr in 10th place and Karen pumped out a 2nd place after all that!! Sunbathing on the grass was enjoyed by all, as were the multiple visits to the tea-lady and the finishers sandwiches :-)

Aaaah :-)

Team Support showing the V60s how it's done!

The Isle of Jura Fell Race - 17 (really tough) miles

Too short for ultra-runners, too long and tough for sensible fell-runners - the start list is a who's-who of serious fell-running! And I guess that's my excuse for coming last!! But with Jura, it really is a winning situation just to take part in this historic race - the most scenic fell race you could ever imagine, looking out to sea, with the Paps of Jura towering the land...and if you're at the back, it's also exceptionally peaceful!! It's not just the race that is fantastic either - the entire journey there, sharing ferries and cycle touring with all the other runners and supporters, camping outside the Jura Hotel right next to the sea and the worlds best temporary cake stall in the distillery garage - they all make the weekend amazing!

Awesome camp views

Pap in the clouds

Andy and I were here for the third year now and it was so good to catch up with our Jura friends. In the last two years, we'd had many adventures including: getting stranded in a desolate bus shelter with ten other fellrunners, all going into survival mode and counting our remaining biscuits, bumping into my hero Rosie Swale-Pope (yeah, the one that casually ran round the entire world!!!) and my fell-running heroes Declan and Chris frantically fixing my puncture 5 miles from the ferry terminal with minutes to spare!! :-) Race wise, 2011 had been exceptionally cold and windy. I managed to get swallowed by a bog up to my neck conveniently right in front of mountain rescue (thanks for heaving me out!! :-) ) and inconveniently right in front of a BBC camera filming for the Adventure Show! It was so windy, I spent most of the time crawling but did avoid coming last somehow! :-) 2012 was completely different - absolutely roasting! I'd done all the hard work and was 15 seconds from the top of the final Pap when I felt a bit ill... I reached the top and was epically sick!! I was keen to continue but made it nowhere and an amazing guy that looked exactly like Bear Grylls spent the next few hours walking very slowly down the mountain with me as I desperately drank bog water than regurgitated it - I'm sure he thought I was lovely! :-)

So 2013! Super hot again and the aim was to beat my 2011 time! 17 miles, 2370m of climbing up the steep scree slopes of the Paps and surrounding peaks and we're off! I chatted to Roger (MV70!) but he shot off like a rocket! The time limits are pretty tight so each checkpoint would tell me how many minutes I had to spare and I ran as hard as I could, my heart pounding, sweat dripping and still barely keeping Roger and co in sight! On the second Pap, I took an alternative route that had me clinging to an almost vertical boulder field having a slight North Face of the Eiger-type epic in full view of the marshals on the other peaks! But as you may have guessed, I survived - phew!!

The journey to the first Pap!

Three Paps to go!

On the final pap, the heat made me feel sick again...but there was no way it was stopping me this year!! The super-nice marshals remembered me and I tried to look really healthy as I pottered past! On the super steep descent off the Pap, I looked down at my trusty fell shoes and they were totally battered - studs facing in all directions apart from down!! Jura really is a true fell race! Down in the valley, just before the final little peak, the amazing Mountain Rescue/Police team had set up camp and were doing a great job of checking I didn't go bog-swimming again! Thankfully, all dry, but I did feel quite sick now. They were really nice and gave me some snacks, I was keen to push on but made it about 200m before sitting on a rock and vomming everywhere again!! A really nice guy from the team came and walked me up the final peak, he was so encouraging and I'm sure I'd still be sat on that rock if it wasn't for him!! The cooling breeze on the final peak refreshed me and it was all downhill to the final 3 mile run along the road now! The marshal gave me some route advice -'that pointy rock there, he's your mate!' which made complete sense at the time. I set off with vigour and looked up after a few minutes...there were pointy rocks everywhere!! It had been perfectly clear at the top, but I guessed a general straight line would hit the road! In 2011, I thought I'd been running on a waterlogged path on this section, until I fell down a mini-waterfall and accepted it might have been a river all along!! 

Looking out to sea from the first Pap

Effort face - only half way!

Roger is a small spec down there somewhere!

Climbing the first pap! 

For most runners, I guess the final three miles along the road is the worst bit, but I love the monotony! Gazing out to sea on the left, the views are absolutely amazing. And on the right, you can observe all the peaks you've climbed. I ran all the way, at a steady pace, with the police van and others tooting their support! Looking forward to Craighouse, it never seems to get any closer! I got to the finish just in time for the prize giving....and I'd won a prize! An old Duirach hand-carves a stick for the loser...maybe if I use it, I'll go faster! Having the stick was brilliant - many past stick-winners came and told me how they'd improved and even won prizes in following years for being really fast - so there's still hope!! :-)

Two Paps to go!

One Pap to go!

And after some perfect camping by the sea, we joined the peloton and cycled back across Islay, the Mull of Kintyre and Arran, watching the dolphins swim around the ferry and already dreaming about the next race. Andy is determined to win a whisky glass, a reward for doing sub-4hrs, so it looks like we'll be going back for the next few years!! :-)

The stick!

The Pap view from the Islay ferry

The Fellsman - 61 miles

What a fantastic day! The sun was out, the checkpoints were amazing and all my fellow runners were great company!

I flew back from Norway on the Friday night and pushed some things into my bag, hoping to pass the kit check early on Saturday morning! A meal would have been good but I'd missed all the action so a chocolate bar sufficed! After the price of Norwegian food, I was quite peckish but I'd seen the Fellsman menu and knew I wouldn't be hungry for long once the race started!

Heading up Ingleborough, the icy wind blew which was a refreshing wake up! After a steep downhill, we were soon rewarded with the first feed station and a great cup of tea and the trend of frequent, amazing checkpoints continued. The food just kept getting better; cheese pasties, cups of beans, soups, pasta and sooo many biscuits! I barely noticed running the first 40 miles as the sun came out, cruising down the hills with my arms stretched out like aeroplane wings and chatting to many other runners. There was a slight panic at only 12 miles when my toe (suspected toenail infection) became the most painful thing in the world, but there was no way I was having a DNF on my first Fellsman! Tempted as I was to crawl back down the hill howling, I trudged through the bogs thinking it would be a great exercise in suffering. Here I met two awesome guys, Steve (married to Nicky Spinks!!) and Andy (signed up for the Spine 2014!) as well as a friend from the L100. We cruised down into Dent where Ian showed us an awesome little route to the checkpoint. Ian had broken his toe and it was gutting to not have him racing, but so good to see him supporting!

A brilliant classic Yorkshire route

Leaving Dent, I was reunited with some Calderdale Hike friends, Steve and Garry, who are great fun and always have loads of excellent ideas for more adventures! Apparently there was an enormous turkey at Stonehouse but somehow we missed that! Past half way and I was starting to feel stronger and stronger, so I pressed on, hoping to get a good team at nightfall. It was awesome to see Annie Garcia and catch up on the Pennine Way towards Hawes...I hadn't even recognised it until Annie pointed it out! There were some suffering runners up ahead who I didn't fancy teaming up with for the night so I legged it to Fleet Moss. From here on, we would be grouped and have to stick together. I was relieved to catch up the smiley Yorkshire-women that I knew would be great grouping friends as they'd maintained a consistent pace all day and looked healthy, along with having the local knowledge! There was just enough time to eat some delicious rice pudding before we grabbed three more healthy members and off we ventured into the bogs!

Team mugshots! Phil :-)

Phil from Southwell was a great navigator, Captain Nick had a GPS and Rachael was very handy with the map too, so we were set! Other team members Clare and Kevin were great and it felt like a fresh adventure as the sun began to set. We lept over bogs all through the night, keeping a good pace on the uphills and eating lots of biscuits. It was really cool to look back at all the headlights of the teams behind us and occasionally bump into Annie's team. I really enjoy running at night, although it was a little chilly! Clare was sick just before Great Whernside but made an impressive recovery! Rachael was amazingly strong and Phil rewarded us on Whernside by sharing his final sweets - perfect team-mate! :-) In the last 5 miles, I began to get exceptionally tired and passed the time fantasising about the John Lewis duvet department and being allowed to dive in despite my very muddy appearance. Phil managed to fall asleep mid-pee (!) but thankfully caught us up again. Once we hit the road, it felt fresh again. A very swift coffee at the last checkpoint and the race was on! We were de-grouped and the clock was ticking! Coming into Treshfield, it was 4 minutes until 20hrs so we put some effort into the last little flick up from the bridge and burst into the school with 2 minutes to spare! :-) Thanks for an awesome night, team!

Enthusiastic faces at Park Rash  :-)

Bumping into Annnniiee :-)

A quick nap on the seats in the foyer and then it was time for a delicious breakfast! Spaghetti hoops on toast and a great catch up with super-fast Karen, Ian, Mark Brooks, Jon Steele, Annie, etc. Excellent race and some RunFurther points bagged  :-)

Cross Country Skiing, Norway

Having enjoyed the snow on the Spine Race and wanting to be Killian Jornet, Rob and I decided an xc skiing holiday was in order. £10 flights to Oslo and we were off! We decided to hitchhike to Geilo which provided many comedy moments. Our particular favourite was the car full of singing Estonians who got a terrible song stuck in our heads for the rest of the week!

En route to Geilo



First stop: Hallingskied



On arrival in Geilo, we discovered Geilo and Finse were full as there was a ski-marathon on the next day. We considered entering until we saw the local toddlers whizzing past at a ski speed us non-Norwegians may never achieve. We decided to head to the mountain hut at Hallingskeid and hired some very racy, competition skis meant for use on groomed trails then proceeded to ski solely on fresh snow and ice all week! Arriving at Hallingskied train station, we thought we could walk the 200m to the hut, but swiftly discovered why Norwegians live on skis! The snow was warm so each step lead to entire body burial and our fellow hutters, a French group, were having similar problems. After many face-plants and digging each other out of the snow, we decided the only option was to attempt to put our new skis on and try to traverse the off-camber slope that was beyond the limits of out skiing capabilities! On the horizon, we could see Norwegians in the hut watching the comedy unfold in front of them, who would have thought 200m could be such an epic - it didn't look good for the long-distance adventure we had planned!




It was good to know we weren't the only ones falling over - Jean-Christophe tries to reach the Hallengskeid hut!



Rob tries to walk - impossible!

Handy sticks mark the ski routes

But we managed to arrive and discovered the DNT mountain huts are amazing; huge log fires, great lounges and big duvets! Our fellow hutters were really nice and we spent the following day improving our skiing skills, especially on a slope we aptly named 'The Slope of Death' because all the warm snow of the previous evening had turned to ice to challenge us some more! Apart from the day around Braemar, we hadn't done any cross-country skiing before so we provided some light evening entertainment for our fellow hutters by practising/crashing on the local slopes!

Rob sniffing his armpit

A very scenic train line!

Beautiful day for the ski to Finse

Once we could vaguely ski, we loaded up our backpacks for our first ski tour! We got up super early and excitedly skied to Finse. At first, I was dubious about skiing over 'frozen' lakes at the end of the ski season but soon realised they were a great way to cover distance. The ski routes were marked by sticks and it was awesome to see the routes go on for miles ahead across the lakes and up the mountains. The weather was absolutely perfect and on arrival to Finse, we were totally amazed by the place. One giant frozen lake becomes a huge park of activity. We hadn't seen anyone out on the mountains all day, but around the hut, there were loads of kite-skiers, serious skiers doing the 'ski-run' and loads of casual skiers out for a 'ski-walk'. A couple of Norwegians observed our not-so-polished skiing technique and were amazed we'd made it from Hallingskeid! We celebrated our first day with a well deserved ice-cream and then hid from the sun as we looked pretty tomato! The Finsehytta is an awesome place to stay, more of a luxury hotel than a mountain hut! We treated ourselves to a meal as we'd been living on a limited number of Ryvitas since seeing the price of Norwegian food!!

The lake at Finse - awesome place!!

The following morning, we awoke to high winds and no sunshine. The hut staff warned us of the conditions and suggested it would be safest to ski with a guy going in the same direction as us. He pointed to a lean, mean Norwegian skiing machine and we gulped...there was no way we could keep up with him! But then we saw his rucksack, which was the size of a small house, so we actually made a great team! Kjetil got to laugh at our downhill skiing technique, which involved lots of 'aaaaaaaaah!!' and face-planting, and we had a great time chatting about mountains. It was great to make our first Norwegian friend and he gave us some good skiing tips :-) During the day, the wind got stronger and stronger, which did nothing for our skiing technique as it was now becoming hard to stand up! After attempting to eat biscuits without them blowing away, Kjetil skied off to a different hut and Rob and I battled against the wind for a few more hours! Arriving at Kjeldebu after about 25km of skiing into a headwind, we were totally battered! The hut was empty but Rob soon got the fire going and we cracked out the Ryvitas! Looking out the window, it seemed like we might be stuck here for a few days, Kjetil txted us the forecast...the wind was going to get worse! The toilet block was only 10m away from the hut, but getting there was a journey of epic proportions! Rob and I watched each other make the journey, waiting for each other to be blown away or swallowed by the snow! I curled up under several duvets and had a fantastic deep sleep.

Norwegian skiing machine, Kjetil

Trying to eat biscuits in a blizzard

Rob summarizes our technique

The forecast was right, it was blowing a gale! Fresh snow and old snow shot past the window and we peered out, wondering if we could make it to the toilet block, never mind a different hut! By mid-morning though, we were keen to do something, so we put our skis on and powered on! The wind was in a favourable direction to take us to the Kraekkja hut and it was awesome to finally see it on the horizon after a few tough hours! Being a staffed hut, they even sold fruit and nut chocolate, booyeah!! It was so wild outside, it felt like we were the only people in Norway. The toilet block was atleast 20m away this time, across some challenging deep snow and ice, so the evening entertainment was sorted - making videos of us making the journey to the toilet! :-)

Despite the same storm the next day, we optimistically told the hut guy we'd ski to Geilo. 'You will not make it to Geilo' he said grimly. Haugastol it was then! Off we merrily skied, loving the flat, quick lakes until we skied into a sign warning us of the 'dangerously thin ice'!! It didn't look very thin and we were still on the marked ski route, but we sure skied faster!! In the white out conditions, it was tough going to spot the next stick though and even harder to actually tell what the snow underfoot was like as everything just looks white! It became impossible to know if the snow was smooth or bumpy, steep or flat, until you face-planted! Same with judging speed, so we were soon caked in snow! On the last section to Haugastol, we came across a useful map of the lake we needed to ski across. The danger areas of the lake were highlighted and then the ski routes were marked directly on top on these areas! We gently skied onto the lake and scurried across, quietly freaking out about the visible rivers on the lake before whooping once we reached dry land!! We'd survived our first ski tour with barely a bruise!! Norway is awesome, so is xc skiing - we will be back!!

Kjetil found some sun! :-)

Reaching civilization! :-)