Choosing the later start time, we formed part of the second wave of walkers, resembling a small army as we headed down the canal towpath toward Gargrave. For me, it was quite humbling to see so many people setting out with a common goal.
We reached Gargrave after a little over an hour and it was already becoming uncomfortably hot in the sun.
Cows are not good at showjumping.
Brief but welcome shade between Airton and Malham
Approaching Malham - Checkpoint 1
The team give their thoughts at Checkpoint 1
The journey to Checkpoint 2 up Malham Cove, past Malham Tarn and over Fountains Fell and the highest point on the course, Pen Y Ghent was very tough, especially for me, and I was really struggling with what felt like exhaustion.
Nearing the top of Pen Y Ghent
On the descent, I felt worse if anything, and the team managed to convince me to eat some energy sweets, and I took the opportunity to take on some water also. Still not feeling much better, I eventually made it to Horton and decided to take a Nuun hydration supplement to replace any lost electrolytes. Not sure if that was what was wrong, but after spending an hour at CP2, eating much chocolate, I was ready to rock once again.
As the sun started to set, we made our way up to the forest at the top of the route, and Waterstops 3 came and went with relative ease. By Waterstop 4 at Beckermonds, it was really dark and we'd all dug out our headtorches. A member of one of the other teams was being treated for extreme exhaustion by the medics. A sobering reminder, if one were needed, that this was tough.
By the time we reached Checkpoint 3 at Buckden, it was getting pretty cold and so I went for a massage at the first-aid tent to prepare for the next stage. As it happened, I had a difficult time staying awake, it was so relaxing! Whilst in there, there were again, a number of people in a really bad way and being treated by the medics. Ian and Nick kindly rustled us up a hotdog each and we got on our way.
The long slog to Checkpoint 4 at Conistone was worrying me a little - this was where we had had to abandon one of our training walks - so it was a great relief to be finally descending safely into Conistone/Kilnsey as the sun began to rise on Sunday morning.
A bacon butty rustled up by Ian helped to pick me up again and we were off, with only Waterstop 5 between us and the finish. A keen walker, Ian chose to accompany us on this stage.
Ady had been battling on for some time with some sizeable blisters and was clearly in a lot of pain as we started the long climb out of Conistone, with Rich also very uncomfortable. After a couple of hours, and with Skipton in sight, Ady was unable to continue any further, having accrued over 80km! Whilst waiting for help to arrive (which came impressively quickly!), we were caught up by Oxfam's sweep team - we were know officially in last place. Rich tried some Nuun while we waited, and as with me the previous day, it seemed to really pick him up.
Pushing on for Waterstop 5, we managed to overtake a couple of other teams, and arrived in respectable time. We now had 2 and three quarter hours to cover the remaining 11½km back to Skipton. Pausing for some chocolate cake and some finest support crew flapjack, we set out not really expecting to make it back within the 30 hour time limit.
On the final leg, we met a number of teams, most of which appeared to be a ragtag mix of leftovers from other teams (Oxfam insist that you join/get adopted by another team if your number falls below three, presumably for health & safety reasons).
As we crossed over Sharphaw (the last hill before Skipton), we realised that we could actually be in with a chance of finishing in under 30 hours, and had one hour to complete the remaining three miles. Sadly, despite us all using up everything that was left in the tank, we didn't quite make it, arriving back in Skipton after 30 hours, 14 minutes on the trail.
Still, a respectable time for a first attempt, considering the heat and the 30% dropout rate! gives us an excuse to come back next year ;-)
Just a couple of final points:
- Support crew were amazing - we literally couldn't have done it without them! Thank you Ian, Nick, Kirstie and Joanne
- Oxfam's organization of the event was very impressive!
1 comment:
nice touch with the videos. See you on the fellsman next year - every man for himself :-)
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