Saturday & Sunday 24-25 July - Lakeland 100/50 Weekend

Where was Bertie? On Saturday he was still on the field in Coniston. 

Weather: After weeks and weeks of dry, hot weather, the Lake District finally saw some rain, starting about 1030 on Saturday morning and continuing on and off through the weekend, accompanied by 20-30mph winds (40-50 up high). 

A necessarily early start, as Mick had a bus to catch at 7am. I was up early too, not just to be a good wife and make sure he was properly fed and watered, but because I was going to be heading out at the same time. I intend to take part in a different 50 mile event in the Lakes next year, also starting in Coniston, so it seemed sensible, whilst we were there, for me to go and recce some of the route. I know from past experience that I can't be out and about much whilst Mick is running this race, because the urge to dot-watch on the tracker is too great, but I reckoned I had a window from 7am to noon, which was the earliest time he would arrive at the first Check Point, where I would try to spot him on the live feed webcam, and try to discern from what I saw how he was doing. 

I'd intended to see Mick onto a bus, but that plan changed when I saw the length of the queue (previous years we/he has just walked straight up to a bus and boarded), so I left him to it and headed off into the village. My recce went well, but could have been longer, if I hadn't had a failure of mathematical ability. Common sense was apparently also absent so I didn't pick up the distance calculation error until too late. The silver lining of the error was that whilst I arrived back at Bertie with 1.5 hours to spare, it was 5 minutes after the rain got heavy enough to warrant a waterproof. 

I spent the whole of the rest of the day, and much of the night, dot-watching the race, and having an extensive race-related text chat with a friend (who was also entered in this event, but couldn't take part due to knee surgery a couple of weeks ago). We manged a WhatsApp PB of 263 messages between us over the course of 18 hours.  

As for Mick's race, it turned out to be surprisingly exciting from my point of view. I'd seen when I got back from my outing that he was sitting in second position in his age category, which was a little bit of a concern that maybe he'd set out a bit fast. I was pleased when he dropped down to fourth, which seemed more appropriate. 

It was about half way through the race when I saw he'd climbed back to third, at which point I started paying attention to the other people in his category, which is where it all got a bit exciting from a dot-watching point of view. 

1490 people started the Lakeland 50 this year, with 94% completing. If I ignore the two categories with just one person each (because they would unduly skew the stats) there were 10 age categories (5 male, 5 female), so an average of ~150 people per category. However, this is a hard race and we can surmise that it's unusual for people to still be fit and able to complete it over the age of 70, as in Mick's category there were just 13 starters, of whom only 9 completed (69%).  

So, it was a surprise, when I started to pay attention, to find that in amongst that sea of (relative) youngsters, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the MV70 category were all within a mile of each other. Between Check Points 4 and 5 (7 miles) I reckon there was never more than 400yards between 3rd and 5th.

They all entered the marquee at Check Point 5 within the space of a few minutes and with Mick at the head of that little pack (with lots of other participants in between them - it was busy out on those trails and I would have absolutely hated it ... which is why I no longer take part), and it looked likely that the order in which they left would dictate their positions at the next Check Point, as they'd been so consistent in their moving speeds, with the changes in position coming when they stopped.

It was raining by the time they left that Check Point (not the first rain of the day for them, but the first time waterproofs were definitely needed - it was now the middle of the night), and Mick emerged second, in fourth place in his category. That's where he remained for the rest of the race.

I was willing him to be speedy at the only other manned Check Point, but it was raining so hard at that point that I could only rely on his dot on the map - being able to see anyone on the camera was tricky (see photos at the end of this post). 

The final 3 miles to Coniston saw him a mile behind 3rd, and a mile ahead of 5th, but as he started the descent I saw that his tracker speed had slowed to just 1km/h, with 5th closing on him fast and I had no idea whether he had a problem, was stuck in a queue, or whether it was just the terrain (which I know to be steep, eroded and slow). It turns out it was the latter, with the wind and rain not helping matters, as his headtorch beam was bounced back at him rather than lighting the way. 

Talking of headtorches, it was late in the evening when it suddenly occurred to me that I was sitting on the far side of an unlit field in Coniston and would need to make my way to the school in the middle of the night, and thus would need a torch. I knew I didn't have one in my pack, because Mick had both of the ones that I would usually choose, but we do keep one in Bertie. It's batteries were low and it was barely giving out any light, but no worries, because we also have spare batteries. I changed the batteries and got no light at all. I searched for more batteries ... surely we had 3 AAA somewhere?! Eventually, after I'd dug out the multimeter and checked the voltage of all of the batteries I could find, I sorted out three good ones - phew. I know I could have used my phone torch, but it's hardly ideal for the purpose. 

I was duly out in the street when Mick came down the road. I was next to the finish arch as he ran under it, and I was in the marquee when he was presented for a big cheer (every single finisher gets announced with their name and the number of finishes in their history in this race - the cheers went on the whole night through). The first I got to speak to him was as he queued for his finish photo (yes, another queue - there really were a lot of people in this race this year) and I was pleased to see that he was in a much better state than when he finished in 2022. Indeed, when I said something about next year, he didn't say 'never again' (as he did in 2022, only then to enter the 100 for 2023).

Admittedly, he was probably in a better state thanks to taking longer over the distance than in 2022 (when he'd completed a 'Couch to 80k in 8 weeks' programme due to an injury earlier in the year, then finished sub-16 hours to get a Lakeland 100 qualifying time), but he's also 4 years older. This year he finished in 17:36, 4th in his age category. The latter fact would be completely irrelevant, if it hadn't (probably unbeknownst to the three chaps involved) been such a tight race between them for so much of the distance. 

His biggest frustration this year was his lack of speed uphill, which is usually a strength. He hadn't been helped by a chunk of missed training over the preceding six weeks due to a knee injury, but the real issue was the strong painkillers (for said knee injury) that hampered his speed and made him feel nauseous. This may all sound a bit irresponsible, but his physio had given him the go ahead that taking part was unlikely to lead to permanent injury, and at his age he can't afford to wait another year to give it another go - there's no guarantee that anyone will have the health next year, but in the 70+ age categories, the stats scream loud that it's worth a small gamble with a knee injury. He has, however, sworn off strong painkillers for future such endeavours.

Fingers crossed that next year his knee is well, his health is good, his training has gone well and that he gets a place in this hugely oversubscribed race to give it another go.  

Let's have a game of spot Mick: 

Check Point 1

He made himself easy to spot this year, with calf sleeves and a knee support on his right leg

(He's on the far right, next to the portaloos)  

 Check Point 2

It would have been too easy a game if I'd used the photo I took of my tablet screen, as he's standing in front of the camera on his way in. I didn't take a screenshot until he was on his way out. 

 Check Point 3

Easy one - a few moments earlier he'd been waving at the camera, exactly as I'd instructed, as there was a phone signal here and I was talking to him as he came into view 

 

Check Point 4

Another easy one - younger son was excited to catch sight of him at this one too 

 

 Check Point 7

The weather was foul and being able to pick anyone out was dependent on the random beams of passing headtorches

(I missed him at CP5 as the feed buffered at just the wrong moment; fortunately I got a message saying he'd been seen entering. CP6 is unmanned and doesn't have a camera)

 

Crossing the finish line

 

 

Tuesday 21 to Friday 24 July - Lytham St Annes, Torver & Coniston

Tuesday & Wednesday 21/22 July - Lytham St Annes

Where was Bertie? He spent two nights at the motorhome parking area on the N side of Fairhaven Lake, in Lytham St Annes, at a cost of £7.50 per night. 

Weather: Varying cloud, but warm and almost entirely dry. 

The vague plan had been to head up to the Lakes a few weeks before the Lakeland 100/50 weekend, taking both Bertie (to live in) and Erica (to travel around in), staying on a Temporary Holiday Site (THS) in Kendal, but that plan didn't come to fruition. The big holding factor was waiting for the sale of a rental house to complete, then there were just a couple of other commitments dotted across the following week. Finally on Monday 20th we declared that we were free to leave, Bertie was hastily packed and we left home late Tuesday morning. 

By then the THS in Kendal had closed, but I found one in Lytham St Annes. Even though we'd only been in Lytham last month, we were happy to go again, although we didn't end up staying at the THS, having realised that it was right next door to the motorhome Aire we'd stayed on in June, with the Aire being half the price for a 2-night stay.

Not long after arrival, friends came around for tea and cake, and after a couple of hours of chatting, we adjourned to a local pub, The Fairhaven, for food. It was well after bedtime by the time we got back to Bertie. 

That didn't stop us getting up bright and early on Wednesday morning (just double checked that fact and 'early' is something of an exaggeration) to gently run/walk three laps of Fairhaven Lake. This was Mick's final little jogette before the Lakeland 50. I'm pleased to say that he didn't trip over a manhole cover and do himself some significant harm 3 days out, as he did in 2023, but he wasn't going into the race injured, but more about that in my next post. 

Another quarter lap of the lake followed once we were changed out of our Lycra, as we headed to the lakeside cafe for coffee, cake and crossword. Another quarter lap followed again in the afternoon when we returned to said cafe with AlaNicky for more tea and cake. More chatting back in Bertie finished off the day.

Thursday 23rd

Where was Bertie? At Church House Inn campsite in Torver, at a cost of £20 excluding electricity.

A week later, I have absolutely no recollection as to how we filled our morning, but I do recall that we visited a big Tesco Extra at the Blackpool end of the M55 as we headed off towards Torver. I had the need for another 1-pint mug, and for a pair of short pyjamas, but failed on both counts (they'd sold out of the former, and I didn't like the choice of the latter). That left me then trawling a huge supermarket for the few groceries we needed. Give me an Aldi or a Lidl any day for ease of finding the things you need without having to walk a mile in the process.

An easy journey up to the Lakes was had, and we arrived exactly when we said we would, mid-afternoon. I'm pretty sure that we then spent the rest of the day watching The Hundred cricket, although there was a burst of activity from me as I put 40 litres of water into Bertie via 2x 5 litre carriers and a funnel. 

Friday 24th

Where was Bertie? He spent the weekend on a field off Lake Road in Coniston for the Lakeland 100/50 race weekend.

In previous years, we've aimed to arrive in Coniston on the dot of the earliest arrival time of 9am, to get sited and through registration and kit check as early as possible, before queues built - it has worked well and Mick has never had to queue. However, the kit check process was changed last year such that the mega-queues of recent years were eradicated. That, combined with the desire not to block up the main road through Coniston, as there will always be people who arrive before 9am and are already queuing, meant that we didn't leave Torver until 0915. Our timing worked nicely for us to be able to drive straight onto the field, but by the time we headed over to the school for registration, there was a surprisingly long queue, out of the marquee and down the school driveway, almost to the road. I reckon it took Mick about an hour to get into the marquee and through all the processes, but he said that it was all really efficient - we could only surmise that a surprising number of people arrived early in the day this year.

A chat with our neighbour in the field, and lots of people-watching as the field gradually filled up. By 4pm, the field was surprisingly full.

Just before 6pm we headed into Coniston to see the Lakeland 100 runners head off, less than a quarter of a mile into their 105-mile adventures, then it didn't seem worth going back to Bertie as Mick was going to the race briefing at 7.30pm, so we watched the Lakeland 1 (kids' race), browsed the gear stalls and generally just loitered around until Mick joined another surprisingly large queue to get into the hall for the briefing.

This was the scene in front of us as we made our way back to the school having seen the Lakeland 100 runners head off. There must have been as many people behind us as in front. Everything just seemed busier this year. 

I don't know whether the number of entries had been intentionally increased this year, or whether it was just a freak year of more people turning up. There isn't a standby list for these races, so I know that the organiser oversubscribes, on the basis that they know that on average X% will drop out in advance or not show up on race day - but there's always the danger that fewer people will drop out than expected. It turned out this year did see a bumper turnout both races. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...

I was about to hit 'Publish' when I fell down a small rabbit hole looking at figures over the years:

Sunday 14 to Wednesday 17 June - Carsington Water

Where was Bertie? He's just spent three nights at the C&CC Temporary Holiday Site at Hognaston, next to Carsington Water, at a cost of £12 per night.

Weather: Mixed, and not as good or warm as forecast!

Sunday 

Mick was in need of another long training run, and the obvious choice was Cannock Chase. Then it occurred to me that it's the time of year when the Temporary Holiday Site (THS) is on at Carsington Water, and that it would be slightly more novel* for Mick to run a few laps of the reservoir rather than doing our usual route around Cannock Chase. (*Not entirely novel, as he has done the circuit probably three times before, but it's been a few years since he last did it.)

Saturday was spent at home catching up on laundry, and Sunday morning was spent packing before heading off to Carsington around lunchtime. There we were directed to the exact same pitch as we were given when we were there two years ago. 

Our only activity on Sunday afternoon was to wander down to the Visitor Centre, as we'd not previously investigated what was there. We located the 'restaurant' (glorified cafe really) where I promised to take Mick before we went home, took a look at the exhibition (more like a Severn Trent Water propaganda display), and established that the queue out the door of the ice cream shop was too long to tempt us (particularly when we had a tub in Bertie's freezer). 

Monday

Mick sprang out of bed the moment the alarm went off and was soon dressed in his running gear and had breakfast on the table. Given that I'd said that I would join him for his first lap of the water, I had little choice but to follow suit.

Even though I went up quite a few hills over the last month and a half, I'd only been out on one run/walk in the last 6 weeks, and only 2 in the last 3 months. So, clearly the obvious progression on this record was to do 13k on the undulating reservoir circuit! In all honesty, I'd thought that we'd fast walk most of it, with a few runs thrown in here and there. Mick had other ideas, but I managed to keep up until the car park at the S end of the water, where I nipped into the toilets and Mick continued on ahead. There was no value in him waiting for me, as he was continuing straight on for another lap, whereas I only had a couple of kilometres left to go. 

I then took the opportunity to do some housework whilst Mick was out (the amount of debris I swept off the shower floor, from under the duck boards, was impressive. We didn't use the shower at all whilst we were in Scotland (preserving gas, we only used campsite/friends' showers) and lots of wet and dirty gear was dried in there in the latter parts of the trip), before having a cup of tea and some lunch ready for him when he popped in between laps 2 and 3. His final lap was actually a 9k out-and-back, bringing him up to 35km, exactly per plan.

Tuesday

Mick had been planning a lazy day, just involving going out for lunch, but it didn't take much convincing to have him come along to do the Dam Circuit with me. It's only just over 5km, and he'd not done it before. 

The walk was timed nicely to see us arrive at the Visitor Centre cafe at lunchtime, and a leisurely lunch was had. Looking around the place, I realised I was out of place, being about 20 years younger than the average age, ignoring staff.

Lunch was followed by coffee, which was then followed by ice cream from the shop out in the courtyard. Apparently, the ice cream shop is in the top 10 in the UK according to one of the national newspapers. It wasn't cheap and I was disappointed, but that's mainly because I like cheap ice cream that doesn't resemble a dairy product. Mick was happy with his choice.

By the time we made our way back up to Bertie the sky was looking a little ominous and a couple of hours later it started to rain, continuing on and off into the night. 

Wednesday

We awoke to rain, but even so I'd decided it would be a waste not to take advantage of our location and go for another turn around the reservoir before we headed home. I was out the door a few minutes after 8, and managed a faster circuit than on Monday (but still a full 20 minutes slower than my fastest on this route). I wasn't lucky with the rain, with it raining on me for a good chunk of the far side of the water. 

Arriving back at Bertie it was to find that Mick had belatedly remembered that he had a phone call scheduled ten minutes hence, so it wasn't a swift exit homewards. By the time he was off the phone and we were ready to go, I'd decided that a pizza was necessary for lunch, which in turn necessitated a stop in Ashbourne. I couldn't find that there's an Italian restaurant in the town, but I like to have a Dominoes pizza every few years, just to remind me why I usually make my own!

Then back home we went.