The Walking Dead

12:01 pm Sunday 26th June 2016 and Victoria Park Belfast has been taken over by zombies. These previously healthy and mentally stable human beings had not been bitten by some unknown pathogen but rather had picked up the Ultra running bug. The last 24 hours had proved to me that Ultra Running is a tough sport especially once you go into races that go over 12 Hours. There is a huge difference between a 24 Hour race and a 50K, even though both are called Ultra Marathons the difference is like 100M and a marathon. One could apply if you want to win an ultra run 50K if you want to experience one do a 24 Hour. From the evidence presented to me over the previous 24 hours I am currently have no intention of ever doing one but stranger things have happened.

Injured or Getting Injured

Runners have two states you are injured and can’t run or getting injured because you can. Currently I fall in to the first which is why I was on the other side of the fence this weekend. One of the few weekends I have free over the year allowed me to be in a position to crew for that Friendly Austrian Runner Thomas Bubendorfer in the Energia 24 Hour race in Belfast. Arrived in Belfast and Mrs Google landed me at the wrong gate locked, issue with my Simm and no data to try a get to the correct entrance. Luckily a friendly Taxi Driver guided me in. Never got to thank him but he did go out of his way. Couldn’t park as there was a parkrun on so had to abandon the car. Got in and found Thomas eventually. After his recent Head Shave for his Sister in Law so I didn’t recognise him at first. Went through his nutrition plan which was give me something every 2-3 laps and mix it up between sweet and savoury. Also the instruction with regard to his pain pills was to refuse and tell him to HTFU the first time he looked for them.

Thomas Race from the sideline

Thomas along with other runners were moving along at a very easy pace early on and he was sticking to eating something every second or third lap with water on all laps. The first 4 hours where very casual but It got hot in the afternoon, water was been rationed from the athletes table, but I was still managing to make sure he had enough. Everything was going to plan until shortly after 6, Thomas started to not be able to take solids and very quickly arrived at the table barely able to stand up, distressed and looking for sugar. Quickly got a gel into him with some jelly babies. Shortly after this he looked for his pain pills he was duly told to HTFU. This normally quite reserved person was a little more demanding a few laps later. Clearly he was suffering. At this point I was starting to worry as it was very early in the race to be running into issues. Luckily Valerie arrived at 9 reviewed his nutrition up to that point. Thomas had taken too much on so there after he was on a diet of melon the odd gel and coke. Well watered down coke but he wasn’t told this. So we started a good cop bad cop routine on Thomas. He complained to me which probably helped him let of some steam or whatever but obeyed Valerie instructions without even a hint of dissent. I went to bed for a few hours and got back at 2 AM to see he was in a much better place. Shortly after bad cop went to bed he started to struggle around 4 AM, walked maybe 2 or 3 laps. Tried to get him running again “11 minute miles will get you 207K” His reply is unprintable.  Valerie got up at six, Thomas complained to her that the last few miles had been hell her answer was at least you did them and he was sent on his way again. A few laps later he stopped stomach problems again “Don’t know if its hunger or a stomach cramp ?”  While I was scratching my head, Valerie suggests a nice cup of tea. I went to bed for another few hours knowing he was in very capable hands.
The sound of an aircraft taking off lifted me in the tent around 8:30.  Thomas was back running and running his best since 12 hours earlier.  He continued in this vein until the end of the race making up 5 or 6 places to finish just over 207Km. I would love to have seen his lap splits and I would dare say the last 4 hours would have been his best. It was honour and as Valerie put it to crew for a real Ultra Runner. I can safely say that had Valerie not turned up when she did Thomas may very well have fallen before the 12 hour mark and that both myself and Thomas learnt a lot from her.

The other Races

The one advantage to having to crew was I was getting to spectate on the race as well. Situated with the crews for Sean, Brenda, Derek, Katherine, Alex and Aidan it was good mix. Also knew quite a few of the runners in all races so able to give them a shout out. First few hours everyone is moving along nicely with the exception of Billy and some Dutch guy looking to break a world record for his age in the 100K. He was flying and in the end did posting 7:07 amazing running when you consider the Irish record is only a few minutes faster and this guy was shoving 60. The race was progressing nicely and a lot of people where worried about Alex O’Shea and Aidan Hogan early pace. Keith Whyte started slowly but hit a bad patch in around 3 o’clock. He got through it to take the lead around the 50 mile mark. This did last long as he soon had to pull out. I haven’t spoke with him since so I don’t know what the issue was. We also lost Thomas Kilmas, Ger Copeland and Brian Ankers early so he was in good company. Brenda and Seans efforts in the Comrades meant they both retired early as well As with these races things really don’t get going until 18 hours into the race. This was true in both the ladies and men’s race. Alex had started to drop back but at least not at an alarming rate. Eoin had caught and passed Aidan but was having to work to keep him at bay. The every reliable Eddie Gallen was showing us all that age doesn’t matter. Both Thomas and Don made up a lot of ground on the field as well in the later stages with Don just finishing a bit up the road. In the ladies race the winner was well ahead but Katherine Guthrie swept through the field to take second spot. What was notable on her run was she kept pace with Eddie for several laps in the later end of the race. Of course Finn with her sense of humour every time she passed us picked up a very credible 3rd Spot. I didn’t take much notice to the relay race but it was a close and by all accounts a cracking affair in the end between the Mayflies and Clonmel AC. Overall a record number of runners passed both the 200K and 100 Mile mark for the race. This tells its own story. A lot of runners complained about the surface and it was an unforgiving concrete base with a dash thrown over it. There was also a noticeable camber towards the lake on the far side. In saying this it’s not an ideal surface but it was the same for everyone.

Performance of the day

Everyone agrees and was probably surprised that the performance of the day was Aidan Hogan run coming very close to the A standard in his first outing. Should we have been surprised? No, his coach/mentor and crew was none other than Jan Uzik a previous winner of this race on his debut in 2014. Proving once again if you want to excel at the pointy end of these races you need a very experienced crew in your corner. However my vote for performance of the Day goes to Maryse O’Connor and Lindsey Guthrie, They kept 3 or 4 crews feed and watered over the course of the 24 Hours. They crewed the crews and did a very good job of it.

The Biggest Smile - Part 1

So here I was a little disappointed but relived as I approached the finish line. Marathon number 50 done, my first official Ultra but the wheels had come off big time over the final 6K that I missed my secondary target of 4:10 which I felt was well within my scope. This feeling didn’t last long as once I crossed the line it turned to sheer joy, I suddenly had as Seb put it “the Biggest Smile in Portumna”

The night before

On receipt of an Email prior to the event I soon realised that we could pitch tents the night before the event. This appealed to me as there would be less stress involved in trying to get to the 7AM start if I went the night before. Went to Limerick on Thursday and picked up on of these pop-up tents. As not to look stupid I did a trial run on setting it up. Popup tent does what it says on the tin, but getting it back into the bag took an half an hour to figure out. Arrived in Portumna on Friday evening to see several hotels already pitched there. So I set my minion tent besides Finns minion tent in the shadow of Hotel MacKessy fitted with its own elevator and en suite bathrooms. What a way to relax the night before an event burgers, wine both red and yellow, Mo produced a guitar so a sing-song started. Only downside was the midgets where having a field day on us. Pretty soon we all retired to our respective abodes for the night. Didn’t sleep to well but never do before a goal race any way.

Race Time

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

Up at 5 am got my number, breakfast. Alan Gorski joined me at the table and he was bemused that I could eat so close to a race. Luckily that has always been the case my issues seem to be on other side of that particular equation. Vincent Gutherie had the kettle on and I got a coffee which moved the necessary, a quick warm up and off to the start.
I had initial after a strong finish in The Burren thought that sub 4 was a possibility but the recent heat/humidity had raised doubts on this. I decided not to wear a GPS watch and wear a HRM for the first few laps to ensure I didn’t overdo the effort early. Took off at the start and found myself a bit to close to the front HR showed the effort to be a bit too high ignored it for 1K. It was however still rising so I dropped the pace back. This left me running comfortably with Mark who I meet in Ballyvaughan for the first two laps. Both came in over 25 minutes so I decided that 4:10 would be more likely time. Discarded the HR Strap and picked up the pace from here and try and hold the effort till the end.
My original plan was to bring my Son Christopher with me to act as crew, he neither had the inclination of getting up at 3 AM or coming camping with me for the pleasure of watching his dad run around in circles for the day. So on Lap 3 as I rummaged through my supplies under the MCI table Brenda Barrett Dunphy immediately volunteered to take over the roll. Nutrition for the day was going to be a mix of Jaffa’s and Pringles every second lap. It worked very well, I would tell Brenda what I needed for the next lap and it was available on arrival.

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

Not much to say about the race, laps flew by, the half marathoners soon joined us and the course was now busy. As they passed me it didn’t bother me as I was well in tune with my pace and moving nicely. Briefly spoke with CM from boards where we discussed which was worse been dead or injured, I think we concurred that death was the better option. At around 38K I passed Alan Gorski he was struggling, I was motoring. Passed the 40K mark and I was about a minute up on 4:10 pace but from here on things started to get difficult. Once we passed the 2K marker I really had to grind. My legs were starting to feel dead as doorknobs. Antos friend gave me a lift after this which got me going again until I hit 44K. The cool breeze we had in the morning on the long last kilometre of the loop had suddenly turned into a Calima. This knocked the stuffing out of me. Kept running, I was not going to walk just keep in moving. Hit 45K 3:45:xx on the clock, this meant I needed a sub 25 final 5K, spurred on by the crowd I lifted the pace but once I hit the climb at 1K the pace dropped again to I kept going but the pace was gone from my legs 4:10 was gone at this point. Got to the turnaround looking for coke or anything to lift me. No coke took an orange instead. Started to walk for a bit. Saw Alan coming against me and decided there and then right he is not passing me out so I started running again. Combination of the Orange and the downhill I got up to a reasonable pace but once we hit the 4K again it was a death march to the finish. In my head just keep running while trying to listen for footsteps behind, they never came I crossed the line in 4:12:24.

You can’t be serious

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

I then heard Seb announce over the microphone 3rd place finisher in the 50K. What I initially thought there is a mistake here, but then slowly remembered who was doing the timing. My God the sensation of going from the dejection of missing a target to finishing 3rd from 100 runners in the race was some buzz. Immediately returned to the MCI table and gave my stand-in crew a massive hug. Sheer joy Seb was right I had the biggest smile on my face. Cracked open a can of 95.7% water for rehydration and took my rightful place on the Podium.

Results

Courtesy of Trish Carey

On looking at the results I gained places troughout the race. My last lap was not as slow as I thought on the course and everyone seemed to to suffer to the same degree. I was only 2 minutes outside 2nd place but those 2 minutes where outside my reach. The winner Rory Mooney was of course a country mile ahead and the closest I got to him all day was on the podium.
 
 

 

 

 

Splits for the nerds
0:25:54,0:25:43,0:24:45,0:24:28,0:23:57,0:24:33,0:24:28,0:24:58,0:25:37,0:28:02 4:12:24 3/97

If Carlsberg did aid stations ?

They still would be nowhere near the standard of the ones found at the Clare Burren Marathon Challenge. As seen everything Apples, Oranges Bananas, Mars Twix Crunchies and water. Not an Energy drink or Gel in sight or required for that matter. One of these tables every 3-4 miles then there is no need for a fuelling strategy or a chance that the tail runners may not get any. Every box ticked and plenty to go around. Some of the major city marathons in this country where put to shame not by a running club but I might add a walking club. My only disappointment was there were no crisps at the tables and on saying that at the end a Diamond of a volunteer appeared with the most delicious bag of Salt and Vinegar Tayto’s I have ever consumed.

There was running (& walking) involved as well

I had planned this to run the off road sections at 8 min pace my planned pace for Portumna, but as the weather has picked up I wore the HR to try and not overcook it. This meant 50K pace/effort for the following 1-3, 8-11, 16-19 and just shy of 4 miles to the finish. At the start I was full sure that by taking this approach I would cruise in under 4 hours very easily. This would make up for the disappointment of missing out the last time I ran here. First 3 miles I went off a little too quick as I was dragged along by the 10K runners. While the pace didn’t seem bad the HR was indicating otherwise so I backed off slightly to come back to a more prescribed pace. Hit the 3 mile mark just under 24 Minutes. First climb was ahead and I had a visit to to the porto potty at mile 4. Took it easy on the climbs and meet with a local ultra runner so ran along with him until Mile 8. Downhill road so opened up the legs for 22:55 3 mile split. From 11-12 there is a section that is walk unless of course you are a mountain gaot. There was one David from Kerry passed me again on this section but once the surface levellled out I quickly passed him again. Third section had a run along the dunes of Fanore beach and was also into a stiff breeze. This really was tough HR was too high and rarely got under or near 8 min pace. Hit 19 mile marker at 2:57. At this point my average pace was 9:20 odd so I had resigned myself to a finish beginning with a 4. I was not going to hit any pace over the next 3 miles due to the rough terrain. Last thing I needed was a slip and do myself an injury. Terrible visions of me rocking up to the start line of Portumna on crutches filled my thoughts over this section. Again the goat from Kerry passed by bouncing along with easy. Finally we hit the run down the field to the road. Watch reads 3:30:15 with 4 miles to go, I decided to just go as hard as I could manage and see if I could make the time. Two years ago the exact same scenario and I got to 25 before throwing in the towel. This year was different, I was able to push hard and hold the pace all the way to 26. Passed that marker at 3:57:30 so I knew I had it nailed as that’s the time on my 4 hour pace band any time I pace. Still drove home to finish in 3:58:49. Then I got a shout out from my parkrun cheerleaders. They had done the half and gave me a good shout coming home, thanks girls. Delighted with the sub 4 and the manner in which I got it. I passed the goat from Kerry somewhere shortly after we hit the road. As they say horses for courses.

Afterwards

Went for the bowl of soup and some yellow wine. Meet Antonio, Aidan and Yvonne from the club so it was good to see some familiar faces. Also sat down beside Mark from Tramore who had just done his 49th Marathon as well today. Strange old world this marathon running is. All that’s left is now stay injury free and get to the start line in Portumna fresh