Kernow Vertical Kilometre by Freedom Racing 2020 - Bringing a Mountain Race to Cornwall

It seems strange writing about a race I've done whilst in this situation where all races have been cancelled due to Corona Virus. However it was my last race just before all the restrictions kicked in. 

Kernow Vertical Kilometre  aka KvK an event that has been around for a few years now. It's based on the Mountain races where you run a total of 1000m of climb. Obviously in Cornwall there are no mountains to do such a race, so Freedom Racing developed a race where you would still run 1000m of climb, but you also get a 1000m of descent also. So this was definitely a double quad killer. 

I entered this race, close to the race date, as I had little events booked in pre May. I needed something to focus on in my training for the races I had booked in closer to the time. I couldn't enter other races local to me around in March as they feel into other plans I had around family. 

As it was down in Cornwall, I knew I could stay at my parents place as they lived near by, so I didn't have to worry about accommodation costs and the fact it wasn't too far away, it was ideal really for my purposes. 

As we approached race day, the world had started to change with a Pandemic caused by a virus. As the current guidance at the time of the race allowed the race to go ahead, and not being a massive race. It was still going ahead, if it was a week later it may have been a different situation. Being fit and well, I still planned on racing. That's all I'm going to talk about when it comes to the current work situation. 

The Start/Finish

Race day soon came along and I got my self in a position that I was going to be as ready as I was going to be at that point of time in my training. KvK is a 15 mile race, two laps of 7.5 miles 500m of ascent in each lap. I was racing solo, but if you wanted you could race as a pair doing a lap each. 

15 miles was in my training programme, so this was a great way to race and hit the mileage that I required. I was looking forward to it. It was a different kind of race to what I've done before as such. 

Coast Path Section pic by No Limits Photography

St Agnes is a small village in Cornwall usually packed with tourists, but there isn't much parking down there. So we decided to head down early to get a parking spot, walk our puppy on the beach prior to the later starting time of the race. Registration started at 12pm, and the race was starting at 2pm. There is a finish cut off time, but it is still pretty achievable for the majority of runners. 

As registration opened, I got to see a lot of friend's I knew who live down there in Cornwall, which was nice. At first I thought I was the only runner from outside of Cornwall, but I saw two others from Plymouth which was nice. 

First section of the figure of 8 lap done

Although this was my first Freedom Racing event, I've known Tom Sutton the RD for a while now, seeing him often at other events and so forth. It was nice to see him and all the others I knew. It was definitely a very friendly race, that even if you knew no one you could easily think you did.

Will all the registration done, it was done to the start with both solo's and the first leg runners of the pairs. It started down the bottom of the slip way at the beach. This meant it was an up hill climb from the very start. The race took you up through the village from the start up a climb until you turned on to a footpath. You continued this climb along footpaths in fields through housing areas until you climbed up more footpaths to the top of Beacon, this was the first of 4 climbs to the Beacon Top. You quickly ran down and lopped through paths and small roads until climbing back up to the Top of the Beacon once more. It was blowing a really cold wind up the top. The course then ran down to the Coastal Path which flowed along and down into the village. That was the first loop of what is like a figure of 8 course. 

Coming down from the Top of Beacon pic by No Limits Photography

As you come through the village you rejoin the coastal path and head up and out the opposite way for the second part of the figure of 8. You climbed up until you start another descent down to a valley. You then hit a stonking bit when you have to climb up some tough set of coastal steps. Once you catch your breathe the views are stunning once more. You are already seeing those ahead of you on their way back to the village. 

Once you complete this loop, you come back down into the village where the atmosphere is brilliant, supporters and marshals cheering and giving the cow bells loud ringing. You run through the village and repeat the lap again. 

The wind had not died down at this point at the top of the Beacon, and I was getting colder as I was tiring. There were two good aid stations at 8 miles and 12 miles well stocked with goodies, not just your average water stops you'd find on a road race of similar distance. 

As you came down from the second lap to the finish, the supporters are still going barmy and you race down to the finish line. A down hill finish was great to stretch out those tight quads after a quad busting 15 mile race. 

Plenty of mud 

There you go, 15 miles, 2 x 7.5 mile laps, 500m of climb each lap totalling 1000m of climb. Your legs and lungs definitely know about it. A well organised race, very friendly and one I would definitely do again. I set out for a Sub 3 hour, but missed out by 5 mins or so. Anyway have a look at my short film I made of it here (click link ). 

Thank you for reading, I'm not sure when the next race blog will be out, but I will be writing up my year of running everyday blog very soon. In the mean time download my podcasts here (click link) have a listen. They are available on all podcast sources. 

Cow Bell Medal

Until next time. 

𝑶𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒏

#GoTailwind #UglowSports #BeyondComfort #TheBeautifullyBrutal

Classic Quarter 44 2016 - Beauty and the Beast's love child!

Trying to think of an appropriate title to describe the event and the blog proved to be harder than I first thought. Many variations went through my tiny mind until I decided to stick with the one I have now. I think it pretty much sums it up because if Beauty did make a child with the Beast I think this is what it would be like but obviously in a running route way.

Since Hope24 just about a month, I took all the positives from that event and used towards my plan on how I was going to run the Classic Quarter. Knowing I was able to cover the distance and in the time frame was no problem, it was just the added pressure of cut off's that always bugs me. As I lose a lot of time on the climbs, I knew I had to make sure I made up the time elsewhere. I'm still trying to improve my pace on the climbs but until then, I had to do made best elsewhere and with the help of my wife crewing me I knew she was going to make a big difference.

Race number all picked up with free Clif bar and shots

In the lead up to the event, I got more nervous about the cut off's especially with the fantastic hot weather we were experience knowing that the heat could be a major factor. However the forecast kept changing saying it was going to be nice, then raining, then overcast etc. It didn't know what it was going to do. I planned the points the wife was going to meet me along the route and we spoke about my plan of attack. The only thing left to do was run.

Friday evening we arrive down the Lizard straight after work to pick up the race number. It was nice to catch up briefly with a few friendly faces, Mark Evans a centurion grand slam buckle owner, Duane Roberts of Team Buff UK, good friend Stuart Queen (who was apart of the race crew)a few local faces of Sharon Smith, Gary Richards (winner of this years Hope24) amongst others. With the fog closed in on the Lizard and the sound of the lighthouse fog horn going off, the weather conditions for me were looking perfect. I just was hoping it would last.

Staying at my parents place in Redruth meant we had an early start, luckily leaving my son with my Mum for the day meant my wife only had me to concentrate on.

Pre start gathering

We arrived back down at Lizard Point, and the atmosphere of the start was building as we made our way down to the start line ready for the race brief. There was a buzz of a drone roving round filming, I saw more faces I knew the likes of David Andrewartha, Sharon Sullivan, Paul Reeve and Phil Bolt. All of us wishing each other good luck for the race.  Eventually with the race briefing done about 0636 we mass started, the soloists first followed an hour later by the relay runners.

Nerves were in full swing at the start

The start was packed as you could imagine with 265 runners making their way down the narrow coastal path, making it difficult to make any good progress until after the first couple of miles. With the first cut off at the 9 mile point CP1 it was important to get a good head start. To assist my wife I set up the Race Drone app tracker so she could hopefully keep an eye on my progress and have some idea where I was. However knowing this was the Cornish Coastal path I knew it wasn't going to be as good as proper tracker due to the lack of phone GPS signal.

The weather at this point was cool and over cast, and I made good progress, and I was feeling good on the climbs that I already come across so far. The wife appeared before CP1 and we swapped my bottles. To save time having to fill my water up at the aid stations my wife had spare bottles and it was a case of one for one. Also having a bladder in my pack full of Tailwind Nutrition, I knew that was going to last me the whole race. I arrived at CP1 with over an hour spare of the first cut off of 3 hrs. This was great as it meant I had 4 hours then at the maximum to get to the half way point CP2 at 22 miles.

Beautiful Cornish Coast

Around the 10 mile point is where it all started to unravel for me.  The sun came out, the clouds disappeared and the heat turned up to around 20 degrees. With no shade, my pace fell away I couldn't sip on my fluid quick enough. My body was cool enough thanks to the great X-Bionic kit I had but I couldn't keep my head cool enough. I went through Porthleven as quick as I could saying hello to a good friend Loyd Purvis (winner of this years Enduroman 50) and continued on. It didn't matter what I was trying I was suffering badly from heat exhaustion rapidly. I still moved forwards but each mile was getting harder and with the climbs added in, I was slowly losing time. I got to 19 miles at Praa Sands and again got supplied by my wife, who already had been assisting other runners who were struggling at that point. I informed her it was not going well for me, and I said against our plan I wanted to see her at the halfway point of 22 miles. I stopped at the kit check stop managed to go through the mandatory kit check and went on. Not with out having a selfie being taken with a new friend Andrew Phillips. He was running in the relay but doing the second half so was out supporting.

Official race pic

As I wobbled in to the half way in a daze, I dibbed in after 3hrs and 20 odd mins since CP1. The marshal asked if I had a drop bag to which I managed to get out "No, I have a wife" I was told to move on to which I then went an almost collapse in a heap. Luckily my wife came and found me and dealt with me as no event staff checked up on my well being at this point. I was ready to retire from the race, however the wife picked me up dusted me off and kicked me out of the half way. I got to 24 miles where the I had planned originally to meet the wife, so I could change my shoes to road ones as I was starting a stint from Marazion to Mousehole which the majority was tarmac. As planned the wife was there, she quickly whipped of my trail shoes and socks and shoved fresh socks and my road shoes on. She also handed me a Callipo ice lolly and kicked me on my way again. The clouds came over and soon enough it was like I had a second wind, with the Callipo in my hand I started knocking off the miles and I felt good. 29 miles soon came and I had a quick bottle change before heading into Mousehole. I made up a lot of time and clawed back the time I lost at CP2 and prior to that.

Official race pic (Marazion)

With the plan to revert back to trail shoes at Mousehole, I decided against it. I knocked back a quick cup of flat coke from the wife and cracked on. I got to Lamorna CP3 in just under 3 hrs again from CP2 under the cut off time of 9 hrs by 43 minutes. I knew those 43 minutes were going to be needed as the next 6 miles was going to be the toughest section of the race. I wasn't wrong and to add to it the sun and heat had come out to play once more. Again it knocked me for six, making for me what was already a hard section even harder. My mind was starting to weaken and knowing I had to get the Minack Theatre (Porthcurno) with in the cut off time. Although not a CP but a water station you still had 3 hrs from CP3 to make it in. After climbing the steps eventually crawling into the water station I had made the cut off and was met by the wife and friend Laura Millward, who gave me a hug and told me to get on with it. I quickly changed by bottles which now was ice cold and was given my 4th or 5th Callipo by now. I moved on foot in front of another, running when I could and walking the hills. I finally had some company for the last stretch of 5 miles with a guy called Fred who was running his first Ultra. We chatted as we went along, and the final miles fell away. It had cooled down now as well as it became over cast once more. Soon enough we saw the last mile sign and the sense of relief had left me as we made our way to the finish at Land's End knowing we'd be finishing within the final cut off time.

Stunning Porthcurno Beach.

I ran in to cheers from my parents, my son who ran the last bit with me, one of my best friends Craig who waited around for me to finish after all his club members had long finished and gone home as well as all the other supporters at the finish. I completed the last 11 miles including the 6 really tough miles from Lamorna to Minack in 3 and half hours. This meant I finished the whole event 2 hours under the finish cut off in 11 hours 57 minutes 5 seconds.

My splits

If it wasn't for the heat I was looking good for around 10 and half hours but I'm not disappointed, apart from the heat which was out of my control my plan worked well and obviously having a great crewie that is my wife who knows me so well by now, she was all over it like a well oiled machine.

As an Endurancelife event goes, it was what is was. I was fully aware of what I was getting for my money prior to entering. I entered for the route and course really nothing more than that. It's a good training event for next years epic adventure. What did surprise me and made my event was the support along the way, it was fantastic! Not only did I run along such a stunning route, which looked like I could be in the Med when the sun was out, the support was brilliant. At one point there was a little cottage in a cove where the old couple was bringing out glasses of cold water for the runners. I couldn't tell you how limited the CP's or Water stations really were as I never used them, but at a glance they lived up to what they said in the race brief and race information.

It was a little lumpy

The kit I used was X-Bionic " The Trick" Top and Shorts, X-Socks marathon socks, Ultimate Direction AK 3.0 Mountain pack, Sunwise "Odyssey" and "Canary Wharf" Sunglasses (I didn't have time to change the lenses from yellow to dark on the Odyssey so it was easier to change glasses), Tailwind Nutrition (Tropical Flavour), Hoka Challenger 2 Shoes (trail) and Saucony Kinvara 7 shoes (Road). I don't regret any choice of kit and all worked well to help me achieve my goal.

Well earned recovery drink!

So where does this leave me? Well there is still a lot I need to improve on especially getting quicker on the climbs and my over pace, however this is one of my better performances and I hope to improve on it. I came away with only a couple of tiny blisters which compared to Hope24's performance it's a world apart.

Andrew Phillips wanted a pic whilst I was at the kit check point

I need to thank my sponsors X-Bionic UK/X-Socks UK and Sunwise for the fantastic kit they provide me. I know for a fact I'm able to achieve what I do with the kit they provide.

Now to continue with training and focusing on the areas I need to improve on. Until next time!

Owain

Arc of Attrition 2016 - Taming Mother Nature!

It was that time of year again when friends were prepping themselves again for one of their biggest events of the year. This time last year, the skies were blue and little to no winds during the day and just cold during the night. How different this years weather for the event was going to be. It was like it was ordered just to spice things up as if running 100 miles around the South West Coast Path wasn't difficult enough anyway.

Usually when someone labels an event as the toughest this and that it's usually a marketing game being played to draw people in. Arc of Attrition 2016 was already being labelled as one of the toughest winter footraces in the UK and the toughest in the South West. Mudcrew events tag line is "We don't do easy" and knowing their events like I do, they certainly don't. So there was a good chance this years AoA will live up to it's expectations as one of the toughest.

The event this year was starting earlier at 12pm compared to last years even which started in the evening, I had a few things to do that morning as I've not long moved house, but I left as soon as I could to get to the start line. I wasn't running it this year, but I had a fair few friends that were. They all had their own support crews so my plan was just to go down and support as many as I could for the duration. Knowing the coastal paths well I could pop up in places, some may not know.

At the start

My friends, Mudcrew and the ultra running community supported me and my efforts a lot last year, so the least I could do return the favour. yes I was jealous I wasn't with them running, I still like being involved somehow.

I arrived with about 8 minutes prior to the start, and my word the atmosphere was buzzing. All the runners eager, nervous and raring to go. I saw Andy, Fergie and Jane the RD's of Mudcrew Events and gave them a hug and handshakes. They were big supporters of mine, I also tried to see as many of my friends running as much as possible give them all good luck man hugs from me. There was just over 100 runners starting, with athletes from Switzerland, Spain and Belgium in the line up as well. It was looking to be an epic race, with last years joint winners Duncan Oakes and Steve Wyatt back once more. It's their playground, so they were definitely two of the favourites. There were other good ultra runners in the line up including international athlete Pat Robbins.

Ready for the start

Soon the hooter went and off they all skootled along the South West Coastal Path for 100 miles. The weather was alright currently but you could feel the wind starting to pick up the start in Coverack. I made my way to a place ideal for support crews and supporters at Lizard Point, it's the biggest area so you can imagine it was pretty busy as everyone was waiting for their runners to come through. The wind was picking up for sure, and soon enough the first few runners came through. I finally saw some of my friends come through and speaking to them they told me the first 5 miles were pretty tough with boggy paths. The weather leading up hasn't been very good at all. They all looked pretty strong going through the lizard, the majority of them topping up their bottles and grabbing a quick snack as they made their way to the first CP at Porthleven which was around 24 miles from the start.

Me with Russ Powell's support crew

I went straight to CP1 instead of stopping along the way at Mullion for a couple of reasons. I needed some food and I wanted to be able to park my car prior to all the support crews turning up. Once at Porthleven I popped into the CP which was in a lovely warm pub and saw people I knew there who were helping out. The weather now had really started to build up with the wind really blowing, the temperature felt cold because of the wind, and as runners were making their way in and out being looking well after at the CP with warm drinks and food (well stocked CP's I may add) the rain started to lash down with vengence!

All the CP's were run like well oiled machines, it was like they were professionals not volunteers. They "Arc Angels" as they were known as were made up of runners and supporters from various local running clubs and groups.

Dave Brock at CP1

 The whole event to be honest ran like clockwork from how it looked from my eyes, even when there was incidents like part of the path had to be closed to due the weather causing destruction and I was called in for assistance as an extra marshal, it never stopped the fluidness of the whole thing.

As the night went on the weather continued to batter the runners with heavy rain and wind, I was soaked myself but that was nothing compared to the runners. Then suddenly it all died, the rain and the wind suddenly stopped as the current weather front passed through. It gave the runners a little respite for a few hours, before the storm that was due arrived. As predicted around 3am the weather started to pick up once more and by 6.30am the storm was in full force again even heavier than the day before. The beast was starting to eat up it's children, come CP3 at Sennen a lot of runners were either timed out, injured or just beaten by the weather and route. More fell to the wayside after valiant efforts to cross what is deemed as the slowest part of the course and with the weather making even tougher, it was no surprised it caused more to be timed out, injured or beaten by the route and weather as they hit CP4.

I was asked if I could take two runners back to Race HQ at the finish as they were no longer continuing, which of course I did. Once I got there I finally grabbed an hourish nap in the car before continuing my support for the remainder.

Stu McQueen at CP3

 As most were going through CP2 and 3 the leaders were on their way to the finish after going through CP4 in St Ives. The leading pack made up of 4 runners had been together pretty much all the way, there were 5 up to CP3 but one fell back and didn't make it further than CP4. They were still flying and soon enough to a rousing cheers and applause they arrived at the finish in Porthtowan in a fast 22 hours and 44 mins ish (tracker time). I believe the clock time was 22 hours 46 mins. Extraordinary performance by the 4 winners who were Steve Wyatt, Duncan Oakes, Pat Robbins and Jason Lewis.

With some of my friends making the finish and some not, they all put in an amazing performance considering the conditions they faced throughout and performances they should be proud of regardless of finishing or not.  I was in awe of them all! You have to admire the physical and mental abilities these runners put in, and with only 28 finishers it shows it was brutal out there this year and safe to say it was definitely one of the toughest winter footraces in the UK. It in my personal opinion lived up the expectation and although Mudcrew Events put on fantastic events they definitely don't do easy!.

Jane (one of the RD's) welcoming the 4 winners at the finish

If you're looking for an event that will test you, or an event that gives as much beauty as it does brutality then look no further than one of Mudcrew's Events especially the Arc of Attrition. I for one have this on my 2017 list (if I'm not at sea).

Now for me it's back to training and focusing on my own racing.

Until next time!

Golden Sands - St Ives Bay 10K Event 18

End of May and the weather is warming up. It's half term here in the UK and surprisingly the roads were pretty quiet considering I was driving down through Cornwall from Plymouth around rush hour.

It's been a while since I last ran in Cornwall and a few years since I ran along the beautiful beaches. I had entered the St Ives Bay 10K only a few weeks ago, having never ran this event before I have only heard a few stories about it. I have run a 5k event in the same place but this one was a little different.

Event 18 of 37 - St Ives Bay 10K (Beach and Sand Dunes)

The Course

 The race was in it's 3rd year, and I have only read that it was tough and had one big sand dune towards the end of the course that was literally a climb up. I arrived around 5.45pm and picked up my pre registered race number. It cost me about £10 to enter this 10K so to be honest I wasn't expecting much. Registration was in the Hayle Surf Life Club, where I was able to get changed and leave my bag.

Outside they had BBQ going as well as a cake stand too. The start was at 7pm so had plenty of time to get myself down to the start line which was on the beach it's self just down from the Surf Club. It starts on the beach at Hayle Towans. This beach is known as 3 miles of Golden Sands to which they're not wrong. It's a lovely flat sandy beach (not shingle or muddy colour like a lot of beaches outside of Cornwall).  I met up with Jason (who finished Paris Marathon with me) from my club the Plymouth Musketeers RC, as well as my good friends Craig (my support crew from HOPE24) and Zoe his wife (who was running this event too) and some more of the crazy (in a great way) Carn Runners club members.

Me and Jason

 The Race Director gave his safety brief and start the race using the megaphones "Orlay orlay orlay" tune and we off. A field of probably no more than around 80 runners I reckon at the most (the official results have yet to be published so do not know exact numbers) crossed the start line.

Within seconds the soft sand made sure you knew it wasn't going to be an easy 10K. With the sea rolling in to left we headed down the beach towards Gwithian. There was a strong head wind as we ran down the beach mixed with the soft sand it soon became an energy zapping first half of the course.

I wasn't out for a record breaking time, so it took a lot of worry away that it was going to be tough. Soon the first mile tick off and the sand became less churned up but still soft under foot. Wind was strong but I tried to keep at a comfortable pace so not to ruin my calf muscles (beach can be a killer on calf muscles).

The long first part on the beach

The beach seemed to go what seemed like an eternity. I couldn't wait to get off it and get in the dunes, just for the different terrain. That's when I started to think about my friends like Elisabet Barnes (Female Winner MDS 2015), Colin Barnes, Susie Chan, Shaun Marsden, Pete Drummond, Matt Bisco and Danny Slay to name a few who all have conquered the might Marathon Des Sables. How to crack sand and dunes in soaring heat over 6 days, it gave me a very tiny insight to what they achieved.

My thoughts soon came back to task in hand as I eventually turn towards the dunes and headed up a flight of steps on to the cliffs of Gwithian Beach. I did think about pausing and taking my top off for a brief Poldark moment (those who have seen the show know what I mean), but thought I best crack on.

The Steps

 At the top of the steps I turned right and made the journey back at about 3 miles. It then became a narrow footpath, this is the main reason the organisers don't want the race entries to get too big. The foot path was a mixture of hard trail and soft sand as I weaved up and down and left and right around the dunes. teh view across the bay was beautiful. The shelter of the dunes kept the wind off me but this lead then to the heat now being an effect on the run. Since the steps there was a marshal every so often, each marshal could literally see each other. This was a well marshaled sector (including a water station) and it definetly prevented anyone getting lost. Which could be easily be done with so many paths across the dunes.

The dunes

 Then not about 4 and half miles you hit "the Dune" or "Big Dune". I have read and heard about this dune, that it's one that gets a big mark of respect if you can run up it. It's not just that it's a steep climb but the soft sand doesn't help. As you press your foot down, you slide down almost as much. My idea apart from obviously walking the dune was to use already foot places by the previous runners who got. Unfortunately my mistake was that they had longer legs compared to me and it made extra work on my short legs hehe! As I progressed up the climb, the female runner a little bit further up was still in ear shot. I did giggle hearing all the swear words coming out of her mouth.

The "Big Dune" from the bottom

 Once at the top is was a quick decent down toward the beach with a small drop on to the slope to the beach itself. Before just over a mile to the finish to go, back along the beach through the soft sand. I picked up the pace slightly the best I could in the sand.

The view from the top

 The sun was going down and tide coming in (some parts of the beach get fully cut off when the tide comes in all the way to the cliffs), I went passed the 6 mile mark and soon not long after the finish line which was drawn in the sand I crossed and received my finishers medal.

Back to the beach!

Final stretch back to the finish

The race itself suprised me. It was a well marshaled (the marshals were great!) event through out and well organised. They laid on a good drink station just after 3 miles on the dunes, there was a BBQ and Cake stalls at the Race HQ. Water station at the finish. I really nice finishers medal as well.  So for £10 and for a tough challenge and different type of 10K event it was worth the money. Definitely worth the travel down from Plymouth for and if you were in the area it's a must.

Finisher

 To top it off, the reason I am smashing out all the events, my good friend Phil was down from Haywood Heath (nr Brighton) visiting his mum and family. This gave me a good opportunity to catch up with him. It is moments like that which make all this running worth while.

Me and Phil

 So a good evening all together. I got to complete another good event and catch up with a good friend.

Thank you for the continuing support!
Owain