Ridgeway 85 - 2012

Aww really sorry to hear that Mr F  that's bad luck, hope you're ok now and well done getting that far. That was a hard checkpoint to leave I found, with the amazing fire and the chairs around it and everything ... You'll just have to do it next year won't you?  No I was alone and I think we ran together early-ish and compared notes about how dreadful the Thunder Run race was - but that could have been someone else, it is a bit of a blur to me too, I ran briefly with a few people and am still a bit sleep deprived.

I'll post my report later - just about to go away for a few days.  Only to say for now that it was, for me, in 13 years of racing, my first ever DNF.  A sobering experience and one I hope I can learn from.  One thing I know - do NOT do this one only 2 weeks after finishing NDW100!! (Unless you're exceptional.)

Well done on completions and very sorry on your second DNF, mr f.  You know what that means, don't you?  No, once you're nauseous and unable to eat it is pretty well impossible to carry on. Ways of avoiding this I have found, for me, are to start eating from the very first CP (never let your stomach empty) and move away from sweet and sugary stuff the further you get into the race.

It wasn't easy was it? I was about 2 hours slower than last year but undoubtedly benefitted by knowing the course and which bits would drag on when tired. Checkpoints were fab as usual (baked potatoes back at Goring, hurray) and probably had a lot to deal with as a result of the weather so thank you to all concerned. Just glad the rain didn't go on all night.

Don't know if I tmet any of you on route but I do talk a lot so likely, T Rex I must have met you as this is my 3rd Ridgeway outing.

I second your advice about nausea. As another dodgy-stomached runner I have coped by walking and taking ginger sweets or mints and caffeine tablets if I can stomach them till I can eat again (usually just soup and crisps). The good thing about ultras is that if they go on long enough you can get hungry again and start to refuel.

Well done everyone who took part. Wet and miserable conditions made it tougher than last year.

Nice to speak to Andrew/Helen and others on route. Despite the weather, I took it a lot steadier than last year in the first half and managed a bit more night running than usual and came in a shade under 19 hours which was 1.5hrs quicker than last year.

Hot food and a virtual complete change of clothes at Goring was essential. Feet got soaked several times but a thick layer of sudocreme before the race and at the half way point with a sock change meant blistering was actually minimal at the end.

Another good value enjoyable event by the TRA team.

Mr F - I tend to place compeed plasters in advance on the usual hotspots on the feet (base/heels) and then rub in a layer of sudocreme all over the feet. I usually wear injinji toe socks on longer runs (the ones with the padded heel) and may change them to a fresh pair half way through the race. The sudocreme reduces the friction in the foot and essentially all I'm trying to do is to eliminate one of the main causes of blisters (heat, friction, moisture).

I guess different things work for different people. However, I always suffered bad blistering until I started to experiment with a few things and found this solution has definitely worked for me on longer runs. After yesterdays effort, blistering was limited to a couple of toes.

Only just feeling like back to some sort of normality today.

From about CP7 I seemed to be suffering from more exhaustion than usual and a pain on the inside of the left quad was developing, which I took to be some stiffness from all the slipping and sliding we were doing.  By the time I got up Smeath's Ridge and to CP 9 I was wondering how on earth I was going to continue. During the night I'd been revising my finish time from the original target of 21 hours right down to 25. The pain now was in front of the quad as well and getting worse. Even walking was difficult.

But I still had 2h41 left before the 26-hour cutoff and only NOTE 7 miles left, so surely possible at a reasonable walk?  Managed 4 miles of hobbling and then onto those grassy ruts where progress was virtually impossible.  Every vertical or sideways displacement of the left leg was agony. Still had 1h08 to do 3 miles, so possible, but, no, a mile further on I finally came to a complete halt.  My left leg was no longer working.  I could only move it forward by literally placing my hands under the hamstrings and lifting it manually.  Tried to do 10 paces at a time, rest, 10 paces, rest, but soon realised this was too desperate for words and rang to be rescued just half a mile from the Herepath descent off the Ridgeway.

Was very impressed how quickly St J A came to where I was in their 4x4 - within minutes of ringing!

They gave me some first aid and ROs bundled me onto my train home after first arranging a wheelchair.  Can't praise these organisers enough.

Then home and 24 hours in A&E on a drip and blood tests which showed extremely high levels of dead muscle cells in the blood - 7x what they considered safe!

There were some concerns overnight, but the further blood results showed improvements and I wasn't about to develop a nasty illness or go into renal failure.

Still feeling a little feeble but improving each day.

So, for the first time in 13 years of racing, a DNF.  This more than anything I'm finding hard to cope with - a humbling experience.

Obviously going back in 2013.  Anyone else? 

I think it's valid for you to DNF due to (almost?) rhabdomyolysis T Rex. Rest up and get well. I might make it to this for next year, but for right now I'm just hoping to get through my planned races for this year.

pmo - you clearly know the technical term.  It was precisely that that they were worried about in hospital. I think any worse trauma and it would have been a possibility.

Not racing in Sep but a couple of marathons in Oct and that will wrap things up for this year.  I don't race in winter because of bad asthma symptoms. (I train with a buff over my mouth and nose - not a suitable set-up for races.)