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Saturday 9 November 2013

Race Review: The Yorkshire Coast 10k, Scarborough. 3/11/13

If you enjoy this blog, please do leave a comment at the end or you can tweet me @scott_leach 

At the Spa,  Scarborough

The FSM's Own County

Last year the Scarborough "Yorkshire Coast" 10k battled it out with the Wetherby "A Cracking Little Yorkshire Run" 10k as my favourite race, so as you can imagine, I was really looking forward to this year. It never fails to amuse everyone to run a race sponsored by McCain. Yes, that McCain- as in frozen chips and you receive a money off coupon for them in your race pack. No, I am not joking.

Being from Yorkshire, Scarborough holds a special place in my heart. I have happy memories of family trips up the coast to sit in the old Ford Escort estate warming our freezing hands on cups of tea from a flask while we watched the rain lashing the windscreen. Then we'd wander up the front, huddled deep in to our waterproofs and stick £3 worth of 2p's in to a machine to win a plastic dinosaur and a Take That badge.
I fondly remember discovering the hologram museum on the front and being totally fascinated by it. Ahhhhh, more innocent times before iPads, blogs and playstations.

Scarborough is one of the proudest of Yorkshire towns, desperately clinging on to its former glory and it still retains plenty. Here's the Grade II listed Grand hotel under which we ran.

Although somewhat faded, it has a wonderful history and dominates the south bay. Moving along the front, the race route passes the grade II listed Rotunda museum of geology, and after the race we visited this little gem which has a couple of really amazing exhibits including a totally unique dinosaur skeleton!

But anyway, back to the race.

The race starts at the Spa, yet another grade II listed building and what a place to start! How many races can boast somewhere so luxurious to keep warm in before the kick off? The very efficient bag drop is also in the building along with free post and pre run massages.

And guess what? There are lots of toilets in the spa! Sadly, the main men's toilets had 2 of the 4 stalls out of order, but the queue didn't take too long and later I discovered another set of toilets that weren't busy at all.

Last year was the first year I had managed to run in Scarborough with a DNS the year before due to injury and I had really loved the experience of the race despite not running well. There is a large balcony area on top of the Spa where all the dignities gathered and also a band. I was beginning to think I dreamt  that the 2012 race was started by Perry Shakes-Drayton so I looked it up and thankfully all the blows I've taken to the head over the years haven't sent me totally wappy as she did. The band had been fantastic and warmed the crowd up better than any amount of bouncing about to dance music ever has at any other race. The top of the Spa looked like a really wonderful party.
This was at the end- You can tell by the yellow shirts
That's the balcony I mentioned- last year it was heaving with people having a great time.
This year the top of the Spa was a little more subdued and for some odd reason the band didn't really play much music. The bar had been set pretty high last year so although it was a slight disappointment, if you hadn't done last year's race you'd think it was perfect, but at least the sun was shining bright and the temperature couldn't have been better.

The race had expanded a little with 1500 signing up compared to 1200 last year which I think is the perfect amount. It's a very laid back affair so I was able to wander out only a few minutes before the hooter and still make my way very close to the start.

At the front the amazing paralympian Wondiye Fikre Indeldu was warming up. He has won a couple of the 10k's I have entered this year including York. I resisted the urge to try to get my photo taken with him as I didn't want to ruin his pre-race ritual.

Oddly, it felt like a long time since I had run in a 10k race, even though it was actually less than 2 months ago. The week after was the Great North run, then the Oslo marathon, then two weeks after that the Ian Hodgson mountain relay in which I suffered the injuries I am still battling with. My knee has not been right since and I have only been running once or twice a week for the last month. Still, I didn't think I would have lost much fitness so was going out aiming to break my 10k PB and come in under 39 minutes.

To start the race there was a countdown, then the mayor of Scarborough -no less- set us off and I went out fast. Maybe too fast.

If you'd been standing at the Rotunda with this view at race time you'd have seen the field running through here.

Suffering From Terrible Wind

The first kilometre went by at under 38 minute pace which I held until the 3rd k when it started to go wrong. We knew the wind was going to be a factor this year and it proved to be a big factor. As we left the south bay and rounded the headland we hit the cobbled stretch and were blasted in the face by the wind. At this point my lungs started to give me problems feeling like they were being scrubbed with a pan scourer. At times I had a metallic taste in my mouth. Not good.
Heading towards the north bay it felt good that I could still see the leaders not too far in front, but the gusting wind, although not gale force by any means, was sapping in strength and spirit. Still, I consoled myself with the thought that it would be at our backs on the way back. Little did I know....

By the time we hit the turn off for the little loop around the park, I was struggling and my pace was dropping off. The turnaround point is a little over halfway and I was really looking forward to some wind at my back, but bizarrely, it never materialised. At the point where the wind had been strongest on the way out at our faces, on the return leg....... it was at our faces again. I am at a loss to explain this! We got all of about 30 seconds with a gentle breeze at our backs the whole way despite the out-and-back route. Just before we turned off for the park the leaders flew past and I gave them a cheer and a clap.
As we made our way back to the start line I watched my pace slowing. I already knew there was going to be no PB on the day, so I focussed on keeping under 40 minutes, but by the time the headland came up again and the wind started to push me back, I knew even that was gone.

The race passed back through the busiest area of the seafront again and the crowds cheering gave a real boost, but not enough to make me go faster. Last year I had finished the final k pretty quickly but this year I had nothing in me. I plodded in with my slowest kilometre of the day not even bothering with a push towards the end; the PB was gone and even the sub 40 was gone by a long way. I had finished about 30 seconds quicker than last year, but I had thought myself in much better shape, and in wetherby I had gone 2.5 minutes quicker on a multi terrain race. So not a great time at all. Ah well, there's much more to the Scarborough 10k than a fast, flat PB course.

Crossing the line I suddenly felt nauseous as I had done at the same race last year. Maybe it's something to do with sea air?


Afterwards I really enjoyed what the race has to offer. The band were banging out what I believe the kids these days are calling "Cracking choons" and they launched into Fleetward Mac's "The chain" soon after I finished. (That's the formula one song if you don't know) I picked up my bottle of water and banana that helped take away the nausea and meant that I didn't have the indignity of heaving over the sea front.
We also managed to catch the last few people making their way down the finishing straight.

There's no medal for the race but you do receive a pen, and the best hi-viz shirt I've ever received, which isn't a huge compliment given my hatred of hi-viz, but I do like this shirt. Foot prints in the sand- perfect for Scarborough.


Now the delights of Scarborough lay before us to recover in. So we headed off to the calf vegan cafe as Rebecca has a bit of a thing for cows and is also a lapsed vegetarian.

 After a delicious meal we headed off to the Rotunda before crossing the Spa bridge to finish off a perfect racing day.







Monday 4 November 2013

Race Review: The Chevin Chiller 31/10/13

If you enjoy this blog, please do leave a comment at the end or you can tweet me @scott_leach 

Some of the motley crew

This Halloween the venerable hosts of RunSunday, Paul and Michelle, decided to put on a head torch run in the Chevin country park and christened it the Chevin Chiller. With head torches and hi-viz mandatory, the night run would be about 6.66km (666- geddit?) Why not? I thought, and signed up early; anything to escape the trick-or-treaters. Then I went about getting other suckers runners to join in.

I knew there was no way of getting Jaunty (Aka Debi, the cat in the picture above) running without signing her up myself and telling her later. So that's what I did. Rebecca and Fran were easy to rope in and a few Fellandalers (Martin, Simon and Christine) joined in of their own accord. Fran also got her work colleague, Kate, to run too.

Kate generously invited our little crew down to her house in Otley for some delicious soup before the run and we later we made our way up to the Chevin all ready to go. I parked in the bottom car park and the walk through the small part of the forest to get to the start helped our eyes adjust to the head torches.



Because I signed up early I got number 007. Well, I thought, that's my costume sorted. Costumes were very much encouraged on the run although few people really went for it. As it turns out I no longer have a formal white shirt (I got rid of my last one as weight loss had rendered it akin to a duvet cover on me) so running as James Bond was out. I considered just wearing a bow tie but felt that would be far too much of a half-arsed effort, especially as I don't own a cumberbund either.

We arrived at the start to an amazing view of a sea of headlights and a wonderful atmosphere. Sadly, no photographic evidence exists of this but archeologists one day hope to recover hi-viz vests worn from this tremendous period of history. Only this shaky, blurry video still remains, with some lunatic talking over the top.

The event had been organised without the help of flyers and mainly through local running clubs and the turn out was a very solid 200. As is the way with fell(ish) runs, the start was made with little to do, save a small speech from the organiser, Paul.



This video above in no way shows the fantastic view of a couple of hundred headlights disappearing through the Chevin. The video in fact, is so bad it should be expunged from history, but hey, you get what you pay for.

Anyway, here's the course:

So I decided I was just going to have fun doing this run, rather than having a race, the knee injury being a consideration, especially with the Scarborough 10k only a few days away. Before the race we had all decided to stick together, but in the event, that didn't actually happen.

I managed to film Fran and Kate as I waited for everyone to catch up



There is a classic Brooks viral ad about ultra running that I have always found hilarious and as I filmed Debi, I decided I would have a laugh and recreate it, well, sort of.....


So for once I had no race strategy and no time to aim for, I was just intent on having fun, and that's certainly what I had. Running in the pitch black (There was very little light from the moon) was a new experience, but I have a very good head torch that I bought last year with the intention of some night runs and I soon adapted with its help. I couldn't go full blast when I wanted, but I really didn't feel like I was likely to fall at any point (Although that's usually just how I feel before I end up eating dirt)

After spending some time with Debi and the pumpkin I decided I would speed up and try to catch Fran and Kate who had managed to lose Debi not long after the start. It was quite a surreal experience chasing the pumpkin (No euphemism intended)....


I caught Fran fairly quickly and ran along with her for a while. Before I decided to try to catch Rebecca who had gone off in front quite a while earlier, so I ended up running the second loop fairly quickly and over taking a lot of people which was quite tricky in the dark.

The route stuck to the wider tracks in the Chevin and went up and down the hills. There had been a fair bit of rain so it was soggy underfoot which made it all the more fun. The marshalling was excellent and there was never a chance of running off-course.

Eventually I arrived at the end not having caught Rebecca but having had a lot of fun. I grabbed some of the water before it ran out and the little goody bag which contained a healthy bar, sweets, and also a pen, which I thought was a lovely touch.



Then I waited to try to catch the others finishing with my little compact camera, not an easy task and one I did not pull off with anything approaching aplomb.


In Conclusion Ladies and Jellyspoons

This run seems to have really captured the imagination of the local runners who took part. I can definitely see this taking off big time in future years as word gets around about just how much fun it was. Of course this will mean more organisation which is probably going to mean tents, portaloos and t-shirts and I am sure more even more people will turn up in fancy dress and make it even greater fun. I can definitely imagine running this race being chased by fields of witches and zombies. 

Whoooops, nearly forgot to mention Debi's faceplant and show you her knees.....

Running's a dangerous business!

Saturday 2 November 2013

DNS (The York Marathon)

If you enjoy this blog, please do leave a comment at the end or you can tweet me @scott_leach 
These are going nowhere
There is much discussion in the running community about the relative merits of DNS (Did not start) versus DNF (Did not finish)........

I want you to imagine a film scene.

A black screen, with only the sound of a wind so sharp that it sounds like it could cut you in two.

Slowly, a dim light fades in and begins to reveal a gravestone. As our view continues to widen there is a loud, booming sound like a heavy book dropped from the balcony of a silent library and a large letter D is stamped on to the gravestone.

The camera continues to zoom out and pan right uncovering a second gravestone. Another boom and  a letter N is stamped on this stone.

A third stone appears out of the gloom and the letter S is heralded by another loud crashing sound.

The camera stops. The wind howls and screams. We take in the morbid scene.

Slowly the first gravestone begins to topple forward taking an age to fall gently forward before it smashes into the ground shattering into thousands of pieces and lifting a cloud of dust. Then the second gravestone falls forwards and once again disturbs the ancient ground. It is followed a split second later by the third and final gravestone. The film switches to slow motion and we watch as the cloud of dust swirls around in the wind.

Fade to black.




To DNS or to DNF, that is the question.

Yes, I know I'm a drama queen but nearly every runner will, at some point, face the agonising decision of whether to start a race not knowing if they are going to finish, or to simply not start it. DNS v DNF. I faced such a decision a couple of weeks ago.
If you read my last blog, you'll know that I took quite a heavy tumble during my last race- the Ian Hodgson Mountain relay. I badly injured my shoulder and arm and the strength has been slowly returning ever since. Although that still isn't better, I can run with it fine and it doesn't slow me down, however, my right knee, which wasn't a problem at the time of the run, became a problem in the following days. When I ran again, the following Wednesday, I began to experience a sharp pain in my right knee after a couple of miles and, to cut a long story short, it's continued ever since. 

The day before the York marathon I went out for a final run, having taken a few days off to see if my knee would be ok. One slow 5 mile run later, the obvious answer was no, it wouldn't. 
I had gone backwards and forwards thinking about it, should I or shouldn't I? I really didn't want to miss the race as I was very lucky to get in- it sold out inside 72 hours- amazing for an inaugural event. The York marathon was supposed to be my first sub 3 hour marathon or at the least, my "Good for Age" qualifying time for an automatic place in to the London marathon. But would I get round? Would I end up finishing really slowly? Or not at all? Would I put myself out for weeks if I did it and miss a couple other races I signed up for? Was it worth the risk?

The run on Saturday confirmed that there was no way I would get all the way around 26.2 miles. The knee just wouldn't put up with it. A shorter race I might have been able to tough it out, 10 or 15 miles maybe, but a marathon is a step up. The wall can hit you like a ton of bricks at 18 miles. Reluctantly I took the decision to withdraw and posted to facebook. The sympathy I received was nice to read. 

For the rest of the week I enjoyed reading about all my friends finishing the race and looking at their photos. For quite a few of them it was their first marathon. I was a little more gutted, but very pleased for them.

So, in retrospect, did I make the right decision? I have to say yes. The knee is still painful and I can only manage a couple of miles before it gets very sore. I had no choice. I still want to lower my 10k time before the end of the year and I need to give myself the best chance of being fit for the two 10k's I have signed up for, starting with Scarborough tomorrow.






Friday 1 November 2013

Race Review: The Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay 6/10/13

If you enjoy this blog, please do leave a comment at the end or you can tweet me @scott_leach 


River Deep, Mountain High

I joined Horsforth Fellandale quite a few months ago now, but have only managed to run 3 fell races since, The Otley Chevin Fell Race, The Stirton Fell Race and The Belper Rugby Rover 30k, due to me having signed up to quite a few road races well in advance and also because of my propensity to face-plant. So when I was asked if I would like to be part of Fellandale's team for the upcoming Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay race, I jumped at the chance.

At the time I didn't realise what a big deal this race is on the fell running circuit. The race is held in memory of the tragic death of Ian Hodgson whilst cycling in Leeds the day after winning his category in the Karrimor Mountain marathon and this year would be the relay's 26th running. You can read about the history of the race here.

The relay is run in pairs over 4 legs, so 8 runners in each team. There is a limit of 80 teams and each year it could be sold out several times. The calibre of the field is very high as each club sends out its best runners. Fellandale have finished well down the field in recent years but this year a couple of faster runners were involved and it sounded like there was hopes to finish a little higher than the second-from-last of a year or two ago.

I was teamed with Adrian on the 4th and final leg of the relay. My road race times are a little quicker than Adrian's (Though I suspect that is a lot more to do with a lack of races on Adrian's part than me actually being faster) but on an ascent Adrian is a street ahead of me. Our leg was around 7 miles with a lot of ascent and descent. I did my usual trick and forgot to turn on my GPS watch as we set off and only remembered about 30 minutes in. I also forgot to turn it off at the end. I really should get checked for early onset dementia. Anyway, here's the elevation we would be facing. The leg started and finished at around the same elevation so about 200m of the beginning of the ascent are missing.


Simon picked me up at an un-flying-spaghetti-monster type time on a Sunday morning for the 2ish hour drive up to the lakes. On the way our conversation rambled around as they usually do. I felt pretty guilty for having missed the recce of the route that Adrian did so I was entirely reliant on him for directions meaning the helpful pointers Simon gave me about what to expect from the race were very welcome.
As we got closer to the lakes the weather started to change until we entered thick fog with visibility dropping to only a few yards. It turned out to be only in one valley and we passed through it, but when we arrived at the start point in Patterdale it was clear at ground level, but the tops were shrouded in mist.

The start area was like a small county fair. I enjoyed a gorgeous bacon sandwich and cup of tea before looking around a stall set up by the famous Pete Bland sports. In hindsight, I should have been looking for some decent fell running shoes, but more of that later.

We walked round to see the mass start and arrived a bit late so basically watched a lot of arses disappearing down the track.


We met up with Adrian at Brotherswater for the start of the 4th leg and by now the weather was closing in. Earlier in the week I realised I needed to buy a waterproof running jacket to adhere to the rules, so off I went on a hunt for said item. And what a hunt it was. The FRA (Fell Runners' Association) have stipulated this year that your waterproof jacket must have taped seams and this more than doubles the price of a jacket. Urgh! After a long search that involved a lot of miles I ended up with an Inov8 raceshell 220. Hardly a snip at £120, but I decided that it was a waste of time spending £50 for one without the taped seams only to have to buy one next year. The rain began to fall whilst we waited for the 3rd leg runners, Ben and Simon, to get to us, so both Adrian and I donned our jackets. Good job the duct tape on Adrian's jacket held in the awful weather to follow.
The other rules included everyone carrying a compass and whistle and at least one map between each duo to go with the full set of waterproofs. I decided on taking my cheapy supermarket backpack with the bladder in it, which was a bad mistake. Everyone else was wearing a simple, light, bum bag and no one else was carrying water. Another lesson learnt.

The picture Simon took with panoramic mode on his iPhone has helpfully made me extra wide. Thanks for that, Apple. See that mountain behind us? We ran up that....
We found out later that Ben and Simon had taken a detour in the fog and had lost about 10 minutes, so Adrian and I only just beat the mass start (If your team hasn't come in by the cut off the rest of the teams are set off) We had started to get very cold as we waited and Adrian, only 1 week from the Berlin marathon and still full of cold, was visibly shivering .

Watching the 3rd leg runners from the other teams coming in was a great experience, sometimes inspiring, sometimes hilarious. Some runners were taking it incredibly seriously despite being in with no chance of a podium finish; if I had to guess, I'd say they must have been trying to break their PBs from last year. Down the hill they came flying and desperately waved their dibbers about trying to work out which heavily-hi-viz-jacketed marshall had the dibber thingy. (Each team carries a "dibber" a small electronic device which tracks your split time each time you "dib" in at the checkpoints) Some of the not-exactly-spring-chicken runners came down the hill at tremendous speeds and as always, the sight made me more determined to be one of those crazy old buggers in the future. One guy came down and I actually thought he was wearing a mask- you know the one- a very old and wrinkled face with very long white hair, and he was really flying. He had to be at least in his 70's.



Eventually we spotted Simon. He was chasing Ben and looked absolutely knackered to my eyes. Simon hadn't ever run with Ben before and had been told by the Hodgson family that Ben was a walker more than a runner and not really very fast. This was a gross misrepresentation, Ben is a real flyer!

They dibbed in and handed the little device to us and off we went. It really didn't take long before we started the ascent and got our first sight of the Bingley ladies that we would battle on and off with until close to the end of the race. The ascent was brutal and it felt neverending. I felt we did very well to keep running for quite a bit until the mountain got the better of us and we began to walk. Around 3/4 of the up I was struggling badly and Adrian was still climbing relentlessly. "I wouldn't mind if we took a break" I said. Adrian answered with a nonchalant "Ok" which apparently belied the relief he felt when I suggested a break.
We stopped only briefly and plowed on again.

Despite the fact Adrian had reconnoitered the leg in bad weather and the weather was now coming in badly, his memory of the route was truly amazing. He managed to warn me each time we came to a false summit so I wasn't suddenly expecting to start the descent.

At the top the weather turned ugly and the wind whipped the rain in to our faces like a psychopathic jailer. It was so ferocious that I ran with the hood up on my jacket for a fair distance as the side of my face felt like it was being stabbed with a thousand tiny needles. The visibility dropped to only a few dozen yards but this didn't stop the magnets in Adrian's head from keeping us on the right track. I suspect he is part pigeon.

Not long after we reached the summit, Adrian started us off on the slapstick fell running that we decided to adopt for the rest of the race. And when I say "we" I mean "me". But anyway, Adrian started it by taking the first tumble. I watched in terror as Adrian landed heavily and didn't move for a second whilst he regathered his wits. He came up with is knee bloodied. "Are you ok?!" I really thought that our race was over.
"Knee's a bit sore" he said, stoically, before carrying on seemingly unaffected.

With the weather lashing us mercilessly we followed the path as it went up and down the peaks and I began to pull Adrian along; the Berlin marathon, cold and the fall taking its toll on him. And then I started. Down I went and found myself staring at lakeland rock. I came up bloody and muddy but I was ok. A lucky escape. Just minor damage.
At this point the Bingley girls were with us. Time and again we would over take them, only to find them coming down the next peak at a better angle, and moving back in front of us. Slightly guiltily, each time we saw their better lines we fell in behind them using their route to over take them.

The visibility dropped even further as we reached the final summit. The marshalls had spread out a bit to help the runners as we dibbed in. You could have run within a few feet of the checkpoint and missed it easily.
Then we began the descent of St Sunday Crag on soaking wet and slippery rock.
Which is when the main disaster of my race struck. I fell again, this time landing heavily on my right forearm, ramming my shoulder upwards. I let out a loud cry and lay still for a minute as I mentally examined the damage and waited for the initial shock and pain to subside. "Take your time!" Adrian said as I uttered expletives.
I sat up and my shoulder was hurting like hell. It felt a bit like the really nasty injury I had done to myself only a few months before that had left me unable to run for several weeks. I flexed the shoulder back and forth and it was sore, but it felt ok. We set off again and I realised that I had also badly stubbed my big toe in the fall or maybe it was what caused the fall. Either way, it was throbbing badly and was making it difficult to run. After a while I had to ask Adrian to walk for a bit. A few minutes later the pain eased and I was able to run again. Unfortunately the sore shoulder was making it difficult to throw out my arms, badly affecting my balance and as we started to descend I was struggling awfully. I was all over the place slipping and sliding. I couldn't adjust my balance quickly enough and I could barely stay upright. I was trying to keep on at the same pace to catch the Bingley girls that had passed us while I was sitting on the ground.
I slipped again and sat down heavily and I knew it was game over. I was going to have to take the rest of the descent carefully. The trail trainers I had on were also entirely inadequate for getting down this sort of rock in the rain and the inner soles had bunched up inside the toes of the shoes. Another lesson learned- I won't be taking on the mountains in trail shoes again!

The rest of the race was tough. Just trying to keep my feet was a real challenge and I wasn't sorry when I saw the final field and the finishing straight.

That's Adrian and me in the distance

As we crossed the field we started to sprint so we'd at least look reasonable as we finished.

The crowd went wild and crazy as we crossed the line...or not.

We were made to show our race numbers in case we had turned delirious in the mountains and gave the wrong number verbally. We also had our packs checked to ensure we were carrying the required kit. Then a surreal moment- one of the Hodgsons was standing in the entrance to the finish helping take the numbers then when I walked on a few feet- there he was again, wearing different clothes. Maybe I was a little delirious as it took me a moment to work out they were twins.

We had got in just in time to see the multitude of prizes given out (Not that we came close to getting one)
that consisted of sports books and beer. As we stood watching my injuries began to clamour for attention. My shoulder was stiffening badly and eventually I needed to go change out of the wet clothes which involved using the back of Simon's car. Trying to get out of soaking wet clothing with a badly damaged arm and shoulder  in a confined space was a real experience. It would have been quite a sight had anyone ventured by.

Afterwards, numerous people asked if I had enjoyed my first experience of fell running in the lakes. At the time I reserved judgement, I was in lots of pain and feeling pretty sorry for myself. But now, in retrospect, I'm in lots of pain and feeling pretty sorry for myself. So no, I can't say I enjoyed it, but not because of the race - that's fantastic - just because I got so much wrong and have ended up injured and still am as I write this three weeks later.

The Fellandale team finished 61st which was an improvement over the results of recent years. Here's the team, minus me as I was struggling away in the back of a car.

Not sure what that person is doing on the floor behind Simon......

Damage Report:

First the good news- by the next day the stubbed toe was pain-free. 
And now the bad news- the next day I could not move my elbow up more than a few inches and not because of the pain, but because I had no strength in it. A few days later, at training, Adrian (A doctor in A&E) confirmed what I thought- I had done some nerve damage in the fall. A bundle of nerves runs down the shoulder and under the arm pit. I had given them a good old twang. Since then, the strength has come back a little bit each day but I am still probably only at 60% in that arm.
Worse than that was my right knee. At the race I hadn't noticed it, and in fact I didn't notice it for a few days until I went for a run and got stabbing pains after a couple of miles. It too is getting better, but is still causing me problems.

Damn- I feel like a proper fell runner now!

But the worst damage (for a Yorkshireman) was the rip in the elbow of my expensive, brand-spanking new jacket on its maiden voyage. Getting it repaired turned into a bit of an epic and left me feeling pretty disappointed with Inov8. To summarise- I emailed Inov8 to ask them how I would access their repair service, only to be told they didn't have one. I expressed my amazement that a high-end technical clothing manufacturer who specifically makes clothing for extreme conditions didn't have a repair service! Then the emails got surreal- they suggested I could use duct tape (I told them that suggesting amateur repairs wasn't helpful and I had contacted them so that I could get a professional repair) then they told me on googling they had found a repair service. I replied that I am capable of using google myself- I was trying to access THEIR repair service or at least an approved one. In the end, it wasn't until I made a fuss on their facebook page that they sent me an email asking me to send it to them, which I did.(and the facebook discussion promptly disappeared) I then didn't hear from them for a while so I emailed asking what had happened (It being an expensive jacket I had sent it special delivery so knew that they had received it) They explained that they were trying to find a suitable service and that it was difficult because the hole was in the elbow. I eventually got the jacket back after about 2 weeks with the repair done. The repair is very good in that it is very very waterproof still, but it doesn't look amazing because the rip wasn't sewn or pulled together in any way before the patch was put on on the inside. Good job I want it for practicality and not for poncing about in.
I have to say, this has really made me feel very wary about buying another Inov8 product. I wasn't actually trying to get a free repair for the jacket; I had been very impressed with the abuse it had taken and was entirely responsible for the damage that I had eventually done to it- I just wanted the repair done properly. Hopefully they now have something in place for when this happens next; I cannot imagine that, given the sort of things that people do in Inov8 jackets, that they won't get a lot more enquiries of this nature.

I'd still do it again

Crazy I know, but you read right. The race was a disaster for me personally, but it really is a great race. It's really well run and amazing fun in a brilliant location.  Next year, all being well, I'll be back armed with some experience and a better pair of shoes!