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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!






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