Spartan ultra 50k
My previous longest OCR race was the 20 mile Rat Race Dirty Weekend. Ticking off an ultra OCR would be an incredible feat. Running a half marathon Spartan Beast event will typically leave you feeling the effects for a few days. A Spartan ultra is two laps of the Beast plus a little extra and 60+ obstacles. I signed up with Ricky after getting a good discount code. Without that, the price alone would deter me from committing to the challenge.
As the day finally approached I was beyond excited to crack on with it though. I feel like long distance events often suit me well and I was very interested to see how I could place in this. I was gonna go all out, even though I had stupidly also signed up for a 12k British OCR championships race the following morning at the same location. But, my focus was for the ultra, there was no point to try save myself for the Sunday since I would have run an ultra either way by then. I raced with my small bag which had the mandatory kit, four gels, lots of salt tablets and maybe a 300ml water pouch I bought this morning. I had lost my hydration bladder as I packed my bag before leaving home the day before and even though Spartan always sell them, they didn't have any this time. The transition bag I left at the end of first lap had Gavin's 2 litre bladder in there in case I wanted it later on. It was slightly too big for my bag so I thought I'd probably manage without too much water initially and also save on carrying extra weight.
The start was probably too fast for what's coming but to avoid getting bottlenecked at some obstacles it was vital to push a little. The very low barbed wire crawl was the prime example. Had to wait under the wires and also my bag got caught in the wire. The predicted race elevation was going to be close to 2000m so I decided to walk any continuous uphills early on which carried on longer than I fancied running them. Ricky kept leaving me behind on these as I powerwalked my way up, but I suddenly lost the sight of him on the flats at one point. The morning was a cool 14 degrees Celsius and there was a lot of technical trail with few obstacles. The additional 8k extra bit came straight away on the first lap and after joining the main Beast lap again I was running by some age group runners from that. There wasn't a whole lot of overtaking and everyone from the ultra had slotted into their positions. I smashed the bucket carry and ran the entire loop.
Smashing the bucket carry, pretty much running the entire obstacle
I was getting on alright until Tyrolean traverse. Completed the obstacle and hit the bell with my hand. Once hitting the ground the marshal shouted 'Penalty, hit the bell with your head'. I stared confused at her and argued I used my hand but she said she only saw me hit it with my head. That was frustrating. She obviously missed me hitting the bell totally. I gave her the dirtiest of looks and did the penalty which wasn't a small one. It just frustrates you to lose positions on a silly error. It took me a while to stop being angry at that. Every water stop there was I was having a quick drink and filling up my tiny pouch. It wasn't much but it was fast. At 15k there was a water crossing and I was with wet feet from here on. There were some boggy rough ascents later on also which felt horrendous. That 1st lap really started to drag. I only remembered to have some salt tabs three hours into the race and at 27k I finally hit the final concentrated area of obstacles. I knew the lap was close from here. Short gaps between spear, sandbag with hoist, dunk, sled pull, atlas, rope climb, A frame, chain carry, slip wall and the multi rig. I missed the spear, on the hoist chose a poor lane with a very bad pulley and really had to work to get the bag up, smashed the chain carry. The multi rig had a pretty rough penalty like the South West race where you have to take a log around with you under cargo net crawls. It's exhausting and I really didn't want that. I wiped my hands in the dirt to dry them and quickly studied the holds and decided I'll try to get a good swing and skip all of the fat ropes, which I know I struggle to hold. It worked and I got through. 29k in and into the transition tent.
Dehydration was getting worse as I wasn't taking on anywhere near enough fluids. I had a slice of Domino's pizza I had packed up and started changing my socks and shoes. I decided beforehand during the lap that as well as putting dry socks on I'd swap my comfy peregrines for my grippier but solid X Talons. Hard for such long distance but having dry feet even for a little bit could end up being the difference in the final 10k when people's feet are falling apart. I took on more salt, replaced some gels, took one slice of pizza with me and put Gavin's hydration bladder in the bag. It was pretty hard to fit it in there as it was too big. The transition took too long in my opinion, about 15 minutes. I lost 11 positions with all the age group runners. But it was important to refuel and hydrate and get comfortable. 3 hours 45 in I had only had two gels, four salt tabs, one little flap jack thing from the aid station and water. It was around 17 degrees by now and would keep getting hotter also. I also applied some suncream before taking off again in the hope I don't totally burn up. Starting the second lap felt quite hard and even with all the fluid I had taken in my movement was slower than at the end of the first lap. I had my other slice of pizza quite soon and kept drinking more of the water with electrolyte tabs. I fell off the balance beam and it was clear I'm struggling a bit. I didn't run with the bucket on this lap. I can't quite remember when but some gels were giving me short boosts of energy.
Lap 1 water fun
Lap 2 struggles hit different
I was trying to ride the wave as it lasted and then take on more to keep pushing on. Since the Tyrloean mishap on the previous lap I also made sure that every bell I was hitting I was really hitting with purpose. The entire second lap was feeling much more of a mental challenge and the miles were ticking down quite slowly. But I sustained my pace and every once in a while I got past a purple ultra vest. I was hoping to get past more competitors but it was still good to see I'm moving up rank. I wasn't cramping or fatiguing and hoped that now is the time other people might start to suffer, but the awareness that I might suddenly fatigue and lose everything I've built was constantly chasing me. There were many hills where I walked but then motivated myself to run more because I believed that I stand a chance of getting an age group top 3 if I just don't give up until the finish line. I had no idea where I stood, just the thought of a medal was pretty phenomenal. Prior to this I had only managed an age group top 3 twice, a 2nd and a 3rd and they both happened at the same event weekend in 2018 in Ireland.
Ape hanger, one of my favourite obstacles
I passed the boggy open stretches for the second time and felt pretty good once my watch said I had run a marathon. Officially an ultra OCR from here on. It came to my surprise that in this heat I hadn't cramped at all. Also, apart from one near miss on my left ankle everything was holding up well. I got to the spear again. First time I missed the hay, this time it hit but at an angle and didn't stick. Can't believe I'm so bad with it. Fourth penalty of the day. On the sandbag carry one ultra competitor just took off and left me in the dust. I took a different lane on the hoist and made light work of that though this time. Approaching the rope climb I saw Gavin and bandaged up Ricky on the side cheering me on. I pushed hard to not fall too far behind the guy who overtook me since should he fail multi rig I could still get past him.
I gained more ground with the chain carry and actually found myself running into multi rig with him still gathering himself to tackle it. I thought fuck it, I know what I'm doing. Just went for it the same way as before and flew through it and also got past another ultra guy kneeling in front of the finish to take a photo. Felt bad for a sec, but I wasn't gonna slow down because he wants to take a photo before crossing the finish line.
Strong finish, shame about lack of flames
It felt damn good to hit stop on my watch. I really felt like I'd smashed that race and given it everything. Not failing multi rig also gave such a boost before the finish. I downed some water and caught up with Gav and Ricky who had DNFed due to foot injury and went to check the results. And I was in disbelief to see that I had won my age group. So far two people had finished from M30-34 and I was 1st. I couldn't wait to get on the beers and celebrate.
Podium top spot
The following day I did run the British OCR champs. Legs were fine but cardio was a bit poor. Came 7th out of 10 in my age group. Course was really nice and I did as well as I possibly could given my circumstances. Felt super strong in the final carries and actually managed to go a few minutes faster for them than during the ultra laps. But, the fatigue for the remainder of the race didn't allow for any higher placings.
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