Parish walk finish, in 18:51:58
Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 May 2024
Europe & UK (3) days 42 and 43
No cycle, 136.58km walk (1783m up/down)
Which made the Manx Telecom, 2024 Parish Walk, probably the hardest walking event we’ve done. Relentless hills in the first 40 miles sap the energy from the legs, and still, you’re not half-way.
Thankfully, we slept well on Friday night. Then we followed Bernie and her team to the
start.
Finally got to meet Nicola, the fourth
member of our team, “Aussies and co”.
Like Jayne, Nicola is a very competent racewalker. Fast. And
a three-times finisher of this gruelling event.
Headed into the VIP starting area, thanks
to the sneaky Bernie, and waited for the starters gun. Around the track we went, and then off into
the outer western and northern parts of Douglas, the Isle of Man capital,
boasting a population of just 30,000 from the self-governing British Crown
Dependency total of about 85,000.
It’s a tiny community really, considering
the calibre of athletes it has produced over the years. Probably not surprising as the island is
incredibly fertile and clean. A bit
tough to get here, but once arrived, you might want to stay forever. But I digress.
Within 10 minutes I had no idea what
direction we were going. A few twists
and turns, and the map of the course I consulted after the event even shows we
did a loop up and over the slower walkers near the start. I remember that now, though vaguely.
Shaz and I probably settled somewhere about
100 places from the front of the field of more than 1200. I don’t have a final tally, but I do know
that our host Bernie, and the other two members of our “Aussie and co” team
were in front of us.
Shaz and I walked steadily, but it was
hardly slow. About 7:40pace (per km) average
early, with lap times already variable due to the busy and slightly congested
start area, and the strongly undulating nature of the course. With teammates Jayne and Nicola nicely ahead
of us, it was indeed clear that they were strong walkers, and bade well for the
team. Shaz and I would need to ensure we
did our part and make it across the line.
Within 10km the field had spread and we
settled into a good rhythm. Our gear
choices – so far as we could make them with very limited clothes and shoes available
– seemed fine, and our bodies and feet were good.
I knew my shoes were too thin for a walk of
this distance and expected that to bring soreness and blistering later, and my
left hamstring up under the glute has been sore and inflamed ever since the
continental centurion. The hope, was
that these issues would take a long time to create problems, and that I could
bully myself through the latter part of the event if required.
Shaz too, had some nervousness with her
re-glued shoes having some lumps in them, and her knowledge of very badly blistered
feet after the continental. She expected
the same here, as there was no real way to avoid the same issues with taping or
sock choice, other than possibly with a new pair of shoes. But Shaz managed that terrific time of 22:22:22
for 100 miles in Rotterdam, so the attitude for this event was “better the
devil you know”.
10 miles, 20 miles, and then we hit a very steep
hill at the most southern part of the course, just north of Port Erin. We’d heard about the “Sloch”, and I have no
idea if that spelling is correct. Even
now, I can’t find this mysterious hill name written anywhere, but I figured
this tough climb was the start of it.
But no.
After that first tough climb, we descended again, the entire time
looking out ahead of us at a much longer and higher climb to come. We wanted to stop going down at this point, to
prevent the hill ahead from getting higher.
Shaz struggled here, on the Sloch. And struggled on the hills all day. But as usual with this woman of fierce
determination, she strapped herself in, and found a rhythm that sought to get
the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Considering she had passed Bernie a few miles
earlier, and was sitting in about 7th female place at this stage (we
didn’t know that at the time), she must have been doing something right.
Nicely, and thankfully, just before the
Sloch, our amazing crew support, Rose, came and greeted us. Rose has had some family issues this week,
and we are grateful she was still prepared to support us through this
event. She is now rushing off to the
mainland to be with family during a difficult time.
As Shaz marched up the tough hills, I
generally went ahead to resupply from the crew car, and undertake brief
discussion with Rose. From there, we
settled into a nice routine of walking about 2 miles (3.2km) with a single feed
and drink during that walking distance.
We’d then arrive at the car, and Rose would give us a new water bottle,
snacks and information about the course and other things.
The manner in which Rose conducted herself
as a crew person was perfect, and this is a rare thing. Shaz and I have crewed and supported athletes
at international levels in events of 24 hours and longer, and know how tough
being a good crew can be. Rose got it
just right, and both Shaz and I are absolutely sure that this was a big
contributor to our success.
After the decent off the Sloch, the course
thankfully became a lot flatter. Hardly
like a millpond, but at least the gradients came down to one or two percent in
most cases. A few entrants had told us
that the course did flatten, but were then quick to add “by Isle of Man”
standards. Well, this rock isn’t the Netherlands,
I can tell you that!
50km arrives, or closer to 52km really, and
we’re in Peel. Shaz was likely sitting
about 10th female at the start, intermixed with ladies under and
over 21. The under 21’s finish at Peel,
and we know there was at least one of this age ahead of us. Having passed a couple of others shortly
before this mark however, we were pleased to later find that Shaz was fifth
through Peel, and fourth of those that could continue.
Our 52km time at Peel, was 6:54:30, and
considering that we like to go through six hours in a flat 24 hour with 46 –
48km under our feet, we were very pleased with this. We’d actually completed a little more than
45km in six hours in this event, with somewhere around 800m of climbing and
decent. Unlike a running event where you
can claw back some time on the downs, you really don’t make up a lot walking
downhill. Once the gradient gets to
about 6%, it’s actually harder (and slower) to walk down fast than it is on the
flat. For Shaz and I, anyway, who don’t
have the best walking technique.
Right, we glide along, enjoying the perfect
weather, squirrelled away under our legionnaire’s hats and sunglasses, and
having earlier been slathered with sunscreen.
Sure, the temperature was mild at never more than 19 degrees, but when
there was no cloud cover, the crystal clear and pure air meant the sun had some
bite. We didn’t really feel that, and
probably still have some heat acclimatisation benefits, residual from the last
three months in South America, which we only escaped 41 days ago. It feels further back into history than that.
50 miles are done, and we are feeling
good. We both have soreness now and
blisters that we hope won’t pop. Or, in
both our cases and with some of the blisters, hope they do pop, but the pain
then associated with that trauma isn’t too bad for too long.
Many endurance athletes know what I mean
here. Blisters can be less painful after
they pop, but it takes time for the inflamed and stretched skin to settle. At the moment of popping, the pain is excruciating,
usually leads to some or many expletives, and then a period of (hopefully)
progressively lessened hobbling, completed as fast as possible.
In the worst cases, there’s no option but
for intervention, usually through new socks and shoes, often coupled with some taping. In our case, or mine at least, there’s no
spare shoes. And the downside of a long
stop can be various muscles tightening and the body getting cold, which leads
to other issues. Essentially, the more
consistent and robotic you can be in an ultra event of any type, the better.
Getting the blisters out of the way first, I
did end up having two blisters pop. Both
were excruciating, but both also ended up leading to less pain in the blistered
spot. It took a bit of nausea and near
tears for what felt like an hour – but was probably 20 minutes. Experience told me it would all be OK.
Shaz didn’t have any blisters pop, but does
have a very deep and large blister under the pad of her right foot. This was awfully painful and will take time
to heal. Our other blisters are
superficial, and a week of discomfit will see them back to “good enough”.
Long days here in the northern hemisphere
summer, and so it wasn’t until 10pm that it became mandatory to use a headlight
and red back light. That was 14 hours
into the event. And with a full moon and
very very slow falling of the sun, we could just see the ground without lights
all through the night until we’d finished a few minutes before 3am.
The last 20 miles (32km) were tough, but Shaz
and I were quite elated. There was
almost no chance of failure to finish when we’d reached 100km a few minutes
prior to 13 and a half hours, needing just 36km more. Sure, an event of this type is never done
until you cross the line, but our experience told us we should be in “easily
finish” form.
On that, I had no issues whatsoever, that
were similar to the problems I faced in Rotterdam. Quite the opposite, and with strategically
consumed caffeine and a nice management of pace, I might have been able to go a
bit faster, especially on the up hills.
Still no idea what happened in the continental centurion, but glad that
a strong finish here sets my mind back into a place of greater confidence.
With the finish now all but assured, Rose
informed me that Shaz was third lady. We
never cared about this, wanting only to walk our own strong race and get across
that finish line. But with nothing else
to ruminate over as the darkness grew, I started to get interested in the “race”.
Apparently 16 minutes in front of fourth at
Kirk Michael (80ish km), Shaz extended this to 25 minutes at Lezayre (100km). I let her know she was comfortably in third
at this stage, and that she need do nothing different to retain that
place. No-one was catching her at one
minute per kilometre when we were still walking under nine minutes per
kilometre on the flats.
I then started on the math that would get
us under 19 hours for a finish time.
That task was looking a LOT harder, especially after the marshal at Lonan
church told me we had another 6.5 miles (10.4km) before we arrived at the
finish.
By my Garmin (which can never be trusted of
course), I figured we had only six miles or slightly under to go. That extra half mile and a bit meant a
further nine minutes, and had that been correct, we’d need to walk faster than
8:30 pace to get the 19 hours target.
That was unlikely.
Shaz stayed strong and I just stayed a step
or two behind, giving her as much encouragement as I could. With the third place women’s results stitched
up, she didn’t need to push so hard to finish, but I am glad and grateful that
she still chose to do this.
I remember reading somewhere that there
were award “levels” for this event. Gold,
silver, bronze. Something else told me
that the gold was under 18 hours, but as we’d have been so close to 19 hours
anyway, it made sense to push for this time just in case.
As it turns out, the gold is sub 18, with
silver being under 21 hours. Still happy
to get under 19! And thankfully, the
distance left from the church at Lonan was only six miles, and not 6.5.
Very glad to get over the line, and perhaps
in true “Island” form, we even had the lightest shower of rain for a 20 minute
period in the last hour. Not enough to
get wet or cold, but even had we, we wouldn’t have stopped so close to the
finish. Just get it done.
Rose was waiting for us at the finish,
having last serviced us with a little over two miles still to walk. Full of smile and excited for us. A truly generous person, who we are again
grateful for the support.
Delivered home by Rose, we quickly treated
blistered, had a shower and brushed our teeth.
Oh, and I had a mozzarella ball for a protein snack. Yes, still loving
those, and I’m sure we won’t be getting them in Mexico where we’ll be sooner
than it seems!
Happily in bed by 4am, barely slept as normal,
and got out of bed at 9:30am. Here we are.
A few basic photos pre-race start, but Rose
has many more which she will send through.
I’ll add these to tomorrow’s post, or maybe supplement this one. We’ll see.
In unfortunate news, Nicola had to retire
at Peel, so team “Aussies and co”, didn’t get a full finish time. Jayne was second female though, and Shaz, of
course, was third. That’s a tremendous
result.
Bernie finished nicely in 19 hours, 38
minutes, and her team looks set to be the female team champion for this
event. With a couple of first finishers
in her team, that is an outstanding result.
The caveat here is the “teams” section of the website seems a bit odd,
so I hope that’s correct!
The event management was first class here
too. All volunteers and supporters were
great. Chirpy, encouraging and
helpful. Roadside support was immense,
and would only be second to the Nijmegen four days marches, in terms of events
Shaz and I have participated in. Literally
thousands of people out of course in the first 50km especially.
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/250948/
Website results: https://parishtiming.manxtelecom.com/#/friends
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