Montane Lakeland 50: An ultramarathon in 50 miles of beautiful Lake District scenery
Hard
24 hour cut off
50 miles / 80km
About the Montane Lakeland 50
The Montane Lakeland 50 is a difficult race to get into as you have to go into a ballot, and it is a very popular race amongst the trail running community. The ballot takes place on the 1st September each year for 48 hours where you apply.
I managed to get a spot and was so happy as the Lake District feels like home to me. I’ve spent many years hiking the mountains there before moving into my trail running journey.
The highest highs to the lowest lows
Throughout the year, I had said to myself that this was the race I really wanted to do well in… How wrong things can go in such a short amount of time.
After competing in Rat Race The Wall six weeks before, my training was then limited as I had a recovery period to deal with. I have ongoing issues with my neck as I have two bulging discs. Not only that, whenever I tackle these big races, I suffer with really bad lows after. Your body has been depleted, but for me it really hits me mentally. You have such a high once you cross that line, but the weeks after I just experience very big lows, which is very difficult to manage.
I just couldn’t get to where I needed to be mentally no matter how hard I tried. The week leading up to the race I had so many doubts about my ability to complete it, but when you’ve signed up to a race like this, especially when it’s from a ballot position, it’s difficult to just tell yourself no.
Race day arrived
I headed for registration on the Friday, which was chaotic. I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were here for the event. They also do the Lakeland 100 at the same time, which is a 105 mile race, and we got to see them set off which was a very special moment. The whole atmosphere gave me goosebumps, and made me feel like one day I’ll be on that line.
The Montane Lakeland 50 starts from the Northern end of Ullswater at the Dalemain Estate and finishes in Coniston, taking on 3100m elevation along the way moving through Kentmere, Ambleside and the Langdales.
On the day the weather was torrential, so I sat in my car actually feeling quite cold. Luckily, it stopped just before the race started, but the ground was soaking wet. The start line was horrendous, I’ve never experienced people pushing and shoving trying to get a good spot to start from. Straight away I felt uncomfortable, and got nowhere near the front.
I think the amount of competitors made me feel like at no point during this race did I have any time to just be alone. Trail running for me is a solo thing, so to constantly be surrounded by other runners did stress me out. I never thought I would not finish this race but as the miles went on, so did the negativity, and I just couldn’t get out of my head the feeling of wanting to stop.
20 miles and struggling
The route was so beautiful but I went through a really tough bog section which seemed endless, so that made things difficult. From the 20 mile mark I was really struggling to stay positive, and once the negativity crept in, all of my plans went out of the window.
I didn’t keep on top of my hydration or food and was eating random things at the pit stops, which I never do. In my heart at that point I knew I probably wasn’t going to finish. I chugged away for another 15 miles with the voice in my head constantly telling me to stop.
Eventually I made it to Ambleside, where my partner was waiting to cheer me on. It was such an amazing atmosphere, everyone was cheering from the sidelines, but inside I was defeated.
My feet were in bits, so I sat on a bench and took off my shoes to check if I could do anything; they were not in a good state. I hadn’t even packed any fresh socks in my trail bag (what a stupid error).
My first official ‘did not finish’
That was it then, I just cried and cried. I couldn’t carry on. I know in my heart I can and will finish this race when I enter it again, but when you are mentally defeated it’s just the worst feeling in the world.
So that was my 1st proper DNF (did not finish) and it really did hit me hard, but this won’t stop me from achieving bigger goals. You just have to see it as all part of the journey.