A 70-mile Ultramarathon: The Wall – Rat Race Adventures

This was my biggest distance to tackle in my ultra running journey. When I signed up to this race, I presumed with it following Hadrians Wall it would be mainly trail…. oh how I was wrong. I would say it was around 80% road. I only found out about this when we got the brief and they recommended road shoes; I didn’t even own a pair of road shoes at this time so I had to still wear my trail shoes. The route starts at Carlisle Castle and finishes at Gateshead Baltic Quay following Hadrians Wall.

I felt prepared from a really good training period going into this race, and felt confident I would finish. The route is fully waymarked which helps as you can just focus on your running. With this being a point to point race you have to factor in all the logistics yourself which can be tricky.

We drove to Newcastle and left our car there then took the train to Carlise where we stayed in an air bnb as the race started at 6.30am. They provided a bag drop for the end which helped, and during the race they also gave the option for a small letter bag for food supplies around the 20 mile point and then a trail size bag drop at mile 45. These are really useful to keep on top of your own fuelling. The pit stops have ample food but being an ultra runner you have to stick to your own personal food plan to stop you facing any stomach problems later on.

I started in the second wave – with there being 1000 people running this race, they staggered it into three waves. It’s difficult to know your position when races start this way, but I started out quick and soon was in with the first wave which gave me a confidence boost. I then had a few people saying, ‘you’re leading for the females’ but I didn’t quite believe it as I thought they meant out of my wave. But as the race progressed and I hit the first marathon mark, it was then I knew I was actually leading. The pressure was then on for me. I had every intention of getting a top 10 place from looking at prior years times, but I never thought I would be leading for the females.

The race was going really well, but when I hit the 50 mile mark you really do start to feel it, so you have to keep on top of hydration and food as much as you sometimes don’t want to. I have a prompt on my Garmin for every 45 minutes to remind me to eat. This is so important, even if you don’t want to you have to do it otherwise it really does become an issue further down the line.

At the bag drop I changed my socks and shoes, and wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do as I saw the state of my feet, and the shoes I then put on didn’t feel right at first. But as the miles went on they started to feel okay again, and I blocked it out.

The roads felt like they went on forever, and with me not realising how much road was in this race, I really did find it quite boring. It had a good mid section of trail which made me smile and really did lift my spirit.

The ending was difficult; the last seven miles it was really dull and raining and the route went a bit sketchy, which isn’t great being on your own tired and female. I got down to the river for the final stretch into Newcastle and was getting cheers from people in the pubs which felt great. I knew I was still coming in at first female and seeing that finish line was the best feeling.

I finished in 12hrs 49mins (first female) and came 24th overall. It gave me such a confidence boost. They don’t all go well, it’s just part of the ultra running journey; but this one I can take away as a win.

The kit used

Shoes

Saucony Trail (1st half)

Altra Mont Blanc (2nd half)

Trail bag

Montane Gecko

Kit list was extensive due to it being such a long race, but it’s compulsory:

· 2l capacity for water

· First aid kit

· Spare food

· Survival bag

· Whistle

· Reusable cup for pit stops

· Insulating mid layer

· Full waterproof body cover (long sleeve jacket and full length trousers)

· Additional leg cover if wearing shorts

· Mobile phone

· Hat or buff

· Gloves

· Headtorch

· Rear red light for bag due to potential running in the dark on road

· Spare batteries

Food / drink

Tailwind

Marmite cashew nuts

Mixed fruit/nuts

Dried safari fruit roll

Pit stops provided fresh fruit, so banana/watermelon are perfect. I did also have a can of full-fat Coke at the very last pit stop, which is unusual for me, but I think I needed the sugar hit. I also got offered a salt stick off another runner which was just a tablet, and that really helped.