Ah yes it does. Thought I'd forgotten it for a minute then.
Anyway.......
After reasonably good preparation with no significant injuries I set off at 08:30 is on saturday 21st July. You may remember the date if you were one of the unfortunate people flooded out of your house. The weather was atrocious. Driving rain, low cloud, visibility less than 100 yards. I spent the first 2 hours running on compass bearings. I suspected I was on the Cleveland Way due to the stones laid in the path, but I couldn't see to be sure. Despite it being July I was running in the same gear I usually use in january! Progress was slower than I hoped due to the severely slippy conditions and poor visibility.
Fortunately the rain stopped and the cloud lifted just before I got to the old railway line, and I managed to run well to The Lion. I met the support crew just nort of The Lion at Rosedale Head and had half an hour's break to change clothes, thaw out, dry off and eat/drink.
Thereafter I could see where I was going but the ground was so wet and boggy it was trying to suck my shoes off my feet with every step. If I ran where the water was flowing the base was a little firmer, but this was like having a constant cold shower, water splashing and spraying up as I ran.
At about 25 miles I was getting cramp in both calves. If a foot went deep into the mud, in trying to maintain momentum I'd get painful cramp in one calf and the opposite thigh as I tried to pull the foot out.
I said hello to the 'Blue-Man-i'the-Moss' as I passed, but he obviously didn't like me as he hid the path. The next 45 minutes or so were spent thrashing through knee deep heather. I took several falls, one of which smashed my knee painfully and gave me more cramp. I lay in the heather swearing for a minute or two.
I can't remember the name of the river you have to cross (don't have my map with me at the moment, sorry), but it was in flood. The usual stepping stones were 18-inches or so under fast-flowing water. I just had to thrash through and hope I didn't lose footing. I slipped off the stepping stones and went waist-deep, but got across. After 30-odd miles of running this was probably not the safest thing to attempt.
After crossing the main Pickering to Whitby road I needed my MP3 player for a bit of pain relief. I'm lucky there was nobody around to have me certified, as I was singing along (badly and loudly) to rock songs whilst staggering bizarrely due to leg muscles in spasm, 'bonking' due to depleted blood sugar levels, covered in mud and thrashing through swampy moorland.
I had big trouble getting out of the last steep stream valley at about the 37-mile point. 'All-fours' needed. That trail defies the laws of physics. There's far more gravity there than there should be. Stephen Hawking should be informed, I think there's an undiscovered black hole.
The support crew met me at the crossing of the Scarborough road and escorted me across it. I was 'a wee-bit wobbly' and they were concerned I'd be knocked down.
Still running, (how on earth??) I jogged down from the mast to Raven Hall hotel at approximately 17:00hours. I had hoped to do it quicker, but I suppose in the conditions eight and a half hours is reasonable.
Next year I hope to enter the 'official' race and knock at least an hour off the time.
RespectTheStupidity.
Give it a go Sharon, you'll love it.
My endearing memories are:
It's a bloody long way.
Bog, stream, bog, stream, bog, stream, bog.
The views are superb (weather permitting).
You can go for miles without seeing another soul.
It hurt, but something makes me want to go back and do it again.
Can't wait.
Matto
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