Arriving
in Holland
Saturday 10th September I
travelled to The Netherlands to meet my Irish team mates, John O’Regan, Chris
O’ Neill, Keith Whyte, John Byrne and Martin Rea. We were accompanied by our
support crew, John Belton who would help us at the aid stations and provide
some physio and Sarah Syron who has been vital at the Irish aid stations over
the past few international events.
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| Keith, John B, John O' R, Marty, Chris and me |
I had heard that The Netherlands was flat,
but I didn’t realise it was FLAT. I mean not 1 hill, not even a ‘mound’. Being
a keen trail runner living here would be my worst nightmare! Thankfully we were
here to run 100k as fast as we could on road, so the conditions were perfect.
Holland is a peculiar place in that everything looks very much the same, lots
of green fields, trees and very, very long straight roads.
We stocked up with some serious train grub
(biscuits, pastries, sweets and other crap) and jumped on the train with a
vague idea of where we wanted to go.
“Tickets
please”,
says the nice Dutch ticket inspector to me,
“There
you go Mr ticket inspector man”, I say
“But
what are you playing at you foolish young man? This is a weekend ticket” says the bemused
looking ticket inspector,
“What
do you mean”,
I say
“Well
its Thursday”
he says.
Brillaint! We had bought a weekend ticket on
a Thursday! What’s that about? After the ticket inspector realised that I was
probably not the sharpest tool in the box, he kindly agreed to turn that ticket
into a day ticket. This was to mark the start of a humongous cock-up of
travelling in The Netherlands for the Irish Team (and for many other teams!)
Athletes’
Village
We finally got to our station destination to
be greeted by the local hoodies. We
jumped in to a small minibus which took us to Winschosten where we quickly signed in with the race
officials. This is the first time I had seen the start of the course as this
would be where we start on the Saturday. Shortly after, we made our way towards
the Athletes’ Village which was some 30 minutes + from the start line.
I love the sounds of the words “Athletes’
Village”, firstly it’s the first time I have thought of myself as an ‘athlete’,
which is nice, and secondly it’s a whole village full of athletes that are obsessed
with running as much, if not more, than I am.
I checked into our room which I shared with
Keith Whyte and we quickly separated the beds which were for some reason placed
side by side. This would avoid any awkward ‘moments’ later on! Each room has
its own small living room, toilet and shower, bedroom and kitchen. The kitchen
had one of those boil on a stove kettles which I liked. It kind of reminded me
of the American TV series ‘The Waltons’. “Hey John Boy, ye fancy a cup of
Starbucks Via coffee?” Maybe not.
On a serious note, it was vital for us to
have access to hot water as we both drink at least 5 cups of coffee an hour. No
coffee. No run!
As soon as we got settled in it was time to
walk over to the main building to pick up some munch. Various teams were now
coming in by minibus and a bit of kit envy started to creep in for me. The
Italians, French, Norwegians and many Western European countries have some
serious national kits. Gore, Nike, Puma. They also seemed to have several pairs
of each piece of kit each. Hmmm – we need to work on that one!
Getting
Supplies – The Long Walk
The next morning, we woke up for breakfast
which presented a selection of spreads and breads, yoghurt, granola and the all
important coffee. For some reason there was also a plate of cucumber. Cucumber?
Random choice for a breakfast menu…
 |
| Breakfast time |
We plodded down to the local supermarket
which was still about a 15 minute walk. Backpacks a ready we were going to do
some major stocking up of water and small bottles to carry on the course.
We arrived at the shop to be greeted by half
of Team GB smiling and the other half not so happy. The shop had run out of
water. It was easy to guess who just purchased the last bottles. Hmm, so it was
another 10 minute walk to find another local shop which thankfully had plenty
of stock (although we did crank up the pace a bit just in case another team got
to the shop and destroyed the water rations!)
So, we bought several 2 litre bottles of
water each and several smaller bottles that would be suitable for carrying on
the course. All in all we were carrying some heavy bags - not ideal the day
before a race. We took a left at this road, a right at that road, straight down
here and then over there, followed by a right at the round a bout and we had
reached our destination. Lost. LOST!!!
We had already been walking for some time by
now and with the added weight this was not helping. My IT band had flared up and
I was experiencing pain in my knee. Not funny. We decided to stop and try and
work out where the hell we were. We asked someone if they knew she knew where
the Athletes’ Village was or at lest a direction. Apparently, it was 10k in the
opposite direction that we were walking. 10K? No way!
We laughed it off. This mad woman must have
misunderstood. Surely. How the hell did we get lost by more than 10k in the
wrong direction? I got the trusted
BlackBerry out which confirmed that we were some way away from our destination.
“Taxi”…. We were in the middle of
nowhere, what were we going to do? For some reason, we even questioned the GPS
technology and thought about heading in the same direction we were heading
which would have only taken us further away.
We decided to trust the BlackBerry which
eventually got us home. God knows how far we actually walked that day with
extremely heavy bags, but it did take a few hours door to door! The thing with
Holland is everything is so neat and straight and it all looks the same. You walk
from one road on to another and you could pretty much be on the same path. It
was like something out of the Labyrinth. The interesting thing about that
episode was that I was shattered. I am not used to walking 10k+. Running, sure.
Walking, well that that is a different thing altogether and my legs were trashed.
I must have come in looking like I had just run the 100k! I needed John to take
a look at my legs.
As soon as we got in, Chris and I booked
ourselves in with a session with John Belton who went to town on our legs. John
played around with my hips a bit to give them a bit more movement and reduced
the inflammation in my IT band (which I am presuming was also causing the pain
in my knee). On hindsight without this session I think the next day would have
turned completely differently.
What a day. I thought a pre-race day was
supposed to be relaxed on the couch. It still hadn’t finished, we still had the
Opening Ceremony to do!
The
Opening Ceremony
We hitched a lift to Winchosten and watched
some local entertainment for a bit, dancers, a town cryer, and some other bits
and pieces, followed by each country parading its flag and then a walk through
the town centre.
Each country was called out in alphabetical
order. “Ierland”
(ahh that’s us), John Byrne was team captain so he held the flag. We were
supposed to walk as a team through the crowds but we hung back a bit watching
John walk into the crowd on his own. His sixth sense must have felt that no one
was behind him as he turned to see us 20 yards behind him cackling away. Like
children I tell ye.
We walked though Winchosten past the shops
and crowds of people lined all the way though the town centre. It was nice and
everyone was enthusiastic. I just wanted to get to bed and get cracking.
Nutrition
and Aid Stations – Make up your mind man!
Once back at the Athletes’ village I realised
that I had yet to work out my nutrition and hydration strategy for the next
morning. Hmm. There would be an aid station a few hundred metres from the start
and then another just short of 5k. So I needed enough nutrition on me to last
5k. Easy!
In front of me I had several Clif Blox,
Elite, Pulsin Energy Bombs, Gu (various flavours) and Nakd bars, plenty of
water and a couple of sports drinks. Now. How is this going to work? I taped
some Bloxs to 4 water bottles and a Gu and a Nakd bars to several others. I
then had some other bits and pieces (flat coke, jelly babies etc) which I would
keep at aid station 1 for sugar emergencies! The first 10k I would not need
anything, I would then pick up a Blox and Elite water at the first aid station
once I had finished the first loop and basically alternate nutrition at each
station to get a good mixture of ‘natural’ nutrition followed by something a
bit more like sports gel / Gu.
I made that sound easy in the previous
paragraph but it took a long time to work that out. Putting bottles and
nutrition on the floor and pretending to run through aid station 2 on 4th
loop and asking “what will I need”. I think I made it a little overcomplicated,
but it kind of worked until I ran out of stuff about 70k in.
Braking
the 7 hour mark
This would be my second 100k race (my first
being the ACP in March this year). 100k could arguably be one of the most difficult
distances in that it is usually on the road, is at an odd distance (62 miles),
and is usually run at a good pace. Nutrition and hydration is extremely
important and the intensity remains high throughout (perhaps compared to a 100m
trail which has varied pace, elevation and terrain). Not to mention the
relentless stomping the asphalt.
We were up at 6.30am for breakfast. I had a
quick coffee, tried to ‘empty myself’ (twice!). Knock back some breakfast
(fruit bread and bagel with peanut butter) and it wasn’t long before we were on
the coach heading back to Wischosten.
It wasn’t long before we were all shoulder to
shoulder at the start line. I was 6-7 people deep into the crowd and most
certainly didn’t want to get sucked in to the front line pace which would be
some going. The first 10k would very much be a warm-up / touchy feel of the
course.
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| Start |
The guys from our team know the guys in Team
GB quite well (Allen Smalls, Craig Stuart, Grant Jeans and Martin Mathews) who
we know from the Anglo Celtic Plate or on the UK circuit. I think it was fair
to say that many of the GB team were looking for a sub 7hr 100k as well as a
few of us in the Irish team (all of which are more than capable). Allen is an
extremely good ultra runner, very strong and has a lot of experience. Craig and
Grant also showed great form in Perth at this year’s Anglo Celtic Plate. It was
going to be a good’n.
The gun went off and we all started the
motion which would continue for a long time. One foot in front of the other,
many, many, many times over. Pounding that tarmac for hours on end. At this
level, many people ask ‘what time you gonna do it in?’ However, for me it’s
always about respecting this sport. The first question is not really about time
but about finishing. 62 miles is a hell of a long way and deserves a lot of
respect. Irrespective of fitness, training and mental state, it’s always about
finishing. One poor decision or a bad hair day will see a “DNF” on your card.
The first 5k went by with a bit of a buzz,
people chatting and so on. John Byrne and I pulled up alongside Allen and
Martin and we began chatting immedietly noticing how bloody hot and humid it
was. For those who live in the UK and Ireland this was essentially a 10 degrees
increase in temperature and humidity like nothing we had experienced this year.
I, for certain, was not prepared for this heat or the humidity. Hydration was
going to be vital today.
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| Team Ireland and Team GB |
That said, I felt ok so pushed the pace a
little as I wanted to hit each lap around 41 mins which, if held, would bring
me under the 7 hour mark. I was therefore happy to see that I passed the first
10k in just over 41 minutes. Now all I had to do was maintain this pace for
another 9 laps! How tough could that be? Pah!
It took a loop or two to get used to and
recognise the course and get my bearings on where roughly I was in the 10k circuit
(albeit there were KM marks). As already mentioned, the landscape of Holland is
flat. I think the total elevation of the course was about 1metre and that was
probably jumping over a couple of curbs! That said, the roads were closed for
us so it was essentially traffic free and the locals most certainly made an
effort for the event.
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| Keith |
Each of the long roads we passed through saw
the residents deck out their road. I recall 1 road being completely covered in
orange bits and pieces with loads of pictures of previous runners of the event.
National flags flying along the roads and the residents sitting outside having
a few drinks and the most adventurous throwing some shrimps on the barby. Kids
stood in the street handing out wet sponges and ran alongside the runners
waiting for them to drop the sponge immediately picking it up to make ready for
the next exhausted and over heated runner!
 |
| Spongy Spongy |
Music was blowing out of house stereo systems
and I am sure I saw one dude on his front lawn with some decks, giving it the
large on the wheels of steel, Dutch styley. All in all very much like a
festival atmosphere and very much welcomed by the runners - anything to take
the mind off the task at hand and the slowly encroaching pain in the legs,
arms, stomach and eventually total body consumption.
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| Marty |
Part of the loop comes back on itself where
you pass a traditional looking windmill and is probably about 6-7KM in. This
was a good point to check on the other guys. I could see that Chris was only 20
or so seconds behind me followed by John Byrne. Looking good.
Anyway, I knew something was odd when only a
couple of laps in I had overtaken both Craig and Grant who were having problems
and fighting their own battles. It was a shame to see these guys having a bad
day as they should have certainly been at the front! I put my head down and
ploughed on trying to maintain a consistent pace, focus on taking in water,
sponging myself down, going through the routine of cooling down my back, my
throat, then over the top of my head. I then wiped the salt off my face and
arms to feel fresh. I must have done this at least 50 times during the race.
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| John B |
It was when was coming in to lap 5, running
past the aid station that I saw Keith sitting there. He had dropped out. I was totally
surprised as Keith is most certainly one of our stronger runners. I very much
rate Keith as an ultra runner and it was very difficult for me to see him at
the aid station. But you only need to look at the DNF list and the quality of
athletes that didn’t finish the race or came in well past their capable time to
show how unexpected and therefore tough the conditions were. For some reason I
was lucky on the day and my body seemed to hold up. I do think it’s a matter of
luck as on a different day my body may have reacted totally differently.
 |
| John O' Regan |
Coming back around I could see that Marty had
called it a day at the 50k mark and was sitting at our aid station. Marty had
suffered with problems with his calf muscles and the thought of having to run
another 50k would be something else.
I run at a very odd pace. I always do. I
always end up running very much alone in races as I don’t seem to share a
common pace with people, whether I am behind or ahead, it’s usually never in
line with. Sure, I spent a short period running with a couple of guys form the
U.S., some Japanese guys (who could only grunt when I spoke to them as they
knew very little English) but yet very humble runners. I passed a couple of
South Africans who looked very fast and at one time I was running alongside Daniel
Oralek, which was surprising. Although, I must admit it wasn’t for long! It
took him a wee while to work out why I was emphasising his name “Ahh Daniel”.
He gave me an odd look, and it was only when he was running behind me for a few
seconds that presumably he saw my race number with my name on. “Ahh Daniel” he
smiled in reply. Good lad.
Now, I did exactly what I didn’t want to do.
Something which I did in the ACP. And that was hitting a rather shitty bad
period from 60k. Looking at my splits, I managed to maintain a solid 40 / 41
minutes for 60k. If I could maintain this pace for another 4 loops, I would be in
shout for a comfortable sub-7 hour 100k. A dream come true. It was half way
around loop 6 that I needed a poo. I couldn’t wait. I had to dive in a wooded
area squat and do my thing. This was when cramp kicked in on my left leg. It
was bad. I was mid flow and had to balance on 1 leg so I could straighten out
the cramp in the other. It kind of went down hill from here. I don’t know whether
it was fatigue, loss of focus of nutrition / hydration, the fear that cramp would come in with vengeance
or a mix of all of these, but my average pace dropped down to 44 minutes.
Running past the various aid stations at the
5k mark, I could se Ellie Greenwood sitting down. Ellie is a proper trooper and
one of the best ultra runners in the world. She looked like she was suffering
but from reading her blog she got up and cracked on up to the 90k mark.
Amazing!
I dropped into the aid station asked John for
some electrolytes, took in some water and stretched my legs. WTF – I can’t be
spending this much time in the aid station. IN AND OUT.
Coming around at loop 7 ish (I think) I saw
John Byrne sitting down at the aid station. Jeez, this is our best 100k runner!
Now let me tell you about what makes a true ultra runner. Determination,
endurance and willpower. John had apparently come in to the aid station looking
like death. Bad day. Fine. Many other runners had the same issue. But John sits
down probably feeling pretty bad to stop. Composes himself and pushes on with
some distance still to knock out. John didn’t come close to his capable time
but certainly showed some serious spirit on that course.
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| Chris |
The last two laps I struggled quite badly. I
would get a bout of cramp every KM where I would be running with a ‘straight
leg’ stretched out looking like some clown. This in turn probably slowed me
down. The fear of having major cramp issues so close to the end was very much
on my mind. I kept the pace I was now running as it didn't seem to agitate it
too much. Just get over that line a couple more times!
It wasn’t long before I was running past the
finish line for the 9th time. Last lap. It didn’t matter what
happened now, I was going to finish. I took in the surroundings one last time
as I had forgotten what was going on for the past few laps. I picked up the
flag at the half way point, only to realise that I had to run with it for 5k!
Peaked a bit too soon.
A final run past the windmill, a few more
sponges and 2k to go. I hadn’t come close to the time I wanted but certainly
the proudest moment of my running career was running the last few hundred
metres with the flag being cheered on by the crowds. Job done.
Here are my splits. You can see the struggled
for the last few loops:
Split 1 - 00:41:43
Split 2 - 00:41:05
Split 3 - 00:40:47
Split 4 - 00:40:22
Split 5 - 00:40:44
Split 6 - 00:41:36
Split 7 - 00:44:16
Split 8 - 00:45:03
Split 9 - 00:46:59
Split 10 - 00:45:36
Personal Results – 7hours 8 mins
European
Championships – 8th
World
Championships – 14th
Team
Results Ireland
– 23 hours 03 mins
European
Championships – 5th
World
Championships – 7th
Full results can be found here
I just
want to get home
Sunday morning. Feeling alright. I know I
have run 100k but my legs are not that bad. I got up especially early. A quick
coach ride, a couple hours on a train, an hour flight and I’m home. Job done.
YEAH RIGHT.
Due to a major thunderstorm the night before
a part of our route had been knocked out. We were on the train for a couple of
stops and then we were stranded on the a station. Only a couple of people at
this stage but slowly train by train the teams and locals started to build up on
the station. Lots of people stopping at this stations and not many heading in
the other direction. The direction towards the airport! The train would stop at
our station and then head back to where we started.
It wasn’t long before our patience wore thin
yet nobody knew what the hell was going on. Then some kid said, “ya this goes
to the airport”. We all rushed on the train, cmon I only have 6 hours to get my
plane!
It wasn’t long before we realised that this
wasn’t going to the airport but would take us back to where we stated. Everyone
off.
Some security guard was on the platform,
hounded by hundreds of people. Not knowing a thing. We had already been on the
platform for a long time. “Ya I am still deciding whether to sort out coaches
or a train”. He did realise that everyone on this platform had a plane to
catch. He was on a SERIOUS chill.
Eventually, a train turns up. It would take
us 40 mins or so down the route in the right direction but we would need to get
off. Great. We jump on that train it stops at its destination, we jump off that
train onto a train that will take us to the airport. Great. A few stops down
the line the train is on a chill. An announcement is made and we need to jump
on another train. This one will definitely take us to the airport. Great.
Eventually we get there.
I bolt it to the BA check in to be told I had
missed the plane. F-ing brilliant. “Sorry sir you will need to buy a new ticket”!!!
I buy a new ticket and check in. Sorry sir, the plane is currently delayed by
an hour and a half. WHAT THE HELL. JUST GET ME HOME. NOW!
After a very long day of travelling (nearly
12 hours!) I get into Heathrow. Meet Anjali and we drive home. Well actually we
hit the M25. Yup you guessed it a arsing traffic jam!
