The Dirty weekend - the worlds biggest assault course.

Challenge 4  – Top ten in the world’s biggest assault course.  

Saturday was the Dirty Weekend, a 20 mile assault course with 200 obstacles including an 110 meter monkey bars. My challenge was to finish in the top ten overall based on time.  It was two weeks since my last race (the Questars weekender) and had a full taper for the race, although my last long run in Devon took in 1800 feet of ascent, a  lot more than I would want. I'd built up to 100 push ups and 25 pull ups per session and was in the best shape I've ever been for an adventure race.

With 5000 runners, we were split up into waves of 250. I started in wave two - fifteen minutes behind the leaders. Wave one typically is the fastest as no queuing, but my plan was that in wave two I’d get more help from other runners on obstacles, could see runners on the obstacle in advance to help me figure out the best technique and also I’d always have someone to chase after, to keep me running hard. That and it was £20 cheaper!

Most people assume these races are won by GI Joe types, but in reality the muscleheads are too heavy to get round the course quickly, most obstacles require fitness and a good power to weight ratio and as a result athletic runners tend to dominate. After a night being kept awake listening to the tent next to us playing a tedious game of ‘I have never’ into the early hours (who's never even had sex outdoors? really?) I woke up at 5.30 to eat some breakfast and made it to the start line for our 8.15am start. Rain was forecast, but the morning was bright - good race conditions.

A brief warm up by the rat race Timmy Mallet and we were off. Within the first hundred meters it became evident that only two of us were going to be competing for the wave two title. John, a friend of a friend, was running alongside and a brief chat confirmed that our half marathon times were pretty similar, given my previous three challenges I was worried about how quickly I’d tire and if he therefore had the advantage. We hit the first set of obstacles together – climbing through a car, over a six foot wall, through some tires and up and over a lorry and I’d managed to pull twenty meters ahead. He sped up to catch me and fairly soon we were into a large inflatable and then met by eight rugby players with training bags. The first two double teamed me surprisingly hard, then my Jason Robinson instincts kicked in and I even managed a hand off, before escaping the rest of the group. John has dropped right back and feeling confident that I'd stretch my lead on each set of obstacles I set about the task of reeling in wave one.

My legs already felt surprisingly heavy, the climbing was really draining and I could feel the hills from the previous week still in my glutes. Thankfully the course was very flat, so I kept up the leg turnover and pushed on. Over the next ten miles I picked my way through wave one - face down through mud, up in the trees of Ewok village and then we hit the main water section. It was brutal. We had several hundred meters wading through a waist-high mud based pond. Every step was incredibly sapping, so I developed a doggy paddle technique, pulling on the bottom, taking the weight off my legs and started accelerating through the pack.  Mud turned into open water swimming and then hauling yourself over children’s inflatables. Should be fun, but the holds were tiny and as a result you couldn't get your feet in them, so you had to pull yourself over four meter high obstacles using just upper body strength.  I'd packed nine nectar gels with me, which seemed excessive, but was trying to treat the race as a marathon, hoping for a similar finish time and it made a huge difference. I never stopped other than grabbing water and people started cramping up and dramatically slowing down. I’d made it up to thirtieth in the lead group and with the last ten miles mostly running, finishing top ten seemed a real possibility. I was barking at every steward 'how many ahead?', being a chaser felt great and every person I caught sped me on.

By 13 miles I was up to 11^th and everyone looked broken, using each obstacle as a chance to slow down and catch their breath. Our legs had been shredded crawling over jagged rocks in farmer Giles fields (some kind of razor blade farmer I assume) and with our upper body strength fading we were having to push a lot more on obstacles with our knees and shins to climb, resulting in further cuts and bruising. I developed a flying arse jump and seeing everyone else crumbling drew strength, took my proplus and sped up.

By Sherwood forest I could see 5th, 6th and 7th ahead of me and I was the only one still running hard. The finish was a ten meter wooden tower – I raced up it, applauded the crowd and then descended with my trademark cheesy grin. I’d made it up to fifth, despite their fifteen minute head start and ended up with the quickest time of the day – 2.51 kaboom!

Having the quickest time of the day, but not officially winning has led to some confusion among friends and competitors alike, so just to clarify - you needed to start in wave 1 to win. My time was quickest, but I'd received help on a few of the obstacles - most notably the large inflatables in the water, which saved me a considerable amount of time. If I'd have started in wave one I think I'd have probably finished third.

The best thing about starting a race at 8.15 is that you're done by 11 and there was nothing left to do other than head to the bar to drink 3000 calories worth of beer to try and achieve calorie neutrality for the day.

So next up the final two challenges at the Sierra Leone marathon - top 3 in sub 3. Don't think I stand a chance, but then again I didn't think I'd be heading there with a shot of a clean sweep. Prey for freak snow storms!

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DavidHellard 

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Leading the London Marathon - Challenges 2&3

Being third a in queue never seems that bad, especially a queue of several thousand people. I'd almost made it to pole position on the start grid of the London marathon, but as the gun went off I set off at a jog; third row seems a long way back when you're stuck behind a Skoda.

To be fair that Skoda was Simon overall, Britain's fastest marathon runner, someone far quicker than I could ever hope to be, but my challenge was to lead the London marathon after 400 meters and every second I wasn't going flat out meant Mo Farah was building a comfortable lead.

I had originally thought that the challenge might be possible, as I was lucky enough to have a championship place, so could in theory start just behind the internationals  The winners normally average a 71 seconds per 400 meters throughout the marathon, so allowing for a slightly quicker start I figured that if I could somehow skirt round the pack within five seconds of starting I might stand a chance.

Twenty minutes before the start I took up my position, forty meters from the line, the closest I could get at this stage, while the other runners warmed up around me.  I'd always hoped that I'd blend right in among the championship athletes, but my visor with a go pro strapped on duct tape scuppered that idea.  As the area filled I received a few odd looks, but mainly smiles and laughs and the atmosphere was far more relaxed than I had expected.

The area filled and the pro's started pacing in front of us until the marshals edged us towards the start line. The length of the front row reduced as we neared and the marshals struggled to contain the surge as runners jostled for position in a very British way - polite passive aggression all round. My pace band of 3.10 was being noticed and I was being squeezed out by runners unwilling to start behind someone going so slowly. 

I'd lost my position, so explained my plan to my neighbours- one was confused, one unimpressed, but thankfully one suitably amused, who swapped places placing me directly behind the pro's. The greatest marathon field ever assembled were then individually introduced to the cameras and my plan to keep a low profile worked - no mention of me by Dave Beresford. It's far easier to win a race no one else knows they're in.  Following the quietest silence I've ever heard we were off.

Almost immediately the two rows ahead of me closed rank and two became four, the Kenyans were already streaking away, but I was boxed in - a few more meters and they'd be gone.  As the pro's bunched to the centre I found a small gap between two runners and then in a mild panic mounted the pavement and ran along the muddy verge. The other runners followed into the center and I was free, with clear road ahead of me, but still flanked by numerous elites ahead of me, blocking any sight of the leaders. 

I started to run hard and then out I popped, at the front of the right hand lane. I glanced over to see the lead pack and they were only ten meters ahead, I still wasn't full pelt, so I pushed a little harder and before I knew it I was passing them. I flashed a little smile expecting to see concern  on their faces, but their reactions were a mix of bemusement and nonchalance, as if they'd just seen a cow try to mate with a horse. Could it be the fact that I was white gave me away as not a serious contender, hmm, that or the fact I had a go pro strapped to a flapping blue visor.

I started to push away and was quickly closing in on the camera bike, who was tracking the pack. I couldn't figure out if he hadn't seen me or if he had to stay put to keep his camera angle, but I needed proof and it was clear that the cameras were either unaware or ignoring me, so I jumped the verge to the left hand lane and lead out the pack. It felt great, people were cheering, the odd person laughing, yet after a while I wasn't really sure what to do. I felt I could probably carry on at this pace for another minute or so, but I'd passed 400 meters, the challenge was met and I still has a marathon left to run. I couldn't just slow down, I'd obstruct the other runners, so I held my arms to reveal my Sierra Leone hash tags and then skipped back to the other side of the road.

I slowed down and checked my watch and despite the slow start had averaged a speed of 4:20 per mile. I looked up and just like that, they were gone.

The rest of the run was pure joy, club mates throughout the course, the sun shining for the first time this year. I was meant to be pacing 3:09 for the second part of the challenge, but ended up finishing in 3:03, probably a bit foolish given the challenges to come, but wearing a big cheesy grin for 26 miles is like rocket fuel.

Challenge 2 and 3 accomplished, half way there. next up finishing inside the top ten of the worlds biggest assault course.

To see a video of my first 400 meters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R7keX2tQ8A

To donate to Sierra Leone Street Children http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DavidHellard

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Good for age times for the Virgin London Marathon

The good for age times for the Virgin London marathon guarantee a runner entry into next year's marathon if they can reach the target time set. Not only is the guarantee important for many club runners so that they can represent their clubs in the UK national marathon championship, but for many they represent a training target and level or achievement to aspire to.

This year the Virgin London marathon have decided post race to reduce the target time for 2014 for the open men's category from 3.10 to 3.05 and V women's 40-49 from 4hrs to 3.50, but only announced this after this year's marathon.

Thousands of runners have dedicated months and months or their time training to try and achieve a sub-3.10 marathon time, only to now be told that their time no longer qualifies.

This is heartbreaking for those runners. A marathon is one of the biggest challenges a runner can undertake and to run a good for age time a huge achievement, which should not be denied a runner post marathon.

We are petitioning Virgin London Marathon to agree that any runner who has achieved a a good for age target time based on the 2013 times, before the announcement of the 2014 good for age times, should be allowed a good for age place in the 2014 Virgin London marathon. In addition all changes to the future good for age timings should be announced six months prior to each London marathon, to allow runners to set their goals accordingly.

Sign the petition now

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Give_the_London_marathon_good_for_age_times_one_year_grace/

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The Magnificent Six

I have been volunteering with Street Child and decided to run the Sierra Leone Marathon in May to raise money for them. I know my friends and they know me, so to raise the money the charity deserves I realised that they wouldn't just sponsor me for running a marathon, even if it is in 31C and 90% humidity; I've run plenty of marathons before, so I was going to have to do something special to get their attention. 

I had my London marathon place guaranteed and having never started from the Championship start, I wanted to experience the atmosphere. I was invited to be at pacer at the Brighton Marathon and then recieved an email about the Dirty Weekend and my challenges were set:

The Challenges

1) Pacemake the Brighton marathon in under 3.15 (with no tapering) – top 7% of marathon runners.

2) Run the London marathon a week later and be winning the entire race at the 400 meter point – will take some positioning and going flat out to catch Mo Farah, he’ll be averaging 71 seconds per 400 and I’ll be starting downfield.

3) Finish the London marathon in a good for age time of sub 3.10 (with no tapering) – top 5% of marathon runners. Brighton and the 400m sprint start could easily scupper this.

4) Top ten in the world’s largest assault course 3 weeks later (20 miles and 200 obstacles) - harder than a marathon.

5) Podium at the Sierra Leone marathon - two weeks later.

6) Finish the Sierra Leone marathon 2.50-3hrs – average temperature 31C (88F ) - top 1-3% marathon runners.

I'm not sure if I'll achieve all of those, but they're all potentially possible and hopefully worth sponsorship uk.virginmoneygiving.com//davidhellard/

I'll update my blog as I attempt every challenge, any advice is more than welcome.

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The Original Mountain Marathon - The OMM

Thought I'd write a note about my OMM experience, as a few of you have been asking and because it was pretty brutal.

What is the OMM?

The OMM is a two day mountain race run in pairs, where teams carry all of their equipment with them - food, tent, sleeping bag, stove, safety equipment ...filling up your water from streams and navigating your own route to check points.

I entered the A class ( the second highest class, below elite) with a friend called Ed. Our course was 65k over the two days, as the crow flies, in reality though you run far further, as the best route is rarely in a straight line and you often try and skirt hills rather than run over them to try and cut down on the 5k of climbs. 

My preparation

I tried to train for the event, building my weekend runs up to a 15m Saturday and 18m Sunday, both run with 6-8kg rucksacks, but it was nowhere near the intensity of marathon training and probably still not enough, especially as Ed, my teammate was running 70mile races and placing in them.

My toothbrush

The Race - Day 1

My bag wasn't too heavy with tent etc. 5.5kg or so and I felt pretty good in the morning, although our 7.50am start meant that we were the very first team - a distinct disadvantage, as you are the first to navigate the route with no one ahead to act as markers, you have to create the paths through dense terrain, rather than following others and there was also a beastly headwind that dissipated through the morning. The temperature was -ve, but it was bright and clear, which was good for navigation, although after the first hour or so it was evident that Ed was so good at nav and so fast, that my role was just trying to keep up. We set off and within five minutes I was already thinking that my legs were burning quite a bit. Thankfully you walk most of the hills, at a pace, but due to their uneven nature, their steepness and the length of the race, running them would be suicidal. Still you're out of breath on them so it's hardly a break and Ed seemed to be able to read a map and stroll up them at the same speed as my striding explorer pace.

The first hour and a half flew by. We were making good progress, the intensity of the wind was quite fun, as you would run at an angle to avoid being blown over and the scenery was beautiful, but I started to progressively tire from this point, By 2.5 hours I was starting to feel the tiredness in my legs and the hills were starting to catch up with me. At four hours I felt pretty broken. My fitness was ok, but I wasn't physically unprepared for the nature of the running - you rarely run on paths and to avoid running over each hill, you often skirt the sides, when involves running over uneven terrain at an angle. One leg is load bearing and due to the terrain you repeatedly are turning your ankles. Most of our running skirted clockwise and the tendons on the left hand side of my leg were knackered. You'd fall over at least once an hour, jar your legs repeatedly and I was finding it hard to trust my footing, with tired legs. The last two hours was either running through tufty bogs, reed beds or up steep hills. I'd been eating eat natural bars, as I like them and I thought their balance of nuts and fast/slow release cards would even my energy out, but I possibly wasn't eating enough and definitely needed more refined sugars. The last hour and a half was really tough. I was running throughout, but far off Ed's pace, falling in an ice cold bog with a mile and a half to go certainly didn't help, but we made it back in just over six hours. Day 1 - 23.3 miles (as the crow flies) on a course with 2200m of climbs: http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/199204435

At the finish we found out that we'd already been overtaken by a team that set off almost an hour behind us (the only team we saw during the last 5 hours of the race.) Thankfully they were a team that should have been in the elite category and we ended up in sixth place for the day, a prize position, and pretty good given my inexperience, my demise and the disadvantage of starting first.

Ed the speedster

The Camp

We were finished by 2pm, which gave us 19 hours until we were racing again - a huge amount of time to be a field with just water and toilets. We set up our tent, put on the rest of our clothes (for me this was one baselayer top, windproof trousers and a pair of socks with plastic bags on), I wasn't warm until we started running again the next day, but thankfully wasn't too cold either. We then started trying to eat as much as we could. I was surprisingly unhungry, but the warmth of my couscous and custard was greatly welcomed. Having eaten everything I'd brought I was somewhat concerned it might not be enough, as Ed was 1,500 calories or so up on me, I didn't feel undernourished though, but in hindsight it was nowhere near enough. Having chatted with our lovely neighbours for a few hours, we then prepared for bed. It was crazy early - going to bed  with the light, but with no fires and minimal clothing most teams tried to sleep to try and save energy and keep warm. I laid out my emergency blanket, the map from today's route and unfolded the support mat from my rucksack to sleep on and cramped into the smallest 2-man tent I've ever seen tried to sleep in. I was fully clothed - windproof jacket and all and I managed to get warm and feel my feet for the first time all day.

The Race - Day 2

The second day is a chasing start -  the quickest team setting off first, with teams starting the same number of minutes after them, that they finished behind them on day 1, first team back wins. Still unhungry I forced myself to eat my two porridges and malt loaf and then prepared for our 7.45 start. My legs felt ok, although the tendons above my ankles still felt tender. We were certainly within reach of third place - 20 minutes, but also had several teams within 20 minutes of us. Day two is meant to be an easier day - 5 hours, as opposed to 6 and it started out that way, avoiding the bog and getting straight into the hills. We were going well, using our ground speed to run round some of the larger climbs and trying to ensure that we skirted anti-clockwise to protect my left leg, but 2 hours in I was starting to feel tired and by 2.5 hours I had hit the wall. I've hit the wall before, but never for so long and for the next hour I was really struggling. I started eating my gels and drinking plenty, but had run out of energy and was struggling to even run. Half an hour in Ed asked if I could finish and I reassured him, but when he asked again half an hour later, spelling out that at our current pace we had another 3 hours of running and we were just about to head up and away from the finish I almost broke. Ed was getting cold in the wind and rain going at such a slow pace and I couldn't see a way out of my current collapse, I just wanted to lie down and the prospect of another 3 hours in such conditions was horrifying. The idea of having run for nine hours and not finishing though too painful and I stubbornly said we'd go on in blind faith that something would change and thankfully it did.

Given that we were no longer making any ground on the flat, we changed our tact to going direct as possible, right over the top if we needed; no need for skirting, which was killing my legs and if I can barely run, walking up hill was far more productive than shuffling on the flat. We went head on for a 100m hill and by the top my legs had returned. Over the next fifteen minutes, the rain stopped, I came through the wall until I eventually felt great, better than I had since the first two hours of Saturday. We only had 400m left of climbing and only 2 hours left to run and with each minute I was getting stronger and stronger both physically and mentally. With 1.5 hours left I took my first proplus and our route started to coincide with the other classes. We were now back on paths and I could finally just run without having to constantly check my footing and we were started to fly past people. The final climb of the day quickly approached, so I popped two more pro-plus tablets and we pushed for the finish. The climb felt easy, passing the steams of competitors walking the hill, high on caffeine I was starting to push Ed, which was great as I'd felt I'd held him up for so long. We hit the top and then went flat out for the final 3 miles home, a descent of 600m. With the wind behind us and heavy backpacks still on, I was slightly out of control sprinting down the hill flat out, having to jump rocks and wall ride round other runners, who were all cheering on as we passed, at the insanity of running so dangerously 12 hours into a race. Last checkpoint dibbed we ran in, finishing in just under 6.15, having been the fastest team over the last three checkpoints. We'd run 23.6 miles on of course with 2300m of ascent, bringing it up to 47 miles for the weekend.http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/199377125. We had our bags checked to ensure that we still had all of the required equipment with us and found out that somehow we'd managed to hang onto sixth place, despite my hour of crawling. Two days on and I have cankles, a gammy knee and sprained tendons down my legs, but think by the weekend I'll be back to running.

So that's the OMM. By far the hardest race I've done, although this was partly due to doing it with a speedster ultra-marathon runner and getting the nutrition wrong. I'd do it again, although I’m not sure whether I'd do the A class - it's crazy hard to do at pace and I can't see myself training harder than i did for this year. I think I'd rather take a bit more clothing, food and time on the course and enjoy the experience next time.

Finally finished

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