It’s just struck me that I never really gathered my thoughts about this little escapade the other weekend. Dave (Although I don’t know his middle name I go with the initials DNF for reasons that need little further explanation) had asked me to crew for Hardmoors 160, and event to be honest I’d barely heard of.

A quick bit of probing suggested yes it would a bit of an off road slog around the North York Moors and starting at 5pm meant would include two full nights of running.

Two things I’ve said for the last several years:
– Faster is probably easier if you can manage it, even 20miles from the end of a 100miler (for example) is close to 4 hours, more like 6 if you are close to walking. At this stage the sheer mental effort to maintain focus is the issue, I’ve been in positions where yes I know I can complete the challenge in the cut offs even walking but the thought of maintaining that focus for that much longer was the concern.
– Crewing & supporting is harder than running, I mean ultra running is hard physically and mentally no doubt but you are allowed to be a bit of a princess and get pampered by your crew at every checkpoint before being sent on your way. No one pampers the crew, you have to get on with it, work the logistics, get from point to point, look after your runner, look after yourself, true heroes.

So with this in mind I set about doing my best to keep Dave on the move for 160miles over 48+hours through two nights including around 200+miles of driving whilst trying to keep myself in a fit state to be useful as a crew!

Without regurgitating the entire event minute by minute suffice to say it was epic and by the time I got back to work the following week I felt like I’d lived a lifetime of experiences in a few short days. Oh, and of course DNF did finish, in fact I don’t think it was ever discussed.

Over here are a load of photos from the weekend to give you a taste of the general epicness of the challenge, terrain & scenery!

What did we do well:
– Know the course and the checkpoints. Arguably I’d done a better job than Dave of this checking out the website and scanning OS maps not only to be aware of where the checkpoints are but also how long it might take to simply drive between them (not a straightforward challenge on the moors).
– Know the cut offs. Admittedly it helps if the organiser knows them as it became clear to me that one of the latter ones involved having to speed up! On the Sunday we yomped to this cut off with minutes to spare only to have it confirmed that it should be 1 hour later than advertised!
– Have a plan, well several at least. In the pub the night before Dave showed me his spreadsheet, I laughed and in the manner of Crocodile Dundee produced mine with the words “that’s not a spreadsheet, this is a spreadsheet”. I had checkpoint splits laid out for best case, cut off chasing and somewhere in between as well as a more realistic speed profile allowing for slowing through the nights etc. Either way after reviewing and noting feed points & shoe/sock change plans this proved invaluable for tracking and planning through the event.

– Be prepared: Food crate bursting at the seams, shoe crate, clothes bag. Know where to find stuff when they need it, preferably ahead of time (where the spreadsheet came in handy). Know when to offer something alternative, ice cream ? chips ? feeding is more important than nutrition here, if it goes down it’s good !
– Know what to ask, from advice elsewhere I had a fairly standard set of questions to ask each time I saw Dave… how are you feeling ? what have you eaten/drunk ? what do you want to eat/drink ? How are the feet….  as well as info on how far to the next CP and what to expect.

What to improve on:
– Be prepared: Don’t discover half way through the event that the pen that has somehow disappeared in the confines of the car, is the only one you actually have.
– Be prepared: The planned bacon roll proved hard to source on the wilds of the north York Moors on Sunday morning, the alternative hot porridge went down ok but I should have just bought a cheap pan & some bacon earlier!
– Be prepared: Having met and run/walked with Dave in to several check points I was totally unable to reassure him how much further it was, I forgot my Garmin charger.

– Be prepared: Knowing where toilets are or will be is quite useful, especially later in the race! I haven’t admitted to Dave that there was one in Osmotherley we went past yomping to the dodgy cut off.
– Look after yourself; a broken crew is no use at all and whilst you probably invest more importance in getting your runner round than they do you’ve got to balance it. As mentioned above I knew this was marginal but I was fairly broken by the end of it.

 

(All credit to Dave for pushing through and finishing in good spirits mostly, and for making my life a little easier by being pretty lucid throughout)