Well, a bit of a disaster really.
I could only manage a recce of part of the course two days before. Along the way I gaily laughed and had a lot of fun but that was mainly due to being out on my favourite OL21 terrain.
When I work out how to insert pics there will be one here.
Obviously, when race day came things were going to be markedly different, and more in keeping with life generally.
As we gathered at the start at Chiserley, I checked my compass was in the pocket it lives in, I heard a click and crack and thought ah, hopefully my thumbcompass will be in another pocket.
Ahem.
Then a bit later my Camelbak failed to work. Damn. I am carrying 500 ml of Hi5 [off the internet but legal] and can't drink it. Great.
So I slipped, I stumbled, and I fell. I didn't run believe me!
Eventually I get through the checkpoint at Cock Hill where you might be timed out, with 5 minutes to spare. I am fed up and wish I was having the fun I had on recce day.
The cheery marshall at Withins tells me to help myself to a jelly baby "if there are any left"...
At the reservoir I got my compass out and the needle was miles away from where it should be. Literally - it was gone! Nowhere to be seen. The thumb compass was nowhere to be found. I followed footprints and with the help of other straddlers who were very helpful, I made it to Shackleton Knoll and almost started to cry, this is not going well.
Then mercy me, Karen looms into view, pushes everything into my Camelbak and me into shape and disappears so I have another wobble and apologise to the sweepers as everything is going wrong, I realise I am going to be timed out and mentally throw the towel in.
After the climb from Lumb Waterfall, I hear Karen shouting "come on Sarah", so I run and catch her and Livi up and we get to the final potentially timed out check point only 30 minutes late, and miraculously they just let us pass.
Thank the lord for laid back marshalls. I get back after some map fondling with the additional rescue of my iPhone compass - until I fall into an icy bog with iPhone compass in hand... and make it back before dark!
Damn that was hard.
Next year I know how hard and can't wait to get it.
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