Author: Lisa

This race was mine and Libby’s first ultra marathon. It is a really great route taking in most of my favourite Peak District spots. There is a mean amount of ascent in first half, but the views are great and second half has loads of really enjoyable running (if you can keep the legs going!).

I learnt a lot about pacing myself for ultra distance on this race. It was the first time I had used a GPS watch and I found it really helpful. It definitely stopped me going off too fast at the start and was reassuring later on in the race where I found I was still able to maintain a similar average pace as earlier in the race.

The race was on a fairly hot day in August. I think this worked in my favour as I cope fairly well with heat. However, I struggled to eat much as my stomach felt sloshy with how much water I was drinking. Eating little and often was definitely the key to keeping going.

I had recceed the route in two halves recently before the race and I’m so glad I had. I barely had to look at the map which was great, and saved a lot of time especially towards the end when I was tiring. I also caught a few runners who had taken a few unintentional detours. That said, next time I need to take extra care to note where all the checkpoints are; I nearly missed the Stanage checkpoint, thanks to Nigel Aston for calling me back!

I had a great time, with only one low point at around 29miles, around the furthest I had ever run before. A handful of crisps and a chat to the friendly marshals at the Hathersage road crossing sorted me out! I was amazed and really pleased that I was the first lady to finish with a time of 6:50:57.

Thanks to all of the organisers and helpers for making this race happen, and to the other runners who were very supportive and friendly. This was a really great day out and an awesome first ultra!