In the words of The Jam I was going underground.
A 50km Ultra which 40% (20km) was under tunnels and boy did i end up loving it. When I racked up on Sunday morning after only entering 3 weeks ago I was a little nervous especially when everyone around me was saying this was there umpteenth ultra and for me it was just my 2nd ( my first being 3 years ago ).
But with true Yorkshire grit I pulled on the amber vest and started. The course is described as a 10k loop which you do 5 times but really it’s a 5k out and back so you see the same scenery 10 times and go under the two tunnels 10 times as well. The first tunnel has a little rise up to it and isn’t very long but the second tunnel is just over a mile long and I have to say I looked forward to it. The council have done a fabulous job of restoring the old tunnel and it’s tarmac all the way through and they have music playing out of speakers making it a tunnel used by everyone and anyone.
The tunnels provided nice cool relief on what was turning out to be a warm day and I very quickly got into a nice rhythm and the fact the organisers had waves of 5km , 10km , half and full marathon setting off there was plenty of people to offering encouragement along the route.
The volunteers were amazing and plenty of food on offer at the 5km turnaround.
I can honestly say I felt strong all the way round and even managed a sprint finish as per my usual trademark. Yes Bath is a long way to travel but I would highly recommend it if anyone was fancying a dabble at an ultra then this is the one for you to try.
My time was 5:39:46 and I was shocked to see an elevation of over 1600ft as it certainly didn’t feel like that at all and to be honest if I didn’t have a dance at the food stations or take 3 calls of nature I would have been 5:30:00 but for me an ultra is about finishing.
Tracey
