BGR 27th May part 1

Having been cheated out of my first attempt at a BGR by a random stomach bug, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I stood outside the Moot Hall waiting for the clock to hit 7pm.

I’d managed to assemble another impressive team for support and knew that I’d done everything possible to prepare for this attempt. I spoke to my pacers at the Moot Hall asking them to let it be known if any of them was falling behind or struggling to keep up; last time my pacer carrying my kit bag had been left behind, I didn’t want anything like that happening again.

I’ve always been a moody eater and any sign of illness or anxiety can switch off my appetite completely. It’s normal for me to struggle to eat on race days, I often forget to eat race day breakfast if I’m busy and distracted, and so far the only breakfast I’ve been able to get down on day two of a mountain marathon is custard (yuck but at least I can drink it). Out of necessity Lucozade gels, Lucozade drink and Nuun have been my primary fuel source. I knew this was not ideal and Andrew has taken pains to encourage me to eat solid food when we’ve been out training, which had gone well, but that was in training, not racing or a bg.

After two days of no appetite and forced meals, I set off with a stomach that felt like it had a rock in it. Here I was again climbing Skiddaw refusing offers of food, kidding myself it was only the first climb on leg one, my stomach would settle and that it didn’t matter I could eat later.

We were moving well despite there being a strong wind particularly on Skiddaw. Gav P lent me an arm and shelter against the gusts. Persistent rain set in and the cloud base was low. Despite the rain, the Caldew was no more than knee deep, but the ground over Mungrisdale Common was wet and my feet were numb. I didn’t notice the sun set but had my headtorch on as we climbed Blencathra. The visibility was poor and as we set off down the parachute all I could see of Yiannis was some reflective strip on the backs of his tights. This improved rapidly as we dropped below cloud level. At some point Nigel became separated from the group and there was much calling and waving of torches. I was getting cold and we continued, trusting he would follow.

I ran into Threlkeld 13 minutes ahead of schedule. I reported that Nigel had been left behind and after a rushed change of clothes I set off with my leg 2 crew.

I couldn’t eat my food at the road stop, but I’d anticipated this and had arranged for Andrew to send my crew with a cut up hot dog for me and to put my cous cous in a plastic mug so I could eat it on my way. Did I eat them? No, my tummy still felt like it had a rock in it, was concave with a cramp and hurt. What was that about? I don’t know but I paid for it climbing Clough Head as I lost 15 minutes.