Equinox 24 - Endurance Race

Team WB (Post event debrief curry!)

It was with a slight sense of trepidation back in 2015 that I agreed to make up part of a large team entry for the 2016 Equinox 24 hour race.  Once again coerced by Amanda, I decided it would be fun, and with 8 people on the team, it would be totally doable - run a 10k lap, have a rest, run another, have a rest... 

As the event loomed, I was worrying quite a lot about my loss of fitness over the summer holidays - not to mention the 7lb prosecco induced weight gain - oops.  During the week before the event I didn't have too much time to panic as it was back to school and new routines all around.  

Team mates in "Team WB" consisted of Aidan "the IT guru" Grant, Amanda - "the organisor" Skeldon, Dane - "Ironman" Stanley, Caz - "ac workwear" Whittle, Connor - "tallest man I've ever met" Lomax, Sally - "long stride" Kaill and Julie - "onemorelap (with a blister)" Rundall.  

Caz looking strong at the finish 

Living up to their organised reputations Aidan and Amanda did a sterling job of creating a rota of run times for us all to work from.  It wasn't an easy task as a) during the first team organisation meeting we all got pissed (the bike ride home through Whaley Bridge with Caz and Aidan was utterly hilarious though) and b) we all wanted different gaps in between laps.  After a second - more productive team meeting - everything was arranged - from run rota to who was bringing what and travelling with who.  


On Saturday 17th September Connor collected Caz and I at some unsociable hour (after a very unsettled nights sleep  - thanks to Amanda pinging our Equinox messenger group in the middle of the night to let us know she had insomnia) and off we went - loaded up to the hilt. 

 The event was being held in the grounds of Belvior (meaning "beautiful view" but pronounced Beaver - because the Anglo-Saxon population was unable to pronounce it and it stuck - unfortunately! Castle in Lincolnshire near Grantham.  The journey took around 2 hours and on arrival we found Amanda and Dane looking freezing at camp WB as the rain had set in.   

Sponsored by ac workwear.com

I was very envious of their Dryrobes - a long garment designed for swimmers to keep warm and dry between swims.  Connor was so envious he went and bought a Swimzi (same idea as Dryrobe) and this was also a bonus for me as I followed him on two of my laps so I was able to wear his (floor length on me) Swimzi while I waited for him to arrive!

Lap 1 complete! 

After we set up camp and everyone arrived (bar Julie who came a bit later), we cheered Amanda off on the first lap of the 24 hours. 

 The atmosphere was great with teams cheering people on and the run in was very long - about a kilometre lined with tents and people cheering and watching.  

The rest of the time went incredibly quickly for me considering I had an 8 hour gap until I was running my first lap! I spent the time watching the others off, cheering them in, eating and trying to rest (unsuccessfully!).

At the finish of my 4am lap

Sally looking strong with her long stride!

The rota Amanda and Aidan had devised worked really well and we changed it as we needed to - Julie needed a bit of a longer rest after her first lap so we just swapped Caz in early.  Dane went out on his lap and was sick, he had been struck down with some form of man bug which was a bit of a blow as he was one of the 4 lap plus crew!  It really didnt matter in the end - we let Dane sleep through the night and Connor and I ended up going an hour earlier than planned which wasn't a problem as I couldn't sleep at all. 

My Favourite team name "Nice Belvoir"

Running in the dead of the night was really strange but actually totally fine.  The strangest thing for me was running my third lap - the only lap I did in the daylight!  It was funny to look around and think - ahh so that's where all the laughing ducks are - at the side of a huge lake!  

 "Thank you.  I've just had it stuffed"

I felt really sorry for the solo runners and small teams - the feeling of passing lots of people is really motivating, it's like being in a race where you are the fastest and you just keep progressing - the only difference here is that you can be fresh as a daisy bounding around your second lap of the course after an eight hour gap - whilst the poor sod you just passed is hobbling round their 11th lap with no proper resting (and about a million blisters) in between! It makes you feel both happy and guilty at the same time!

Julie heading for home

There were all sorts of people competing - small teams of 3-4 people, solos, pairs, and large teams like us.  Some were doing it for charity whilst others were doing it for their own personal goals.  There was even a man with a tumble dryer on his back!  I passed him sat down in the middle of the night sorting out his blisters - everyone was really supportive though and offering help.  There were blokes in tutus, people in teams all dressed the same, and even a rival team for Team WB - the Marple Runners team!  

Running in with Aidan on the final lap

Most of our team members are involved in Whaley Bridge junior parkrun, and the Marple runners are the same - either involved with Marple juniors or the Marple adult parkrun. Although they only had 7 team members, we seemed evenly matched and it became Aidan's mission for us to beat them!  They were easy to spot in their Dennis the Menace style running tops, and we had good banter with them.

Feeling and looking tired during my 3rd lap

Posing with our medals

All of our team did really well with everyone completing at least 3 laps and Aidan and Julie completing 4.  I think the hardest thing is the combination of camping and running! It's hard to stay warm when you have dried chilled sweat on your body (nice!) and no amount of baby wiping can constitute a shower in my opinion!  I was the only one who braved the showers after my last lap (think huge tanker attached to portaloo style) but it was the best thing ever!  It was lovely and warm!  In the night though I felt cold and sticky and it stopped me from getting any decent sleep.  I think adrenaline takes over too.

My essentials for a 24hr race:
- wellies! or crocs if it's dry - my birkenstocks were a big fail
- lots of socks - I ended up spending £15 on a pair of compression ankle socks because my feet were cold and I only brought enough socks for 3 laps!
- loose warm clothes for over running clothes (inc. a fleece)

Coming in after my 8am (and final) run - eyes closed already!

- diet cherry coke!
- hot chocolate/tea/coffee
- decent headtorch and spare batteries for each lap

See it was fun!

Desirables
- dryrobe
- shower between laps!
- team vests with names on

Gear-wise for the runs I wore my OMM three-quarter length running tights for 2 laps and then my Karrimor capris for my last lap, these were both really comfortable and warm enough/not too warm.  I wore my Inov-8 Roclites for all 3 laps with no problems - I changed socks for each lap.  I wore my Team GB vest for all my laps - for the early morning lap I wore a technical t-shirt underneath.  I don't sweat very much so that made it much easier!  My LED Lenser headtorch was brilliant and three of us used it!  I even lit a lady in whose torch had gone very dull! (she was fast and made me go a bit quicker so that was a bonus!).

Overall, it was a totally different experience which I enjoyed (we have entered Team WB again for 2017 so it can't have been that bad!) it was fun being part of a team and we all worked well together.  I was worried about the distance but actually having large gaps in between made them manageable and I avoided injury so that was a bonus!  I am never going to be interested in long distance running but I reckon for a weekend once a year I can put up with it and try my best!

Results are here for anyone interested in lap times. 

Thanks to all the team for a fun weekend!

Representing the Goyt Valley Striders, Whaley Bridge junior parkun and ac workwear

Connor and the girls (Julie MIA again)

Look closely and you can see the castle in the background

The magnificent 7 - (missing Julie)

My OMM Bike Peak District

The week before last saw the final preparations for my first ever orienteering style race, and my second bike event of the year (a Duathlon in February being my first).  As part of my OMM Ambassador role I get the fantastic opportunity to enter OMM events and write about them, so I decided to try the bike event rather than the "Lite" (running) event as it was something different and Caz could do it with me.  

Team GVS ready for action!

In the lead up to the event Caz (my teammate) and I got our kit together and put in quite a few miles on our bikes (road and MTB) and were pleased with our fitness.  Caz has had experience of navigational events before in both running and on bikes, whereas I have never had to use navigational skills before, so I was really excited to give it a go!

At the beginning of the week I had my bike mini-serviced at The Bike Factory - who kindly supplied us with gels, bars and hydration for the event, and, on Wednesday, I competed in my second fell race of the year - the Herod Farm Fell Race.

An array of nutritional goodies

Herod Farm Fell Race in Glossop, Derbyshire is a Category AS race covering 3 miles and 340 metres of climb. Having never done this race before I was quite keen to have a go, especially as I had heard it called "Horrid Farm" by other Goyt Valley Striders!  

Me with Estelle and Helen

I found the course suited me down to the ground as it started off with a proper hill right from the off, and it reminded me of a mini version of the Famous Grouse fell race, which I had done well in last year, managing to be first lady Strider home.   

"She's behind you!"

After the first hill came another hill, one which most of the field walked up due to its gradient, little did I know that the next hill would be a monster! I literally had to use my hands to help and not look down as we ascended the nab (slowly!).  

"Wheeee!"

It was with jelly legs that I reached the summit, and it took a bit of persuasion to get them running again!  I really enjoyed the fast downhill sections which followed, especially a lovely steep smooth grassy field where I managed to pass two runners!  I really went for it at the farm track we had started up, as I knew the finish was imminent.  

Again, I was really pleased to be first lady Strider home, 11th lady overall out of 36 and 3rd in my age category with a time of 34:48, full results can be found here. Definitely not horrid, definitely Herod.

OMM Bike Peak District

Map boards were a brilliant addition to our kit

I was really excited waking up on the Saturday morning, the sun was shining and I felt that I was as prepared as I would ever be, Caz and I looked the part in matching outfits to represent both of our clubs - on Saturday we opted for the Chinley Churners (our cycling club) in our "Beer, Cake, Bikes" tee shirts, buffs and hoodies (which were a good talking point and much admired), and on Sunday we opted for our Goyt Valley Striders kit.  

Caz owns a workwear embroidery and printing company and supplies both of the clubs with merchandise so we were kindly kitted out by a&c workwear for the weekend.  

Wearing my Rotor Vest

Obviously, I also wore my new OMM products which had arrived just in time!  - namely the OMM long sleeved tee which served as an excellent base layer, and I actually washed and dried it overnight and wore it both days.  My new Kamleika Jacket was absolutely brilliant, it is soft, doesn't rustle at all and fits perfectly.  I stayed warm and dry both days when wearing it.  

Team Churners!

The second day was much cooler with stronger winds so I wore my Rotor Vest as an insulation layer, which was really good as it is so thin but lovely and warm, in fact I had to remove my jacket after the first climb!  My trusty OMM Last Drop 10 backpack served me well yet again and fitted all the necessary kit in (just!).

Dexshell overshoes in action

I wore Dexshell overshoes on both days - I found they were quite hard to get on, and Caz had to help me with the zip, but once done up they fit really well and my feet stayed clean and warm both days - on the first day we encountered a calf-deep river crossing and it was a few seconds before the water seeped into my shoes.  They dried out over the course of the day so I was really glad of the neoprene keeping my feet snug.  I really gave them some hammer up the boulders of a green lane where we ended up pushing our bikes and the bottom of the overshoes stayed relatively in tact - a big ask!

So, we had all the gear, but did we have any idea what we were letting ourselves in for?! The answer is yes and no, we both anticipated that we would push ourselves and get as many checkpoints as possible, but on day 1 we managed to spend too long getting a 50 point control and it really set us back.  

Control 31 was our nemesis!

The map covering a wide area

We had decided to try to map a vaguely circular route taking in as many controls as possible.  This we did but the terrain was unknown and we found ourselves taking some paths which were slower than taking longer road options. We were also less confident at knowing whether we would be going up or downhill, it was tempting to think north is up and south is down!  We got quite adept at reading contours and meters by the end of the competition!

Eating my way to more space!

Our bike map boards were a Godsend, we could navigate on the move which was brilliant, and we managed to keep moving most of the time.  We had been really organised with food and made everything bitesize and mostly accessible - though at one point I literally had to eat a load of food to make room in my pack for my jacket!


We managed to get 12 controls on the first day, passing through Hurdlow, Glutton Bridge, Hollinsclough, Hardings Booth, Fawfieldhead, Hulme End and Biggin. We were pleased with our route and we ended up doing 27 miles which wasn't too bad considering some of the steep and technical terrain.  Going into day 2 we were well up for the challenge of another go!  In fact, we both said we would have liked 5 hours on both days rather than 5 on the first and 4 on the second!  

Caz with Parkhouse Hill in the background

On day 2 we changed tactics a little and decided to forget trying to get to tricky 50 pointers.  We headed north of the start at Parsley Hay crossing the A515 and heading to Alport.  We seemed to be picking up controls much more often and we were pacing ourselves well.  We saw some lovely places, the village of Alport was stunning and we loved the scenery around there.  After about 20 miles it started to rain slightly, and the wind seemed cooler.  We were crossing exposed arable moorland so we put our jackets back on and continued to our next control.  In the end we managed to get a couple of bonus controls - a total of 11, again covering around 26 miles.


The organisation of the event was excellent.  All of the OMM staff and volunteers went out of their way to accommodate everyone and it was really simple to know what to do - basically get your wrist SPORTident dibber at registration on day 1, have it cleared by "dibbing" it in the little box on both mornings, choose a start time for both days and off you go!  All really relaxed and fun.  The food provided was lovely, especially the cakes!

After the event - tired but happy!

Checking my compass!

I was relieved not to have to wear a competitor number as I didn't want to put holes in my new gear with safety pins!  All of our information was stored on our dibbers which was great!

Overall, our aim was to get as many controls as possible without getting lost, and without coming last! We really pushed ourselves and felt we couldn't have tried any harder. Out of 29 entries we were 21st overall, which for our first go wasn't a bad attempt and the main thing is we had fun!  

Since the event, we have printed out all of the splits to see what the more experienced competitors did differently, the main difference being that they went for as many 50 pointers as possible and travelled further than us. 

Our route planning however was good and we followed similar routes to others so that was reassuring.  On the whole we both really enjoyed the weekend and would definitely do it all again!  Thank you OMM!  

My next blog will cover tips for first-time fell runners, along with more race reports, until then, happy running!

TLF