Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

EVENT REPORTROSELAND AUGUST TRAIL - THE PLAGUEPHOTOGRAPH | (c) CHARLES WHITTON PHOTOGRAPHYthat ice cold drink. “Ice Cold in Porthpean”. On thesteps to Black Head I pictured Captain Ansonbattling with the ambulance in that sand dune. Mytask was nothing in comparison! I took to countingsteps on the climbs and it seemed to be working. Ipromised myself not to look up till the hundredthstep which in most cases got me to the top. Lookingup generally resulted in hands on legs, cursing anda long breather contemplating how to negotiatethe remaining few steps.At Ropehaven I stumbled upon a surprisecheckpoint and threw down another cup of coke.Fifty yards up the road it came straight back up! Itried one of the gels Tom had given me instead.Washed down with some water from my bladderthat seemed to settle. Then at the foot of Silverminesteps I found Ben Stone! He was beat. I urged him topush on with me up the steps but soon enough hedrifted back and I found myself back in seventh.Once I hit the final downhill to Porthpean the senseof achievement sunk in. All that was left was onefinal long climb to the finish. The MudCrew mottorang in my ears: "we don't do easy!" All pain hadsubsided as elation began to take over. I powerwalked into the hostel grounds. A spectator advisedme the finish was around the corner andencouraged me to run. The support from the crowdwas overwhelming. The girls hadn’t made it, butthat wasn’t surprising as I had finished in 14:05. Waybeyond my expectations.The ice cold beer was a long time coming as Ishowered and sought medical attention for myback. Diagnosis was terse - I ran 40 miles on it socannot be serious. Following a week of intense painI discovered I had inflamed my sacroiliac joint. Quitecommon following a heavy impact on the butt. Ithink the pain emanating from my lower back andbum acted as a focal point throughout the race andhelped minimise pain that invariably arose in myankles, knees and quads at different points duringthe race. A few trips to RockDocUK and I wasprimed and ready for the next challenge.The dream had become a reality and when the beerwas finally poured it wasn’t ice cold but it sure wasgood as I savoured every drop.92 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://