2013 was
turning out to be a bit of a pants year for running, various things had got in
the way of training – I had been reduced to training on a treadmill and turbo
trainer for 50% of the time and had been really struggling for months to get my
asthma under control. I’d managed to get
out for some big days in mountains with friends but the lack of racing or solid
training had meant I’d gone off the boil a bit and started losing enthusiasm. I’d even contemplated giving up running
altogether.
I’d already entered
The Old County Tops fell race earlier in the year, and with dubious training
and fitness I took part as wimping out would have not gone down well with my
team mate, Jim Mann of Durham Fell Runners.
I struggled with the magnitude of the course and horrid conditions even
though I have taken part before - my normally talkative nature was reduced to
silence on a few occasions! Despite
having to be coaxed for the last 10 miles or so (with a wheezy chest), we
finished 2nd mixed pair. But
more importantly after a day in the mountains, I realised I didn’t want to give
up running and should use the run as a spring board for something else, nearly
10 hours under my belt was not to be sniffed at.
The week
after, I watched Andy Davies, a fellow Mercia Fell Runner, complete his Paddy
Buckley Round (PBR). Supporting ‘rounds’,
whether on the hill or in this instance from the comfort of my car, is one of
my favourite things to do – it’s like waiting for a baby to be born. I enjoy
the camaraderie, the ups and downs of whether the contender is going to make
it, and the endless banter and cups of tea!
And again, my enthusiasm began to grow.
I’d joined a
few other friends on days out while they were training for the PBR, and finally
twigging that over the past 18 months I had recc’ed the whole route several
times, and thought that maybe having a go myself could be a possibility,
although it would be a big ask in light of my inability to train outside.
I’d also
been looking at the Bob Graham Round and had become familiar with the whole
route through support running – but living in Shropshire, Snowdonia is
logistically more viable – and it’s my favourite place to be.
So, the
moment came that I really thought I should get my finger out, so I fired out an
email to my running friends declaring my intention and asking for support –
this would also put some pressure on me as I’d made some commitment as friends
started to reply saying ‘yes’ to helping .
It was
getting serious. The incline on my treadmill got increased to its maximum of a
pitiful 12%, I found some leg weights in a charity shop and filled my mountain
marathon rucksack with a load of my daughters cuddly toys. I kept the blinds shut in my study so no one
could see me!
I had some
opportunities to get out for some longer runs by supporting friends on their
PBR completions. I also had a few mad
dashes over to Wales, sending off hill route (safety) cards to friends and
running legs solo at night, sleeping for a few hours in my tent, and then
running a couple of legs the next day. Running
solo in the mountains is not something that I had done a lot of before, I found
it mentally tough to run for 10 hours or so, the temptation to cut the route
short was always there. I was carrying
extra kit too, in order to keep myself safe.
I gained a great deal of satisfaction from navigating my way round on my
own, it meant I was really able to get to grips with the intricacies of some the
route and I had some amazing runs.
The
fantastic asthma nurse at my local surgery, whilst bemused by my description of
what I was contemplating, also changed my inhalers – after trial and error, I
finally seemed to have got something sorted.
My final big
mountain run was to support a good friend of mine, Dave Hindley on his PBR, on
the Hebog and Snowdon legs. I had
unintentionally ended up navigating and supporting him over the Snowdon leg in
the dark with limited visibility and appalling conditions on my own – I would
have never had the guts to offer to do this on my own, but sticking me in at
the deep end once again bolstered my confidence, although this was not without
a few expletives being uttered.
So the big
day was getting closer and I was getting more and more nervous. 5 days before I started to suffer with the
symptoms of a rotten cold and I also managed to get really anxious about it all
and had to be rescued by my running friend Mel Price talking some sense into
me, or I would’ve spend the next few days hiding on the sofa under a duvet! One of my support runners was also in hospital
and another had been the subject of a mountain rescue call out. So a few more texts and emails got sent out
and I acquired a spare support runner, just in case.
My alarm
went off at 5.30am on Saturday morning, no time to be nervous now. I drove
myself over to Llyn Gwynant, carrying a precious load of butties and cakes for
my support crew made by Mercia Fell Runner’s Queen of Cakes, Pauline Richards -
to be transferred to my road support, Dave Hindley. As I passed through Llangollen, the clouds
started to lift and I could see the Berwyns and I contemplated that it would be
a nice day to do Leventon’s Line again.
I pulled
into the campsite which has become a regular haunt; Dave was waiting with his
big truck. We drove over to Capel Curig
and meet Lawrie Jones in Pinnacle Stores for coffee. But no sign of my leg 1 support runner, Andy
Davies, so I started to get a little concerned.
Andy was hiding in the car park, grinning to himself whilst I flapped
like a chicken.
Myself, Dave Hindley
and Andy Davies, ready for the off.
I said
thanks and farewell to Andy as he handed the support baton over to Lawrie for
leg 2. We trudged up Bryn Banog which
was harder than normal as the bracken was so high and it was extremely humid,
and I felt awful! I climbed the fence
and hung my head and said to Lawrie ‘I don’t think I can do this’. Lawrie
looked down the hill we’ve just fought our way up and mentions we can always
turn around....damn, he called my bluff! I decide to take some painkillers to
help with feeling fluey and get a grip!
We were soon
blessed with a light breeze and I felt better.
We had good visibility on the hummocky section between Bryn Banog and
Moel Hebog and despite suffering, I had made some time up on the climb. But then, on the very steep climb on Moel
Hebog, I felt some blisters explode on my feet.
I felt like this really wasn’t going to be my day.
Once I
reached Mynydd y Ddwy Elor, I got a second wind and started to enjoy myself
again – perhaps because I really like the section from Trum y Ddygl to Y Garn,
Lawrie wasn’t too keen on my change of pace, after carrying all my gear and
water plus his own, me racing up a climb wasn’t favourite! Lawrie got a perfect line from Y Garn to the
forest – I was pleased that we would get to the next road support at Pont Caer Gors
without the need for head torches.
Arriving at Nantmor
with Andy Davies.
10.10 am and
I set off with Andy and we’re joined by Dave for the first part of the leg. I was sniffling and coughing still going up
Moel Siabod, but felt better once I got to told by Andy that I needed to slow
down a bit. Having rested up for a couple of weeks and not having to carry
anything, I feel like I’m floating down the boundary ridge towards Clogwyn
Bwlch y Maen. As we got to Carnedd y
Cribau, we parted company with Dave who had done a great job in making sure I was
drinking enough from the off and also lightened the load for Andy.
Andy and I
trotted though the boggy expanse that follows miles of fence line, occasionally
making a little detour to take in one of the many tops. The weather was almost perfect. As we chatted away, we suddenly realised we’d
missed a top, so had to back track, thankfully only by around 200 metres,
oops! I mentioned that the ground
conditions were the best I had experienced, although I spoke to soon and
managed to run into a waist deep bog and had to get Andy to pull me out.
We stopped
to fill up water bottles at the stream between Allt-fawr and the quarry
track. We were now off the boggy ground
onto the Molewyns. This was a beautiful
section, both in mountain scenery and in the industrial archaeology with the
old quarry workings and we had some great views from the tops. Andy kept reassuring me that we were on or
just ahead of my schedule. The climb up Cnicht was a relief from boggy ground
again, although I found the track to Bwlch Gwernog a little monotonous. A little tarmac bashing and we arrive at
Nantmor to see Dave, Lawrie and Jim. I managed to neck a pint of Ribena and
chew a peanut butter butty and Dave changed my socks for me as the wet suit
socks I’d worn for leg 1 were starting to rub.
I giggled to myself as I’d said to Dave that I didn’t want too much fuss
on my road support, no picnic tables or chairs, just grub on the back of the
truck – but the blue chair I sat on was rather comfy, he must have found it in
Beddgelert because he promised he’d not packed a chair?!
The imaginary blue
chair. Pont Caer Gors
I arrived at
Pont Caer Gors still just a little ahead of schedule, sat in the imaginary blue
chair again and ate some fruit salad and more Ribena. Jim Mann and Chris Atherton were waiting to
take the reins for the night section, along with Roger Taylor who arrived just
as I was about to leave! I’d been lent a
super duper head torch by Dave, so got all that sorted and we set off through
the boggy, tussocky climb up Craig Wen. I really enjoyed this section; I got to
catch up with Chris who had spent some time in hospital the previous days,
hanging around in a nightie having his tonsils lanced. It was also Chris’s first time doing some support
running, so running a night section was particularly admirable, if not mad. He then told me he’d done Tryfan Downhill
race that afternoon, and they tell me I am mad! It was good to catch up with
Roger again who had stepped in to help with just a few days notice, along with
his green bobble hat. With Jim along
too, the banter and stupidity started, mostly at my expense, I spent a lot of
time laughing.
Chris and Lawrie at Pont Caer Gors
I also knew
that this would be the leg that I need to try and make a little bit of ground
on as it’s one of the most straight forward and I knew that I could possibly
lose a little time on leg 4 due to my dislike of big rocks on Tryfan.
I really
enjoyed the big climbs along the ridge to Snowdon, especially as there aren’t
that many people on top of it at 11pm, knowing the route better that the lads,
taking the lead with some of the navigation buoyed me along.
We had a
slight hiccup with the bearing from Crib Y Ddysgl, but this was quickly
corrected thanks to Chris’s local knowledge from his Peris Horseshoe recces. I had fun cutting little corners that I’d
learnt on my solo recces when the lads weren’t looking!
As we
reached Llanberis, I was pleased to find that I had made good time on leg 3,
especially as it hadn’t been as much as a fight on the earlier legs. We took
Dave H by surprise, but luckily my next set of support runners had arrived in
time. Dave Swift had travelled all the
way from Lancashire to come and help – having good knowledge of the route and
who had also completed a PBR a few weeks beforehand. Also joining in was another Mercia Fell
Runner, Tom Roo, who had travelled down straight after racing at Burnsall the
previous afternoon. Jim was staying with
us for another leg. The agreement for
this leg was that we would all work together on the navigation. I knew the route really well until the
Glyders, but my concentration was starting to go with tiredness.
I led the
way through the quarries, following the old concrete bogey ramps and then
snaking through the old inclines. I found the steepness hard and felt like I
was moving backwards with every step, but on reaching Elidar Fach, I hadn’t
lost any time. My legs were starting to
get a little tired on the descents and I was really conscious that I was living
in jelly babies and really needed to eat some proper food. I was still able to climb well, although it
was getting tougher and tougher and I was starting to get moody and
stroppy. Jim, Tom and Dave did their
best to try and get me to eat, I kept trying and taking food from them, but
then needing my hands free, I kept sticking the food in my bumbag and
forgetting about it. Dave kept handing
me wine gums in three’s, it meant they got eaten!
I hauled my
tired body up the horrible scree path up Glyder Fawr having to keep stopping as
I thought I was going to fall asleep – but every time I stopped Jim kept making
me keep moving. I decided that I needed
a new strategy in order to have a little rest – I’d need to pee! When we hit
the top, I was still just about ahead of schedule, but it was still dark and
claggy. Both Jim and Tom set to work on
compass bearings, and I was reassured to hear them both shouting to each other
to get the best line. Dave stuck by me, still feeding me wine gums and
encouraging me to keep moving, but also got out a brilliant hand torch that he
used to light the greasy boulders that I needed to jump over with the elegance
of a hippo.
We skirted
around Castell y Gwynt but struck trouble when we couldn’t find the faint worn
path through the massive boulders onto the plateau where Gylder Fach’s summit
sits.
I was now
painfully aware that I was losing time on my schedule, my feet were in agony
and I was kicking myself for not spending more time on that part of the route
to get it sussed. In the hour that we’d
spent trying to negotiate our way I’d also forgotten to eat, big mistake!
I started to
‘bonk’ and started staggering all over the place, not ideal just before going
up Tryfan. I feebly call ahead to Jim
that ‘I don’t feel safe’ as I wobble about – which he mistook for saying that I
am a big scardy cat on big, exposed scrambles, and I got told to stop being a
wimp. A few choice words are expelled with
the last bit of energy I had, which sets Tom off in a giggling fit – Tom has
the world most contagious laugh. I was
force fed the most revolting gel, whilst resisting the urge to be sick, but it
worked wonders, plus the mood had been lightened by my outburst of unladylike language. Jim found the best line that I have ever
taken up Tryfan and I only need Tom to give me a leg up one of the final big
rocks, I start to perk up again.
We started
to descend – but the daylight now meant we realised that we had taken the wrong
path and end up having to contour through rough ground to pick the right path,
with Jim running ahead to try and rectify our mistake and save me a little
ground. Tom and Dave tried to console me and stay positive that I can still
complete the round, whilst putting up with more expletives.
Looking across to
Tryfan from the Carneddau (leg 5) - the
Glyders still in cloud!
I arrived at
Ogwen Cottage over an hour behind my schedule and very disheartened, as with
all long distance stuff, mental strength is as important as fitness, and
mentally I had lost it. I sat for longer
than I should have in the imaginary blue chair and reminded myself how hard
I’ve worked over the past 20 or so hours and that it would be a waste to quit
now, plus my friends who had travelled for hours to help me and the hours of
running on the spot on my treadmill would be for nothing. And – the PBR is not a 24 hour round! I dragged myself up and get going again,
saying thanks to Dave and Tom.
Trying very hard to
smile on the Carneddau
Jim and
Lawrie deserve an award to the patience they showed me on leg 5. Tiredness was really starting to kick in and
I was looking at anything as a
possible bed - boulders, cairns, paths and bridges, anywhere would do as long
as I could sleep. I was pleading with my
legs to work on the descents, but they ignored my begging.
Top of Pen Yr Helgi Ddu,
reflecting on the 46 tops done, just 1 more to go.
Slowly crawling to the
last top, Pen Llithrig y Wrach with Jim
As I reached
the road at Capel Curig, Andy had come over to meet us and jog the last
section. I hit the grass on the road
island and lay down, never have I been so broken! 25.49 hours, not quite what I
envisaged, but it was a completion and one that I now reflect on with great
pride. Asking my support runners ‘why
didn’t I do a Bob instead?’ was consistently met with the reply of ‘because you
are an idiot Helen!’
The Paddy
Buckley Round is certainly the hardest but best thing I have ever done, I loved
almost every minute, and it I’m grateful to my friends who helped me achieve
it. Doing the round it’s self was the
cherry on the cake, preparation has really helped me gain confidence in my own
abilities and made me try something new, get out in to the mountains with my
friends and reignited a new enthusiasm for my running which I feared I had
lost.
Road
support: Dave Hindley (South
Cheshire Harriers)
Hill support: Andy Davies (Mercia Fell Runners)
Lawrie
Jones (Wrekin Orienteers)
Jim
Mann (Durham Fell Runners)
Roger
Taylor (Mercia Fell Runners)
Chris
Atherton (Maldwyn Harriers)
Tom
Roo (Mercia Fell Runners)
Cakes: Pauline Richards (Mercia Fell Runners)
Helen Skelton, Mercia Fell Runners.
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