Race report by Tom:
I’ve never been to Cornwall so what better way to see as much as possible than a 50 miler around the Coast. I arrived Friday for registration, parked up the van and immediately questioned my life choices as Storm Ingrid was in full force. Could be worse, could have been one of the 100 mile runners spending the night in it.
Up early for the 6:30am coaches down to the Minack Theatre, the weather was a touch damp as we like to say and hearing the DNF rate in the 100 was already over 50% filled everyone with confidence – it was gonna be a fun day!
The opening section was slow going, with plenty of queuing over stiles and single track paths with nowhere to overtake – all good though I thought, let’s save the legs for later on. Once things opened up, the first 20km were really enjoyable, the Cornwall coast is spectacular especially for a newbie to the area.
Then came the infamous 20–50km section. Rumours of awful underfoot conditions turned out to be wildly understated. The bogs made cross country look like a track and field event. Watching numerous people in Hokas with teeny-tiny lugs looking like Bambi on ice kept my spirits up and I only ended up on my arse once – not too shabby.
I entered this race thinking “ah it’s down South, must be pretty flat” – yeah long story short, it’s not! The Grand Old Duke of York became my ear worm as I marched to the top of the hill and down again for the 100th time.
Reaching St Ives was a relief. Fresh shoes on, and suddenly the course became far more runnable. All the enforced walking earlier meant it was finally time to crack on into the night and I felt great. My legs woke up, the pace picked up, and over the final 30km I was moving well, steadily picking off places and actually enjoying myself (a worrying development).
No messing in the final checkpoint, only 7km from home. A steep climb, in and out of Sally’s Bottom and onwards to the finish. “Pain is fun” was the mantra to keep moving and got me in under 12 hours. Given Storm Ingrid, the terrain, and the amount of bog-based suffering, I’m buzzing with that.
Highly recommend the race, super well organised & great aid stations – just be prepared for a long wait in the car park until its your turn to get towed out from the mud!
