BEWILDERED CLIFTON SMASHES UTMF TO TAKE SECOND FEMALE

To run on the UTMF course meant arriving early enough to be able to start early and have enough time to rest afterwards. Racing overseas is a fine balance of timing to get over jetlag (none with Japan which was another reason for choosing UTMF), time to recce the course if possible and time to recover before the race. Usually then flying back immediately because I’ve already maxed out my leave. Plus trying to make sure that there’s some fun time for my husband Steve, who is my amazing support crew. I settled on three weeks for Japan – two weeks before the race and one week afterwards so I could actually really relax and enjoy japan without a 100 mile race on the horizon. A big time commitment to make for one race but I felt that was needed for this race.

So Japan. Wow! I was so super excited. I have travelled a lot but not to Japan. It is beautiful, the people are beautiful. Gentle, kind, friendly. There is no feeling of aggression or impatience. The food is very healthy, and it was a perfect pre-race vibe and nutrition! We spent two weeks around the Mount Fuji area where I recced a few sections of the course that I had researched with Chris Warren (an ultra runner extraordinaire, Chris has done the race many times and gave me some brilliant advice on which bits to try to see). We had not planned to hire a car so my first recce of the Tenshi mountain crossing involved multiple trains, a bus and a walk to the track head – about two hours to get there and no real idea how I would get back.

The Tenshi mountain has a steep 4km ascent of 800m and then a technical crossing which goes through two other mountain summits before a slippery muddy descent where it is hard to stay upright. It comes about 30km into the race. It is a bit like Solitary on steroids. When I got to the top, which didn’t feel too bad at all, I heard a rustling in the bush and turned to see a very furry creature about the size of a small bear running down the hill, but the bear wasn’t black so couldn’t be a bear. I got my cat collar (my makeshift bear bell) out of my pack and made sure it was jangling for the rest of the training run!

It was cold on the mountain and the descent was very slippery, I think it took about 3.5 to 4 hours to get to the road where I found the bus stop and realised there was a four hour wait for the next bus. It was really quite cold so I looked around and saw two young Japanese girls and managed to hilariously negotiate with them via Google translate to get a lift into town. It was quite a lovely experience chatting to them on the car ride.

I did a couple more recces but this time hiking with Steve. I like doing this because I don’t use too much energy as am walking and we can spend time together – plus he gets to see some of the course too. From aid station A7 (127km) the course gets very difficult. Chris had described each of the next two sections as just getting harder and harder. There is around 3000m of climbing from A7 to the finish.

So I haven’t even gotten to the race, but then there is not a lot to say about the race itself! After checking weather forecasts and seeing many different predictions I gave up looking. It would be what it would be, and I had all my gear – the mandatory gear list is extensive. The weather was worse than the worst predictions and we drove to the start line in a total white out and pouring rain (we had ended up hiring a car as the buses to the start were full and it looked quite difficult for support crew to use the shuttle buses).

We were early so we sat in the warmth as we waited for the start time to get close before we left the shelter of the car. There was a lucky break in the rain and I pushed my way to the front of the crowd so that I didn’t get stuck in any queues should the race go to single track early on (I didn’t know anything about the first 30km as we were not allowed to run it in training). I spotted Kaori Niwa who came 2nd last year to Courtney Dawalter and a face I recognised from the HK100. She had finished two hours ahead of me there! I did know the first 30km was quite fast. I wanted to take care not to go too fast, but found myself tic tacking with Slyvaine and Xiang for most of that section, until they took off and I didn’t see them again for a very long time.

Heading over Tenshi it was nice to see familiar trails. But then as I ran through a more flat section on the ascent, I caught my right foot in a loop of tree root and flew forward, my right calf was pulled and knotted it a ball of cramp and I whacked my left side as I came down. I yelled from the cramp and rubbed the visible spasm thinking that this was way too early for cramps. A couple of guys asked if I was okay as they passed and I hobbled on until the cramp eased, but I could feel a pain in my chest especially breathing hard. I’d have to see if this got worse by the next aid station. The descent was much worse than when I had recced it – a total mudslide down the mountain with multiple slips which were not painful but when my bum slides towards my knees, because of my knee injuries it is really tweaky. Add the (now healed) menisicus tear was caused by running 100km in mud meant that I was not a hug fun of sliding through mud. Thankfully everyone was slip sliding down and at the bottom of the mountain there is a fast long downhill road, which was more up my street.

I saw Steve at A2 51km in and I felt so sorry for him. There was a massive shelter with heaters, people cooking and officials, but support crew were on the other side in the rain and freezing cold. I swapped my drinks and food over and put my head torch on. I don’t usually mind running with a torch, but the conditions made it really tricky. There was fog and drizzle that reflected back in the light of my torch making it hard to see very far ahead on technical trail. I don’t really remember a lot about the night sections, there were some gnarly climbs, more slippery descents, some non-slippery single trail descents (yay!) and some flat road.

I knew we were going around lakes, but I couldn’t see them. At one point I turned my light off to pee and walked slam into a concrete block (a very dumb thing to do). I caught Chris up on a road section and had a quick chat. About 3km after this I tripped again and cut my legs this time, plus more calf cramping. My side ribs were hurting so I took a paracetamol.

Around this time I felt my toe getting more sore and it was feeling like it did in Lavaredo when it got wet and blistered and I could barely run. I came into the aid station (A5 95km) and this time support crews were inside. Steve asked if I wanted to change socks and I said I wasn’t sure because I was worried about losing time. In the end, I decided to change socks. This was a really good decision and no doubt contributed to my ability to ‘run’ (shuffle) at the end. I put blister powder on my feet first which dried them, then dry socks. They felt amazing. I have never ever changed socks in a race before but I have never tried to run this far either. It was a smart move which I have to thank Steve for encouraging me to do.

Prior to the race I had been most concerned about going through the night. I was scared of being too tired to run, falling asleep on my feet, but I felt completely fine. I had made sure to get lots of sleep leading up to the race and I had plenty in the bank. I was so happy to see the sky lighten and put my torch away because of how hard it was to run with a torch in the rain and mist.

A7 – well, I kind of knew this was where the race would begin. Two back-to-back gnarly sections of climbing technical running, 3000m of elevation, rock scrambling using ropes. When I got there Steve told me the French runner Sylvaine was ‘within striking distance’. I had been eating red bean paste bars and the Japanese videographer thought this was mind blowing! I had checked the nutrition and they have a high percentage of carbs and a little protein. They are not too sweet and the consistency is perfect for me. These are going to be my go to food for races now, with rice. At one of the aid stations they had rice balls with bean paste inside – so good! But that was the only one that had them which was very disappointing as most of the food was not veggie.

So fuelled by bean paste I headed up the first climb, which I had hiked with Steve. It wasn’t too bad and I thought, maybe I won’t find these sections as hard as Chris did…but when I go to the point where Steve and I had exited the track it seemed to go on and on.

I finally got to A7 a tiny checkpoint with no crew allowed and I knew the next section would be hard. I thought to myself, only two checkpoints to go, but it would probably take eight hours.

The next section was rock scrambling with ropes and as we went higher and higher I was thinking that Chris was right about how hard it was and also about the descent and how gnarly it was going to be.

I was feeling slow now and when we hit finally hit the descent I wasn’t surprised but slightly crushed to see Japanese lady Kaori Asahara behind me. She passed me and I watched hopelessly as she pelted down the hill. The mudslide turned into firetrail switchbacks, which I can usually run fast, but my legs were in pain and I couldn’t match her pace.

I could see two figures ahead on the road and one of them looked like Kaori. On the small rises she seemed to be struggling. I just tried to run consistently and wholly crap, there she was in front of me. After that huge downhill effort she was struggling. I passed her and waited for her to push back. She didn’t. I came into the last aid station A9 with 11km to go.

Steve was pulling my drink bottles out of my pack and I could see Sylvaine the French girl sitting down, someone was drying her feet and she had no shoes on, I have to go now, I thought.

As I ran out I saw Kaori at the food table, she didn’t look in a hurry. I ran to the trail head and started the climb up, looking behind me. I couldn’t see anyone. I thought I reached the top of that damn climb three or four times before I finally got there and recognised the track Steve and I had walked along.

I knew it was really nice single trail and then a pine descent. I didn’t think it would be muddy and joy of joys it wasn’t! I ran down as fast as I could with a guy with a camera following me. When I hit the lake I knew there was less than three kilometres to go – halfway around the lake I looked, I couldn’t see anyone, but I could see a guy with his huge camera lens poised. I ran six minute kilometres around the lake, I just couldn’t go any faster.