Wye Valley Challenge Chepstow to Hereford 100km
What a weekend taking on the Wye Valley Challenge Chepstow to Hereford 100km ultramarathon. Since committing to the ultrachallenge way back at the start of January we’d been preparing. Entering all sorts of events, both running and cycling, gradually building up the distances month on month.
Thinking we’d trained as much as we could, we were looking forward to the challenge with little anxiety. The only downer was that summer appeared to have finished a week ago and we were expecting rain. Worst of all, throughout the night. Literally taking it a step at a time, we’d tackle that when it came.
The Start
It was a fresh but sunny morning. We weren’t jogging or running it, we decided that months ago. We wanted to trek it. Completing it was the goal, not as fast as we could but simply finishing it. We were in the first wave at 7:00am because we knew it’d be a long weekend!
It started well, everyone was in good spirits, we indulged in a spot of Zumba for a warm up, a first for us both, then we were off!
Views were pretty good and at about 6km in there was the beautiful Tintern Abbey in the sun, in the distance.
The rest stops were really well set up and laid out. There were intermediate, smaller stops and bigger stops with full on marquees with seating areas and hot food canteens. No quibbles there, we took advantage of these and there was no expense spared so credit where credit was due. Our only quibble would be to have had some zinc oxide tape and Hapla Bands – yes we took our own but ran out pretty quick. The other self-help medical aid (plasters, Vaseline, talcum powder) we also had our own but had plenty of. It was an ultramarathon that looked after the participants!
After #TheVogum 40 mile ultra we did in June, we learned valuable lessons that we applied to the Wye Valley Challenge. Feet strapping and foot care being the main of that. We knew that the state of our feet after 40 miles incapacitated us, so we had to prepare to complete a further marathon on top of it with this challenge. At the halfway point we were cruising. Fatigued but cruising.
The Middle
The halfway point of the Wye Valley Challenge was located at Ross, at tea time, was a Godsend. We fuelled up with a mix of pasta, cottage pie and soup and we were ready to roll out into the night. This is where the fun stopped and the challenge began.
We know the organisers had no control over the weather and we can’t hold that against them but jeez, it certainly was a challenge. Dark, wet and very slippery. Some places were treacherous – and that was being generous. The progress we made throughout the night was, and had to be, slow and very steady. Head torches were a must, obviously, but we had to shout out to Blusmart their headtorch was an awesome bit of kit. Fully charged beforehand and lasted the entire night on full beam. Illumination was incredible! We’re not being paid for the plug, it was just a great bit of kit that did help us.
We reached the 75km mark at about 3:00am. We made the decision, based on the conditions so far, to rest up. Take advantage of the rest stop and the hot food plus the masseuse. We took a prolonged stop to wait for the sun to rise as we had a wet ascent up a hill at Brockhampton. Natural light would have at least eased that!
The going up wasn’t the problem, the ‘steps’ on the descent were. Hellish best described them. We both suffered on them, picking up some near event ending injuries which made the final push agonising. We’d already beaten our previous personal bests distance-wise.
100km was the goal and it was getting ever closer that it would be a real heartbreaker to retire.
We continued on, masking the pain with a grimace, having passed several people who also had to pull out which was a shame. At the 89km rest stop all that was getting us through was grit, determination not to fail and of course, painkillers. Fortunately, the route eased up and paths, roads and grass verges were the final stretch. Inclines and / or declines would have finished us.
The last 11k were really hard work. We literally took it one step at a time. The rain eased to drizzle and eventually stopped. We hit the finish line at about midday and the sun was even out! Waiting for us was some bubbly and more hot food.
The End
We are aware that the wet weather spoiled it for a lot of people and made parts of the ultramarathon route hazardous and more arduous than if it was dry but credit where credit’s due, the organisers did a great job. The checking in with the scanners and the live tracker was awesome.
An achievement we’ll treasure with a cool medal and a T-shirt we’ll wear with pride.
