In Trail Pursuits own words “Trail Pursuit is inclusive for beginner & experienced trail runners alike.” However this was much further from the truth that MANY MANY people (including myself and my running buddy) found out

The (Half) Marathon Route

All the routes were changed just a couple of days before the race – in truth, I didn’t really take much notice, however I did find the original route which was 42km and a total elevation gain of 1400m. The new marathon route was now two loops of the half marathon 24km with a total elevation gain of 1700m – with two loops – 48km and 3400m elevation gain!

It took us 8 hours to complete the first loop (there was a 5 hour cut off to complete the first loop) and marshals were on course only for 9 hours. Maybe we weren’t experienced enough? Of the 100+ participants, only 27 made the cut off for the first lap and only 10 finished within the 9 hours time limit

For the half marathon, the final participant finished in 12:40:48 and for the 10km route – the final participant came in over 9 hours

Don’t believe me? You can check all the timings here via AV TIMINGS

Too challenging to be for “beginners”

Basically all the routes were FAR TOO challenging and even for a 5 / 10km route, this should have been more set up for inexperienced runners – no way should a 10km route take any more than say 3 hours and that is being totally generous – any normal 10km at walking pace can be completed in 2 hours.

The half marathon route which we took was also too challenging with very little “real” running – I would suggest around a total of 5km running across the route from the total of 24km. Too many steep uphill sections and even the descents were too technical to run safely, especially the final descent which was just loose shale. There was only one aid station at around 14km. Not a huge amount of food for selection (this is fine, we were told to bring our own). But the totally unhygienic way of filling water bottles (in a post pandemic world) was totally inexcusable – the volunteers were just taking the water bottles and dipping it (wrist first) into a large water bowser. Trail Pursuit could have at least purchased a few water jugs to help ensure fingers, hands or wrists into the large water bowsers

Positives of the route? Just a few I guess – The views! Absolutely stunning views across Buttermere and the Lake District. Secondly, I managed to bag my first three Waintwrights.

A bit about the festival

The festival area was pretty cool (note, I stayed in a hotel so didn’t camp or stay around in the festival too long) A number of food vendors, live DJ, Cinema, presentations and Yoga was all on offer as part of the festival.

The festival was part of the running ticket. Talking about costs, parking was extra – £15 for the weekend per car, camping and SHOWERS were £15 extra – even though these weren’t policed and basically anyone could shower. There were a number of complaints about the low number of toilets compared to participants – fortunately I didn’t need to use the facilities

Gallery – Stunning views of the Lake District

Final Thoughts – aka A Warning

Hopefully all of the above is very much a warning – its really worth checking out the Facebook and Instagram comments (although they have been deleting the negative comments!).

If someone had told me that the half marathon route was a great hiking route with stunning views, I would have really enjoyed this race. But it wasn’t set up that way – too technical and not enough running. The 10km equally so!

Don’t do this race if it’s your first trail run, no matter what the advertising puff says on their website. If you are experienced and love a good challenging route, then Trail Pursuit could be the race for you. However, for anyone else, I would suggest looking at other races such as Lakeland Trails and Love Trails.

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I had cycled along the Monsal Trail a few years ago and recall it being flat, whilst having a look of a few YouTube videos also showed the terrain being pretty flat. I selected this due to its flatness and pretty scenery. I thought running through the long tunnels would be kinda different too.

I’m still pretty new to running, and working out my pace at all distances. Liverpool Rock and Roll being my first helped me understand what pace I was at (1.44.24) whilst the most recent race – Rhyl 10 mile, very flat, gave me a much better understanding of what I could achieve currently (1.16.12 – 4.43/km pace). My aim for the Monsal Trail Half marathon was  >1.40 (4.42/km pace) or anywhere close to it as long as I could hold on.

Bakewell, not to be confused with Buxton (a story for another time) is just an hour from me and across the Staffordshire Moorlands, a really picturesque drive cross country. Coming into Bakewell, there were plenty of signs to the nearest car park which was around 500m from the registration/start area. It was a great day, perfect for running, around 5c or so, dry with clear skies. Didn’t need the Dryrobe, and just walked to the start with my kit in the bag.

My kit choice was 361° Stratomics along with Enertor insoles and Compression socks. The stratomics are currently my choice of runners, really comfortable, steady ride and pretty light.

After a warm up (and wee stop) I made my way to the start line, lining up behind the front runners. I did feel I was still a bit too far forward but couldn’t go any further back because of the crowds. There was around 300 or so for the Half Marathon, whilst another 200 or so waiting for the 10km race which started several minutes after the half marathon.

We were off pretty much on time and after the first fast km (I think around a 4.25) I settled into my target pace of 4.42 and followed a pair of runners who were pretty much on the same pace. The route itself is really pretty, unfortunately I wasn’t really looking around, just concentrating on keeping a good pace along with ensuring the two in front didn’t get away too far from me. The route was a simple out and back, taking on 3 tunnels (all around 400 m long) – Headstone, Cressbrook and Litton before getting to Litton Mill (I think) for the turn around and hitting the trail back.

The trail up seemed to drag on and at times I saw my pace drop. It was only after the run and looking at the profile, did I realise how “not flat” the trail was. I knew the route was a false flat, but I didn’t realise how “false” it was. And does go to explain how difficult I felt the first part of the run was. I was therefore very grateful in having a couple of pacers in front to drag me through.

I managed to keep pace, but the way I have my Garmin 235 set, I don’t have the total elapsed time showing on the main face, so I wasn’t sure what my finish time was. I was so happy that, somehow I managed 1.37.37, smashing my target of sub 1.40 with an average pace of 4.39/km (I even managed a 10km PB along the route)

Across the finish line and I grabbed my well deserved medal, a protein drink and a few fig rolls (retro!) A short warm down and then a walk to the car to bask in the glory of a new PB.

Upon reflection, the route was a simple and boring out and back, not near as flat as I thought and so I did well to keep the pace in the first half and on the way back I may have been able to let go a little bit more. A really pretty route but was really lost on me as I was concentrating on the run. Whilst the tunnels was a welcome difference to the run. One word of warning, you cannot rely on GPS to map this route accurately due to the long tunnels (which works out to be around 2.5km in total). I would defintely do this route again, but possibly not to race, but a gentle social run with friends to take in the beautiful scenery.

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I knew I had the fitness to do a half (at whatever pace) but I was aiming for a 1.50 time so needed to train, research and test. Here is some advice for those taking on their first half marathon.

• Take on a training plan – I followed a plan via Strava which got me out 3/4 times a week – a mix of types and distances spread out over the week. This was a 12 week plan. I am not disciplined enough just to “go run” so a plan with regular prompting emails was ideal
• Nothing new on race day AKA Test your gear –  Having done numerous OCR, 5km and 10km races, I am pretty used to what to wear for race day. Reebok shorts, Norfolk running socks, Asics Calf Sleeves, Vest, Running belt (phone and gels) and Reebok trainers with my Enertor insoles.
• Fuel up properly (before, during and after the race) – They talk about “carbing” up the night before the race – but this is a bit of a myth and “carbing up” should actually start a few days out – this also applies to hydrating. I started drinking more using hydration tablets from the Thursday. During the race, I took my own SIS gels (the caffeine ones especially for the HM)  with the plan to use three around the course – 5, 10 and 15. Again, as with the mantra “nothing new” I have been using SIS gels through many other races. After the race, I had a recovery shake and banana immediately whilst I then chowed down on a KFC boneless banquet (minus the chips).
• Hydrate – It was a really hot day so it was important to ensure I was well watered and took water at every stop -whether I was thirsty at that time or not. I never took the lucozade on offer sticking with “nothing new”.
• Read the instructions – I tried to save £3 by not having the bib number being sent to me. I didnt realise I wasn’t able to pick up my number on race day and had to go on the Saturday instead (100 mile round trip). However I did take part in the 5km and had a good look around the expo too.
• Pace yourself – I had an idea in my head of 5 minute/km pace. I thought this would be comfortably uncomfortable and would be able to hang on at the end and get a sub 1.50. There is different advice about going steady and speeding up towards the end, or going at equal speed through-out (this is pretty much what I did). The most important thing is not to go out too fast in the first few kms. Where the crowds and adrenaline is kicking in. Stick to your plan and don’t get carried away.
• Enjoy it! – Taking on a half marathon is no easy task and it’s important that you enjoy not only the race, but the training before it. I picked Liverpool RnR for two specific reasons – the live bands promised every mile across the route (this was such a help!) and the course was very scenic. I can’t say I loved every minute of the race, but I certainly didn’t hate it!

If you have any questions about your half marathon, please feel free to ask me (im no expert though) take a look at the link below – or do a bit of research as there are so many great articles on half marathons that you can shake your stick at.

Thanks to all the “last minute” advice from my insta-friends. The original post can be found here – https://www.instagram.com/p/BUfQlPCDfvH/

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TLDR – I did it! 1h 44m 29s

Earlier in the year, when I booked the race, I was really confident in hitting this target – just over 5min/km pace i told myself and with the help of Strava, I set upon my four month half marathon training plan- three runs each week mostly consisting of 1 long run and two shorter runs.

However, the last 8 weeks or so, races (damn them) have got in the way – no long run weekends. So in the run up to this, the further I have run (straight, no obstacles) was around 12km – much shorter than the 21km I needed to run at pace. I had move my expectation out to a sub 2-hour run, but still hoping for somewhere around 1.50

Rock n Roll Weekend

My first mistake was to expect to pick up my pack on the Sunday before the start of the Half Marathon – I was wrong, I could only pick up on the Friday or Saturday before. I decided to do the 5km on the Saturday as well as pick up my pack. I had read somewhere that an easy run before a half marathon helps to stretch the legs. The run was great – I tried to take it easy and came in at just over 26 minutes. A little quicker than I wanted to be, but I felt good, the legs were fine and it was great to take a few pictures as the route around the docks seemed to be over very quickly.

The Half Marathon

As for kit prep, I had 3 SIS gels, a pre-workout shot and a protein shake for after the run. I was wearing my reeboks with Enertor insoles (of course), sub sports compression boxers, reebok shorts, enertor tech vest, asics compression calf sleeves and lots of gurney goo for lubrication. I was warned by many runners that i should not try anything new for race day – and all this kit has been well used across many races. I was comfortable with my choices.

The weather going into the weekend was a beautiful 20+ degrees! Great for sunbathing, BAD for running. Even in the morning of the 5km on the Saturday, it got to 21C at 11am. Sunday fortunately was much cooler – around 13/14C from 9am. At least that was one less thing to worry about.

Running with Vinni, I had planned a 5min/km pace and he had agreed to keep up as much as he could – however the issue was that he had a tight calf going into the run. I actually left him inside the first kilometre, part of this was down to dodging the huge amount of runners in front of us and the early quick(ish) pace I started with. I was also warned by runners not to allow the adrenaline to take over and make sure that the first few km was at a steady pace and no blow up too quickly. I slowed myself down and settled into a steady 5m/km pace.

I chose Liverpool Rock and Roll as my first half marathon down to the live bands playing along the route – pretty much every mile. This did not disappoint – it was great to see the crowds and the bands along the route which helped keep my spirits up. We were very quickly out of the city centre and I took my first gel (around 6km) and where I also (literally) ran into instagrammer @running_for_autism a quick selfie was taken at the water station and I was off again. I took the advice of everyone and made sure I hydrated at every water stop – using the water to cool me down, wet my sweatband and also as a quick drink. I probably drank a bit too much as at around the 9km mark I had to have an unscheduled stop.

I was up and through Sefton Park and starting to head back to the docks – I still felt strong at this point and took my second gel around 13km. I was looking at my watch and saw I was on course for a sub 1.50 but also on course for a sub 1.45 as long as I kept up my pace.

The final part of the run seemed to be endless and the most gruesome. It was a straight run along the promenade and around 5km long to the finish line. Boring! Boring! Boring! at certain places there was pinch points, with very little space for runners running shoulder to shoulder, so I had to be nimble on the feet again, trying to keep  my pace, whilst still not “shoving” people out of the way. I was relly tired at this point – the furthest I had ran before and just wanting to get to the finish line – which came up, hundreds of people lining the finish at the Echo Area. A great sight, a great medal! And what was more exciting for me – an amazing time of 1h 44m 29s!

Last thoughts

I think I was fortunate enough to be of a good level of fitness to be able to keep going. And even though I had never run any where near that far “straight” running Tough Mudders, Spartans and other OCRs at least gave me “time on my feet”

I had said that as long as I got sub 2 I would have been happy and not tempted to run again. Had I got near 1.45 without ducking under it, I think I would have had to go again. It’s the day after and I am still not tempted to run a half marathon again. But the Rock and Roll Half Marathon was a lot of fun and as they say “Never say never”…..

NB – I know I’ve copied the “proof” copies of my half marathon photos. I was happy to buy one but at £20 for a SINGLE download?! That is just crazy. That’s 2/3 the cost of the race.

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