Day -1, The Calm Before the Storm

Lots of races badge themselves as the hardest in the world. It’s very subjective and impossible to compare something like the Spine to The Marathon Des Sables or Badwater they all have different challenges. The Dragons Back goes for a specific niche “The toughest mountain race in the world”- it’s a hard statement to argue against. For me the toughest element was the multi day nature of the event. I’ve done lots of long events, back to back long training days and completed a Bob Graham Round in just over 21 hours but nothing on this scale. 195 miles over rugged mountainous terrain climbing (and descending) around 52,000 feet (almost twice the height of Everest from sea level).

Pre-race

I’d considered entering the inaugural running of this event last year but it sold out before I’d made the decision. For those unfamiliar with the event the following description is taken from the website :

“The Montane Cheviot Goat Winter Ultra will test even the most experienced ultra runner. 55 miles of the harshest winter trails, 9500 ft of lung-bursting ascent including the highest summit, The Cheviot, standing at 2,674 ft. Throw into the mix the unpredictable Northumberland weather that includes everything from deep snow, ice, gale force winds and torrential rain and you’ll be tested physically and mentally.”

Even before I had completed my Bob Graham Round last year I had decided that my next big challenge was going to be a Paddy Buckley Round. It is similar in terms of ascent and distance but widely considered much tougher because of the roughness of the terrain and lack of trods/footpaths.

Given the reccying I had done I definitely agreed with this and knew that it was going to be a challenge to complete in under 24 hours which was my goal and my schedule. I hadn’t done as much training as I did for my BGR last year and had a few annoying niggles which I hadn’t been able to shift, mainly a sore left glute and right angle which I’d twisted about 6 times during my training. I hadn’t been feeling well in myself either and considered cancelling the attempt a number of times.

Well all good things must come to an end and my Bob Graham journey came to an end when I climbed the stairs and touched the door of the Moot Hall in Keswick at 7:19pm Saturday 24th June.

It was the culmination of 7 months of training and around 5 years of planning, procrastinating, talking and preparation – to say I was happy is an understatement.

I was working on a 22 hour schedule and my training had went well so I was confident going into round.