ARC OF ATTRITION 2024, 4TH LADY, 27 HRS 8 MINS

 This picture paints a thousand words but for me it says 'Yes I f*****g did it'!

'After' 📸 Credit: Will Harper-Penrose. 

Why the Arc of Attrition? 

I don't sign up to many races these days as my life is VERY busy. I'm in the military, work away from home during the week and often deploy abroad so weekends are precious. I also now 'work' for Trail Events Co throughout the year, though I can't honestly call it work as the whole team both old and current are like an extended family to me now. So yeah, busy. I signed up to the Arc purely based off a friend telling me it was an absolutely brutal race that he thought I would love; I signed up because oftentimes having a bit of a sufferfest is the only thing that makes me really feel alive.  

Before Arc, including training and 'that' race 2 weeks before

When I signed up I had no fears of completing it, hadn't thought of a time I wanted, and was just really looking forward to running one of the UK's hardest winter ultra's. That all changed when I realised I had another race two weeks prior and after sharing this information to the world of social media. 

I'll cover the Bandera 100k in a other recap but basically I had a 100k race in Texas, 13 days before the Arc, which I wasn't deferring as I'd already done so once and my family had made plans to run other distances in the same event. I posted about it and received both positive and negative reactions but for some reason the negative really hit me and made me question whether I was doing the right thing, classic imposter syndrome 'I'm not good enough to do these races so close together'. Despite having evidence that I recover well if I'm careful during a race, I let the dark thoughts in.  

My training had been sporadic at best. I deployed in October and spent 5 weeks on a  

ship where I shared 2 treadmills with 300 people and hurt my ITB by the repetition of dreadmill workouts. I did these runs instead of having lunch so I could have a session longer than 20 minutes. I did shuttles of the flight deck when it was open and ran shuttles alongside the ship when it was in port. I managed to get a weekend in Cyprus at the end, rented a car and drove to the Troodos Mountains to get some fresh air and hills back in my legs. 

When I got back to the UK I focused on night runs in the Welsh Valley hills behind my house before heading out to Texas where I was back to short, flat, road running because I wanted to spend more time with my family than running as I only see them once a year. 

I did A LOT of strength training and mobility training.  

A week out from the Arc I started to plan hard. I was thinking about pacing, where my

crew would meet me, what I would eat, and even stressing about which shoes I was going to wear and when I would change. This is the opposite to how I usually run a race and it made me MISERABLE. So I stopped. I realised I was doing it because of other people's comments and I would stick to my usual mantra instead: Look after my feet, stay warm, eat and hydrate as well as possible, and move comfortably as fast as I could.  

I went into the Arc with my eyes closed having only recce'd the section between Penzanze and Lands End (in the night in pouring rain, thanks Will, one of my favourite runs to date), and not actually knowing much else about the route other than there was a bit called the Dunes of Doom and a really crap bit somewhere between Lands End and St Ives that would take forever. 

On the other hand, my friend Jonesy who was crewing me had watched every YouTube video, printed off the guide, and probably found it quite stressful that my only directions were to tell me how many miles until I next saw him, how long I had until cut off, and a bag of things to bring every time and to guess the rest. It's worth noting that Jonesy does not run ultras and had never crewed before. What could go wrong?

A week before the race I flew back to the UK from Texas and managed to catch some sort of chesty cold. Mega. I figured I had a week for it to shift and would focus on resting. Resting didn't really happen as I was trying to get used to a different time zone, my cold was being a pain at night and I had two days working away at another camp. I decided I needed a confidence boost so on the Monday before the Arc did a 5 mile road run to confirm that sleep and cold aside, my body felt recovered from the 100k - my body felt fine but I hurt my toe and decided that I'd just rest the rest of the week and everything would be OK.  

Registration

I put leave in for Thursday and set off from South Wales to Torquay to drop my dog at my friend, and Trail Events RD, Adam, who was heading to crew the second part of the Arc on Saturday. Jonesy and I then drove to Cornwall (via Plymouth as id left half my kit at camp), and straight to registration. 

This was also the day that my period decided to start. F*****g brilliant!  

Through kit check super quick as all my stuff was in a box, I was chatting and catching up with runners I'd met on instagram and felt were real life friends now. Ferg, Mudcrew RD, asked if I would do an interview. I can talk about running all day so off I went chatting to Steve Cousins, Film My Run. He mentioned podiums as people tend to do, and talked about finish times. Up to this point I had only told 3 people the time I wanted to finish in. I didn't want to say it out loud as that put a lot of pressure but my aim was 26 - 28 hrs. 

Whilst not aiming for a podium due to being realistic after having just done Bandera, I based this time off the thought that on my best day I reckon I could push close to 24 hrs therefore on a mediocre day I'd give myself a few more hours, but any more than 28 would make me feel I hadn't tried hard enough to justify me being in this race.  

'Before' 📸 Credit: Will Harper-Penrose

 Start (Coverack) to CP1 (Porthleven)

The bus journey was lovely as I was chatting to Zuzana who id been messaging on instagram before but I hated the start. I hated waiting around for buses, I hated waiting around some more at Coverack after the buses and I hated running through smoke with a sore throat. It looks and feels pretty cool to be a part of that but I spent hours trying not to use up my energy unnecessarily and because I was feeling ill I was holding my breathe through the starting smoke which is never good when you're trying to run. 

I set off too fast. I'd heard there was a choke point and to get out ahead of it so I went out harder than I needed to and whilst I didn't regret it, I was holding on for when there were less people around and I could run my pace and not keep wondering if people behind wanted to be in front. 

I slowed a little and decided people would ask if they wanted past and started to enjoy myself.  

About 2 miles in I started to get a pain on the outside of my right ankle that felt like a blister was forming. I fingered my sock to see if there was any dirt but nothing came out so decided to leave it and if it didn't go away I'd get some zinc oxide tape out of my first aid kit. I figured as it only hurt when I turned a certain way then at least it would only hurt for half of the race.  

I was meeting my crew 10 miles in at Lizard so had snacks with me and I'd replen there. The plan was to swap out one softflask of water and one of Tailwind which I should have drank. Except the first part felt so manic that I'd had a Voom beetroot bar and not much else.  

I passed over mostly full softflasks and grabbed a bag of cheese wraps and crispy bacon. I don't often eat bacon but during Bandera I'd managed to eat really well and what they had on offer was cheese quasidillas and crispy bacon and it had worked so we'd pre-cooked and wrapped little bags of these. Absolute fail, I ate 2 small wraps and half a piece of bacon and my body decided food was no longer it's friend. 

It's completely normal for my body to reject food during a race but it doesn't normally happen this early on. The ONLY time this hasn't happened was during Wildhorse 200. 

When it does happen the only thing I can eat that doesn't feel absolutely repulsive is easy peel satsumas or oranges. I usually twin this with sugary cups of tea to try getting some calories in.  

I've tried to fight it and force feed myself and this always, without fail, ends in me running to a bathroom (or not quite making it there, hence I always carry wipes and dog poop bags), and having less energy than before as I've spent so much effort on this task. 

Miles went by and I could still feel my ankle rubbing. I went to check the damage again and thought I should probably do something about it and realised there was a tiny stone I'd failed to get out when I checked earlier and I'd been carrying it around for 12 miles. What a knob!  

My next crew stop was Mullion Cove at 17 miles but I didn't know until I got there as I'd forgot to ask when I was next seeing Jonesy. I swapped my flasks and grabbed some satsumas (which jonesy had pre-peeled for me, hero) and off I went to CP1. 

I was hoping to get to CP1 before needing the bathroom but saw a toilet and decided it was worth losing time waiting for it to be empty to deal with the period I had been attempting to ignore since the morning. This might seem like TMI but I'd completely forgot to think about extra stops etc so I was thankful to know there were places along route. 

I can tell you absolutely nothing about this section of the course except that it felt pretty runnable, which is hilarious as it was about to get dark and I'd have nothing to see at all!  

CP1 (Porthleven) to CP2 (Penzanze)

I got to Porthleven, was ran into the checkpoint by a lovely Arc Angel then saw Stuart, a friend of mine who was volunteering. We joked about how I wasn't eating, and I decided if I could find something less solid to eat that I'd try to get some proper food in. The Arc angels kindly gave me a tray of baked beans and a cup of tea and I wandered outside with them to cool down. 

If you're a regular person the great thing about the checkpoints on the Arc is that they're lovely and warm so you don't cool down too much whilst you're not moving, but I run super hot so this early on it was too warm for me.  

This event is the best place to catch up with so many other runners, back out on the road I saw my friend Cookie, who was crewing one of the other female runners, a sweaty hug later and I'd gone to meet my crew and get some more satsumas and hand over my sweaty tshirt as I pulled one of my long sleevers out of my pack for the night. 

📸 Credit: Runningfeel / Capturesbycookie

It quickly started getting dark and I got my first headtorch out. It's a Fenix HM65R-DT and whilst the visibility is incredible, I've been having a bit of a pain with it. Even on the smallest setting it's too big for my tiny pea head so I have to wear it with something else on my head. 

I'd worn it with a cap for Bandera but facing backwards as the peak of caps annoys my vision but I'd ended up with a lump on my forehead after only 2.5 hrs of wearing it due to the headtorch being where the cap size adjuster was. 

This time I put my buff on but this made my head really hot. Still, this was the only way I could wear it so I sucked it up. I opened the battery housing and turned the battery the right way around. Except the torch didn't work. I loosened the housing off. Nothing. I turned the battery round again to the 'wrong' way to make sure I wasn't being stupid and then turned it back the right way and hey presto it worked.  

My reason for storing the battery the wrong way is because the headtorch doesn't have a lock on and I've heard stories of people burning things because the bulb gets so hot so didn't want it to accidentally turn on in my pack and start a fire or ruin some important kit. 

This section seemed to pass by in a blur, we suddenly hit the tarmac and I remember thinking there was a big section of this, at some point I met my crew who had brought my road shoes in-case I wanted to change but my feet had been really comfortable so other than changing my socks and grabbing some Peanut butter pretzels at Marazion, I decided I'd keep the same shoes on for the whole race.  

As I headed into the CP with lots of smiles from the Arc Angels about my Snail shorts, I thought about trying to eat again but decided to just grab a cup of tea. 

I also headed into the toilet and found out that my period had stopped. This sounds great but it actually meant it was going to start again at some point during Saturday morning and I was hoping to catch it before it caught me. Not ideal to have to think about during a 100 mile race. 

📸Credit: David Miller Photography

CP2 (Penzanze) to CP3 (Lands End) 

This was my favourite section of the entire route. It was the only part I had recce'd and because we had such perfect conditions on race day this section seemed to speed by. 

The ground was much more runnable than it had been on the recce and as we had a full moon it was shining perfectly on the sea so I could see the waves crashing. It was just such a calm, happy section for me (especially once we had got off the never ending tarmac).

I spent a lot of it on my own though did spend short sections chatting to a guy called Joe and a guy called Ross who were both on their first 100 miler! I met my crew at Minack before heading up the steps but just for the standard satsumas and soft flask change over. 

The one thing that I really felt on this race is that even when you were alone you were never really alone. I love my own company on races but there was something comforting about knowing there was always an Arc Angel about to pop up, or someone from the film crew hanging out in the cold weather to say hi - I was told about the cold weather by others, I spent the race just feeling hot!  

CP3 (Lands End) to CP4 (St Ives) 

Lands End was my only 'mistake' area. I came in knowing the toughest section was ahead and thinking I really should eat something before that. I sat and ate a cup of soup and two bread rolls while a guy opposite me threw up into a bucket. Such is the life of ultrarunning, it didn't put me off in the slightest.  

I wish it had though as all that food purged itself from my body shortly after and I felt worse than when I'd gone into the checkpoint. 

The other mistake was my chilled approach to the race meant I had no idea where my crew was as we hadn't planned any details and I needed to take my headtorch battery charger with me but had no signal to call him. A kind Arc Angel went to look in the carpark for him but he wasn't there....turns out he had set up on the benches out the front where he knew I would run past when I left the CP. I wasted about 30 mins trying to figure this out as I didn't want to leave without seeing him, someone pointed out there was wifi I could use!  

The perfect crew set-up outside the CP that I completely missed.

I changed my socks, got my charger and a battery pack, and stuffed some more pretzels and oranges into my pack and off I went knowing I needed to get something in my body before Cape Cornwall when I'd have my last top up from Crew until Zennor. 

The miles to Zennor felt quick but I didn't need anything other than a softflask change over. 

The next section I was expecting to be horrendous but it really wasn't. Fellow Peaky Runner Lauren caught up with me and we stayed together chatting until St Ives. We both had moments where we were feeling a bit low energy and took it in turns to swap the lead and the miles disappeared slowly but a lot faster than I was expecting.  

We met crew in Zennor and I asked for some ROAR oats for St Ives - preferably with cold water. Apparently this was funny to all the crews around as it was very specific, but I was just thinking of how I could get more than pretzels and satsumas in my stomach!  

Lauren and I carried on and all of a sudden the sun was up and the entire night section was gone, it felt much quicker than I expected it to. I knew I was running on fumes but I also knew it wasn't likely I would run into a second night.  

In the daylight we picked up another runner which turned out to be Ross that I'd been chatting to earlier, I didn't know what he looked like as I'd met him in the dark so only realised it was Ross after the race had finished!  

CP4 (St Ives) to Finish (Porthtowan) 

We got to St Ives and Lauren was planning on meeting her crew a mile later so we said we'd probably see each-other soon as we were planning on stopping a similar amount of time. 

Once in the checkpoint I changed my socks and ate 2 bowls of rice pudding and jam, I was so hungry at this point I cared more about making the hunger stop than getting energy as I knew I had about 5.5 hrs left of running which didn't feel like a lot. 

I went to the bathroom before I left and realised my period had started again. Luckily there were emergency supplies in the bathroom as mine were in my race-pack in the main hall! Thanks Mudcrew!

I then met my crew outside and handed over my chargers and some of the food I'd taken on a tour of the coast path and hadn't touched at all!  

I set off and laughed that there were so many hills but Lauren had already warned me there was a mile of hill. I did a little instagram video about how I was meeting my friend so we could finish in 5th place together but got to where Lauren was stopping and she must have been quicker than me as she had already gone. I started singing country songs to pass the time a little quicker as I was running through a lot of built up areas and was a bit bored (what a luxury to be bored on a run like this)! 

I caught up with Ross again but soon had to run into a nearby cafe as the rice pudding was making an appearance.  

I got 6 miles past the checkpoint and was expecting to see my crew but there was nobody around. I was voicenoting with Adam so knew him and dogface were on the way but another mile passed and I hadn't seen my crew. I gave Jonesy a call and he assured me I hadn't passed him yet as he was tracking me. 

About half a mile later I saw my crew and had a 20 second tear just saying 'I'm so hungry'! I asked for my earphones and some crisps and Jonesy told me Adam and dogface were meeting me soon. 

I carried on running and kept hitting small bits of sand. 'Are these the Dunes of Doom' I wondered. Having not looked at the route properly I had no idea if I'd already done the Dunes or they were coming up.  

I meandered through the Dunes and was chatting to another guy and we were making sure to stay on the GPX as I worried about getting a time penalty for taking local known racing routes that I clearly didn't know. I just didn't want to do anything 'wrong'. 

All of a sudden in the distance I saw Adam and a little black dog that was more interested in having a lovely time in the sand than saying hi to me.  

Adam was waving a bag of satsumas at me and I said I was only managing a couple of crisps now. I was barely even drinking anything. He told me Lauren was up ahead about 7 minutes with another girl. I wondered if I could catch them so I could finish with Lauren but wasn't sure if I'd be able to make up the time.  

I think I had around 12 miles left and though I was hungry I'd been careful so far not to push to exhaustion as I like to finish strong and not broken. I kept meeting Adam and Jonesy every few miles but gave up on the crisps or swapping bottles and just focused on finishing so I could force a hug from my dog. 

All of a sudden I saw Lauren in the distance, I shouted her name and was so happy to see her smiley face but she was walking with another girl so I said hi and ran passed as I didn't want to stop now. 

I climbed a hill and thought I heard the gate behind me go so looked back and saw someone in similar colours to Lauren. I slowed to a walk to see if she would catch up but I don't know if it was maybe just a walker as I didn't see her again so I started running again.  

Time passed quickly as my crew kept popping up just to say hi as I didn't want anything now. I did stop to take a break to drink a can of San Pelligrino (Adam knew this was a favourite of mine especially late into a race) but other than that I was happy to just mooch on to the end. 

I had to laugh a few times at the steps that seemed to go on forever up a couple of the hills and wondered if I'd missed another hill in the dark. I'd seen someone put pictures of a big hill and say to take the switch backs rather than go straight up but I hadn't recollected seeing it. Turns out it was the final hill to the finish. 

The Arc Angels handed me over to each-other down a road and all I had was this hill left. I kept asking everyone if I would know when I was at the finish as I realised I didn't know the way into it at all.  

I hiked up the hill thinking that it really wasn't as bad as people had said. I think when you hear the horror stories sometimes the idea you have in your mind of how hard something is going to be doesn't match the reality. 

I ran into the finish and hugged my dog and was super happy to see I'd finished in 27 hrs 8 minutes and as 4th lady. I went off for a second it check to make sure I had been carrying all the mandatory kit for the race. 

The aftermath 

Was the Arc as tough as I was expecting? Honestly nowhere close. I smiled my way around most of the course and nothing was as bad as I was expecting it could be. I'm very comfortable in my own company and being in the middle of nowhere with just my dog but I've also been in the British Army for 17 years and whist I've had some great times, perhaps having been exposed to some proper shit times since a young age has meant my tolerance for suffering is a little bit different to others.  

The course was a lot of fun and when it was daylight the views were fantastic. The route is undulating with never too much of the same thing so it never feels like you're using the same muscles and I think that really helps to keep the legs and feet comfortable. We were very lucky with the weather and even though there were some muddy, boggy bits, the course was a lot nicer than it had been only a month before despite the fact it had rained the night before the race.

You are looked after every step of the way and it feels like you have hundreds of family members and friends routing for you even though you've never met most of them. The community of this race is incredible and the best I have ever experienced.  

I had a great crew who accepted I was going to barely eat and never tried to push me to do what seemed like a good idea yet had always made sure they had both savoury and sweet options ready had a wanted anything.  

Will I do this race again to try beating that illustrious 24 hr mark? The answer to this is probably in the hands of my deployment  schedule rather than a decision I can make myself, but I'd definitely need to figure out how to get my nutrition sorted first!  

A huge thank you to my crew, and the many many many volunteers that made this race the fantastic experience it was.

My soul is happy.

📸 Credit: Bluekite creative

📸 Credit: Bluekite creative