WILDHORSE 200 - A RACE THAT GAVE ME MORE THAN I COULD EVER HAVE WANTED

The Day Before

As I live just over an hour from the finish and didn’t know when or even if I would finish, I chose to leave my car at Rhossili and use the coach put on by Rhys to take us back to the start point for kit check and race brief later that day. My mam lives 35 minutes away from Chepstow so had kindly made me a picnic for the journey, was picking me up later that evening and dropping me off early the next morning.

Of-course I ate none of my food on the coach as I was too busy excitedly chatting to other runners (mainly Graham and Dan who I didn’t know at the time but I would spend time with during the race). We arrived at Chepstow around 4pm to find everything other than a small Italian restaurant closed and with kit check not for another hour decided to have a couple of (soft) drinks while we waited.

Ninety minutes passed in a blur and we went to do kit check which as my mam described it when she picked me up later ‘looked like a party’. We had a 100% check of the mandatory kit, and there was a lovely buzz while everyone chatted waiting for the race brief and I managed to catch up with my lovely friends Sara, who was also running, Jason, who was crewing, and eat my ‘lunch’ in front of Toby the Beagle (sorry Toby). I’m not very good at eating during events so I really wanted to make sure I ate something the day before, it seemed I was almost failing at the first step.

The race brief gave us all the information about which signs to follow and where we would be seeing our checkpoint bags (every stop) and sleep bags (3 designated stops) and as it was my birthday on the Saturday of the race, I was kindly given a birthday card and some cupcakes for the big day from Rhys and Cerys!

Soon we were released ready to panic-sleep before the big day. My mam picked me up and had brought my dinner with her so that I could eat in the car and sleep as soon as I got home. I think I managed 5 hrs that night, which for me is a good sleep.

Start – CP1 (28 miles)

The race started at 0600 hrs Wed 13 Apr. I was chatting to Sara and hadn’t realised we somehow ended up at the front so as soon as we started moving I slipped back a little, thinking I had absolutely no business being up there.

I settled into a rhythm and was chatting to Stu (who I’d done a recce run with and who ended up winning the race), Dan (who hadn’t ran more than 46 miles before), Graham (we’d met on the coach the day before), Jon, and a runner whose name I never found out so referred to as ‘ponytail’ for the duration of the race (when the group gradually split up I still wanted to know how everyone was doing as to be it feels like a little family when you’re in these crazy things together).

I’d already recce’d the first 20 miles of the race with a friend and having lived in the Forest of Dean until I was 15, a lot of places were familiar anyway so I knew this first section was one of the easier sections. During this section my left knee started feeling ‘different’ (I’d ended up in A&E getting it glued back together 6 weeks before after falling on a recce run and hitting it off a rock). I messaged Mark, who was crewing me, that it needed taping and expected to see him at CP1 but as we popped out onto the road before heading into Caswell Wood he was there with the tape ready.

I spent most of this section giving a tour of childhood memories to the guys I was running with (Graham, Dan, and Jon – Stu and Ponytail had shot off ahead), which included making sure they all got a pic as we came up towards The Kymin. The route takes you past the white building so if you were concentrating on running you might miss the viewpoint. This section also had hundreds of bluebells at this time of year, which brought back memories of my childhood. It was the perfect start to a race.

We came into Monmouth and stopped off in a shop for snacks. I didn’t feel I needed anything extra at this point but as it was a warm humid day I grabbed a Vimto Squash and while waiting for the guys went outside to chat to Mark who had parked up in-case I needed anything.

The next 8 miles was FULL of gates, I remember joking it should be called the WildGate 200, we hadn’t seen any horses yet. Graham dropped back and Tom joined us, and we arrived at the checkpoint at 1216 hrs, just over 6 hrs in and 2 hrs ahead of my ‘best case scenario plan’.

At CP1 I changed socks (more Injinji toe socks), lubed up my feet (Runners Rub) and changed shoes to my Adidas Terrex Speed Pro. I have heard ALL the reasons why these shoes should not be worn on a 200 miler but they work perfectly for me and are my favourite trail shoes to run in. I also ate some very cute looking ham sandwiches from the CP volunteers after Mark had made me Curry flavour super noodles – Bleurgh! To be fair I had said I will eat any flavour noodles but didn’t even consider curry flavour would be an option or a choice! I chucked some more snacks in my bag (snack of choice was choc & hazelnut crepes and Voom bars at this point) and off Dan, Jon, and I went. Forgetting Tom.

CP1 (28 miles) – CP2 (50 miles)

No sooner had we realised we forgot Tom than he caught up to us. CP1 to CP2 was the most forgettable section for me. The views were beautiful and this is where the hills started to come into play. Jon and Tom got out their poles and Dan and I discussed whether we wished we had brought them or not. I’ve taken poles on 3 races and each time I have carried them more than used them, so they are just not for me. When we were a few miles from the CP we heard someone cheering, I cheered back not knowing who or where this person was and then out of nowhere we saw Rhys’s smiley face.

We mooched along and suddenly there was a drone above us. We started laughing at how we were being terrible for the footage of the race as we were just walking at this point. It probably didn’t look hilly but even a slight incline and we weren’t running as we had a long way to go.

We had a slight detour off the path to get to another which meant following one of Rhys’s signs and tape through a tree graveyard. Dan was in front and I asked him if he was actually following the tape or just walking, his response of ‘just walking’ cemented our groups phrase of ‘Don’t follow Dan’.

We got to the CP and the volunteers made me a lovely cup of tea and even had oat milk. Adam had turned up to help crew at this point which meant that my meals from now on mostly consisted of cheese toasties as he had turned up with his sandwich maker. Once again I changed my shoes and socks. I put on a brand new pair of white Adidas Terrex Speed Pro’s and some Injinji crew socks, and everyone joked that I looked like a footballer. I know new shoes are never a good idea but I also know that my feet agree with these shoes from the off and that I would have zero issues.

CP2 (50 miles) – CP3 (65.5 miles)

Jon, Tom, Dan and I set off just before it got dark and made our way past Grwyne Fawr Reservoir and up to Waun Fach. This was the highest point of the race but I had done a recce 6 weeks prior so knew it was an easier section than it sounded. As it got dark and we started following the GPX we actually got to the top without even realising. The wind suddenly picked up when we were mooching around following the horseshoe of peaks on our way towards Crickhowell and it was time to put a jacket on.

Before we got to CP3 I realised that we were going to get there much earlier than I expected. I had a ‘best case scenario’ pacing which I had written down when I couldn’t concentrate the week before. The scenario was a complete guess but would mean finishing the afternoon of Saturday 16 Apr, my birthday and I thought it was completely out of reach but it’s always nice to have a dream. I had two other scenario’s: a ‘good’ scenario of finishing at any point before midnight on my birthday and a ‘happy’ scenario of finishing at any point within the allotted time.

CP3 was a sleep station and though I had decided beforehand that I wasn’t going to sleep until the second sleep station, approaching it I started considering that it might be worth trying to get some sleep during the night rather than waiting until the daytime, especially as I was over 3 hours ahead of my best-case scenario. We arrived at CP3 just before midnight and I immediately knew that I wouldn’t be sleeping. I was too excited that I had essentially reached the same point as I had dropped out of my last 200 + mile race attempt due to injury.

Another change of shoes and socks and more toasties and we were soon on our way out of the CP.

CP3 (65.5 miles) – CP4 (86 miles)

This next section was tough as I felt more tired than I was expecting to. My sleep schedule is inconsistent day-to-day so I usually get through the first night with no sleep just fine but this felt different to normal. Maybe it was knowing that we had a 10 mile loop left once we got to Talybont Reservoir before it became a sleep station.

The guys and I were a lot less chatty during this section so I was in my head a lot and was working out the next sections of the race, thinking about the fact that Rhys had said that 142 miles meant the hard part was over and realising how close that was to where I was right now (and yes I realise that I was over 56 miles away from that point but ‘close’ is relative isn’t it).

I knew we had Tor Y Foel coming up in this section as I had recce’d CP3 – CP5 with Stu and I was telling the guys I hoped we saw it in daylight as the views were incredible. I got my wish with the sun coming up around the time we started to ascend. Jon and Tom started climbing ahead of Dan and I and soon left us for dust. I guess that’s one of the downsides to not taking poles (though I still do not regret not taking them).

We expected not to see the guys until the CP but Tom was waiting near the top taking photos and the three of us soon caught up to Jon on the descent. This didn’t last too long and when we got on the last road to the CP Jon and Tom sped up ahead of us again. I hated this road, I had ran it last year for another race from Brecon to Cardiff and it just goes on and on. It was on this road that I saw Lenka speeding back down the hill past us looking nothing like a gazelle! She was incredible to watch and I was really rooting for her to win the whole thing (sorry Stu, girl power and all that).

At some point during this section I was sleep-running and Dan found it hilarious that I kept veering sideways. We reached CP4 at 0804 hrs.

CP4 (86 miles ) – CP5 (96 miles)

After a change of socks and shoes (road shoes for me this time), I grabbed Dan and off we went. Dan as we know, was not one for navigating, so I just followed the route I had ran with Stu on the recce without checking the GPX. Turns out we were doing the right loop but the opposite direction to other people…could have been worse though, I later found out that some other runners had been directed to an entirely different reservoir to run around by some well-meaning members of the public! It was actually quite fun to be running the opposite direction as we saw some of the other runners and the distance and elevation was the same regardless.

We got back to CP4, which was now our CP5, at around 1115 hrs. Again, complete change of socks, re-taping and lubing my feet (no blisters but I decided to tape the balls of my feet to prevent hotspots). I also ate more snacks but gave instruction to Adam and Mark that I would have some porridge when I woke up and that I was going to set my alarm for 3 hours time.

I managed to get 1 hours sleep and woke feeling tired but knowing I would not get any more sleep. Adam and Mark had left me in the back of the car and gone to a café so as not to disturb me so I wandered around in my dressing gown (yes, an actual dressing gown) chatting to people and snacking until they arrived back an hour later. Soon after this my friend Tristan arrived to pace me for part of the next section so Mark force fed me porridge whilst I got my things ready to go.

CP5 (96 miles) to CP6 (118.5 miles)

Tristan and I set off and it was a lovely downhill section until we reached the canal. We kept a pretty even pace and before I knew it 7 miles was over, and Mark and Adam were there to pick Tristan up whilst I carried on alone to the Storey Arms where the next CP was.

I had been dreading the monotony of this section with the flat canals and the roads leading to the next CP but in reality this was one of the sections I enjoyed every second of. I put my music in and had literally no idea where I was on route or how many miles until the next CP. I was already over the mileage I should have been at but didn’t know by how much exactly so couldn’t work out how many miles I had left so didn’t try. My Ultra playlist currently has over 62 hrs of songs of varying styles and speeds but when Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ came on I started laughing like a hysterical person and singing along – luckily nobody saw me, the song just seemed so apt at the time and it made me really happy to think about what I was doing. It was the first time I had thought about the event as a whole and realised that I probably was going to complete it.

I arrived at CP6 around 1920 hrs and was surprised to see Jon, Tom, and Dan still there as they had left CP5 hours before me. I had sped up quite a bit in the last section without realising and my friend Laura who was pacing the next bit, had seen the ETA on my tracker dropping quickly and thought that I may get to the CP before she arrived to run with me.

I changed into my Adidas Terrex Speed Ultra which I would wear for almost the rest of the race (a bit heavier and more padding than the Pro version).

CP6 (118.5 miles) - CP7 (142 miles)

This next section had been described in the pre-race email as ‘it’s remoteness will kick you in the teeth’ therefore I had recce’d it on my last training run a couple of weeks before. I knew the next 7 miles had amazing views and the section after that I had said I would be happy to do in the dark. Never did I think I would get so close to everything I wanted. Rather than head up soon and get the good bit in the last of the light hours, I took my time and ate (crisps for the first time) and Mark retaped my feet while I ate.

Laura had brought her dog Wellington and for the next 15 miles we had a much overdo catch up whilst laughing at Wellington and how excited he was for his big night run. We soon had our headtorches on and even when I did this section in the daylight on my recce you have to pay close attention as you feel like you are on a path and then suddenly you’re heading off following it in the wrong direction. There was a lot of energy sapping as we roamed about and before I knew it we had reached the carpark about 7 miles in.

I thought this was where Laura was leaving me but had a lovely surprise when I realised she was continuing on a little further. We crossed the road and followed the giant open tracks and were suddenly on the Beacons Way section that I had wanted to do in the dark. The mist came in and I felt really cold all of a sudden. I know that when I’m tired I get colder anyway, so I layered up with my waterproof trousers and two jackets on and we mooched through the boggy bits.

About 15 miles into this section we reached a road where Mark was swapping with Laura and Adam was taking her back to her car. Pacers were meant to start at CP’s but Mark had spoken to Rhys and cleared it that they could change over as Wellington couldn’t do the rest of the section with us so Laura would need to head home with him. I was super tired by this point and had a little 30 second happy tear (it was so small my friends hadn’t realised) then spent a bit of time changing into leggings and re-doing my feet and suddenly the 3 guys were back with us. I hadn’t realised how much further I had pushed on.

They left the road slightly ahead of me but we soon caught up and in the terrible weather we all mooched about the rest of the section together. It was at this point Dan started talking absolute nonsense (which I told him) as he was clearly overtired, it was absolutely hilarious and cheered me up no end! He kept asking why we were just going up and down hills and had forgotten we were doing the Wildhorse and thought Mark was taking us on a jolly!

As we got closer to the CP Tom started picking up the pace and disappeared into the distance, Jon was getting faster too but I didn’t want to leave Dan and the cramp in my feet was starting to get harder to ignore but Mark reminded me that the cramp would be there regardless of how fast I went so I may as well run into the CP and he would stick behind to make sure Dan got in safe.

I arrived at CP7 at 0650 hrs and had some delicious Vegan Chili before getting in the back of Marks car for a 90 minute sleep.

CP7 (142 miles) - CP8 (166 miles)

After a sleep and another change of socks and t-shirt, Mark and I set off from the CP. Tom and Jon had set off beforehand and Dan wasn’t ready to leave yet.

This section was absolutely beautiful but for some reason I felt more tired after my sleep than I had before, and was doing the sleep-running thing again. We were tracking Dan to see how he was getting on as he had seemed a bit out of it arriving at CP7 and noticed that his tracker kept jumping above and below the route line but that he was still quite a way behind.

I started getting cold as I was tired so put a windbreaker, a hat, and gloves on. I always run hot and as the sun was out, this was enough to bring me back to a normal temperature without overheating.

Adam met Mark and I near the STUNNING Carreg Cennen Castle and he handed Mark a McDonalds. He had a vast array of every snack option you could imagine laid out in his boot for me as I had stopped eating toasties and was in that ‘I don’t want to eat anything else but also I’m soooo hungry’ phase. Now, I haven’t eaten McDonalds for more than 10 years because I don’t like it and neither does my stomach, yet for some reason this looked like the most delicious thing in the world. Adam handed me a burger and fries which I would later regret.

Out of literally nowhere Dan came around the corner and was so happy to see us. He said he had been trying to catch up to me and as he wasn’t great with navigation had been looking at the app and when his tracker number was below the line he had gone up the nearest hill and when it was below it he went down a hill. Crazy tired logic and it had caused him to cut off a section of the course but he was now back with us so off we went.

The rest of this section was a bit of a blur and I arrived at CP8 around 2005hrs. I stayed here for a while but I can’t remember why, I just remember the CP staff being lovely and I’m sure there was pancakes or something like that to eat.

CP8 (166 miles) – CP9 (182 miles)

The start of this section was absolutely SHIT. There were tracks so close together it was hard to follow the GPX. Mark was still pacing me and it took us ages to figure out the right direction. We were running and walking along in the dark and wet for what felt like forever with nothing exciting to see and though it probably wasn’t flat it felt like a long, boring, shit flat section.

After some time, I looked at my watch and realised it had just gone midnight. I told Mark and he said ‘Happy Birthday’. It cheered me up a little knowing that it was likely I was going to finish on my birthday which was only a dream before I’d started running but I just wanted to get this section done.

And then the McDonalds decided to make an appearance. We were coming up to a built up area soon and Mark and I tried to get in touch with Adam to find my Imodium. This is the longest I have gone without having to either stop eating during a race or take Imodium but I was feeling proper rough by this point. Adam couldn’t find my Imodium so in the spirit of the race and not leaving anything behind, I had to utilise my emergency dog poop bags for myself! Happy Birthday me!

This continued a few more times but I knew there were toilets at the CP so kept trying to hold on for as long as possible.

As we got closer to the CP, I had recce’d the section but in my sleepy state could not figure out which way I had taken and ended up climbing some fences after going slightly off the GPX but not wanting to track back on myself since I was already 6 miles over.

Mark and I arrived at a field of cows which decided they weren’t going to move away from the fence and in my lowest moment of the whole race (which you’ll be surprised isn’t the headphone in poop story you’ll read soon), I started complaining about how there is no way the route should go through a tiny field with so many nasty cows! I also picked up a stick and creeped into the bushes to hide from the cows convinced they were chasing me (they absolutely were interested in the crazy woman with the stick but probably because I’d climbed into their field in the middle of the night and then gone to hide in the tree line like a weirdo).

We got through the cow saga and a couple of meet ups with Adam trying to convince me to eat anything he had in his car whilst I took the tiniest bites of everything but nothing was working. He had found my Imodium and we weren’t far from the CP so I knew I had a toilet coming up and then only 18 miles left.

We arrived into CP9 at 0540 hrs just before the sun was coming up.

My stomach was not in a happy place so I asked where the toilet was and was told it was a 10 minute walk. I did not have 10 minutes in me and had ran out of poop bags. The lady at the CP told me that I could pee near the bushes by the side of the road as it was dark ish nobody could see but there was nowhere to hide behind. I was too ashamed to tell her that wasn’t the issue so off I went to poop as close to a bush as I could by the side of the road in Ammanford. Not my finest moment but there was no other choice.

I spent about 3 hrs at this CP which everyone thought was crazy as I was so close to the end but I was way ahead of schedule, wanted a 30 min sleep and a decent breakfast so I did exactly that.

I slept in the back of Marks car which Adam had brought to the CP then ate 2 Summit To Eat meals I’d brought with me (porridge and rice pudding) and had my first coffee of the race. I did a full clothing change and had to borrow one of Marks t-shirts as I wanted to wear something baggier with how my stomach was feeling. Then I realised id lost my earphones and the last time I had them was just before id pooped at the side of the road!

I hadn’t put my trainers on yet so Mark did what any friend should never have to do and went to retrieve my earphone from near my poop, in the hope they weren’t actually in my poop! Thankfully he found the earphones but no poop so I imagine there was only liquid coming out of my stomach at that point (aren’t you glad you’re still reading).

I put my road shoes on with a plan Mark would meet me in a few miles to change back to trail and off I set.

CP9 (182 miles) to Finish (200 miles, or in my case 206)

I immediately felt incredible leaving the CP. I had a huge burst of energy from keeping a decent amount of food in and having a long rest and was listening to my music and just having a blast. I was running so fast (under 13 minute miles then dropping to 10:30 min miles) that Mark completely missed me and I continued on in my road shoes.

I was having an absolute blast, having recce’d the back end of this section I knew I would soon see familiar sites and was excited at the prospect of finishing and buzzing off feeling so good.

I continued on and saw Mark down by the coast a little later on. He started shouting to me to wait and asking if I needed anything and I shouted that I was fine and continued pushing through wondering when my energy would go and hoping it was here to stay til the end.

There was a big sand dune bank coming up and I knew that was the last ‘hard’ part. I was running and voice-noting my Trail Events gang as I’d been told my tracker wasn’t working and my mate Ash rang to make sure I was ok as he was very excited for me to finish but I had to tell him it was hard to chat and run, he didn’t realise I was still going!

I ran across the beach and took a video and sent it out on whatsapp saying I was feeling good and had a few miles to go and was hoping to finish by 1230. But I kept running faster. Mark saw me in a carpark coming off the beach but I didn’t see him and ran straight past. I was having the best time ever and feeling great. I couldn’t believe I had ran 203 miles, had 3 miles left and nothing hurt, even the foot cramp that had been present throughout the whole race had disappeared.

I continued running and pushing hard and approaching the last hill just before the finish, I passed another runner I had no idea was so close in front of me. I felt like I was flying. I ran my last 2 miles under a 10 minute mile pace and Mark completely missed me finishing as he couldn’t navigate the roads around Rhossili as fast as I was running.

It was the finish I could only have dreamed of, and that I didn’t think I was capable of. I was listening to Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark and crying tears of happiness as I sprinted to the finish line finishing as 2nd Place Female and 7th overall in a time of 77 hrs 51 minutes.

My friend Sara who had dropped from the race was there with a big hug and some delicious sweeties and birthday balloons. Her, Jason and Toby the dog had come back to see me finish and it reminded me that this trail running community we have really is a special one!

What a way to celebrate turning 35!

Would I recommend this race? ABSOLUTELY! The organisation and support is fantastic and the route is stunning! I'd actually like to come back and try to beat my time.

If anyone is thinking of signing up and fancies some company on any recces then give me a shout!