Here we go again! The build up to this race didn’t involve too much running this time - mainly hiking as I was preparing for my Moorland Leader qualification. I did try running and navigating using a map and compass at the beginning of my training, but I kept losing where I was on the map and managed to go over on my ankle a couple of times! So, I sensibly bought a sturdy pair of walking boots and hiked my way to the Moorland Leader qualification. Two weeks later, with little run training under my belt and some trepidation, I joined the start line with 35 other runners.

On ultra-marathons, I have found that I naturally pair up with different people and groups at different stages of the run. I have found that I forget parts of the route, but I clearly remember the people. There were four stages to this race and I remember them as the Katy segment, the Alex segment, the All By Myself segment and the Kevin segment!

The Katy segment was by far the longest stage - 65 miles long! I ran the majority of the first 65 miles with Katy as we had a similar pace and she was such an interesting person to run with. The miles and hours flew by as I listened to her recall stories of being on Wipeout, taking part in a version of SAS Who Dares Wins and her participation in the Montane Lapland Arctic 185km Ultra!!! Katy is a truly remarkable and motivating athlete, and I hope to run with her again one day.

Alex and I criss-crossed pretty much the entire length of the 112 miles. He is a machine with a great pace! He would run with me/us for a bit and then head off in to the distance almost effortlessly. This was Alex’s third attempt at finishing this race and it was really great to chat with him along the way. He is also a teacher, so we had lots in common. I think we both motivated each other to keep going at different points. I was surprised that Alex hadn’t finished before me, but I found out afterwards that I had run past him when he was in his crew van having some food. It would have been great to have crossed the finish line with him on his third attempt, but his food got in the way!

The next segment I really enjoyed - All By Myself! As we hit Exmoor, I was feeling pretty good so I decided I was going to put a bit of a stride on. The weather was perfect for running - warm enough not to be cold, but not too warm, and it was dry. Exmoor was new territory for me. The navigation was going well, I was fuelling myself well and my feet were feeling okay. I overtook quite a few people on this stretch and was feeling relatively strong in my legs and body.

It was whilst running at this good pace that I met Kevin. He was wearing a red race number which meant that he was a fellow 112-miler. He was looking lost and travelling quite slow and when I caught up with him I realised that he was navigating via his phone (which, as I found out later, is really hard to do for the Dartmoor Full Circle), and he seemed to be struggling a bit. I think Kevin’s motivation picked up again having a running partner and not having to navigate using his phone anymore. The pair of us flew across Exmoor and chased down the miles rapidly. It wasn’t until we hit the last mile and it went up and up and up that we slowed down. We hit the top and came half way down before going up and up and up again! After the ups, there has to be a down!! In less than 800m we descended 290m down to sea level - the switchbacks were relentless and Kevin and I were thankful to cross the line together after 36 hours of running. As I ran towards the finish line, I could see my family waving and cheering me on - I am forever thankful for their patience and unwavering support.

My next ultra is in October when I will be running along the North Devon Coast, but until that time I am enjoying my local runs around Dartmoor where I get to see wonderful views, meet interesting people and see wonderful wildlife (including a Melanistic Black Adder!) all in my back yard.