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Hadrian's Wall 2013
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Oh no - hope you didn't get too cold and wet Weedy - bleurghhhh.
Will look forward to the pics!
Hope you all had lots of giggles - I get the impression you did
Thanks for a great run , really enjoyed it, had a really good day, great company
yes that water was very cold under that ice.
Looking forward to having a recci on the next section. ,
Registered for the 1 day
This will be my first long distance competitive run - the Wall seemed appealling...
Hoping to do it in under 15 hours but a more realistic goal is probably 17. Would like to do it before midnight turns anyway.
Hi Mr X - welcome aboard. Speaking of targets, what's everyone else's? Still haven't decided on mine.
Still trying to find time to cobble a report together, but I've now cracked the getting pictures from phone to computer problem, so here's hopefully an inspiring picture for Sleepy Bear's fridge. Sun coming through the ruins at Lanercost on Saturday
One day
Amster and Mr Amster
Benjamin Kissel
Blakester
Checkmate
EKGO
John MacKenzie
Mr X
Two days
Louise Hall
Marcus Nichols +2
Oscarr
Pinkbug
Pursued by Angry Bees
RunningRaRa
Sleepy Bear
Weedy
Love it Weedy - thanks!
Only target we have is to start and finish as quickly as we can and with a smile - however long that may be! (Optimistic that that'll be under 20 hours but if it's not well then hey ho)
So...
Carlisle to Lanercost. I made it 14.82 miles, but we started maybe 0.2 of a mile down the hill from the castle, so it's about 15 miles dead on. Elevation gain 556ft, elevation loss 449ft. Minimum elevation 40ft, maximum 250ft.
The run route (unless they change it) follows the official Hadrian's Wall Path for most of it, although there are two longish sections and one short section where it takes another route and rejoins the path.
Unless it's a bone dry summer, there's going to be a couple of bits where it'll be muddy.
Probably about 7 or 8 miles is on road and tarmac path, with 6 or 7 miles on farmland and farm track of varying quality.
Don't expect to see any of the wall yet. The nearest we'll get is a grassed over line in a field at about halfway
Roads-wise, we're not running along any major roads, and there's no major roads to cross either. It's mainly rural roads with a car every two or three minutes, altho it might be busier in the summer.
The fields vary from ones where the grass is nice and flat, to ones where cows have been trampling about and you have to pick your way and watch your footing. There's also a few bits near gates where the animals have churned the mud up so it's going to get messy if there's even a slight bit of rain.
First little bit's out of the castle and left down a hill along a pavement next to a main road. You very quickly turn off into a small park (where there's public toilets just to the left of the run route if you forgot to go at the castle), then onto a mud track alongside the river, across a river and into Rickerby Park. It's tarmac path in Rickerby Park, although you can run on the grass if wanted.
Next bit's on tarmac path along a minor road through a village called Rickerby. then you come to a fairly gentle slope up and over the M6 and into the village of Linstock. Here the route veers away from the Hadrian's Wall Path, heading along a minor road, then onto a footpath that runs alongside the A689 till you turn off a minor road into a village and run along to Crosby-on-Eden, where run route rejoins the Hadrian's Wall Path route.
You're now just over five miles from Carlisle and it's been tarmac all the way apart from the short bit by the river at the start. From here, the terrain's mainly fields and paths, and be prepared for a lot of stopping and starting as you go through gates and over stiles and whatnot.
We turn left onto a dirt track at Crosby-on-Eden, and if you keep an eye out on the right, just as you've gone onto the track, there's a farm with a big wooden summerhouse just off the track. In the summerhouse they sell sweets, ice creams and drinks, with an honesty box (and a security camera in the corner).
The track's tough going (called Sandy Lane on the OS map) as it's muddy and uneven, but it's fairly short, and you're back on a minor road, then you're back on farmland all the way till you diverge from the Hadrian's Wall Path just before a place called Irthington at about 8 miles. The half mile either side of Irthington's on the road, and about half of a mile out of Irthington, there's a bit of a hill. It's steepish, but only lasts about 200 metres.
Soon after, you're back on the fields, with one being a fairly gradual climb that goes on for quarter of a mile or so, but the ground's fairly decent to run on.
Route hits the road again at a place called Walton, and you go over a scenic little bridge, then follow the road for a little bit, then back onto fields and track all the way to Lanercost.
If I've got anything wrong, Amster and Mr Amster can correct me. If there's anything anyone wants to know and I've not mentioned, give me a shout.
One of the sections of track along the way
This is the kind of muddier section. We run down this, then come immediately to...
Mr Amster on the section just before you hit Irthington. One of the easier fields to run in.
And finally the view running down towards Lanercost Priory... If you look v v v closely about four tenths of the way along the picture from the left, there's a light coloured rectangle on the hillside in the distance. That there's the priory.
This will be the longest run for me too. I have 15 hours in my mind, but will see how it is going. I will not be disapppointed even if I finish sunday morning.
Weedy Gonzales - Thank you for the detailed report.
Is there anyone planning a recce run on the last section to Newcastle? I think it would be a great help to run on familiar ground in the dark after 100K. I live in Surrey, I will not have many chance to go up north, but I would like to do this bit in march-april.
Thanks Weedy - that's a great report, really useful, and thoroughly enjoying the photos.
In terms of time, I'm just looking for a finish.
Checkmate - thinking about Hexham-Newcastle in the new year. I'd need to find the route map somewhere, but it's about 22 miles. When I get round to it, I'll glue my GoPro to my head and take some pics... probably get the train up and run back. No particular plan on the date, so March/April could be good.
I did the one-dayer in 20 hours, I got an injury and did the last 9 miles slowly. I had hoped for 17 hours to finish before midnight but it didn't happen. My time before this for reference was a 37 mile ultra in 6:40. At the Wall I was at halfway in 7:10, not far off where I had planned to be. It was not easy running and the back pack got heavy in the second half, there are a lot of things to slow you down (sheer exhaustion, disorientation, etc) so when you estimate your times its wise to use your slower runs for reference.
I will be aiming for 17 hours again though
Thanks all, glad it was helpful.
Blakester - the route we followed was the mapmyrun route that's linked to from the Rat Race website. It's described as a recce run and was done in May, so there's a good chance the organisers changed the route in places for the actual event.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/120746581
Amster and I were planning to meet up again to do the next section - Lanercost to Vindolanda. We didn't discuss a date, but possibly some time in January. If anyone wants to come along, just throw out a few dates that you're free. It would have to be a Saturday for me. Might be easier if we set dates for all the sections now, so people have plenty of time to try and get along.
Checkmate - if we cover a section a month, we'll probably end up doing the last bit in about March/April.
Maybe we should all just pick a weekend and do the whole thing start to finish. Save us all a fortune on the entry fee
I've got a bag of little gold stars we can use instead of medals, and I can have a rummage about in the Oxfam shop at lunchtime and get some T shirts and a marker pen.
In an earlier posting, I said the route was straight-forward along the river once you've crossed under the A1. I forgot there's a tricky bit of about half a mile where you have to negotiate a big roundabout. When we get to it, I'll take a load of photos and give you a step by step guide. Could even do it beforehand as I drive close by it now and again.
If you're doing a recce of the last section please let me know, I got seriously lost there
Oscarr - it's a tricky one to call. I've never used trail shoes, but from what I gather they're tough on the feet when you're running on the road. The ground was fairly frozen on Saturday and we decided that frozen ground would be similar to dry hard ground in the summer. I just had my normal road shoes on, and I was fine, although there were two or three places I slowed down for because of mud, maybe only 100 metres each. I'd say 90 per cent of the route will be fine to run on in road shoes whatever the weather. There's probably two or three places where it'll be a quagmire if there's even a hint of rain. They're maybe only 20 or 30 metres long each tho. The other ten per cent will get muddy if it's been raining the day before, but still doable in road shoes if you're sensible.
I'd probably get advice from someone who uses both road and trail shoes as they'd be well informed on the pros and cons of each. And people who did this year's run.
Speaking for myself... after Saturday's run, I didn't come away thinking I needed to go out and buy trail shoes. The other factor I have to take into account, which some people won't, is that I wear shoes to counter overpronation, which I gather you can't get in a trail shoe.
I'm definitely going to pack a spare pair of socks in my backpack tho. And take a spare pair of whatever shoes I go for so I can start the Sunday in a dry pair.
I guess your decision also depends on what your target in the run is. If you're aiming for speed, that might affect your decision compared to if you're just aiming to get round and aren't bothered about time.
Weedy I have the GPS file from last year, unfortunately it only went to about 45 miles when the battery died, but it converts to Google Earth if you use the garmin site, if you wnat to check it against your run.
Hello everyone.
Quick hello. I've signed up, along with a group of friends, and we are running the Wall for charity. Nick - one of the group - has a son with Tuberous Sclerosis, and we are running to raise money for - and awareness of - this condition.
http://www.justgiving.com/WallsIScream
None of us have run anywhere near the distance of this run, and most of the group aren't really runners at all.....yet.
They are all in training and I'm sure they'll be as ready as you can be.
Personally, I've done a few marathons but am extremely nervous about my body's ability to run 65 miles. Looking forward to it though
I know the RW forums are great, and an excellent source of info, banter and support. I'll try to get the other chaps to pop in too. It sounds like things are getting organised on here already!
Hi Rockhopper. Just had a quick look at the justgiving site - looks like a really good cause. If you want to use any of the pictures I've posted here, feel free to nick them. Or message me your email and i'll send you bigger versions of them.
EKGO - that would be good, thanks
One day
Amster and Mr Amster
Benjamin Kissel
Blakester
Checkmate
EKGO
John MacKenzie
Mr X
Rockhopper Penguin
Two days
Louise Hall
Marcus Nichols +2
Oscarr
Pinkbug
Pursued by Angry Bees
RunningRaRa
Sleepy Bear
Weedy
Weedy - will mail you a link and send it via email
Weedy - Sent you a file
Oscarr - Deffo think spare shoes for day two - if they get wet on day one think they'd be a pain to put back on and run. I accidentally bought a second pair of Vivobarefoot Neo Trails a size bigger than usual, hanging onto those for the second day in case me feet are a bit bloaty...