Hadrian's Wall 2013

I've got a place in the Hadrian's Wall run in June. Doing it over the two days rather than one. I've walked the wall twice, although going from East to West both times, and really looking forward to stepping up from marathon distance to my first ultra, with the aim of applying for Comrades in 2014

Anyone else got a place?

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Comments

  • Yup, I'm in - two days as well. I was thinking about the single day as I'm a bit worried about getting up after 35 miles and running the same again, but was convinced otherwise. 

    Regardless, I think it'll be a blast, properly excited about it.

  • This your first ultra bees? I figured it would be harder doing it in one go. At least over the two days, you've got a few hours to refuel and try to recuperate. After my last marathon, I got up the next day and felt kind of daunted by the idea of doing it all over again, plus the extra miles to take it up to 35. Plus running with a pack.

    But... I'm hoping the training will help take care of that.

    You seen the You Tube video someone posted from this year's event? The weather looked grim.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LTY4g9KkEw&feature=player_embedded

  • Yup, will be my first - not quite been running for a year so far - stated November last year, first 10k in April, first half marathon in June, first marathon a fortnight ago at Kielder, now first ultra next June. Lots of training to get in....

    Some exciting weather on that video - who'd have thought hail in June, eh?

  • Wow - that's impressive going. How did Kielder go? I got a place but decided to pull out as it was too close to Amsterdam tomorrow and I didn't want to risk an injury tackling those hills.

  • Kielder was fabulous - perfect weather, lovely scenery, great folk and a beautiful run - last few miles were difficult (for me), but my training went awry and the furthest I'd run before was a half marathon distance, so I was just happy to get round. As it's the only one I've done, I've nothing to compare it to, but I'm willing to believe it's "Britain's Most Beautiful`' as the strap line says...

    Good luck for Amsterdam, hope you get some good weather and have a great time.

  • Kielder's a tough one to pick for your first.

    Had a blast in Amsterdam, and bagged a PB.

    You got a training plan worked out yet for Hadrian's Wall?

  • I’ve signed-up for the two day challenger with a couple of friends from our local running club, this will be my first Ultra (in fact only ever ran HM distance). I’m looking forward to the event, and have already purchased some kit to hopefully get me to the finish, which I’m already using in training.

    I’m currently training up to HM distance, and will shortly switch to start building ready for a Spring Marathon. Would be interested to know what training you will be doing? And whether you are going to wear trail/road shoes?

  • Hi Marcus

    You picked which marathon you going to do yet? I've got a place in Paris and humming and haaing about doing Edinburgh as well.

    No idea what to do about shoes. I might be wrong, but from what I gather there's only about 20 miles off road, so I don't know whether it's best to wear trail shoes all the way, or road shoes all the way and just take it easier on the off-road sections. All my running's done on road and bridleway, so I'm not sure what running on roads in trail shoes feels like. If there's no difference, I'll go with trail shoes. Any advice from anyone would be appreciated. Whichever I go for, I'm planning to pack a spare pair so if the conditions are bad on the Saturday at least I'll have a dry pair to start the Sunday off in.

    Training wise, I'm still checking out what other people think I need to do, but at the minute I'm looking to build up to doing 20-milers on consecutive days, possibly even 25-milers. Again, any advice from anyone would be appreciated.

  • Yey,  I'm so excited for you all - it's a brilliant event!
    I wanted to get a hybrid for the race (like the Salomon Xmax) but didn't get on with them at all so ended up going for trail shoes with just a little more padding (Mizune Wave Ascends), and I'm so glad I did. The weather was atrocious and the off road sections were mudslides - I think roadies would have been rather hazardous, but hopefully you'll have better weather next year!

  • I wore minimal trail shoes until halfway, then changed into some dry minimal road shoes. The trail shoes were perfect, for the draining as much as anything else. The weather was awful, and we were basically running trhough streams some of the way, as with any ultra it's all going to depend on conditions on the day, but overall I would recommend a non-agressive trail shoe.

  • myself and my hubby are in for the full day. Hubby has only ever run up to half marathon distance, i did an Ultra in Connemara last year and it was fantastic.We have decided to recci the route in bits over the coming months until next June, last weekend we ran 16 and walked 11.5 miles we set off from Carlise castle and was meant to run to Lanercost and then walk back to the castle, but we got a little lost , but had a great day, so guess what we are about to do this again in the morning we are driving out in the morning which will take us around 2 hours then hopefully run from the castle to Lanercost then walk back . 

  • Thanks for the advice Okapi and Tiago. Hadn't thought about having one type of shoe one day and another for the second. I'll have a look at hybrids as well.

    Amster - Hats off to the pair of you for tackling the one-dayer. Was Connemara a one-dayer or two? Hope you have a good run tomorrow. There's a few flakes of snow over the other end of Hadrian's Wall today, so I hope you're not faced with snowdrifts image

  • Connemara was a one day event 40 miles and was such a lovely run, very well organised,they have a half marathon and marathon and then the ultra, all on the same day.  Will do this one again some time as i enjoyed it so much.

    We ran yesterday from Carlisle Castle to Lanercost the first 15 miles of The Hadrians Wall route, it was lovley weather much better than it is today, i think we will recci the next 17 mile section after Christmas.

  • Amster, for me the bit to recce would be the last 7 miles stretch. I got lost several times and wasted best part of an hour. On the one dayer you'll probably be trying to negotiate it at anything from 11pm to 5am, pitch dark with no one around, some of it was straightforward some of it not so, and exhaustion at that point may have contributed. The rest seemed fairly easy going really, other than being under water in stretches which I'm hoping wont be the same next year
  • Did anyone from last year get a complete GPS of the route? Mine went as far as 42 miles then died on me.
  • Amster - I'm over the Newcastle end, so if you're doing a recce run some time, give me a shout and we could meet up for a training run. Maybe get a few of us together if anyone else is interested. Know the route from when I walked it, although I don't know the exact course they're planning. If you look on a map, once you cross under the A1, it's straight forward following the river until you cross the Millennium Bridge at the finish.

    EKGO - You doing the one-dayer again next year? My Garmin only lasts about 8 hours then collapses. Not sure how I'll cope on the second day without it. Does anyone know of any power pack or something that can be used to recharge it? I love my Garmin, but its limited battery life is a huge drawback.

  • I will probably use a battery backup pack with a spare set of dura cells, you can buy on ebay for about a fiver, garmin 305 got me 43 miles, but my old garmin 101 will get at least 14 hours so should be ok one way or other
  • I had one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Duracell-Mobile-Phone-Portable-Charger/dp/B005EKK2SG/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1351502476&sr=8-8

    After about 8 1/2 hours I just plugged my Garmin into that & had it in my jacket pocket (still switched on) for a couple of hours - fully recharged after that and back on my wrist. Worked brilliantly.

    As for a route recce, I agree it was very well signposted for most part and the only time I was worried about getting lost was on the last 10 or so miles. I think some jokers had pointed the signs in the wrong direction and nobody had told me that red/white tape was part of Rat Race signage too (d'oh!). Luckily I had managed to buddy up with a couple of other runners by then who knew where to go. Also, I would strongly recommend finding somebody for the last stretch on the one-dayer as I found it occassionally intimidating running on my own along mostly deserted paths, except some youngsters lingering & drinking beer (I'm sure they were harmless but in my tired state I was a little scared!). 

  • Hi everyone thanks for all the info, very much appreciated. would love another recci but it is going to be after Christmas, i have recci the first 15 miles and now would like to recci the next 17 miles if anyone would like to do this let me know and we could meet up.  For my own mind i would like to be able to recci all the route in parts before race day. 

  • Thanks for recharging info. The Duracell one sounds like it might be the best.

    Amster - count me in. Just drop me a line when you've fixed the date and if I'm free that day I'll join you. Hadn't thought about running the full route before but you've got me thinking now. What's the terrain like between Carlisle and Lanercost? - the Hadrian's Wall walking trail goes a bit further south. I'll maybe try and get over and do that section before Christmas. If anyone fancies tagging along, give me a shout.

  • Hi when you first run out of carlise its road and pavements until Crosby on Eden then it becomes footpaths and grassland.  The Hadrains wall path.  I know i said it will be after Christmas before doing the next recci but we may do this section again  before Christmas so let me know when you are going.Think my hubby needs the extra training.

  • I'm looking at maybe Saturday, November 17. I'll probably drive to Lanercost, then get a bus into Carlisle and run back. By the time I've driven over and whatnot, it'll be late morning or noonish when I set off from Carlisle.

  • We could go the Saturday after , as i arrive back from holiday on the 17th.

  • Amster, Amster's hubby and I have fixed up to do a recce run on the Carlisle to Lanercost section on Saturday, December 1 if anyone fancies coming along.

    We're planning to meet at Lanercost at 11am, then we'll drive to Carlisle, leave the other car and get a lift back to pick it up at the end.

    Just leave a message if you'd like to join us.

  • Hello stumbled amongst this thread hope training is going well for you all if you don't mind me lurking here. I'm interested, hope to do it one year probably not least to 2014 depends how next years training goes but its on my bucket list

  • I've just signed up for the Bungay Marathon in April, which will be my longest race to date. Think I'll run-walk-run in full wall kit.



    Anyone else run-walk-run?
  • Hi all - just found this thread as I searched for it image

    I'm entered as part of a pair for the 2 days. We're both first timers above marathon distance too and planning to walk / run it and most all just enjoy it!

    What training plans will everyone be following?  I'm following the runner's world "ultimate" ultra plan - unfortunately the link now seems broken but if anyone wants a copy (luckily I printed it out) I'll type it up again.

    At the moment I'm in a bit of a holding pattern and then I'll start building up to where the plan begins (4 March) after Christmas.

    Excited already!

  • Hi Pammie - what else is on your bucket list? I've heard of a race in Utah where the runners all set off in the evening at whatever time they like. The winner's the person who crosses the line closest to midnight. Catch is, you can't wear a watch. I fancy giving that a go some day. There's a few other daft ones like that on my bucket/lottery win list.

    Hi Sleepy Bear - Two days and first ultra for me too. You've got me worried now. I've just come up with my own training plan, starting mid December with long slow runs of 13 miles, adding a mile a week till the end of April, then splitting it over two days, so I do 20 miles one day and 10 the next. Longest would be 26 one day and 15 the next at the end of May. I maybe need to check out some proper plans as I haven't got much of a clue when it comes to plans. Or much of a clue when it comes to anything really. My plan probably starts earlier than many as I've got Paris marathon in early April.

    Marcus - Where's the Bungay marathon? My first marathon I'd planned to walk-run, but just got carried away by the atmosphere and ran all the way. I'm hoping to be able to run 90 per cent of Hadrian's Wall, saving the walking for the hilly bits, although I've read something that said if you're run-walking, you need to do it from the start rather than running till you're tired and then run-walking.

    After we do the recce on Dec 1 I'll stick a post up with a description of the terrain and route and hills and whatnot for anyone who's down south. I'll do it for the other sections as and when we get through them.

  • Don't be worried Weedy as long as you have a progressive plan that's all that matters - it doesn't matter which plan.  I just want to be fit enough to enjoy it as well as complete it!

    Looking forward to the recce report - any chance of you smuggling a digital camera in your rucksac?  Cheeky I know - but worth an ask image

  • Weedy - TheBungay Marathon Entry 2013 is on the Norfolk/Suffolk border only 5 miles from my home. It has a few hills, and is two laps so might stop for a maassage after the first lap! lol!

    And yes I'm working on running 25 mins, walking 5mins off the bat! Tried my first run/walk/run last weekend and quite enjoyed it.

    Ditto Sleepy Bear on the recce report! Have fun!

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