Exe to Axe 20 miler

Hi all thinking of doing this one for training for the exmoor ultra .Amy tips looks very hilly AM doing the grizzly 4th time this year is it harder than the grizzly ....
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  • fair play kittenkat it looks a great run think will enter .good training for the wall run as well .thanks.
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    When you say the Exmoor ultra, is that the Endurancelife one? The Exe to Axe is a great race but I have not done the Grizzly

  • Yes sideburn think on the 13th April 34 miles.
  • Blakester - will let you know on Monday!  Did the Exe to Axe a few years back, and really enjoyed it, loved the hills - Branscombe sticks in my mind!

    Doing the Grizzly on Sunday so will let you know! 

    TBH - for the price and the crowds would rather do Exe to Axe, but cannot this year due to other races so went for the Grizzly. That is speaking before the run, so I may change my view!

  • Hi running bench am doing the grizzly 2.really like the grizzly but sold out really fast last year.
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭
    blakester wrote (see)
    Yes sideburn think on the 13th April 34 miles.

    I am doing the marathon; I have just been out and done the 10k course this morning this is the first 10k of the marathon and the first and last 10k of the ultra. If you have not done the course before you need to do your homework. I think it is a brilliant course but brutally hard if you get your pace wrong... I cannot wait!

  • Hi sideburn have to look on website for map of course sounds difficult to follow ?

    Good luck Sunday running bench hope you enjoy the mud looks like its going to be a wet one & cold one...
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    I found the route a little awkward but worked it out wih an ordanance survey 1:25,000 (OL9). Look at the 10k course, that is your 1st and last 10k. This 10k event was won in just under 1 hour last year. It is hard with a series of climbs and descents up to 300m. The 10k before the last 10k is a series of undulations which are deceptive ie you think you are at the top, go round a corner and go up again! Very demoralising when you know you have to run up to 300m again! If you are able to scout out the course; especially the last 20k of it, do it. This is home turf for me so any problems let me know and I will do what I can.

  • Cheers sideburn looks like the exe to axa will be a great training run then . Are you training for a long run ? Never liked running hills but don't mind them now,I'm not fast but steady Eddie....
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    I think ultras are all about steady and good pacing. Next long one for me is in the Welsh Black Mountains.... ahhhh! 23rd of March; nice little birthday present to myself! http://www.mightcontainnuts.com/events/welsh_ultra_running_series/index_ultra_one.html

    Rode round the course last week it seems easier than the Exmoor; it is higher but there are less hills than Exmoor! 

  • SeelaSeela ✭✭✭

    I did it the same time as Kittencat. Effortwise I'd say it is as tough as the Grizzly. No bogs or stuff but more climb. I did dehydrate on the run, if I ever do it again I'll use a Camelback.

    There are a couple of navigational issues, but keep the sea on your right and you will get there in the end.

    Still at Seaton there are several excellent fish and chip shops and you can have a pint or two in the Hook and Parrot.

  • Good luck Sunday sideburn had a quick look looks good .grizzly went good very cold & muddy but done a good time .reading half for me Sunday ...

    Thanks seela really looking forward to the run now legs bit stiff from the grizzly but be back out tomorrow doing 12 with headtouch on.
  • Goodluck today sideburn hope run is on.did a good 24mile run today with some good trail hills,may print out route map and have a look got to do 16 next sat.or if I get Monday or Tuesday off will see.
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    Thank you blakester; I needed the luck! The weather was amazing and I have only just got home! I spent last night under canvas! My fingers and toes are still tingling! I have just posted this under "Rubbish weather" so apologies, but you get the idea!

    My race wasn't cancelled imageimageimage Which is almost a bit strange because it was in the Black mountains in Wales! We looned about in snow drifts, ice-fields, mud-slides, dirt-tracks that looked like small lakes, paths that looked like streams. I was as happy as a pig in s**t! Full credit to the organisers, Might Contain Nuts for going the extra mile. They upgraded the kit list, provided weather reports and revised the route at the last minute. I bet a few organisers would have relied on their cancellation clause and gone to the pub to count their money; but not them. I am feeling a little second hand at the moment! A bit of roast lamb should sort me out image

    I could not believe that some of the marshals were able to stay at a few hundred meters in a blizzard and not die! I would have been very p'ed off if they had cancelled but I would have accepted it as conditions were extreme. A good present to myself! Not everyone's cup of tea but just nuts to me! (pun intended). Sounds like you are well on the way with your training, but don't overdo it!

  • Sounds like you had fun sideburn will check it out next year . I just fancy doing more harder runs now more fun and challenging looking forward to the exe to axe then the exmoor ultra which I got to do a 30miler on my training plan.just need the sun to come out ..
  • Exe to Axe is a really good event. Hope it stays under the radar of most runners as the Grizzly is a bit of a scrum. This run is everything that the Endurance Life Runs offer without the price tag. You will be advised to take some food but there are several shops on the route . I especially like the cheep bus from finish to the start at the beginning of the race

  • Hi ian ... Really looking forward to the race hope the weather stays dry . Hope to run in road trainers if dry...are you running.
  • I will be there. Trail shoes would be better even if it is dry. At times you will be running down very steep slopes so the extra grip will help. Some of the slopes are steep grass which can be slippery even if dry.

  • Thanks ian will get trail trainers out do we have to run up the stairway to heaven like the grizzly ... Good luck Sunday have a great run.looking forward to it.
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    It has been dry as a bone down here; the wind has dried everything out! The weather looks good for Sunday. Just a shame I am working... But; 10 days to go 'til Exmoor image Have just run round some of the course today, last time I went round I was slipping around and wading, today it was like concrete, not pleasant, very uneven. Good luck for Sunday blakester!

  • Thanks sideburn . Didn't get a chance to make it down for a recca run will run blind but sounds like take it easy on the hills & more hills differently going to be a good challenge but good fun .will use it as a training run for the first part off the wall run.hope to catch up before run.
  • Plan to run this as a double starting at Axmouth in the small hours : 6 hours really slow to Exmouth then breakfast then join the race back to Axmouth.

    My last long training run before The Fellsman. 

  • Fair play ian sounds mental running there and back as a training run but we runners know the crack.I've got 2 ultras planned for traing runs first exmoor ultra then in may the Cardiff ultra then the big one the wall run (hadrains wall ).done it last year in 2 days 32 first day then 37 the next with camping in the middle which was the worse part.so this year 1 day ..good luck Sunday mate ..
  • Looks like top weather.race no.71.
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    Well????????????????????

  • Top run nice weather think only 200 done it .those hills with the steps was hard work.calf'sbit tight this morning .will do it again next year . 3hrs 37. Roll on Saturday bring it on.
  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    Would you like a 'if I were you I would' assessment of the Exmoor course? As long as anyone in the same class and event as me promises not to read it, of course!

  • SideBurnSideBurn ✭✭✭

    The course is hard imo; you start at sea level and run steeply up and along the coast path to a cairn (large pile of stones) at 300 metres (height); at this point you will wonder what you have entered! But the good news is you are running straight back down to sea level; except that the descent is tortuous and if you are not careful you will go arse over tit (and look and feel one) be careful. This brings you back to the start (11 km)

    Next you go out (the other way) along the coast path. This is just up and down through woods, a town (Lynton), along river sides, to Countisbury, you then look down to Lynmouth (spectacular) there follows a long descent to the town (Lynmouth). You may think the worst is over... but after this you undulate up down up down.... (loose the will to live) This bit is pretty hard. But eventually you come round a corner and look down on the mouth of the river again (at the start) when you get back to the start you are at 44 (ish) km.

    You then repeat the initial loop up to 300 metres...

    My thoughts are that if you are too keen on the initial 10k loop you will go bang in a big way; so take it easy. The race could also go wrong if you do not save a bit for the second 10k loop . Remember that the run down from the cairn is technically difficult.

    The worst bit is running round the headlands (after Lee Abbey) and hoping the next one is the one down to the start! I am certain that getting your pace right is the key to a good time...

    The scenery is world class! Enjoy....

     

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