And now for something slightly different

(and some guy by the name of Bragg...)


A while back, my brother decided he was going to enter the Dorset Doddle...he lives near the route, he does a lot of walking (and cycling) and he wanted a big challenge.

It took me a while to stop fannying around, and eventually I signed up, got flights booked, relying on his generosity to house me, feed me and entertain me for the weekend (which he did without question)!

Timing wise, it was an interesting one...2 weeks after the Devil, a week after the Johnny Fling party and 3 weeks before Glenmore 24....so somewhere in between rest, rehab, training and tapering.  

Pre Selfie on Weymouth promenade

And I was kinda worried that Scott was going to whip my ass....whilst I do some walking during ultra's, I'm not used to walking 32 miles.....I don't have walking shoes, so I wore my Hoka's...and I opted for the southern softy option of walking poles as these were allowed.  I've never done much walking/any events with poles, and I do think they made a significant difference...not least because my left ankle is still a wee bit twingy and I think they helped take the weight (which is still above my tolerance levels) off...

The day before, I was pretty tired...we had a lovely relaxed potter around Sherborne and some coffee/cake, and then home for a disco nap, before a wee 'warm up' walk around the Maiden Castle ruins and then a big scoff to fuel us up for the next day.

Looking back from where we came

The 9am start was fairly civilised as events go, and we had plenty of time for a pre-event selfie, some chit chat with guys Scott knew, and to eye up the competition. These mostly consisted of efficient looking "mature" walkers and a fair collection of runners. I didn't feel any twinges of desire to be running.  
I wasn't expecting to see anyone I recognised. Turns out the event was won, and a new course record set, by some guy called Jez Bragg...ooops!  Ultra running royalty in our midst, and he wasn't even on my radar to look out for!  If only I'd known, I could've got all star struck!

Durdle Door (Dumble Door)

With very little pomp and ceremony, the event started (the organiser pretty much said "if you did it last year, the course is different this year" and then stood down....jeez, helpful!).  The runners shot off along the sea front, and the walkers power marched off and what seemed an unsustainable pace (I was worried!).  Thankfully we eventually settled into a steady, brisk march and the field thinned out pretty quickly (there had been 280 on the entry list).

The course was beautiful, and mostly right along the coast (in places, a little too close to the cliff edge and with no fence for my liking!), with unbroken views out to sea.  

The weather was mostly fine - a fairly stiff breeze (mostly behind us, but at points sidey-ways with a risk of being blown down a cliff!), warm, with a few welcome drizzle showers.

The middle stretch of the course was tough, as billed.  Several steep climbs and descents in rapid succession.

This did lead to some interesting high heart rate readings (who says HRMs are a good idea), with Scott's best idea for lowering his being to crash out flat on the grass.... This did lead to one of the other walkers giving me a row for abandoning him on one of the climbs, while I stood at the top waiting for an opportune near death photo!

Killer stairs - steeper than the
photo suggests!

 With a target time of 10hrs 40m (based on 20 minute mile average) we marched on, with only a few briefs rests for fluids at the checkpoints.  These were disappointing short of cakes/foods supplies, something many people had suggested (along with the low entry fee) as being a key benefit of the LDWA events! (there was some food at the finish but not on the course)

Luckily, we had packed a brilliant picnic - the most awesome sourdough, cheese and ham sarnies, chia charge bars, Mrs Tilly's and an assortment of gels, haribo and pretzels.  We certainly weren't going to be hungry!  And in hindsight, Scott was probably carrying an extra half stone in supplies!  It was an interesting experience actually feeling hungry and able to eat during an event - mostly in ultra's it's more forcing stuff in without actually having the desire for it!

We did get slightly lost a couple of times (the course isn't way marked, you just get an A4 sheet with some instructions and grid references (which would be useful if we'd had a map)).  Our tactic was to follow those who 'knew' where they were going...apparently, even the uncommunicative chap who'd allegedly done the event 20 times, didn't actually know the route....Hmmmm....

That said, we stormed to the finish at Swanage in a target busting 10hrs 5 minutes.  Sweaty, stinky, tanned and dirty.....and well pleased with our efforts!  

Post Event Selfie

I'm especially proud of Scott for his achievements - the furthest he'd ever walked was 17.5 miles (and that was without the company of an ultra runner with walking poles...ha ha ha....take no prisoners!), and he persevered through historic knee issues up and down some ridiculously vertical ascents and descents!  Me?  I already know I'm a stubborn bugger....

Garmin Link