Scott's Ultra Marathon Story for Age Cymru Gwent
My Uncle Scott has asked me to share his #Wildhorse200 Ultra-Marathon Story, which he very kindly agreed to do to raise money for Age Cymru Gwent, an independent Charity based in Gwent supporting older people with Community Support, Information and Advice and Housing Support.
"I absolutely loved reading other #wildhorse200 ultra stories, so I have decided to do a little Gareth Anthony stag part 1 Wildhorse 200 tale, (you'll understand what I mean by this if you bear with me a little bit!)
Myself and Gareth have competed a few ultra marathons through storms and heatwaves, our longest being a 100 miler, but this was unchartered territory for sure...
The Wildhorse 200 (miles) was originally mentioned to me by the organiser Rhys Jenkins who I'd run Badwater VR267 elite with after seeing me on Carey (my daughter's) first ultra marathon the Ridum, he said 'I have a 200 mile event right up your street' this comment alone planted a seed of attempting the impossible. After this I mentioned it to Gareth and he was on it like sonic, this guy has a fab positive mind and equally positive outlook on life, I still need to learn much off him and as with lots of my family and friends, I often look to them all for inspiration as my mind is not as always kind and as positive as it should be. After reviewing the event online Gareth signed up, the next day with a million hint messages off Gareth no doubt with a shandy, I surcome and signed up on the agreement it was part of his stag.
The event seemed forever away, then it was months away and then in blink of an eye Gareth was picking me up with Maddoc and we were heading to the South Wales Wildhorse 200 run registration. On arrival for registration, we were a little late but this was unavoidable due to giving up time with my little man being a non negotiable, I'm a Dad and that's me. Anyway the registration and the start was at Chepstow, after parking we quickly jumped out of the car and dressed in the stag gear, on that note we were a bit baffled how Amazon had decided +3 fairy outfits were adult, to say the tutu was a little snug is an understatementthe whole event team laughed and clapped as we rocked up, in hen-sight the claps were probably relief that we were there rather than our outfitsWe completed the registration/kit check and then our nerves began to grow, lots of hardcore people were in attendance and a very strong 45 person field. We nervously but excitedly headed back to Louise and Gareth's who generously had offered to allow me to stay as the race started 0600 in Chepstow the following day. Louise cooked pizzas and we induldged in a non alcoholic beer, it's was a stag do after all during and after food we threw our stuff together for our drop bag and sleep bag in large waterproof plastic bin liners.
That night non of us slept well and hats off to Louise, Maddoc, Jersey and Hugo they all made it up for a 0400, we had a quick Scooby snack and we were off to the race...
En-route we didn't get lost but we set the tone for the whole adventure/event and took the scenic route... on arrival we quickly got our fairy outfits on and dropped our bags, this is we're we started to laugh and despite hell didn't really stop for next 230 ish miles and 32,000 foot of climbing. At the bag drop everyone else had sports or posh holders, suitcases like pro's we turned up like stig of the dump with bin linersThe start awaited, as we all waited it was fantastic again to see familiar faces and these great ultra people, all tremendous athletes in their own right and very unique people. The plan was to dress in fancy dress at the start and then strip before the gun, but oh no we got caught up in the waving listening to the final briefing and then bang we were off, 28 miles as fairy'sThe start as with all races is a mind game, some people headed off like others like we sat mid pack.
The course was absolutely beautiful and many more climbs than expected along the river, we talked to many runners including Sara and Nick, great athletes powering along, we were having great fun. On our way through Monmouth we seen a greggs, so swung by, after all it would be rude for any traincrew not to, we must own this gaff, right off we went again and caught up with Nick a chap from Brecon with many stories of fun times, We seen Sara again and her husband Jason, familiar faces from past ultra events, they are friendly terrific fun, happy and friendly athletes. Ultras are very different to other events as you are constantly too and froing with other runners, when stopping to fuel or hydrate you can pass or be passed by lots of people, it would be very tactical id imagine if your not winging itOn we went and were moving well, we passed through a few aid startions with fun, vibrant and fantastic crews onboard, the coffee makers were arguably more gifted than Starbucks, these guys are amazing with help, support and encouragement, big up to the whole team on the Wildhorse course you were awesomeAt this point I must apologies for my bad English, grammar etc in writing this I have no real talents in life or gift, I get picked on at times because I have low self esteem with life not always being kind in my past, I have suffered with mental health, but in Goggins words #youcanthurtme, I'm not well educated but a trier for sure and I'm using an iPhone mini some of the events on our journey may be a little jumbled up and/or not as detailed as it could be but when your in the suffer and fatigued, hallucinations going wild, things get real and the mind goes crazy.
On the next climb a lad flew passed us in the forestry, basically spinning us around like a cartoon characters, it was a young fella going by name of Bob the drummer, he had run 110 miles pulling a drum kit for charity to gain this title. Bob explained he had been unwell before the event so was setting off slow and slowly testing his body, this guy was a beast and flew past, it was amazing to watch. On this stretch of the course it seemed long and was very hot, we were out of water and ready to lick leaves, thankfully on the brow of a hill the photographer came into sight followed by the first aiders, the first aiders offered us a drop of water, which we happy to recieve. No to long after we dropped into the aid station and we fuelled and loaded before heading off and seeing Sara and Mike again, Mike was a triathlete from Swansea, a cracking guy and absolute awesome mind, the furthest this guy had ever run was a marathon and was attempting 200 miles, absolutely incredible! We took on the mountains and battled the darkness, damp and low cloud, the temperature plummeting with tricky terrain before dropping into Crickhowell. Bob who we caught at the aid station shot off at the peak, in a flash he had gone, unbelievable tbh we were in the pitch black of the night, knee deep trenches of mud everywhere and footing so technical you struggled to walk at times, yet he was running and at speed.
On arrival at Crickhowell the sleep and aid station it was busy, Nick had decided to fuel and powered through, we decided to try and sleep, but it was way to busy/noisy, so settled for trying to rest our bodies, mentally we were struggling to get our heads around the 140 miles to come. On our departure a fellow runner was getting treatment for trench foot, as the ground was very wet in a lot of places on this race, you just couldn't keep your feet dry and the folding of skin, blisters and swelling was causing us all pain and issues.
Around this point is when Gareth's knee started flaring up, he was gutted but as great ultra runners do, Gareth doesn't give pain a voice and ultimately gets strength from the pain, he plays with it, teases himself and grind that pain out, on we moved...
After many many miles up and down we headed to Talybont reseviour and luckily seen Mike again when our heads were playing games from hard work, exhaustion, sleep deprivation etc when things go south, tough times come fast, at this aid station we were supposed to check in and do a loop. After the loop runners then come back to the same aid station which double up as a sleep station. On arrival Gareth couldn't wait to see Lou and the kids, before we headed out and turned to do a loop, only we shouldn't of turned, our minds had told us to do a loop of the reservoir we had passed enroute. 10 miles later we were on our way back up elevation after speaking to the race organiser to do the correct reservoir and seen Chris and Elizabeth, we were all finding things tough. Eventually we completed the loop and were battered, but very pleased to see Graham on our return who had came all the way up to Talybont to show his support On arrival Gareth said we must start a fresh, great shout we eat like kings, but again it was too noisy to sleep, but as we tried to rest Rhys the organiser popped into thank us for being honest and doing the extra yardage and correct loop. Gareth being a savage became inspired and said bugger sleep/rest let's go...he had not slept but I'm sure I had 5 winks or may be 4 winks at some point even if I was walking lol we were off and absolutely off our heads with no meaningful/if any sleep, the hallucinating were going crazy as we made ground along the canal in Brecon. We were so so tired I suggested to Gareth we get our heads down in the Church porch on the right, there was no church and I was seeing thingsit looked lovely too a light on, heating and songs we were both seeing all sorts by now, people, animals and now churches ps Gareth kept seeing Wildhorse all the way I guess that's why they call the event the Wildhorse we got to the top of the canal and decided as we were both falling asleep moving to sit and try and rest, this was a big mistake as on sitting we became so cold our feet and legs went knumb to the point we couldn't stand. To get to our feet we had to use the hand rail to pull ourselves to ourselves up like two bambi's. We were very very lucky not to get hyperthermia at this point, the runner behind passed as we tried to lie, kneel, stand and looked at us as if we were aliens We pushed on with Gareth's great directional skills getting us to the Storey arms checkpoint. It was not quite the Celtic manor we expected, the weather was wild and the wind was blowing a gale. To try and get some warmth we covered ourselves in our bags to escape the wind chill factor, Gareth teeth wouldn't even allow him to eat they clattered that badly, this was more than just a run, we were pushing our bodies to the limit. After controlling our body heat and refuelling we set off, I was dressed like the abominable snowman, my cloths had been put on like they were heading to Noa's arc 2 by 2 and that included hats. The mountains we passed over that day were absolutely beautiful but brutal, on this section we were lucky enough to see Mikes wife and then Lou and the kids again, any human contact was now moral boaster. The further we went on this adventure the more we realised, mileage is one thing, but when you add elevation and technical footing that is a whole new ball game. Despite all the factors and challenges we battled on to the next aid station/sleep station absolutely exhausted. Again we could not sleep despite the wigwam tent being away from the aid station, the temperature was freezing and there was a party plus our bodies in real pain, we got up and headed out. My fault thinking I was doing well followed the red instead of the pink line on my garmin watch, lesson learned we climbed 3000 plus feet heading in the wrong direction, however one persons bad luck is another's gain. Up on top and now in the dark of night we found a foreign gentlemen heading dangerously close to a sheer drop you couldn't even see with the cloud down, then minutes later another gent who had stripped his coat off to charge his devises but was uncontrollably shaking and couldn't dress or sort his stuff, we took both to safety and gave directions to the aid station, we though sadly carried on in the the wrong direction. Then came the luck we needed, were saved by ultra man no 3 Mr Chris Seymour not involved directly as in running but heavily involved as part of the team. Chris saved the day and informed us of our error we had to go all the way back to the aid station joking as we arrived, we came back as the bolognaise was so damn goodwe were now 20/30 miles over and 4000 ish foot over on the proposed elevation. Not known to us the next part of the course was absolutely crazy and I still have no idea how we survived it at the death of night, there was mountains after mountains and at the worst possible point low thicker than thick cloud hit us again, this time it seemed much worse with the footing unsightbale and the gps taking us across bolders. There was no foot paths visible with our head torches, the temperature had dipped to minus something and we were cracking, all seemed lost, but in an ultra they say you live a life time, so we kept moving, hoping for that new wave and life. The hours slowly passed and even after the bolders we got lost and must have done circles in a bog mountain area with the pools of water looking like quarries with our hullucinating minds playing games. At this location with mine and Gareth's gps watches pointing in different directions, we kept repeating this is scary, but after hours and hours we made progress and marched on feeling lucky to be alive. A new day dawned and up came the sunrise to our delight, light wow, now that raised our moods, we had actually done really really well and felt quite proud. As a reward we decided with a bit of sun appearing we should try and rest in the sun and change socks again, just after we sat down we heard 'oui you lazy gits' it was Chris and Elizabeth on a charge and looking super strong. The sight of these guys gave us a boast and energy and we pushed on...Gaining momentum, although a horse decided to slow us down by refusing us entry to his/her field and licking/trying to bite Gareth, I think he liked it really but don't tell Lou lol this caused us to make a u-turn and dart across to a second gate selling the horses a dummy before legging it across the field almost unseen. Back on the move we cleared the 200 miles mark, 90 miles further than we had ever been before we were flying, we came to a bog. Now if you ever come across a bog and see a stick think twice, I jumped the first trench with Gareth filming me and expecting me to fall in, he was gutted by the way, he then took on bog two and seen this log/stick and stepped on it to cross, he sunk faster than the titanic and almost disappeared doing back stroke, he was absolutely covered now in mud and manure if only I had filmed that it would of been £250 right there lol. Disappointingly, but not entirely unexpectedly - my knee blew up with 20/15 miles to go. I have no idea what happened, but the pain was real, Chris then came from absolutely no where and at speed, Elizabeth in true warrior mode had decided to hike the event out carrying an injury, these people are inspirational and hardcore. The 3 of us battle on and over took quite a few great runners, en-route to the next and final aid station, from there I had to wear a knee brace and knew I could run with the device, but needed a pure flat surface, did this happen? all seemed well initially but then we were back on the hills and the uneven coastal path and my knee screamed at my brain, a Danish gentlemen caught us looking really strong hiking it out with amazing navigation skills and an absolute beast on poles. Gareth and Chris were absolutely immense though and refused to move, going back ahead and towing me home, with my watch dead and body not far behind, these guys were absolute savages and gentlemen of the highest quality, I could not be more grateful and really need to apologies for my constant winging of pain. The sand dunes and beach took forever and I could of just dropped but what an adventure in Gareth's words, what a stag part 1, we crossed the line welcomed by Lou, Rhys, Chris's family and team etc and I just collapsed.
In reflection I think it is amazing this was part of the stag as the strength Gareth gets off seeing Lou and the kids, plus his family is incredible, he can be absolutely battered and see them for 5 minutes and have a recharge like a Tesla. It's an amazing sight and I love seeing him come alive when he sees them, they all have something special and are a special bunch, so it was pleasure to be part of their adventures.
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