At the start of 2020, I had a plan, I had epic ultra’s lined up. Adventures to far flung corners of the world and to move to the big smoke! The race calendar highlights were Ultra X Sri Lanka, followed by Ultra X Azores, then Tribe Relay Across Scotland in June. I’d then spend the summer sitting on my arse relishing in my achievements! In fact, I hadn’t even planned anything past June… this is going to be a great year… Cue Covid, and the blank canvas!
When Ultra X announced this race, I think it took me all of about 60 seconds to decide I was doing it. With everything that has happened in 2020, all the cancelled races, this was something to look forward to. An opportunity to feel something ‘normal’, albeit that it would still involve all the social distancing restrictions that are now standard practice, however I knew Ultra X had a solid policy and plan in place.
We had about 7 weeks to prepare for this, and whilst this distance wasn’t a concern (I had bags of confidence after completing the VRTTS 100km in one sitting) it was the elevation gain that was a concern. So I enlisted the help of Brad, @bw_commandofitness and the Run Strong plan to help me prepare.
Training progressed well, we had a solid S&C routine and planned runs to help build fitness. I had one thing I wanted to achieve before though, and that was to run 40km on my 40th birthday. (Long story short, that turned into 50km, with 1000m elevation gain, and the start of the niggles that will continue to harass me!)
2 weeks out from the event, we were at peak mileage and the back-2-back runs were making an appearance. Towards the end of one of the 40km training runs down on the South Downs, a familiar pain was appearing on the outside of my right knee. This used to be a common pain for me in my early days of running, but last time I felt this, was at 80km into my 100km run.
We decided that we will start the taper early and just give the legs and the body some time to heal and try to get to that start line uninjured.
Getting the kit ready for the event seemed to be relatively straight forward, after all, I’ve gone through this already earlier in the year doing the planning for Sri Lanka and Azores. So really this was just a case of adapting the established kit lists and nutrition plans for the new event.
The build up to the event was fantastic, you could see the community starting to build and re-energise ready for another epic Ultra X adventure. Instagram was lit up with everyone sharing their preparation stories.
Above everything, the one thing I was most looking forward to with this race, was just being around people (from at least a 2m distance!)
The night before I was due to travel, I really felt like a kid on Christmas eve, excited and full of anticipation for what the weekend would deliver I had all my kit ready, packed into my bags, and it was placed next to the front door ready to go.
The journey up was a pleasant drive and my eyes lit up as I the scenery began to change to the rolling hills of the Peak District, and before I knew it, we had arrived!
The Ultra X Team were ready and waiting, registration was done from the car window at the gate to the camp site. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing people all clad in PPE. I’m terrible at remembering names, and more so when I can’t associate a face to that name! Anyway, Name check, temperature check, Covid questions, here’s your number, here’s you wrist band, here’s you tent pitch number. Super easy, super quick!
I was one of the earlier arrivals, but already there was a buzz and a vibe about camp, and as more competitors arrived, there was a nervous excitement building.
Hot water was available and many of us tucking into our first re-hydrated meal of the weekend, whilst the northern winds blew around us. As the sun went down, so did the temperature, and we retreated to our tents, ready to rest and in anticipation of the challenge ahead.
Stage 1 awaits us in the morning…
Running To Feel 
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