This isn’t a race report. The SVP100 is a great race and elsewhere in this blog you will find a report on last year’s race. Sadly this year was a DNF and so this is more of an inquest and a self-indulgent ramble, I suggest you stop reading now…
You have been warned, please don’t comment that reading this will consume a part of your life you will never get back. That said, here we go…
So I DNF’d the 2022 SVP100 after 50 miles at CP5. Realistically I was out of the race about 8 miles previously at CP4 but after the valiant efforts of Ian Brazier followed by the checkpoint volunteers to keep me going, I carried on towards CP5. After about a mile I knew I wasn’t going to make it inside the cut-off so I resigned myself to hiking another 7 miles to get timed out. I have to apologise to the sweepers who picked me up about a mile from CP5 and had to put up with my incoherent rambling until they could hand me over to the CP volunteers and a mini-bus to the finish.
So what happened? I told you in the last paragraph, I Did Not Finish (DNF). Why, what caused the DNF? I did, it was entirely my fault. Those that follow this blog and know how hot it was on Saturday might be kind and say ‘You haven’t fully recovered from the Spine Race’, ‘You had Covid after that’, ‘Lakeland 100 was only two weeks ago, you definitely haven’t recovered from that’, and finally ‘It was over thirty degrees for much of the day’. All of these things are true but the point is, I knew all that before I started. If I had been smart I would have accepted that all those things put together made it very unlikely I would finish and simply not started. I did start and so therefore it was my fault I Did Not Finish.
So why did I start? Hubris really. I’d finished seven consecutive SVP100 races up to this year and decided to try for number eight. In my defence I do have a lot of experience of hot weather running so, whilst I knew it would make it tough, I didn’t feel I was likely to be a danger to myself. If I did have a problem, the SVP100 isn’t so remote that I would be placing anyone else in unnecessary danger should I have required help on the course. As it was I didn’t finish with a bang but very much with an anti-climactic whimper, 40 minutes past cut-off at CP5.
Do I regret starting? Yes and no. It’s never great to have DNF next to your name but on the other hand if we only ever started that which we knew we could finish how would we grow and find our limits? It’s also good to get a reality check, despite what some people suggest sometimes, I am only (very) human and I can only ask so much of myself. The human body is a bit like your bank account – you can only take so much out of it. The Spine Race withdrew pretty much all of the account, just enough went in to pay for Lakeland 100 but then SVP100 was left writing cheques that couldn’t be cashed and finally the overdraft was called in, in a very decisive fashion. I had little energy and when I did try and run my calf muscles just threatened to cramp up and stop me completely so I had to resign myself to a long walk of shame.
For those that decided not to read all the above, one of the sweepers summed me up perfectly. I explained my year to date to which he replied ’Well you’re a complete Numpty then’. Why did I DNF? Because I’m a numpty – that’s the most honest answer I can give.
So where now? Obviously after such a dismal failure I will never dare to show my face at a race again. I may go and do a distant parkrun under an assumed name where no one will recognise me but that’s it. No, not really, it’s business as usual just with a bit more recovery. Every race is a learning experience and I still have a huge amount to learn if I am to toe the line at the 2024 Winter Spine Race. I doubt heat exhaustion will be my biggest worry but a timely reminder of my limitations is always good. It wasn’t quite the outcome I’d hoped for but the journey continues and the only way is still very much Pennine!
The Only Way Is Pennine... 