👣 35 miles / 55km
🏔️ 5 peaks: Mow Cop, The Cloud, Teggs Nose, White Nancy, Bowstones
💥 Over 4,000ft of elevation
⏱️ 7 hours, 2 minutes
📈 24th overall, out of 170
❤️ 5th lady
🥈 2nd in my age category
I DID IT! I RAN AN ULTRA-MARATHON! 🙉😍❤️🏃🏻♀️
I honestly don’t know where to start… I think yesterday (Sunday 1st September 2024) is going to take some time to fully sink in. To say that it was the proudest day of my life would be an understatement. 🥺
I’ll get straight to it. As many people know, 2024 marks a decade since I was first diagnosed with anorexia, and I wanted to do something special to celebrate my body, and how much my life has changed for the better since I got into running.
I’m currently working my way through my target of running 50 half marathons in 2024, but decided that an ultra-marathon would also be a great way to challenge myself and honour my body during this momentous year.
I’ve walked the 35-mile Gritstone Trail a couple of times and have always pondered whether I might be brave enough to one day enter the Gritstone Grind Ultra. 2024 seemed a perfectly fitting year to finally go for it.
I was really nervous in the weeks leading up to the event. I wondered if I’d maybe bitten off more than I could chew. I’d done a couple of 50k training runs without any issues, but obviously, being well acquainted with the Gritstone, I was sadly all too aware of the repulsive elevation! The imposter syndrome crept in, until I’d almost convinced myself that I’d probably end up DNF’ing.
Then I started to have dreams that I got lost on the course and ran for miles in the wrong direction.
I also dreamt that I missed the course cut-off and was frantically pelting down Lyme Park moors in the pitch black, a giant scotch egg hot on my heels (note to self: don’t read the checkpoint food list before bed!). 🥴
The night terrors didn’t really help my confidence, and I ended up sending a very long, rambling email to the RD, Richard, expressing my [hugely irrational] fears (although I didn’t mention the giant scotch egg…). He was very reassuring and kind (Richard, not the scotch egg), but I bet thought Oh God, who approved her entry, the absolute mad woman. 🤣
Speaking of my pre-race jitters… You should have seen the state of my kit bag!! I literally had enough supplies for a week-long camping trip.
‘Tell me you worry about EVERYTHING without telling me you worry about everything…’ = I had every single medication, anti-bac wipe, bandage, deep heat, and variation of plaster you could possibly imagine.
I lost count of the amount of times I proudly flourished my medical bag at a suffering runner on the course. “Pick your poison! I’ve got Aldi paracetamol, Sainsbury’s paracetamol, Imodium, charcoal tablets, HAIR VITAMINS!” 💁🏻♀️
It was like I was operating some sort of underground market from my backpack.
No wonder my back is killing today, lugging that lot round with me!
There she is - Dora is off exploring 🤣
Here’s what I packed:
· X3 power banks
· X3 pairs of spare socks
· A knee brace
· An ankle brace
· Deep Heat
· Voltarol
· Plasters
· Blister plasters
· X2 packets of tissues
· A cooling towel
· A sandwich bag filled TO THE BRIM with pasta (don’t ask)
· A slice of pizza
· A cereal bar
· A Yorkie bar
· Some Wine Gums
· A packet of chocolate nuts
· A water pack
… And here’s what I actually used:
· Chocolate nuts
· Wine gums
· Water pack
… At least I’ll know for next year! (And yes, I did say ‘next year’ … In true runner style, I told myself ‘NEVER AGAIN!’ throughout the entire event… and then as soon I crossed over the finish line, I was like, ‘EASY! I reckon I could smash the double next. TAKE ME BACK TO KIDSGROVE!!!’ 🤣)
Running in my lucky number - it was a sign! 😍❤️
I just loved the whole day, to be honest.
It was such a thrill walking through Disley at half past 6 in the morning with hundreds of other runners. I sat on the wall below the church and enjoyed the atmosphere, immersing myself in the nervous excitement.
I couldn’t wait to get running.
I was aiming for a finishing time of around 8 hours, having previously walked the course in just over 10, but other than that, I had absolutely no expectations. Being my first ultra, I just wanted to enjoy it and achieve all I had set out to do: celebrate my post-anorexia body and the life that running has blessed me with.
Richard gave the pre-race briefing at starting line outside Kidsgrove Sports Centre.
“The most important thing is to remember to eat and drink, every hour. There will be points when you won’t feel like eating, but you must try to force yourself.”
Richard was spot on. I was surprised at much my appetite dwindled as the miles ticked on. Weirdly, eating was the very last thing I felt like doing, but I admit that I did feel a lot more revived once I’d wolfed down my Wine Gums and nuts.
The race began at 8:40am. I sped off with the leaders of the pack, my body instantly leaping into its usual giddy fast pace. I had to rein it in and remind myself to chill; I wasn’t racing for a sub-20 PB at ParkRun – I was covering 35 miles, and there was a long-ass way to go!
I flew up Mow Cop feeling confident, but inevitably, each peak got tougher on the calves.
I can't decide whether The Cloud or Tegg's Nose ruined my life more.
The unbearable midday heat didn't help the Tegg's Nose climb, and those steps at the Cloud are particularly challenging when you're only five foot.
"Bigger than you, these steps!" One of the gents behind me laughed as I hauled myself up.
ACTUALLY, I think the hardest part of the entire course was that evil hill in the middle of the field between White Nancy and Bowstones. It wasn't even a peak, but my God, I had to resort to scuttling up it sideways like a crab.
My reaction at the bottom of that ghastly hill 🤣
A group of walkers passed me and watched my ‘tactics’ in amusement - I mean, it's not every day you see a five foot stick insect crawling sideways up a hill, silently weeping while shovelling wine gums into its mouth.
My war wounds 🤷🏻♀️
At 27k – the halfway point - I was placing third lady, but wasn’t daft enough to think that I’d be able to maintain this position. I don't know what I'm even rambling on about in the video below, but it says a lot about my brain fog at the time: "I feel like death warmed up, and then put in the freezer... and then warmed up AGAIN."
What does that even mean?! 🤷🏻♀️🤣
🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Half way up Croker Hill, I was lucky enough to bump into the absolute legend that is Alicia Gilbert.
Okay, so I’m just going to take a little minute to big this lady up.
The Gritstone Grind is traditionally 35 miles long, which is the distance most of us opted to cover. However, this year, there was also the additional option to run the course either twice or three times, back to back.
Alicia was the only lady taking part in the Gritstone Triple, and had started running at 8:30am on the Saturday morning. In under 36 hours, she smashed out over 105 miles, running through the night. 🤯 At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Alicia IS Wonder Woman. I’m in absolute awe of her mental and physical strength.
Alicia was on her final lap of the course when I saw her, and still looked as fresh as anything. She actually went out of her way to spare ME some words of encouragement, as I puffed and panted up the hill having done a measly couple of miles compared to her God knows how many.
Half way point! 😊
Reflecting on the Gritstone today, I don’t think I found it as tough as the Lisbon Half Marathon that I did in 32 degree heat a couple of years ago, or the 2021 virtual London Marathon when my eyes went so blurry that I couldn’t actually see for about 2km…
The reason I found the Gritstone so bearable, despite the distance and gruelling ascent, was undoubtedly the people I was fortunate enough to share the experience with.
I am so honoured to have met so many wonderful people during the event. I can’t thank my fellow runners enough for keeping me smiling and laughing through the miles. There are literally too many people to mention!
I loved hearing everyone’s different reasons for how they personally got into running. Some of the stories were hugely emotive, and it just furthered my point that running is SO much more than ‘just a sport,’ or something we force ourselves to do on a weekend. For so many of us, running is a lifeline that we simply couldn’t be without, for the sake of our sanity.
I ran with a lovely gentleman called Carl for a couple of miles, and he said something that really struck a chord with me, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot today.
He said, “Running teaches you a lot about life. It teaches you that sometimes things go well and sometimes they don’t, and that’s okay. It teaches you how to cope with things, like big life events. Running is somewhere you can go when you need to switch off, or when you want to think about things.” ❤️
‘There’s a place I go, when I’m alone, do anything I want, be anyone I want to be… dream catch me when I fall.’ ❤️🏃🏻♀️
I also want to shout out to Neil and Paddy, a father and son duo who kept me company on the climb up to Bowstones. I felt really quite sick and dizzy around Bowstones, so chatting to these two helped to take my mind off it.
By this point, I think my head had well and truly gone, so I apologise to Neil for rambling on about ‘justice for salmon’ and being vegetarian for about 3 miles. Pretty sure he could have done without an animal rights lecture 50k into an ultra-marathon. 🤣🐟
The final two kilometres were my favourite part of the race – not because they signalled that I was almost home, but because that’s when the overwhelming realisation actually hit me: I’d done it. I’m an ultra-marathon runner!!
I took my phone out and played Coldplay’s ‘Adventure of a Lifetime.’ As I’ve said on so many occasions, I don’t think I will ever be able to put into words just how much running means to me, but the lyrics in this song are the closest explanation…
✨‘Turn your magic on – everything you want’s a dream away… Now I feel my heart beating; I feel my heart beneath my skin, and you make me feel like I’m alive again.
And if we’ve only got this life and this adventure well then I, want to share it with you - you get me through me alive.’ ✨
‘One kilometre to go!!’ 🥺❤️🏃🏻♀️
This time 10 years ago, I was so underweight that even the water from the shower made my skin sore. The weight of the duvet over me left me covered in bruises. I was so weak that I couldn’t stand upright and had to crawl upstairs on my hands and knees. I’d survive on 200 calories a day and then feverishly attempt to burn them all off by obsessively over-exercising. I’d get in from work at half 8 at night, and then stride around the village for hours, ignoring my screaming bones.
I was 20 years old, and although the state of what my life had become depressed me, I didn’t think I had anything worth fighting for. I knew anorexia was killing me, but I didn't care. I had completely given up.
I wish 20 year old me could see what life is like now, 10 years later. A gorgeous house of my own, my dream job as a writer, the best friends and family, and a decade worth of love and memories that I'm so, so thankful to have experienced. None of this would have been possible without running. I can categorically say that I wouldn't be here if I wasn't for running.
When I first got into running to aid my anorexia recovery, somebody told me that ‘no human is limited,’ and I’ve carried that sentiment with me.
From being terrified of eating and ending up too weak to even climb the stairs, to completing an ultra-marathon and going home to enjoy a Chinese takeaway with zero anxiety. Getting to this point has been a journey, but I wouldn’t change this current paradise for anything.
People always joke about how happy I look on all of my running photos. I can't help but beam every time I run. It's such a privilege to simply be alive and be lucky enough to be out in nature, feeling strong, healthy, and content. I never imagined this level of happiness to be possible.
‘Maybe in our wildest moments, we could be the greatest…’ ❤️
Anorexia turns the mind against the body, yet with running, both the mind and body must work together.
This revelation has been huge for me.
My mind and body complimented one another beautifully yesterday. In the moments that my mind tapped out, my body just somehow kept on going, one foot in front of the other. And when my body started to buckle under the aches and pains, my mind stepped in to soothe it.
In the dark days of anorexia, my mind would bully my body into submission. Now, my mind is my body’s biggest cheerleader, and completing an ultra-marathon is just one example of what they can achieve together.
There’s another reason why taking part in this ultra marathon was so important to me.
Over the past 10 months, training for the event has kept me sane while going through the process of splitting up with my partner of 8 years.
As always, running was my consistent through all of the bad days, and the thought of completing the Gritstone Grind really gave me something to work towards. It reminded me of my purpose, and that while people come and go, I’ll ALWAYS have my precious running.
I knew that I needed to complete this for ME, for so many reasons.
I was over the moon with my finishing time of 7 hours and 2 minutes, and to have placed 24th overall, 5th lady, and 2nd in my age category!
I think I could have maybe managed sub-7 hours had I not stopped to take selfies with dogs at the aid stations and got caught up behind a load of loose cows on the road at the bottom of White Nancy!! But it’s something to aim for next year, and for now, I’m extremely happy with 7 hours, as it’s an hour off what I was expecting!
I DID IT! ❤️🏃🏻♀️❤️
My wonderful Mum was waiting for me at the finish line, having tracked me the whole way round. 🥺That's when the emotion really hit me. I was so overwhelmed by everyone's kindness at the finish, and it was great to catch up with the runners who'd helped me along the course.
Sunday really was a team effort, and I couldn't have done it without everyone involved, from my Mum bribing me with a Chinese takeaway via text when I hit a wall, to every single runner who took the time to chat, and of course, the awesome volunteers. ❤️
It’s actually giving me goosebumps to think that I was a part of something so special, and so extraordinary. 🥺
The Gritstone Grind was exceptionally well organised by Richard and Wendy. I loved the timing and tracking chips, and the support from everybody was just phenomenal.
I have to add that the aid stations were very well-stocked. My fat-ass was like, "Hmmm... Could finish the race and run another 27km... OR I could stay here all afternoon stroking these gorgeous dogs and eating Jaffa Cakes..." It was a tough call, I'm not gonna lie! 🤣
This beautiful dog made my day at CP2 🥰
The photographer, David Murch, was absolutely fantastic, and his banter was a much needed distraction at the top of Tegg's Nose! See, I'm even laughing on this picture ⬇️ despite the HELLISH ascent that had almost floored me seconds before!
Thanks to David for being such an integral part of the journey! 😊
Oh and finally, I’ve come up with a fabulous hack for keeping your nails attached to your toes!! I literally strapped my nails to my feet with plasters during the Ultra, and as a result, I only lost three! Winner! I’ll leave you all with that gorgeous staple of information 😉🦶#runnersproblems
Cara Jasmine Bradley
💛 Gritstone Grind: https://www.beyondmarathon.com/gritstone-grind
📸 Professional photos by the brilliant David Murch: https://www.murchphotography.com
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