Ep 43 - Rasselbock Back Yard Ultra Part 1 - Featuring an amazing performance by Lizzie Gatherer

This episode is the first of a two part feature, (episode 44 is also available now) on the fourth running of the Rasselbock Backyard Ultra in Sherwood Pines. 

With Kev crewing Lizzie Gatherer in her attempt to break her 32 yard PB, you get a behind the scenes listen at a backyard race that includes a new course record, Scottish national record and a female course record. 

https://rasselbock.co.uk/product-category/live-events/sherwood-pines/

https://ultramadlizzie.com 

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Aid Station website where you can find the episodes or leave comment https://www.aidstation.co.uk/

Please feel free to give the show some feedback on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/aid-station/id1549735359

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:32

Hello and welcome to episode forty-three of Eight Station. This is Kev, as ever here, welcoming you to the show, and this one is a Russell Bock Backyard Ultra Special. The race took place last Saturday, the first of March, and it features a background look into the event itself and an especially inspiring performance from what I'd like to call our own Lizzie Gatherer, who produced what I would say was her best performance yet in an ultra race. And I had a front row seat at that as I was crewing her for the full race. And this will be taking place over two episodes because they went so far, it made a very long show. So episode 44 will be coming along right behind this one. So I won't hold it up anymore because it's so long. Here are the cowbells of inspiration followed by myself and Lizzie discussing the race pre-event. So we're about a ten minute drive away from there at the moment, and it's the night before the race, and I thought I'd get a bit of um an interview with Lizzie over what her aims are, what she's been doing, and why this race in particular. So first of all, Lizzie, um give I'll do a bit of history because people who have listened to the podcast will have heard you. Um they also will know that one of the very early podcasts um that I did, I also supported you at the um what was then called the Lincoln Holt Backyard Ultra. Um and that was your first foray into Backyards. And then you've had uh what would it be, about two or three year gap?

SPEAKER_07 3:18

Yeah, I think Vacuum was in I think Bacchum was in 2021, I think. It was the first run-in of the event. Uh so then I've had a break from Backyard, and then I did uh Charles and Tarmac with Limitless Trows in January. Right. Uh and so this will be my third, my third backyard.

unknown 3:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 3:38

So um the the original one in uh uh Lincoln Holt you did uh what was it? 19 wasn't it?

SPEAKER_07 3:49

Um Yeah, I think I got timed out on I think I got timed out on 20.

SPEAKER_10 3:53

Yeah, on 20. And you uh that was a really hilly course and your first attempt. And then you since, as you just said, in January, well that was only what four, six six weeks ago uh did the Trails and Tarmac event in Wales, and you did 33, which is uh Yeah, I got timed out on the 33rd, and I was I was the assist uh to Lee.

SPEAKER_07 4:23

Uh excellent runner. I we shared some miles together on Beacons Way um earlier on uh in yeah, July 24. So it's really nice someone I knew took the win and he was, yeah, on the day he was definitely the stronger athlete.

SPEAKER_10 4:39

No, that's really good to get an assist off um quite a big gap between doing backyard events because you know a lot of people do them more regularly. So um what's has drawn you back to doing some more?

SPEAKER_07 4:55

That is a good question. So I think uh yeah, I've always been fascinated by Barclay, which is why I wanted to get into backyard. Um but when I did Fackham I was very inexperienced and I truly believed I was gonna win that event. Um, and I remember Kev said to me just before it, he said, But have you run a hundred miles yet? And I was like, No, no, I don't need to, but you know, because I know what I'm doing, I'm gonna win. And um I think I was really taken aback that I didn't win. Um I think I was like the fifth, fifth person there left, but um yeah, so then I think I needed a break from it because I needed to go away and learn. Uh so since then I've done an awful lot. And then Limitless Trails, I think I entered that. So it was in January and I th I think I entered it in December. Um and it was because I was having that was it, I was having a conversation with someone about the women's GB record, and we were just chatting about it and wondering if it was possible. But it can't be possible unless you like go along and and learn and try things. I think I thought, right, well, let's do Limitless Charles, see how that goes, go on from there, and maybe the GB record is something I can look at in the future. Um, so I went along to Limitless Charles with um a very different attitude. I still wanted to win because I think with Backyard, that's actually one of the key things. You must go in expecting to win. You can't go in there with a limit. You you can't say, Oh, I'd like to do 24 or I'd like to do 12 because when you get to that number, you're gonna stop. So I feel you have to go in with the view that you're gonna win. Um so yeah, so I got I got timed out on on 32, um, sorry, on 33, but I felt like I was very proud of my finish. Um, I think I did a really good job and I think I learned a lot. So the one tomorrow, um, I'm just really excited about because I I definitely want to push past my my PB. Um, and it's a very competitive um field. There's a lot of like like the UK number eight ranking athlete is there, number 10 is there. So there's some really high-ranking athletes, and I think when we get to 24 hours, there's still going to be a lot of people left, which makes me feel that that's a good way for everyone to be able to push through PBs because if there's still a strong field, I think it will drive everyone to want to go further. I think it's going to be a really interesting weekend.

SPEAKER_10 7:56

Yeah, I think I I want to pick up on something you said earlier. There was way, way back you were on probably one of the well, you were the I think you were the first guest on this podcast, as it were, we had a run. Um, and I that episode was called uh Positivity Lizzie Gets Busy. And I've always that struck me immediately with you was your positive attitude. And I think it's really important to emphasise that even though you hadn't run, you know, I said, have you run a hundred miles? Um your your attitude was still, well, I'm going to go and I'm going to win it. And I think if you start out with that as an attitude, um you're right that you should keep going. I think it's an important message to get across to people. Um and that you can just the great thing about backyard is you can pick them up and put them down and you know where your PB is and whether you want to go again and have another go at it, which which you're doing pretty quickly after the last one. But um you seem to be on a a bit of a roll with them.

SPEAKER_07 9:04

So yeah, well actually the uh doing 32 at Limitless Trows was enough to get me a place on the England team, uh, which I can't believe I'm saying that. Uh so yeah, so in July, um I've got another backyard and it will be up at Highlander. So that's that's the Four Nations. Um so I'll be there under yeah, under Team England. So it's important for me to be doing this backyard tomorrow because it's another opportunity to prepare myself for the Four Nations event in July, because it will be the the last backyard I do before July. So it's my last chance to experience it from a competitor point of view. But also on the drive up today, I realised that Kev's doing Suffolk Backyard and I'm free, so that means I can crew Kev. So I think it's going to be really good for me to have an opportunity as a as a runner and as crew. So when I go to Highlander, hopefully I'll, you know, have gained a lot more experience.

SPEAKER_10 10:11

Yeah, well that that's the reverse for me as well, because I shall get a lot out of crewing you on this and seeing you and how the other crews operate and how the other athletes in the race go. So that you know, it's all good. I think all that behind the scenes stuff's really good for your own personal development in running, anyway. You know, whether you're marshalling, assisting, whatever you're doing, crewing at the race, it's all all good stuff. Um to put what you've done in perspective, you've done well, we'll say 32, and I think the UK female record, correct me if I'm wrong, is somewhere around 56, is it?

SPEAKER_07 10:54

Sarah Perry Sarah Perry has the UK female record, and that currently stands at 59.

SPEAKER_10 11:00

Oh right. 59, yeah. So um I I'm not saying, well, that's a target for tomorrow, but and you and you want to beat your PB, but I think it's really good that you can do it in maybe stepping stones and that people I mean obviously Sarah's gone out and put that mark out there, and that's to be shot at. That's what all things are like.

SPEAKER_07 11:21

All records, all records are there to be broken, aren't they? So uh yeah, it's certainly something that's a figure I have in my mind, whether that happens tomorrow or at one of the future. I've got a backyard in July and then another one in September. So it's certainly on my mind. Uh, you know, and I've done a leap from Fakham was what did we say, 19 to then 32 at Limitless Trails. So yeah, and uh tomorrow's a good course. It it is uh I think it is a PB course, as is the one in September, actually, at Hardwick Hall. Um so I think no matter what happens tomorrow, uh there will be some phenomenal results because we've got good weather for the weekend as well, perfect running conditions, and there's some really amazing athletes, so it's gonna be a really exciting weekend.

SPEAKER_10 12:11

Yeah, well, I I'm really looking forward to it as well. I think it's also important to say I think this is the fourth running of the uh backyard that Russell Bok holds in Sherwood Pines, um, and they've really built the event up quite quickly. I think it's probably the gonna be the second biggest field after Suffolk in the UK this time around. Um, and they're looking for people to get up there into two days, aren't they, 48-hour type territory, which they haven't had at the event yet. So there is a good opportunity for lots of the front end to go out and um be driven, drive each other on to do something really big. But they're quite big as an organisation on getting people into these events, and I think it's important to mention all the other levels of runner that are turning up to run this event, because there's about 230 oddys or something.

SPEAKER_07 13:06

Yeah, there's quite I think I saw we were looking at the start sheet earlier. There was, yeah, there was just under 230 runners. But what I like about I mean, uh okay, I'm yet to run a Rasselbock, but from what I've seen so far is the um just the different athletes involved and how people are being encouraged. So at the top end, they do have discounted spots. So if you've proven yourself at previous backyards and you've run a certain amount of yards, you can enter at a bit of a discount. So that's obviously appealing to the elite end, but then other athletes who are just looking for their own personal PBs, whether that be eight yards, twelve yards, or you know, their first hundred mile at 24 yards, they've got some really um interesting laps. So for example, lap uh yard four is um flat was it, flat caps at I can't remember what it's called, but it's like flat caps at yard four, and then at yard eight, it's it's after eight at eight, and then I think twenty is to do with I think you wear um you go out with glow stick or or tutus maybe. So they've got some really fun lab 22 is tutu. 22 at tutu, that's it, yeah. So so I think that's really encouraging and inspiring for the runners who perhaps it's their first backyard and they're looking to get to a specific mile distance that they've not achieved before. Um, so I think yeah, I I and and they do have it, they they have they're close to a 50-50 split as well on female male athletes. Um so yeah, and having been to the setup earlier, it just looks like it's gonna, it just you can just tell, it's gonna be a really fun event.

SPEAKER_10 14:54

Yeah, it's really good that they've they've really targeted that 50-50 split as well. Um, yeah, so it's gonna be great. Um, and well, we need to get off to bed because it's gonna be the last sleep for some time. Um, and uh best of luck tomorrow, Lizzie. And we will both be back on here at some point if I can get some grunts out of you tomorrow. Uh and carry on with the podcast. So I'm in uh Sherwood Pines on a beautiful sunny morning. We had a fantastic frost last night, and uh it's gonna be clear and set fair for the whole event. Um, it'll be cold overnight, obviously, and probably colder for the crew like me than the runners, but yeah, gonna be frosty at night, but lovely weather for running, perfect conditions for running. Uh, the site for the athletes where the tent set up is and what they call the starting corral is in a beautiful clearing in the woods, nice grassy clearing area for their gazebos and tents set up. There's parking round the outside for um mobile homes, vans. Um, so all well organised. Looks like it's all set to be a really good event. Um, I think there's a couple of hundred in the field, maybe just shy of that. Uh I think they have something like 230 odd entries, so some aren't coming. But I am seeing vehicles arriving all the time. We are um 15 minutes away now from the start. There'll be uh the usual three-minute, two-minute, one-minute warning whistles and then go. Um, and Lizzy's all sorted. Uh, she's well up for it. She's gonna plan to go beyond a PB, as she said earlier, of 33. Um uh in my mind, I'm thinking well into the 40s, hopefully, two days worth, 48 hours at least, at this stage of her progress with backyard ultra running. That was the one minute warning. We're all set to go.

SPEAKER_12 17:25

And the music finishes right when we get started. Everyone excited? Everyone ready! That's what we like, and the sun is out as well. All right, we have got ten seconds to go. Five, four, three, two, one, go! Enjoy the promise. Have fun over there. We'll see you all in a minute.

SPEAKER_10 17:59

That's it. The last one's just wandered over the line. A lot of them walk in at the back and they're off. We're now four hours in, they've just gone out on yard five. Uh there were 166 stars as it turned out, so quite a big dropout rate. Um, and currently there are four gone, 162 still in. Uh, the first two guys came around on the first lap in 32 minutes, and since then, one of those guys has been banging them out at 31, which is crazy pace, but um, I'm sure he's not here for the long haul. Um, and the first female came in at 34, which was also really fast. Um again, can't see her being here when Lizzie's here, but um different approaches for different people and different ways that they run these things. Um, a lot of people are first timers. The uh Eric, the race director, asked at the start, and I reckon at least 50% of the field were first timers. Um so that's really good. The you can hear in the background the music at what would be the centre, which is very near the corral, of this whole event, um, and it's really good, good atmosphere, plenty of crew still here, obviously, and supporters. Uh so all going really well. Lizzie's doing fine, just ambling round 52 minutes a time on the dot, um having chats as she's going round with uh people that she's picking out to talk to. Um so all going well. So hopefully uh we'll keep going. I'm just looking forward to getting to the sharp end, get through the night, uh, get into 24 hours and then see where we are when it uh gets down to I don't know, around 40 odd people. The um last year I think they had something like 24 get to 24, so there will be a reasonable number going for the 24 hour distance anyway, and then we'll see where we're at after that. But I'll come back on uh when there's more to report on. Well, one thing I forgot was that um had a surprise visit from Paul Telford, his wife Fran. They'd just been out and done the E Dale Skyline route, um, and they were travelling back home to Ipswich and dropped in via on the route home cross country, uh, seeing that Lizzie was doing this and just popped in to say hello, not realising I was crewing, I think. So that all went well. Uh Paul ran Suffolk with me and has done a couple of dragons back with me, so it's really good to see them. And I'll be back at Suffolk with Paul and Fran crewing. And I've just heard Lizzie is gonna crew me as well, which would be great. So I'm really interested to see how far she goes here and give me a bit of inspiration. Right, they're out on lap seven. Uh it's four o'clock in the afternoon from a ten o'clock start, and I'm with Kerry and Gavin, who have a fantastic set up, quite a nice gazeboat, and I thought we'd have a chat with them about crewing. So, who are you crewing for, Kerry?

SPEAKER_08 21:57

We're crewing Craig McQueen. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 22:00

And that is just on his own, is it? The two of you uh taking it in shifts, I guess. Uh yeah, we will be later on. Okay, brilliant.

SPEAKER_08 22:12

He's hoping to do a minimum of 32 miles. 32 yards, sorry, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 22:18

Oh brilliant, that's excellent. Um, and what I was really interested in was your setup because it's really good, and I think some of the people that listen to this podcast who might be considering backyard. I mean, this looks pro-end stuff, so you got would you want to talk me through it?

SPEAKER_08 22:36

Yeah, he's got a bit of everything here, so he's just got every type of food that he might want, he's got his drinks, he's got his supplements, um, he's got all his first aid kit, he's just got absolutely anything he might need at some point, all his first aid kit there, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 22:52

Yeah, and he's you've also got um a couple of stoves. Um for so he's having cook cooked up hot food at some point, yeah, porridge, yeah, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_11 23:03

We're going with porridge, um, but just for hot water, pot noodles and um porridge pots.

SPEAKER_10 23:10

Oh, yeah, yeah, the porridge pot, yeah.

SPEAKER_11 23:12

That's probably the best.

SPEAKER_10 23:14

And he's got um I can say a massage gun and a uh generator of some sort, that's a flashbitter kit.

SPEAKER_11 23:22

So we charge his watch every couple hours as well, and charge his mobile, so he's listening to music when he's out there on course as well, so that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_10 23:31

And is he got a rechargeable head torch?

SPEAKER_11 23:34

Yeah, yeah. So we we bring spare head torches, so he's got two or three head torches, and we just rotate them and then charge them as as he's out there because he's going to be out there for like 30 33 hours or something, so we need to need to keep him toppy just charging everything as well.

SPEAKER_10 23:50

Alright. And are you are you sleeping here in the chair as it were?

SPEAKER_11 23:54

No, we've we've got a van there, uh camper van, so we'll just take turns each. Oh, brilliant. Um, get a couple of hours break. So we'll just do it that way. But Craig will he'll come in and he'll try and get a wee quick nap um between laps. So if he's got 15 minutes, he'll try and sleep for five just to stay on top of it.

SPEAKER_10 24:13

That's his tactic, but everybody's got different tactics, so yeah, that's that gets interesting when you get to the point of when are they gonna sleep.

SPEAKER_11 24:20

Um some people will do a fast lap, so they'll come in and they'll have that full sort of 20 minutes to get a sleep or a break, but other people just come in on the button.

SPEAKER_10 24:32

Yeah, yeah, it's a hard one, never worked that one out yet. But I suppose the mut the further you go, you don't know till you get there, do you, what you're gonna do. Well, thanks very much for talking to us. Um well, I should hopefully see you for some time. You're gonna be around or what while you're on, is is Craig in uh Scottish team or do you know about the Scottish team?

SPEAKER_11 24:54

I was the Scottish team last year, so I think this year that's why he wants 32 yards, because the the current top um minimum is 31 just now. So he needs 32 to get in to the Scotland team, and this is the last event that you can qualify for Scotland team. So um if he gets 32 today or to tomorrow, he's he's in the Scotland team.

SPEAKER_10 25:17

It's a pretty pretty tough school.

SPEAKER_11 25:19

That is, yeah. But he was in it last year, so that's his goal to get in it this year again. So fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_10 25:25

Yeah, well, best of luck to him and you, and have a good evening. See you later, baby. Cheers. Okay, it's they're out on lap nine. Yes, lap nine, correct. I needed telling. At least somebody who's run it knows what they're doing. Um, and I'm with two uh women runners who've been round and done their bit of what they're gonna do, and I want to grab them and ask them what it was like for them, how much they've done, uh, and catch up with uh what they got out of it and what you've done. So I start with Jen. Because I've got Jen and Gemma, is that right? Yeah. So Jen, um have you done this before or a backyard before?

SPEAKER_00 26:13

I've done two other Rasselbach ones. This is my third Rasselbach Backyard Ultra. Alright.

SPEAKER_10 26:18

And and how many did you get done today?

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Today I did five proper laps, and then I did my sixth one as a walkout to time myself out. It was my goal setting into it. It's not the most I've done at a backyard before, but I'm coming off a lot of injury. So basically, the goal was to not break myself and have fun, and I think I achieved both of those things.

SPEAKER_10 26:39

That's excellent, that's really good. So, what what's what have you done? What's your PB?

SPEAKER_00 26:44

My PB was 12 last year at this same event.

SPEAKER_10 26:47

Excellent. And and do you think you're gonna carry on with them? Is it something that you like? Do you do other ultrasound?

SPEAKER_00 26:54

So, my main thing is doing um obstacle racing, and I do do ultra distances in obstacle racing. Um, but I do really like the backyard format because it kind of pushes you to do distances you would never think to try before. Because you get back into HQ and there's that nice atmosphere, and then it's like, oh, I've one more, just one more, and before you know it, you've hit your distance PB, and I think that's amazing, and it's such a nice way to like push yourself further than you thought you could go.

SPEAKER_10 27:19

Yeah, and it it's it helps to be in the group, does it? Do you like the group running as well?

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Absolutely, like it's nice that you all start at the same time. So when you're on like a normal like out and back or circle like ultra, you can find a lot of the time you're by yourself. Yeah. Whereas here you're seeing a lot of the same faces on the start line every hour, so there's always someone around to have a bit of a chat, and it helps pass the time, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 27:42

It's a great atmosphere, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Oh, definitely. It's such a nice, like what Rasselbock have built is such a lovely community, and everyone's really nice and welcoming.

SPEAKER_10 27:51

Yeah, and they've built it really quickly, haven't they? Because they haven't been going that long.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

So they started in lockdown. I did my first um virtual event with Rasselbock, like back in lockdown, and they did this really interesting format where they'd give you like certain things you had to find on your runs. So it didn't matter how far you went, that was up to you. They'd be like, I don't know, something colour red, find a black cat, find something starting with a letter B. And it was really interesting, and it just made you like actually look at your surroundings differently. So since then I've been doing like loads of their events.

SPEAKER_10 28:23

Oh great. So did you did you come off road running or have you always just done the um race? Um what do you call them? Oh uh obstacle races. Oh obstacle races, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Started with obstacle races, and then with my friend I signed up for my first 10k. Didn't actually know it was a trail 10k, so I went in being like, I'm going to run the whole thing. No, no, I didn't, but I really liked it. Um I've done like I don't know, one or two road races, but it's not really for me. So I like trails and I like obstacle races.

SPEAKER_10 28:52

Oh brilliant, well done for what you've done today. And are you you good with the injury now? Are you feeling like you're okay on it?

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Yeah, getting there. It's not perfect, but it's gonna be a long healing process, but I'm happy with the way we are, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 29:05

And what have you got lined up then for the rest of the year?

SPEAKER_00 29:08

My big race this year is in July. I've signed up to the Spartan Ultra in Morzine.

SPEAKER_10 29:14

So that's the Spartan.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yes, so it's um somewhere between 50 and 60k, we're never quite sure, and it'll be obstacles and maybe a little bit of swimming, little bit of carrying, little bit of climbing, but also 50 to 60k of technical trail as well.

SPEAKER_10 29:30

Brilliant. So you do a lot of cross-training, I presume, then as well, do you?

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Yes, I'm a personal trainer and I work in a gym, so I'll do three strength training days per week and two to three running days per week as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 29:42

Excellent. Okay, Gemma, how about you? Because I I saw you getting your photo taken by Jen under there with the angel's wings on and thought you've had some fun, and you've got your little tree. Everybody gets a pine tree when they um what DNF, which is a bit of an unfortunate expression, but uh you happy with what you did today?

SPEAKER_06 30:03

Yeah, so I'm also coming off the back of an injury um and quite a disastrous race here last year. So came into this with a goal of eight laps um not push further. Um so I did the eight laps, and I'm absolutely fine, the body's fine. Um, so it's it's been really good.

SPEAKER_10 30:23

And and what background do you have in it? Is this your how many have you done or is this your first?

SPEAKER_06 30:28

My second backyard, I did Russell back last year. Um, I got 15 laps last year. Um I run ultras quite a lot.

SPEAKER_10 30:38

Okay, what have you done?

SPEAKER_06 30:40

Um I've done quite a few hundreds, um, and I've done the Opona 100, which is across all of Wales, um, 17,000 feet of 100 miles, 100 miles-ish. Um and I've done some of that like the Centurion 100s, um, I've done trail races out in Mausine and Slovakia where you run up ski slopes and stuff like that, um, but not obstacles, just trail.

unknown 31:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 31:08

So you you yeah, you like a bit of mountain running as well.

SPEAKER_06 31:11

I love mountains and hills and views, like that's what I love. Um, but I love these looped events to get training in and not be by yourself, um, and also my first hundred miler was in a looped format, so I have a little bit of love for it because it's a safe space to do that in and to test your body. Um, so I do enjoy the loops.

SPEAKER_10 31:38

Do you say that from the perspective of being a female, or is it just that you feel safer in doing it and a shorter distance and recovery in between?

SPEAKER_06 31:48

I think for females, um, we are more nervous to go out and try the big ultras. Um and not all females obviously, but I do think these kind of events, you're always going to be with someone at night time, you're not on your own, and it's I think if you can do the distance in this, it then gives you the confidence to go, okay. I could do a point-to-point. Um, but I definitely all of my first races, like my first 50 miler, first 100 miler, they were all on looped courses to give me that sense of security until I then felt safe to go out. Um, but I do think for women it is it is a good thing, especially if they are scared or nervous to go out by themselves and the camaraderie on these courses is great, and it's great to see more women attend these events now.

SPEAKER_10 32:38

Yeah, I think most people who go out on these, whether they're backyards or loops courses, know that they're going to be sociable and chat on the way around. So it really helps.

SPEAKER_06 32:49

Whereas a point-to-point people tend to just be focused on their race and well sometimes you can't see anyone, so some of the races I do literally you can't see anyone in front of you, you can't see anyone behind you, and you can be on your own for 10-15 miles and not talking to anyone. So, at least in this, you know, you've got someone to constantly natter and distract you.

SPEAKER_10 33:11

So, what are your plans for the rest of the season?

SPEAKER_06 33:14

Um, so I've got the Apocalypse 50 uh in May. Um that's 10,000 feet of elevation, uh 50 miles, and then I'm redoing a Pona because I did it on a fractured foot last year. So I'm hoping to knock at least 10 hours off my time and run it this year.

SPEAKER_10 33:36

And do you have any sort of bigger long-term goals, bucketless races or I'd like to do maybe like Wild Horse 200.

SPEAKER_06 33:46

Um definitely sort of more of the 200s. I'd like I want to come back to a backyard fully fit um and just see where my break point is, but at the minute mentally I I can't cope with that, so I need to get have a better race here this year, and then next year I'll probably look at come into a backyard until I drop.

SPEAKER_10 34:11

Well, it's a sense of approach because if you've been injured, there's no point in you're just gonna break yourself more. Yeah. Um, and you I mean we all need that confidence, so you want to go in fully fit, don't you, and feel like you've had a good block of training before you take it on.

unknown 34:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 34:27

Well, well done both of you today. Thanks for talking to me. And uh listen out for the eight station podcast.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Well do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_10 34:42

Well, that was a lovely interview with Jen and Gemma, two really nice young ladies who are getting into the sport and obviously going to take it further and further at some point. Um, and they spoke to me after the interview and said that they really were hoping for a female winner on this race and talked a lot about the previous winners like Sarah Perry and Karen Nickel. So um we could be seeing that again, and I'm hoping that Lizzie is out there and gonna do it. Um well I know she's out there, but I hope she's gonna get stay all the way and get round there. Um we're on uh what are we now? Lap 9, they've done. Uh there are 28 dropped out so far. Uh I think there's 138 left in it. Um, so still quite a way to go yet in terms of numbers. And they're all on the head torch, and it's probably night time now. It's uh half past eight exactly. I know it isn't half past six exactly, um, on Saturday evening. So I'll get back on when there's I can find somebody else interesting to talk to. Um, it's easy to pick up the DNFs, as I said on the interview, they all get a little pine tree, a Scots pine, which they're expected to take home or find somewhere to plant, I'm sure. Um, and that's quite a nice green thing to do and recognise their effort in the race. Well what update time. Um after ten laps there were uh hundred and twenty-two left in out of the field of one hundred and sixty-six, so forty-four gone. Um and Lizzie was going fine, everything's okay. And uh she also managed to arrange via a coaching group through her coach as she's in stew, um, to uh find somebody who she didn't know but was in that group, uh called James, who's quite kindly came out and gave me a three-hour break, uh, which I got no sleep, but managed to lay down in the tent for two and a half hours uh awake, but obviously there's far too much going on here with people coming and going and just crew up talking and laughing. So uh but anyway, at least I got flat on my back for two and a half hours. Um it's very frosty here now. Came out of the tent, it was had a nice white covering on it. We're now um coming up to half past twelve, and they're on lat 15, and there are now 77 left. So the field's reduced quite dramatically, as I thought it would do overnight. And I suppose we'll lose a few more before it's daylight yet. Um but heading towards slowly, the 24 hour mark, which is quite a key point in the race. Um, and I'll come back on later in the night. Uh very, very starry night. Basically, she's had a first slight wobble. Um came in off lap 15 or yard 15 um and came in a couple of minutes later than she normally does with about five minutes to spare. Came straight in, plonked herself down in the chair, put her feet up on a uh bed that's in front of her, um, or a cot thing, and uh put ear defenders on, pulled a beanie hat over her eyes, and told me to give her a shake when the two-minute whistle goes. Uh so basically she was trying to grab three minutes of sleep. Um obviously didn't, I could could tell I just stood there in silence. Um, and as soon as the two-minute whistle went, she was back at it again. Um but I think she did she didn't sleep that well the night before, and she's a bit of an insomniac anyway. So I think it's a the sleep deprivation has started to set in. Um so I need to hatch a plan uh to keep her going. It's she's out the next time she's in, it'll be just before two in the morning. So we need to get through to daylight because everything will change at daylight when the old circadian rhythms kick in and she wakes up. So um I've been hatching a bit of a plan in my head about to give her some targets off people that I know she is much better off out there coming in before her at the moment and latching on to them or even trying to have some small conversations with them, but we shall see how that goes and um how the information is transferred and whether it's accepted and adopted. I'll let you know later. You're doing really well. Excellent. That was a much better one. Yeah, that's yeah. Um are you running have you got a plan in your head for each hour? Well, like following Luke Carter for a start, because he's only just in front of you. I just think you I think you should latch on to somebody. Yeah. Another guy that finishes in front of Luke with a red head.

SPEAKER_07 44:01

I mean it's gonna come out.

SPEAKER_10 44:02

Yeah. Well maybe it'll be daylight mine then.

SPEAKER_07 44:10

Yeah. Shall I stand out of the only thing I have to do?

SPEAKER_10 44:21

So you're getting stiffness in your shoulders, eh? There he is, he's at the front.

SPEAKER_07 44:35

Amazing, thank you.

SPEAKER_10 44:38

Wobble over. I just went to make her a cup of tea when she was coming in on lap 19 at uh a time that I thought was appropriate for her to get back in a normal sort of 53 to 55 minutes, and when I walked in the gazebo, she was already here and got round in 49, which was her quickest lap so far. Um and I think it must have just been her first shot of caffeine because she had some coke on the way out. Um and she said she was feeling really good and it felt like her best lap, and it was her best lap. Uh and there are they're now on lap nineteen. Uh there are forty-seven people left in the event, ten of whom are women. Although one of those has just turned round and come back because she fell over on the last lap and twisted her ankle. Uh so we're down to nine women uh on lap nineteen and uh just keeping going, there's another prob well, this lap nineteen and lap twenty in darkness. Um and then they'll be off the head torches, hopefully, and then everything will wake up body wise, and we can look forward to another good session before well, another twelve hours before we get into darkness again.

unknown 46:28

She's very interesting.

SPEAKER_10 46:30

Right, and with the very interesting Holly, apparently. Uh Holly, this is your first backyard ultra, yeah?

SPEAKER_05 46:39

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_10 46:41

And what made you do that?

SPEAKER_05 46:44

Um, well, I'd actually just I'd come across the backyard ultra format and it absolutely fascinated me. And then in our local area, we're also putting on a backyard ultra um in July, and I'm actually the race director for that backyard ultra. But I've not run one, so I wanted to experience a backyard ultra before we have people come to run our event. So I signed up for this one and was able to run today.

SPEAKER_10 47:11

Oh, brilliant. And so you got, was it 18 yards you did?

SPEAKER_05 47:15

18, yeah, 18 yards.

SPEAKER_10 47:17

That's that's really good for a first attempt. And you only stopped because you you had a fall, didn't you?

SPEAKER_05 47:25

Yeah, so um I was I fell asleep while I was running, and then I tripped over a root branch and twisted, like went over on my ankle. Um, and I didn't even realise that you could get to the point of being tired enough to fall asleep when you're running.

SPEAKER_10 47:38

So Yeah, no, no, you found it. We all find that that you get to that point where you can, oh my god, you can actually fall asleep when you're just wandering around the woods just falling asleep.

SPEAKER_05 47:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 47:49

Brilliant. So have you learned a lot for your event then?

SPEAKER_05 47:53

Oh yeah, I mean this event here is just absolutely fantastic. Um, you know, the how they the organisation, like how they put on the it's just the vibe of this event, it's just it's just wonderful. Absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_10 48:06

And how is it that because it's I understand it's Richmond, North Yorkshire, your event, is that right? Yeah. So how did that all come about and how did you end up as race director?

SPEAKER_05 48:20

So um I'm part of a running club called Team Caterpillar.

SPEAKER_09 48:25

Right.

SPEAKER_05 48:26

And um it's a it's a pretty big club now, there's over 200 runners. Um and our chair, our found the founder of Team Caterpillar, um has built this club up and she's done it's she's amazing. Um and basically I just went to her and said, Would you ever fancy putting on an on an event? I said, I'd really like to put on a backyard ultra. Do you fancy doing that? And she was absolutely um yeah, over the moon with the idea and really excited about it, so we've kind of collaborated and have made this event come together now.

SPEAKER_10 49:01

Really good. And is Eric giving you advice, the MD here?

SPEAKER_05 49:06

Yeah, so um I actually met Eric and we had a a meeting and he gave us loads of advice, and he's obviously been he's just um he's he's a wealth of knowledge and he's got so much information and he's freely given it to us. You know, he really wanted to help us and he's really supportive of um new events and other backyard ultrasound and he's yeah, he's been wonderful.

unknown 49:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 49:30

Yeah, that must be good for because I don't think Yorkshire's other than God's own, is it the only one that is that in the only one in Yorkshire or not?

SPEAKER_05 49:40

Yeah, that's is it I think it's West Yorkshire. So ours, the Sting, is the only one in North Yorkshire.

SPEAKER_10 49:48

Right.

SPEAKER_05 49:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 49:49

And it's it's gonna be called the Sting.

SPEAKER_05 49:51

It's the Sting Backyard Ultra North. Right, yeah, okay. And that's 12th of July. Right. Cheeky plug there.

SPEAKER_10 50:01

Yeah, the more of these, the merrier.

SPEAKER_05 50:03

Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, hopefully it'll be it'll be a good event.

SPEAKER_10 50:07

Yeah, well, well done today. Oh, and uh are you gonna do another one? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 50:13

Oh yeah, I've got unfinished business now. I definitely didn't mean to go out as I've gone out today.

SPEAKER_10 50:17

Yeah, um, there's such a learning curve, isn't there? And then to get off to 18 as a start, that's fantastic. You definitely gotta go at least 24, haven't you?

SPEAKER_05 50:28

Yeah, yeah. Well, this is it. This is so I I would have loved to have got to 24. I don't know if that was really gonna be hap happening today, but I I was sort of aiming for 20, so to go out with an injury. But that's the thing with long distance though, isn't it? It's an injury happens and then that's it, it's game over. So um, but I've had the best crew, I've had my best girls who are.

SPEAKER_10 50:50

Yeah, and they have not have done it.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Amanda and Frankie. Hello!

SPEAKER_10 50:55

Hello, Frankie.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

Hello! Yeah, we've had a great time, we've loved it here, the event great fun, and everybody has just been so supportive of each other, like even the support crews have been looking after the other support crews, which has um kept us going really as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lovely. This is the first time we've ever been to anything like this. So to see it on this scale and actually enjoy it. I think we were worried that we were gonna have the worst day, and we've had so much fun.

SPEAKER_03 51:27

We were kind of like, what have we got ourselves in for? Um, especially when Holly was dropping in the 24 hour hints, because then we just kind of had this feeling there was gonna be 24 hours, then 25 hours. Um, we're good for her because we know that's what she wanted, but it means we get to come back and we've had a great time. And she smashed it, like. Yeah, absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_10 51:48

Yeah, she did. Really good. Are you are you two runners?

SPEAKER_02 51:53

We are, but when we came here, we thought we were great runners until we've heard the numbers that are getting knocked around here for the miles that have been covered. I feel like I can't mention that I've run before now.

SPEAKER_05 52:04

Yeah, they are great runners, and they ran for less than a year and then smashed out a marathon, so oh brilliant.

SPEAKER_10 52:09

Oh well, they're well on the way, aren't they? So it is the big stuff next. You've got to get next. Yeah, yeah, you've got to get up to 30, haven't you? Or get into ultra distance anyway.

SPEAKER_03 52:20

Well, we're we're gonna give the sting a t an attempt on his race in July. Um, you know, that's again supporting her in everything she does.

SPEAKER_02 52:32

I'm often a little bit more excited for the sting now that we've been here and felt the buzz and the vibe and seen kind of what it's about. What we mean is we've watched all the food that gets eaten on these events. We're we're ready to.

SPEAKER_10 52:46

She said eating a bacon roll.

SPEAKER_05 52:50

It's not often we do do an interview at five o'clock in the morning either, on a fact that they're making coherent sentences, or I hope it's coherent, I don't really know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 53:00

Yeah, most people eating bacon rolls at five in the morning on a Sunday morning have been on the Raz, haven't they, rather than running? Oh brilliant, well done, all of you. Oh, thank you again. Nice to meet you all.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Yeah, thank you for making it.

SPEAKER_10 53:15

Maybe we'll get up to Yorkshire. Maybe not this July, but hope it goes on continues. Yeah. Have you got a good feel? Is there a good feel for numbers of the word out?

SPEAKER_05 53:26

Like yeah, we've got a lot of people um signed up, so um, yeah, it's it's looking really positive. Um, yeah, I think it's gonna be a successful event with lots of people, yeah, hopefully coming to smash some big numbers.

SPEAKER_10 53:42

I think that's the the thing is because once you start one up locally, people don't really know what they are, and then then it takes off, doesn't it? The people get into it. So good, well done. Thanks, and thanks for speaking to Aid Station. The sun is up, thank goodness. It's been very cold since well, all night, but from six and seven o'clock laps, it was freezing cold, it was about minus two, uh, white frost everywhere. Um and but the sun has now started to shine through the gazebo window, which is brilliant. Um, had a right scare. Um, you have to be in the corral before the whistle goes. Um, and Lizzie asked me uh what that last whistle was, and I said it was two blows of the whistle, and it was actually one, and luckily she was right on it and dived out the door and got in the pen just in time to go. So uh a bit of a crewing cock up there by me. So that's all gonna change from now on. Not gonna be we I mean, if we hadn't been literally the nearest gazebo to it, she wouldn't have made it into the pen. So we're gonna get out of here earlier and uh just stretch or something outside the gazebo for the next round of laps. But I thought I'd throw that in there because you have to really be on it the whole time. And of course, crew get knackered as well as runners, but you need to your jobs to get them out there, so I failed almost failed there. But anyway, she's going well. She's last four laps picked up um getting in in around 49-50 minutes, uh, which was a pickup from her slow lap in the night, which is about 55-11 was the slowest lap so far, which is still fine. I mean, five minutes to spare, I'd take it all day. But uh yeah, I think we are in for quite a nice day, and hopefully the sun will help her, along with everybody else, I expect. Uh, definitely be on for the next one because the next one's the big one, 24 and 100 miles. Uh 34 went out on the 24th lap, and uh the first car came in in 36 minutes, ran a fast one deliberately, and then tore off his timing chip and declared that he'd had enough. Or he obviously came to run a 20 20 uh hundred miles in 24 hours. Um, and 33 of them have set out on lap 25. So uh they are keen to get on, although I saw three of them step over the timing mat and then stop. So I think they just wanted to get timed out on lap 25 rather than do it. So I got a feeling the field might be down to about 30 uh to go out on lap 26, but we'll see when we get there. Um still fantastic weather here, uh just dead calm, no wind, lovely and sunny. Uh Lizzie's still going well and uh having one or two little toilet issues going more often than she normally would, but um it's all under control and uh this bit of the race for a crewing point of view has become easier. Um obviously when it gets daylight it's a lot easier to cope with these things. Um and uh there's more people turned up because there's a few spectators or people that ran in the thing uh showing back up again today um to see how people are getting on. It's such a nice day as well to come out and have a stroll round Sherwood Pines, I suppose, and catch a bit of running on the way because the running route goes all through the pines uh in the public area as well. So uh you can wander round, obviously you're not allowed to get any assistance, or the runners aren't allowed, you're not allowed to give any assistance to runners. Uh or encouragement, I believe, I think, under Lazie's rules, but um I'm sure that's not police. Uh well but anyway, uh on we go. I probably won't come back on because there's not much to talk about other than uh we just keep going out. Um so I think I'll probably wait until we're getting towards night time again, um and then we'll really see what it's wheeled down to to go into the second night. So, at the end of part one, we are left with 30 setting out on yard 26, 34 having made it to 24 hours or 100 miles, which is quite a big percentage to get 34 out in 24 hours, is a pretty good thing in a field like this in the UK. And uh it's 9 a.m. Sunday morning, where it was when it reached the uh 24 hour mark or the hundred miles, and there were thirty left out of a field, a starting field of 166 when we got on to lap twenty-six. So this is Kev saying get yourself straight over to episode forty-four to not miss out on the conclusion of the Russell Bok Backyard Ultra. See you on episode forty-four.