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Ep 44 - Rasselbock Back Yard Ultra Part 2 - The long yards
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This is the second part of the 2025 Rasselbock Back Yard Ultra featuring the climax of the race and a post race interview with Lizzie Gatherer.
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Like it's it, like it's gonna be good.
SPEAKER_01Welcome back, episode forty-four, The Russell Block by Yellow Doctor Special Second Palm. Without further ado, here are the cowbells of inspiration. Yet another Rattlebock update. It's uh two minutes past four, and they've just set out on lap thirty one, or yard thirty-one. Um there were eighteen that went out on lap twenty-nine, and they'd been together since yard twenty-six, um, and that was made up of six women and twelve men. Um, and since then, I think we had one male drop. Yeah, one male drop, and then on this lap that just started, 31, two others uh went over the line and then clapped the others on and turned round and came back. So we have dropped two more people, uh, three in total, so we're down to I think it's 15 left in. Um, and still six of those are women, including Lizzie, who's locked into pretty good 50-minute pacing all the way round. Uh, she's last two or three laps she's done with another guy who's actually quicker, but he's told her that he wanted to uh slow himself down, obviously trying to uh extend his time out there. Um so quite exciting time. She's got to get to 33 for a PB, and then after that, it's game on. Um she'll hit PB lap, will be the first one on the head torch at six o'clock. Um, and then it's a case of getting through the night. I mean, the second night is really going to start wreaking havoc um amongst them, uh, and it really will be down to who can cope with the sleep deprivation and keep it going. But you know, they've pretty much got 12 hours in the dark again on a head torch from six till six. Well, it's not even light till half six in the forest, so um, yeah, long time. But it's a lap at a time. Take each one that comes. Lizzie said, I don't even know what to think, and I said don't think of anything except the neck next lap. Um, and it literally is that you've just no idea what other people are up to. The two guys that just stopped were two of the quicker guys, and they clearly had made up their mind that 30 was plenty for them. Um, and ironically, well, not ironically, really, but some people have to go to work, and it's as I said, four o'clock on Sunday, and they probably decide they're gonna go home and get a night's sleep and go to work on Monday. So there's a bit more to it than meets the eye, really, over um how far people want to go and are prepared to go and commit to going all the way. So, probably the next time we'll talk to you will be on the celebration lap of a completion of lap thirty-three. Twenty past six in the evening, and latest progress report is that there are now four men versus four women, uh or all against each other. Uh, but it's come down to an even split for the last eight in the field, and they're all out on lap thirty-three, and lap thirty-three will be Lizzie's PB lap, and she went off quite excited. Hope she doesn't overdo it. Um, and then it'll be a case of knuckling down to actually trying to win this thing, so but it's been a brilliant effort so far, and we're in for a very long cold night again by the look of it. The temperature's gonna go down below zero at about three or four in the morning and onwards. So, looking forward to it. But I'll try and get her on here once she's done her personal best. Well, I've been on about her all the time, and now she's here live in our gazebo.
SPEAKER_00Eating Halimi.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and she's just skipped round 33, listening to A C D C. Yeah, brilliant, and so she was done.
SPEAKER_00Thunderstrike. I was sidestepping, skipping, running backwards, jumping, dancing, and I thought, oh god, I hope Kev's not cross with me. But it was so nice to move my legs in a different way, and I felt amazing.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'll let you off because it's definitely raising your um energy level, which has got to be a good thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I like to think it put the others off.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, good. So, um, more news, Julie Bethune is out.
SPEAKER_00No way.
SPEAKER_01She walked back.
SPEAKER_00No way.
SPEAKER_01So it's getting quite tasty now.
SPEAKER_00Oh no, but there's that other lady.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think there's a I'm not I can't remember her name.
SPEAKER_00The other lady's really strong.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a lady coming in first all the time about last six laps, well in front.
SPEAKER_00How many lesson?
SPEAKER_01Uh seven, I think. Three women and four men.
SPEAKER_00I've made a friend called Matt. And we're running together supporting each other. Alright. And we are the underdogs.
unknownAlright.
SPEAKER_01Good for the underdogs.
SPEAKER_00Three minutes, we're all I'm doing a fancy stretching routine in the starting pen to try and unnerve everyone. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it is it was working in the day, like right, let's get on with it. Uh as I failed to name the people that were left in when Lizzie had completed 33, I thought it was only fair that I should do that now because these are the real sharp-end athletes of the race. Um we had uh Eleanor Gallen, Phil Marshall, uh Inara Jarina, who I think was from Lithuania, Matthew Gayton, who is the chap that um Lizzie paired up with quite a bit, did quite a few laps with Matthew, uh Ken Kenneth Burge, who is age 61, uh, Elizabeth Gatherer and Ian Bethune. So they are the seven that went out beyond lap thirty-three with Lizzie running, I think about six laps with Matthew. It's uh 120 in the morning on a very frosty crisp night, starlit night in Jeward Pines Forest, um, and three people have set out on the oh sorry, four people have set out on the 40th yard uh of this Backyard Ultra. Uh obviously Lizzie's one of 'em, hence I'm still here. Uh, and three guys. Um, but I came on because at the last uh stop, um she was a bit incoherent um and a bit slurred, so the sleep deprivations have definitely set in, and she asked the race director what the women's course record and what the course record was, but um being told three times she didn't really get it. But um uh I know that she's aiming obviously for those, and she'd have to do 42 for the women's record and uh forty-three for the course record, so at least she's got that mindset. Um but there's another three loops to do yet if she's gonna achieve that, which would be pretty amazing from where she's at at the moment. They're coming in, they've only got about well, five, four minutes um to get in and get turned round now. It's a job to get anything into her that's gonna try and wake her up. But we're gonna keep going as long as she can keep turning it around and getting across the start line. Uh we'll keep trying to keep her out there. Uh but it's a pretty amazing effort. Um I think well, she's had a few head torch issues, um, but we changed the batteries in those, and then she wasn't happy with them, so not quite sure what's going on. Then she took mine and mine pretty much fell apart or got pulled apart, one or the other. Um but you know, these are all parts of the things that go on, and the more it goes on, the more little obstacles and hurdles you have to overcome. Yes, I'm not sure how much of that recording. I hope I've got a recording on there, and that you've heard that that um Lizzie just broke the women's course record at the Russell Bock event with 42 yards. Uh, that was a record held by Sarah Perry. Um, so that's pretty impressive in my book. And uh she's now set out with Ian Bethun uh on lap 43, which would also be the overall course record for this uh uh course. Um they were running with a chap called Keith Birge, who decided not to go out on the 43rd lap, so there's just two of them left now. Um Keith was running uh a little bit behind them but on the same laps as them for about three or four laps, uh, and uh he's now gone. So we're really down to the final sharp end. Um I have to say that that's as um uh bad as I've seen Lizzie look uh when she was in the tent with me. Um she was trying to get some paracetamol down and gagging on it, um, and she looks very pale and tired and uh gave me a hug. Um uh her and I don't have a hugging relationship much, so I think that uh I was hoping that wasn't a signal like this is my last one that I'm gonna do. Um but we'll see. I'll try and keep her going. It depends what she's gonna be like when she gets in off of this one. Um I know she won't want to lose uh nothing against Ian, but won't want to lose to a male, um uh having got this near, so hopefully we can keep her going. We're about oh two laps away from daylight, and I just hoping that can get her to daylight, and then the body clock might turn around again. Um, and she'll have got through the second night. But I'll get back on here. Um, I think the batteries died, and the last time I'm hoping they hold out is so cold, it's about minus two now. So um, and that's killing the batteries on my little handheld unit. Anyway, come back when we get um more of the action out of the way. Um it is now five past six on Monday morning at the Russellbach backyard, and it's been a very dramatic night uh for Lizzie particularly. Um it's been a real struggle uh to get through. Um the aim in my head as well. I'm not sure what's going on in Lizzie's head, but was to get her through to the first signs of daylight, which is um was just before six, uh, which she's done. Um, and then hopefully um psychologically uh she'll be woken up by the actual sunrise. Uh she's still in there with Ian Bethune. She came in, um, like the mad woman she is, she's ultra mad Lizzie, alright. She had uh the cranberry zombie playing in her head, and she was literally singing in my head, in my head. Those of you that know that song, um, coming in, and I I think it's got into Ian Bethune's head. He wasn't too pleased about having to listen to it all the way round, I think. But she stuck, um looked like quite close to him. So, but then she had a bit of a meltdown in the tent. I think she's emotionally drained. Um, you know, you get this with sleep deprivation, um any slight thing, and you just start blubbering. Um, but she's calmed down, she actually nodded off for a two minutes. Um, and I'm just trying any tricks I can think of. Uh, because that it's so cold and frosty, I've got to take quite a strong menthol sweet, just because I think that'll sh shock my brain into waking up a bit, and I've given her some uh chewy sweets to told her to chew those slowly, but just get the jaw working, thinking about something else when she's going round. I mean, she'll probably be banging out the music again. Uh, but I think we're there in terms of getting her into the daylight, how long this can go on? I'm not sure, it depends on the lift that she gets from uh the day the daylight that's gonna come up, um, and she'll be back in at about uh somewhere around seven minutes to seven, and we'll see where we're at then. But uh she did say to me in tears that I can't come this far and not do this, meaning win the event. Um, so she seems still setting her mind that she's gonna win it, so it should be an interesting little battle. Well, both Lizzie and Ian have now gone through 48 yards, which is 200 miles, and that is a pretty amazing achievement to hit 200. When you hear seeing it uh close up, it's incredible what it takes to get there. Um, and that's a really an awesome performance by both of them. Um, very proud of what Lizzie's doing and sticking at it and keeping going. And uh well, hopefully we're gonna be out here for a lot more yet. She seems quite determined. Um, of course, a lot of it will come down to the constant ability to take on nutrition, hydration, and manage any uh foot or uh muscular problems, but all been good so far. So just keeping at it. And I'm sort of rambling a bit because going round and round and round uh is monotonous, uh, but it's really monotonous if you're crewing. Um you get like ten minutes of hyperactivity each side of their inside the hour visit. Um and then it's just mainly just keeping house and making sure that you're rested and have eaten enough yourself. So uh not much else to say on it at the moment. There's a nice little crowd of runners that uh were in the event that have shown up to pick up tents or equipment who've hung about to see how it's going. So there's a few here clapping them in each time, which has given her a real lift as she realizes that there are people that are uh interested in what they're doing and what they're trying to achieve. Unfortunately, with all that was going on and keeping Lizzie in the race, I missed recording the climax of the event. Um but Lizzie and Ian ran two more yards to attain fifty yards uh in total, and at this point Ian set a new Scottish record, and I was dealing with a quite wiped-out Lizzie in the chair, ready for lap 51, and persuaded her to go back out again. I was swore that she wasn't going to um retire in the chair, um, and you never know if you get out there and get going again, you might be able to do it. But I think in my heart of hearts I knew that she was um gone as far as she wanted to go mentally, I think, and you'll hear that what her views on it are in a follow-up recording that I made after we got home. I mean, once the event was over, and it does end rather suddenly, really, when someone decides that they're finished, um, they are the assist, and the winner wins it as long as they can complete that uh last lap. So Ian Julie did that, got round in 51 yards, and was the winner of the Russell Bok Backyard Ultra for 2025. I broke up camp, uh loaded up Lizzie's car, and then drove the three and a half hours back home. Uh pretty wiped out, slept for eleven hours straight, didn't wake up at all. Um, and then in the evening I went round to Lizzie's and managed to catch up with her to summarise what happened in the event, and what you're about to hear is that recording. Right, here we are, a day after the finish of the big event. I'm sat on Liz's settee with her, and we're gonna have a little discussion about how it all went in the end, because um you won't know that yet. I've been reporting all the way through this and never got to the conclusion, so we're gonna cover that off now. How did the race go for you, Liz?
SPEAKER_00It went, I would say, very, very well. Um it was a race in three sections, um, it went on a very, very long time. Uh, and there was just under 200 um 200 competitors, so it was interesting because yeah, I would say it was a race in three parts, because the first part was when it was super busy and it was really nice because every single yard I had a new person to talk to, and it meant that the first X amount of yards went really, really quickly, and it was really fun chatting to so many different people, hearing their stories. And then I would say the middle section of the race for me was the best section. So that was when a chap called Matt, who I hadn't seen before because I was generally near the back, and he had been running up front. And had been coming in, I think, at like 46, 47 minutes every yard, whereas I was quite consistently coming in around 53. So I hadn't seen him at all. And he got chatting to me and asked me what my lap times was. And I said about 53. And he said, Would you mind if I run a lap with you? Because I would like to try and slow down because I think it would help me run better. And I was like, sure. So we ran a lap together, and I was telling him, you know, where I walked and where I ran. And of course, we were sharing each other's running stories. And it was his first backyard ultra. And actually, he was a roadrun. That was very much obvious by the way that he ran. Um, as in, he had a very good style uh or form, I should say. And anyway, that was it. That was the start of a blossoming friendship, and we worked together for hours on end. Um, I'm not sure how many hours, but at least what did I say to you earlier when I was looking at the results? I think it was at least six or seven hours.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, about six hours, I think.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but I think possibly longer than that. And um we, you know, when he was having a low, I'd pick him up. When I was having a low, he would pick me up. And it was just an incredible experience because in the two previous backyards, I did spend a lot of time on my own and didn't really wasn't able to connect with anyone for for like a long period of time. Um, but you know, when you spend hours with someone, you know, you you really get to know them. And we just had it was like a party atmosphere, you know, overnight. Um, we would um there was this one particular section at the beginning that I found a bit difficult. So I would put my headphones on just for that section and sing along to the music. And I'm a terrible singer, and Matt um I said to Matt, Do you mind that I'm singing because I sound awful? And he said, No, I love it because I love to see how happy you are, which I thought was a very nice thing to say. And um, so that's kind of the rhythm we got into. Uh, and it it was just, I don't know, it was just brilliant working with someone. And in a dream world, it would have been he and I um that would have taken the win and the assist, and it genuinely would not have mattered which one of us had won because it was more, I think the whole for me, the whole point of backyard is is the working together, the teamwork and pushing each other to to see where your limits are. Um and I also have to mention actually my 33rd yard would that I knew that was going to be my PB yard, and I said to Matt then, I said, just bear with me a minute. This is my PB yard, and I promised myself I would listen to ACDC Thunderstruck. So that was the first time I put the headphones on, and by then, um, or at that point, I didn't want to sing out loud because there was too many people still in there, and I didn't want them to hear my awful singing. So I didn't sing, but I danced, and I literally the whole time the song was on, I was skipping around, dancing, running backwards, sidestepping, and like um everyone was laughing at me a bit, but it was it was a really great feeling and a very memorable moment. Um, and definitely the best section of the race was was that middle part with Matt. It then got the the third for me, the third section of the race was when it was just the final two runners. So that was me and it was Ian, and uh we ran at a very, very different pace. So the only time we saw each other was on the start line. Uh and then uh he he walked, I think he did walk a lot more than me, but his run was a lot faster than mine. So he would pull away from me quite quickly, and then I would just sort of see sometimes I'd see his head torch in the distance, or sometimes I'd see his jacket, but um, yeah, we didn't really spend any time together. And I think we were out there the two of us, I think for eight for eight yards, I think it was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, eight hours to yeah that you were just the two of you, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so that um so eight hours for me is a long time to be on my own. Um and uh it was it got to the point though within at some point within those eight hours, I think on the overnight section, I was having less and less fun, and then it got to the point where I wasn't really having fun at all, and I was just doing the yards just for the sake of doing them. And a number of times I felt like stopping because um for me the whole point of running is is that it's fun and it's enjoyable, and I don't want to do it if I'm not enjoying it, but I did think about all the people at home who had sent me messages, and they were so encouraging and supportive. And obviously, Kev was there every time I came in. There was a couple of times I just started crying and just said, I'm not I'm not I'm not enjoying it anymore. But Kev was like, You cannot quit in the chair, which is very true. Um, so you know I I went out again and I had I had had a brief chat with Ian and he had told me he's Scottish, he had told me that the Scottish record was 50. I think he had told me that I think it was maybe the 46th yard. So I thought to myself, okay, let's go get him the Scottish record, because I think he'd be really disappointed to get so close to it and not achieve it. So I decided that I would go up to 50 yards and then I would stop. Um, so I did le I did go out on the on the 51st yard, and I've really had a very big think because I didn't want to regret my decision. Um, and Eric was behind at uh a distance behind. They had a um bike for safety on the overnight laps, but on Monday they had a bike for safety during the day as well because there was work going on in the forest. So I sort of waved at Eric and he came up to me, he said, Is everything okay? Um, and I had a big cry, um, a big chat and a big cuddle, and uh he was very good at listening to me and my reasons for pulling, and I decided that yeah, I wasn't having fun anymore, and I did want to stop, uh, and I knew that I would not regret it. I definitely made I stuck, I was true to myself, I made the right choice for me, but the really, really exciting thing is physically and mentally, I was totally fine, and I was smashing out 53 minute yards every single time. So I know that I had a lot more left to give, a lot more in the tank, and I just think with the right people on the course, um, it will be no problem at all for me to push a lot further past that 50 marker, and I really truly believe that the 60, which would be the UK female record, I really believe that's possible because when I stood on the start line, I knew I wanted 60, but I didn't know if I was capable of it. So now I know that I still want 60, and I am capable of it. Um, so the next chance I think I have for 60 yards will probably be in September when I go back to Rasselbock and do their Hardwick Hall event. So um, so yeah, I think, yeah, so I was the assist in the end, and and Ian, a very long-winded way to say I was the assist at 50, and Ian was the um the only finisher, he got his Scottish record, and he got his distance PB, which was a um he achieved his distance PB on 48 yards uh and got his Scottish record at 50. But it would have been cool if we were similar paces, then we could have worked together and we could have gone a lot further. But for me, running what was it, did we say eight hours? Eight hours on my own, it's just it's not fun. So so there we are.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I mean it that sounded a bit down from my point of view, um, just because you did something incredible, you went eighteen hours further than you've ever gone before in a backyard. Um it's a massive jump up for anybody in backyard terms. Um you've got the second furthest female distance in the UK now. You are almost certainly, in my opinion, uh gonna get in the satellite team next year with 50. And if you don't if you don't do any more backyards between now and then. So I think it's an incredible achievement. Being um in the front row seat, and we were literally were in the front row, we had the first gazebo and the whole event. Um it was an incredible effort, fantastic determination, uh, an inspiration for me and for loads of other people, as you've seen what's been coming in on social media today, um, especially for female athletes, which was another thing, and I think it was great having a male-female battle often seems to happen at Russell Park, um, which is a really good thing.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's actually something I don't think I mentioned on the pre-race post, but um Kev and I were talking about it before we did the recording. But I did have two goals. Um, so the personal goal was was the 60, but the other goal that I had was to just inspire other people, especially women, and because I felt that Sherwood Pines it's a very ordinary place, it's where people go to walk their dogs, and you know, they've got a playground there for children, they've got go-apes, it's a really ordinary place, yet this extraordinary event is happening, and people are pushing past past their limits, achieving distance PBs, and that is a phenomenal. And for me, I was aiming to do roughly a 12-minute mile. So many people can do 12-minute miles. So I just wanted to really to inspire others to show them look what you can do, you know, because I have often people say to me that they don't think they can run fast enough or they don't think they're strong enough, but look what you can achieve with a 12-minute mile and a little bit of determination. So I just really wanted to make an ordinary thing into something extraordinary and hope that people would be inspired by that. And I believe to a degree I have done that because I've had a lot of incredible messages today, even from people I don't know, saying that they've entered races because of my performance, and um they were inspired to go on a longer run that on Sunday, and yeah, so that's really cool. That's that for me is actually the most important thing is inspiring others to yeah, just get out there and and get their long run done, basically.
SPEAKER_01That's fantastic, and and well done, Lizzie. It was a real privilege um to be there to support you, and I think with those ethics, if I can call it that, that you have behind you when you run, you'll always achieve and you're gonna inspire a lot more people over your coming running career. And thanks very much, and and keep at it.
unknownThank you.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for having me on, and thanks, yeah. By the thank you for crewing, my god. Kev went above and beyond even uh I even got a shoulder massage and calf massages. So thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01An absolute pleasure, Lizzie. Well done. To the next bloody hate station.