Bernie dropped Seamus and myself off in Silent Valley with about 30mins to spare. We were both bopping. Got changed and the kit sorted. As one of the last starters we were having a good laugh with the orginasers. Feeling very relaxed but excited about the up coming race. We were ready to lay waste.
Over by the start, we were laughing and joking and generally been good CNOC members. Having a laugh, been chilled out and staying calm. Clear, check, take a leak, collect the control descriptions and we were off. We calmly plotted the controls and were off up the hill. I was tempted to break into a run going up the first steep slope but I had a sharp pain in my back. This paniced me slightly, last time it happened was Prince Williams seat. We got the first control, merely following the wall. On the descent the pain vanished and I breathed a sigh of relief. That was one niggle I didn't want coming back to haunt me.
I was glad we were travelling light. We got a good laugh from everyone in there rain jackets, hats and gloves at the start. We were dressed in shorts and a good set of running tops. Down the hill to control 2, Seamus knew the ground due to his nasty rock climbing/ bouldering habit. For once I wasn't complaining. We weived and meandered along sheep trails, climbing all the time. Then we hit the 2nd climb up to the control. Climbed further to the next crag up and contoured across. We hit two crags but no control. Shea seemed a bit flustered. Bouncing off each other we calmed down and dropped the few contours down to the 2nd control. A small bit of time lost but nothing serious.
Heading off to control 3, Shea spotted a around route more so than following the crowd up and over the top. This was to become a tactic for the day - go around and keep the pace high rather than suffer up needless climbs. Running across the shallow heather, it seemed like the perfect day in the Mournes. Confidence was high and the buzz was mighty. Just the simple feeling of getting to run in such spectacular surroundings. In awe of the sheer steepness compared to Wicklows flatter rounder summits. We continued to contour and we hit a track. Blitzed along the track until we came to a wall and straight up to the control.
The 4th control was a very long leg. Shea picked another sweet route, going over the saddles, down around the lake and up a sheer wall of contours. Giving me a glance, it seemed perfect. Running towards the saddle, we were on a well beaten MMM track, this lead to fast but slippery running. I lost time dropping down to the lake, partly my shoes slipping, partly other runners taking up the track. I caught Seamus at the dam and off we went across. As we entered the rocky gammy section I laughed out loud saying I hate my life. It couldn't have been further from the truth. We began to jump through heather, ferns and rocks. The going was slow so we descended to the shore and began a km of rock hopping. Shea was bouncing along, I was slower on the granite boulders, the fear of smashing myself and a quick flash back to the ridge... As the rain began to fall, I upped the anty, I didn't want to get stuck on wet rock!
When we got off the rock and into the terrain I began to question Seamus route choice. The going was very slow. More rock and ferns, and more climbing. I asked Shea was he confident about the route and he seemed insulted by the question. Asking to see the map, I realised that I actually did not see a perfect track going to the control. Once I realised my error, I got a good mental boost, realising that the route was actually a sweet route choice and not a death march. Up through the ferns, across a river and we climbed higher again. Looking behind us, we had a tail. They looked pretty small at the base of the hill. Cresting the hill was a good buzz. The view was pretty amazing. Once again we put the head down and got the control.
The next route looked nasty. We were headed in Meelmore direction. The same O map that we usually do a spot of O training on when ever the junior squad is up north. We reckoned heading up through the pass and then over the big dirty spur. We got to the pass, and saw the spur. Looking at the map again, Shea saw that our track lead straight to below the control. Needless to say, it was just a matter of motoring on. We took off down the trail, and literally just kept running. After a fair few minutes of descending, we crossed the river and landed on a sheep track, and then onto another trail, shea snotted himself, and over onto the Meelmore map. Across another river and then we began to recognise features. We hit another track section and then it was straight up to the control. It was another near perfect route choice by Shea. He was on fire.
We had debated the next leg for a while, originally, we had thought about going back the way we came, but that took us forever to come down so climbing that way wouldn't be pretty. It was decided to hit the Mourne/ Ulster Way. We followed it along (Shea went splat on the wet grass, shea went splat again, colm found it funny, colm went splat, colm no longer found it as funny) and hit another lake. At the lake we stopped and leaned the beans and took out the hats as the temperature dropped all of a sudden.
Little did we know that we had just entered "The Valley of Indecent Exposure".
As we began to climb, the wind picked up and it began to rain. It got very cold in shorts and light tops. I put the head down and pushed on hard hoping to warm myself up. I had a bite to eat and told myself to HTFU. It wasn't that cold. I began to shake and I got annoyed with myself. I was beginning to lose feeling in my face. My legs got colder and colder. I pushed on, following Seamus. Climbing further and further. On reaching the wall, a voice shouted out in a northern twang "alright colm". Twas the one and only Paddy! He was all smiles. The banter started. Asking how he was running etc etc.... McCloy was in a tent on the far side of the wall with hypothermia...! It was a bit of a WTF moment. Both Paddy and McCloy had an extremely high amount of mountain experience between them. We screamed a few words at McCloy in the tent, in the double sleeping bag. The final thing I heard was the marshal telling Paddy in a don't ask any questions manner to put on all his clothes, he wasn't going anywhere.
We set off around the mountain to descend down to the next control at the river. As I was running. McCloy kept playing on my mind. Also that I only had 1 dry thermal that wasn't coming out until I reached the campsite. I also wanted to keep my rain gear dry until the campsite (brain was clearly getting fucked over by the cold is well).
We crossed the Mourne Wall again and I knew I was getting close to been in the shit. My legs were cramping badly with the cold and I was beginning to shiver badly. After a few minutes of pondering what to do. I told Shea I was stopping to get on my warm gear, he agreed and we bailed into a ditch. I pulled off my top and my chest was lashed red by the wind and rain. I through on my thermal and rain gear. Getting to the campsite became my only priority.
I looked down at my legs. The water partials catching on the hairs. They were completely tense. Every muscle had contracted to decrease an area to lose heat from. The thought went though mu mind, my god my legs are ripped, there isn't a gram of fat on me - i was very pleased with myself, until I realised that having a few kg's of body fat would probably have been a very good thing to have at that moment in time. I jogged down to the control as Shea did up his rain gear and followed me on. At this stage I was extremely cold. I was cursing not having an extra fleece or something along the lines of that. Shuffling along the track I think I told Seamus I was fecked. I can't really remember. All I do remember was that I was cold and my legs were cramping very badly. I was down to a shuffle. Seamus took charge and got me motivated. I just put the head down and kept plugging away. The only thing I wanted was a warm dry camp site. We began to fantise about a warm tent and hot food... what could possibly be nicer than plain rice!! Leaving the custard at home was a bullcrap idea.
We wandered and ran across the flat top of Spelga. Finally hitting the control after what felt like an age. The the descent off of Spelga. This was steep. Like the North Prism on Lug, but slipperier. We walked and slid down. Making good time, and onto the road. The fence/ditch jump onto the road and wall jump after the road were interesting. This is the first time I can remember my groin beginning to get at me. We pushed on up the Mourne Way. Slowly put surely hitting the last control before the cluster.
The cluster decision was easy. Head down and climb. Up and up and up and up. We climbed constantly for 3omins before we were put out of our misery. Down all the ground we had just gained and over to Hen Mountain for the 3rd last control. I had vivid memory's of this mountain from 07 with Niall. I knew the ground was runnable so I forced myself to run. Around the big lump of beautiful climbable rock... (dam it).. and we got the control fairly handy. It was a big push down the hill and up the track to the 2nd last. I ran past Seamus and gave him a small push on the back. If I stopped I wouldn't start again. He dropped down and got the control. Out to the track and it was a horrible yet beautiful run down to the last control. We got worried as we couldn't see the forest beside the control, but I caught sight of the flag from a far distance off. Over the fence and a nice run in along a flat field. Punched the finish control and I was dam glad Day 1 was over. My legs were in bits and my groin was worryingly sore. The pushing hard in the cold probably wasn't the best. Downloaded and we were all good. 27mins clear of 2nd. A good start to the competition. Sunday would be a tough one but we could afford to lose a bit of time. Part one, job done.
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