The Arc of Attrition by Mudcrew is billed as one of the toughest 100 mile races in the UK. It takes in the South West Cornish coast starting at Coverack on the south coast and finishing at Porthtowan in the north cliffs. The terrain is unforgivingly wild and rugged and as if that wasn’t enough, there is over 16,000 feet of elevation to contend with. Furthermore, the race is held at the end of January so the weather is more often than not ‘temperamental’ to say the least. The final twist of the knife is that it starts at midday, meaning that you only have approx. 5 hours of light before a long 14 hours of darkness, The cut off is 36 hours, so you have until midnight the following day to get to the finish line.

This race is bloody big! I know experienced ultra runners who have said they would never dare to tow the start line. I can’t blame them!

After completing the Marathon Des Sables in October 2021 I took some time out to debrief. I didn’t feel ready for the next chapter in my running journey for quite some time. Entries for Arc opened in March 2022 and I felt that with the race being 10 months away, I had plenty of time to train. It felt right so I hit the button and secured my place on the start line for January ‘23.

Fast forward to Thursday 26th January and myself and my crew arrive at the Mount Pleasant Eco Park in Porthtowan which is the venue for race HQ. The place is buzzing with nervous Arc runners as kit checks are carried out.

As I walked in I was immediately met by familiar faces - some are friends and others are people I follow on Instagram. Regardless, we all hug and chat away. I was nervous for kit check even though I had triple checked everything on the mandatory list. I cleared the check without any issues, collected my bib number 121, had my photo taken for my Open Tracking profile and that was it, all I needed now was to eat and get an early night.

Friday 27th January - race day

We arrived at the eco park early, I hate rushing, so we had plenty of time to get my tracker, grab a coffee and soak up the atmosphere. I saw so many people I knew, we were all wishing each other good luck and taking photos. Due to the large starting field of this race (400 crazies) and the narrow Cornish roads, only the runners are allowed at the start line in Coverack, no crew or support is allowed. Therefore Mudcrew transport all of us by coach from the race HQ in Porthtowan down to the south coast where the atmosphere was electric!

We had to wait 45 minutes for the race to start so a small group of us chatted and listened to Stephen Cousins interview the elite athletes.

I also took some time to myself to remind myself why I was there. Yes the challenge was enormous and of course that was a hook in itself but my drive to get this done was very personal;

In 2018 I completed the West Country 100 miler with a good friend, Caroline. I didn’t have a good race due to injury and I ended up limping the best part of 70 miles - I was miserable and unfortunately took it out on my friend which I still regret to this day. Even though I completed the 100 miles, I’ve never really felt proud of myself, I know that I could have been so better. I later attempted A100 and DNF’d (did not finish) at 62 miles and on another occasion I made a further attempt to run 100 miles in my own time, not as part of an event. My knee blew up at 70 miles and that was me once again not finishing what I set out to do. In fairness, I’d already ran 130 miles that week so I was happy to take 200 in total over 5 days of running. BUT there was unfinished business with this distance.

I promised myself that Arc was to be my last shot at completing 100 miles. If I was going to get it done, then it would have to be the hardest out there (yes that’s how my mind works).

Midday, we were off! The atmosphere going through Coverack was incredible. My strategy was to sit at a comfortable pace and cover as much distance as I could in daylight, knowing that the night would be a long 14 hours of darkness. I did exactly that and arrived at the first checkpoint (CP1) at Porthleven (25 miles) just as the sun was setting.

My amazing crew was made up of my husband Richard who has crewed me a few times before, my friend John who is an experienced ultra runner, and my friend Dawn who is also my mindset coach (see Lasting Change). For me, this was the perfect mix of experience and knowledge to support me through the race. They crewed me in shifts, first up was Richard. I changed to warmer clothes for the night, grabbed some soup and was on my way again.

Leaving Porthleven, I found my friend Paul, so we ended up sticking together. We ‘re a similar pace and both had the same time goal of 30 hours. We covered about 25 miles together, going through CP2 at Penzance and onto Minack. We were a little bit off target with our goal, so constantly recalculating pace and timings. We were both moving efficiently and it was too early to start pushing too hard, so agreed to just keep moving forward and not spend too long at crew points. This worked well, we were currently on track for a 31 hour finish time, still happy with that.

At Marazion I treated a couple of nasty blisters and changed to road shoes for the next 8 miles of tarmac. At Mousehole, we changed back to trail in readiness for the next stretch which was a techincal rocky section including Lamorna and the infamous ‘boulder beach’ - I had ran 45 miles of Lizard to Lands End in a previous race, the Classic Quarter, so I knew what was coming and wasn’t looking forward to it.

Approx. 1:30am, Minack 51 miles

Coming into Minack tested both Paul and I, it was frustratingly slow due to the slippery wet rocks and steep descent which seemed to go on forever. Admittedly I had a bit of a strop at this point as I threw down my poles and claimed ‘this race is so fucked up!’

All three of my crew were there as this was the handover point for them. I had left a voice note in our group chat as we approached Minack, with instructions on what Paul and I needed. I sat for a couple of minutes while John and Dawn ferried around me and I ate a hot meal.

I held my head in my hands as I took a moment to reflect on how far we’d already come and the journey left. We were now halfway and that felt like a massive achievement but there was still 6 hours of darkness to go and the next section was technical and hard going.

As I looked up, everything spun in front of me and I couldn’t focus on anything. For a moment I put it down to fatigue but it wouldn’t stop. I tried to stand up and as I did so, it felt like someone had shoved me backwards. My crew caught me as I fell, my head was spinning. I tried again to stand up and this time I managed to stay upright but I could feel myself swaying like I’d had a skinful. I didn’t want to waste anymore time. Paul and I set off, me behind him trying to walk in a straight line - at one point I fell into a bush, it was a classic Del Boy moment but luckily Paul didn’t see that.

What had happened? I’ve never felt like that before and the only thing I can put it down to is that I had taken my progesterone tablets about 2 hours before. On reflection, I realise how stupid this was - never try anything new on race day! It didn’t cross my mind that it would cause any issues and I didn’t want to affect my cycle but luckily the effects wore off after an hour or so. It did cost us time though, plus I think I lost my appetite for a bit - I don’t actually remember any of the next section which I assume is something to do with the tablets. lesson learned.

4:20am, Lands End, 54 miles

We arrived at Lands End after what felt like the longest 3 miles of my life. I remember that section from the Classic Quarter, the terrain is relentless and you can see L.E. from quite a way off, yet it took forever and a day to finally get there. I had slowed down so much now as my feet were really starting to bother me, so I made the tough decision to let Paul go on without me. I just couldn’t have lived with myself if he didn’t finish the race because of me. It was a sad moment but we had already had that conversation on the bus to the start.

Richard met me at Lands End with the usual supplies. I went to see the medic to get my feet sorted. Upon taking my socks off, my stomach turned at the sight of my feet which were covered in blisters. The medic said she wouldn’t lance them and instead bandaged them up. In hindsight, this was a huge mistake, I should have insisted or do it myself as I had done earlier at Marazion.

I made good pace on the next section via Sennen to Cape Cornwall at 62 miles. I was on familiar ground now as only three weeks earlier, myself, Paul and another friend Helen (doing the Arc 50) had recce’d 24 miles from Lands End to St Ives. It’s a tough section but much of it is runnable. Despite my painful feet, my head was in a good place and I was moving well. I felt like I was back in the race.

Richard was back on duty and met me at the Cape Cornwall car park. Despite my best efforts, time was tight again and I was now chasing a 35 hour finish time and no room for error. I kept moving, now feeling deflated and my feet were causing me so much pain with every step I took. The blisters were one thing, painful but I’m well acquainted with blister pain as I am with the arthritis in my feet - there was now a different pain, it was much worse, I felt like my tendons were going to snap every time I took a step. My ankles were painful too and I could feel how swollen they were.

I arrived at Pendeen Lighthouse 20 minutes before the cut off at 9:00am. There was a group of Arc Angels there - the event is supported by 250 volunteers who stay on the course to help runners with anything they need, these are the Arc Angels and they really are amazing. One of the guys asked me how he could help and I replied ‘just tell me how to make it end’. Dramatic.

Pendeen to Zennor is known to be the hardest part of the entire course (I’d argue it’s on par with Lamorna) - 7 miles of boggy, wet, rocky terrain, crossing waterfalls and rivers, mostly unrunnable. The elite might move at 3mph but for the rest of us mere mortals, it’s more like 2mph. It really is soul destroying and many will DNF here as it’s so unforgiving. I wanted to keep going, I wasn’t ready to throw the towel in just yet but I also knew deep down that it was futile at this point.

It took me 3hr20m to cover this section, coming in at Zennor at midday. I had two hours to get to St Ives which was 6 miles away. At best I was limping along at 25 minute miles by now BUT parts of the next 6 miles were more runnable than the previous 7 miles.

As it was, my approach to Zennor was so incredibly painful that I had already accepted my race was over. I would have needed a miracle to get moving fast enough to make the cut off at St Ives. I limped into Zennor with tears running down my face and I sat down with all three of my crew huddled around me.

‘I won’t make the cut off, there’s not enough time, I can’t move fast enough!’ I shouted at them. Richard had done the numbers and agreed it was tight but still the smallest of chances. Dawn and John were so encouraging and totally amazing - if I was doing it then I had seconds to make that decision. My body felt so broken and I’d pretty much accepted that my race was over. I had battled with myself for miles, one voice saying ‘we’re done’ and the other saying ‘keep moving forward until the RD says it’s over’.

In that split second I knew that if the decision was taken out of my hands then so be it but I had to at least give it one last try otherwise I’d forever beat myself up for giving up. I don’t have it in me to do that and that’s not the example I set for my children.

I looked up at the three of them patiently waiting for me to call it.. ‘okay’ I said and in that moment they all sprung into action. Richard replacing my bottles, Dawn putting energy bars in my pocket and John giving me a recovery shake ( I had three of these during the race and found them to be very effective).

By this point a small crowd had formed around me as they tuned into what was happening and one kind lady came over to me with lovely words of encouragement. As I stood up they all applauded and shouted ‘you can do this, go for it!’.

I know it sounds silly but I felt so brave for doing that - my incredible crew did the most amazing job of keeping me going when I thought it was all over.

I couldn’t believe I was back on the trail - I had no idea how I was going to pull this off but the decision had been made and I had to just keep moving forward as fast as I could, which wasn’t fast at all actually. My head was also back in the game and for the first time in hours I was enjoying myself again. I had already come so far, it was just after 12pm which meant I still had 12 hours to cut off at the finish line - the kicker was that I now had less than 2 hours to make the penultimate cut off.

Whilst running along I decided that if I wasn’t going to make the cut off then I’d still complete the distance. I was ok with having ‘retired’ next to my name on the results table but I came here to do 100 miles and that’s what I was going to do even if it didn’t officially count! I called Richard and told him my plan and be prepared for another long night- he didn’t comment other than ‘we’ll talk about it when you get to St Ives’.

As it was, about 15 minutes later the pain in my left foot (the very arthritic one) moved up several notches with a sudden sharpness. It stopped me in my tracks. I continued to walk but I now had to bear my weight heavily onto my poles.

The 50 mile race had started at 8:30 that morning and where I was, was around their halfway mark. I’d seen Mark Derbyshire (race winner) come flying by earlier at Zennor and now the 1st and 2nd lady had passed me as well as 2nd, 3rd and 4th men. A guy came whizzing past me and I commented to him on how strong he looked and said he was 5th male. ‘oh god no I’m in the 100 race’ he said, to which I replied that he looked remarkably fresh for 75+ miles. He then went onto point out that the sweepers were just behind us which is why he was getting a wriggle on.

I felt my stomach turn as I looked back and sure enough there they were, two guys in high viz tabards walking behind another lady, Vanessa, who my friend Sharif had been crewing.

That was it, my race was over. I made one final attempt to make a bigger gap but my feet couldn’t handle it. There was nothing more I could do.

The four of us walked together, me holding back the tears as I didn’t want to cry in front of them. - it must be a pretty horrible job being a sweeper. In my tired state I imagined them to be like the Dementors from Harry Potter, swooping in to end your race but unsurprisingly they were very nice.

By time we’d got to the tarmac in St Ives I’d had enough. I was shivering uncontrollably, every step was excruciating and I needed a good power sob. Sharif had come to meet Vanessa so he gave me a huge hug and the flood gates opened. It was lovely to see a friend - really sorry I snotted all over jacket Sharif.

Richard picked me up and took me to the check point to see the medics. As I walked in there was a large group of Arc Angels who collectively gave me a round of applause. Dawn and John were also there. Fergy, the race director, came over to meet me and made sure I was well looked after by the medics and Arc Angels.

So that was it. My time at the Arc of Attrition had ended at 81 miles, 26.5 hours after I started. It was a hard pill to swallow and it took me a couple of very emotional days to process it all. I believe there is a lesson to be learnt in every race, even the ones that go well, and on this occasion I made a couple of seemingly small mistakes which became amplified over the course of time.

Top Crew!

I can’t thank my crew enough. Not only did Richard, Dawn & John sacrifice three days to support me but they worked tirelessly around the clock to meet me in sometimes remote locations, navigate narrow Cornish lanes, and make sure that I had absolutely everything I needed to keep moving forward. They saw me at my worst, put up with my strops and yet they still remained upbeat and positive. I couldn’t have asked for better from my team. Thank you guys.

The Actermath

I believe that my training for this race was on point and this has reflected in my recovery - my legs are well conditioned and other than walking like the tin man the day after the race, 2 days later I’m walking just fine and feel like I could run again. My blisters are healing well and the pain and swelling has almost gone - for this reason I’ll park running for another couple of days.

My nutrition was also so much better this time. This is an area I struggle with but on this occasion I had a steady rotation of Voom Fusion Fuel (347 cal, 507mg sodium) in one bottle and plain water in the other. I made sure I was drinking regularly ( I had an alert on my watch to remind but didn’t need it) and eating a Voom Pocket Rocket (3 different flavours with a mix of electrolytes, caffeine and taurine plus a massive energy boost) every 45 minutes (also had an alert for this). I also grabbed snacks from my crew and had two Expedition Meals for a bigger calories intake and also to break up the sweetness of the bars.

The big question

The race post mortem has taught me a lot and I’ve made a few notes to take forward for next time… which of course begs the question ‘Will I go back?’ .. 3 days ago the answer would have been a firm ‘NO’ but upon reflection I know there were things I could have been a little sharper on; taking my progesterone tablet slowed me down and I don’t remember eating for a while after that. I should have insisted the medic drain my blisters at Lands End, I know this would have offered some relief, I need to learn to trust that sometimes I know what’s better for me than others do.

These were controllables which I failed to control and I can’t let that lie.

So yes, I’m going back. I’m not sure when as I already have commitments next January which might clash with a decent taper but I’ll make that decision once the dates for AoA ‘24 are released.

Acknowledgements

Big thanks to my sponsors Salomon Running for kitting me out - I wore the Speedcross 6 for the majority of the race with one change to Sonic Balance for the 8 miles of tarmac between Marazion and Mousehole - both were excellent shoe choices for me. Thank you to Voom for keeping me well fuelled throughout, the new Fusion Fuel is the best I’ve had and would fully recommend (use code LAURENG10 for a discount - cheeky plug, sorry).

Lastly, a huge thanks to everyone who supported me before, during and after this event - I’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from so many people, I’m so grateful. I’d rather not make a habit of DNF’ing but it’s good to know that you’ve all got my back if ever it happens again.

Arc of Attrition 100 miles

hello@laurengregorypt.com