Dead Man's Ultra

Dead Man's Ultra was a described as a fun event, there were no particular rules nor mandatory kit apart from a kids plastic spade 😂 and you could chose how far you went ☠️🏃‍♀️. In my mind it was always a training run for the tunnel 🚇 although part of me thought it would be fun to go the full distance if my body & the parrot allowed 🤔😀🏃‍♀️🐦🐑.  The first bit along Wherrymans Way was fun but tough due to the overgrown nature of the trail. We aarrhhh-ed a lot 😂☠️ as we pushed our way through waist high stinging nettles 😳. Karl & I had agreed that we might run all or part of it together as we both understand the unpredictable nature of ultra running. We both had heavy backpacks and planned on being self-sufficiant. For part of the Wherrymans Way we happily ambled along together before parting company prior to Great Yarmouth. There were a couple of checkpoints along this bit serving goodies and even rum 🥃🍾! We also encountered a real pirate ☠️🪝😂 and I met some sheep 🥰🐑. In Great Yarmouth it was time to use the what 3 words app to find the first treasure chest which was located on the beach, that's why we needed to take a plastic spade ⛱️🪙😂. I had my first piece of eight and the next location which I worked out to be beyond Winteron on Sea. Before leaving Great Yarmouth myself & James decided to buy some food & it was here that we bumped into ships mate Karl again, he had just eaten and was looking very chirpy. Heading along the coast path we linked up with Phil for a while and the day turned into a cold, wet & windy night 🌧️💨🌧️. I couldn't get internet along the coast path & missed the 2nd piece of eight which was hidden in a pill box in the dunes. I remember seeing the pill box and thinking it would be a nice place to shelter if I had time. A few miles further on I bumped into Dean & he told me about the pill box location. I did feel a bit downhearted but there was nothing I could do and I was here for a training run so I pushed on into the night. I wished I'd put my waterproofs on because I was getting cold & soaked through and as I was keeping an eye out for a shelter to get changed in suddenly a figure appeared, it was Glyn Manton who guided me along the sandy trail to his car where I was able to get changed into my dry spare clothes 😀. I knew support was allowed on this event but I hadn't expected any and as I'm used to being self sufficient I had not asked for any. It was so nice though to be warm and dry & I set off enthusiastically ~ the wrong way 😂. I soon got called back on track & myself & James formed a little group with Dean and Phil and we stuck together through the night. Dean knew the area quite well & was a great help with navigation. Later in the night James took a rest & asked us to continue on ahead of him. It's always hard leaving a fellow runner behind but I also respect that sometimes people need to tackle things in their own way. Myself, Dean and Phil reached Roman Camp near Sherringham early in the morning and it was here I longed so much to curl up and go to sleep & call it a day 😴. Karl was at Roman Camp & it was great to see him he had gone a different way to avoid the sand & coast path. Two cups of tea ☕☕ from the wonderful captain Carmine De Grandis revived me and Karl & I cheerfully set off together again. Dean & Phil called it a day at this point. Karl had been suffering badly with his feet but wanted to see what he could do. He set the pace and we trotted along together making steady progress. I worried I was too far behind to have any chance of completing the 200 miles within the time limit so I announced I was going to get to 100 miles & then call it a day 🏃‍♀️. At Weybourne beach we made a little detour to dig up our buried treasure, 2 bags of food 😋 but then Karl sadly decided he couldn't carry on any more as his feet were a mess and incredibly painful 👣😭. Continuing on my own I trotted along just to see what I could do. I was making good progress so after 10 or so miles I looked at my time & worked out that I was catching up on the pace needed to complete the full distance 🏃‍♀️😀. My feet were getting a bit sore so I stopped to sort them out & then pushed on again to Burnham Overy Staith. Here, to my despair I couldn't get internet again so I had to go onto a pub to ask to log into their WiFi. I must have looked a sight, a middle aged lady with an inflatable parrot on her shoulder muttering about needing internet to find the pieces of eight ☠️🪙🐦😂😂. They were very kind and I bought a coke too 🧉 but I was worried about the time I was losing with this internet problem and wished I had a better phone 😳📱. There was nothing I could do though but keep trying & solving problems as I went along. After locating the treasure and next location I had to ask for directions the old fashioned way to cut across country to Ringstead 🏃‍♀️. Thankfully the small roads were easy to follow & I started to feel hopeful again that I might just be able to do it 😀. I also phoned Richard one of the event organisers & explained my my problem with my phone & lack of internet. He was great and filled me in on missing bits of information. I'd run over 100 miles & felt good still although tired. I sent some voice messages to kind Andy Bailey & Glyn both of whome were offering to come out & see me 🥰. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to stop and say hello & didn't want people to travel a long way only for me to say hi & bye 😳🏃‍♀️👋. Too late though as Glyn had already left. On reaching Peddars Way I stopped to grab a short sleep behind a hedge, I'd just drifted off when I heard a voice calling my name, it was Glyn with a cup of tea for me ☕. I quickly pulled myself together & drank the tea as we walked along the trail together. Glyn knows the Peddars Way extremely well so it was easy for him to find me. Saying goodbye to Glyn I carried on alone, but I was not alone because then I received the best pep talk ever from a sheep called Bella 🥰🐑. Andy sent me a lovely, kind video of encouragement with Bella the sheep who believed I could do it 😀🐑🏃‍♀️. It was at that point I suddenly decided I was going to do it and I would run and run & not stop until I reached the finish 🐑🏃‍♀️🔥, thank you Bella & Andy 🥰. I knew Peddars Way well & had my paper strip map with me too, usually I ran it the other way round but surly it would be easy doing it in reverse 🤔😳. Night fell & I confidently pushed on, I was still running well & hoped I might be making up a bit of time. The trail was very overgrown & the plants and bracken weré head high as I ran along. I had a lovely surprise visit from James Mc Farlan & his son Kieren on a road section who ran a short way with me. Then in the middle of the night just as the hallucinations were really kicking in it all went wrong 😨. There is a point on Peddars Way where you have to cross a common. In daylight it's a little tricky but at least you can see where you are going. That night I was accompanied by ghostly monsters, floating skulls, voices calling me, giant hares & weasels 👻💀🐇😱. The network of grassy paths in the mist & glistening dampness all looked the same but eventually I reached the road again. I started following my map but soon became confused & couldn't work out where I was. The sign said left but according to my map it should have been straight on 🤔😳. I was so tired & it was nearly an hour before I realised what I'd done, I'd gone into the common, wandered around in circles and come out in the exact spot I had gone in 😱. I was devastated, I'd lost so much time & I was still on the wrong side of the common. In desperation I phoned Glyn at 1.45am in the morning 📞😳 after all there was nothing in the rules saying you couldn't phone a friend 😳😂. Poor Glyn, he was so good & looked on the tracker and as I re-crossed the common he reassured me that I was on the right track. I can never thank Glyn enough for this and I was able to get going once more in the right direction along Peddars Way 😀🏃‍♀️🐑. Conscious of all the time I'd lost I ran & pushed on as much as I could. Eventually I was literally falling asleep on my feet & after bumping my forehead on a tree & seeing multiple penguins 🐧🐧🐧😂 I quickly decided to bed down for about 6 minutes at the side of the trail. It was enough to refresh me and it would soon be morning. Very quickly after that Glyn appeared again with a cup of tea for me and a vegan sausage sandwich 🌭☕. He ran & drove behind me for a bit as I emerged onto a road part. Running alone again I reached the end of the trail, the instructions said the next clue was behind a tree. I had no internet again & was in a wood with about 500 trees 😂🌳🌳🌳🌳 so I phoned Cockbain headquarters & Richard guided me to the correct tree 🌳😀🪙☠️.  James had driven out to see me again with a cup of tea and he helped me by looking on his phone for the next location & planning the best route. I trotted off alone again, very wearily now and my feet although not blistered were sore from the wet trails. In Hopton I popped into a village shop to see if they sold socks, they didn't but they did sell Pretty Polly ankle high tights 😂 . They were worth a try and after I'd cleaned and dried my feet I pulled them on & to my surprise they did the trick and my feet were semi comfortable once more 👣😀. I think they also helped because they are very thin & allowed more space for my slightly swollen feet in my shoes 👟. In Hopton I received the next clue/direction, I managed to get internet here. Headquarters also sent me a message suggesting I was on track to finish with just 2 minutes to spare and to get a move on 😂. I did appreciate these a messages and they certainly made me run faster 🏃‍♀️😀.  In Diss it poured with rain again 🌧️ but I was pretty used to it now. A little further on Glyn met me once more & as per usual I kept on walking/running & he caught me up on his cycle this time 🚴.  For a little while Glyn accompanied me cycling behind & then left me agreeing to meet me further on. We met several times and Glyn was so kind and patient with me especially as I wasn't a particularly jolly pirate by this time ☠️. I don't think I was ever grumpy but I was either quiet or wondering if I was going the right way 🏃‍♀️😳🤔. After picking up another clue & piece of eight near Dickleburgh I ran along the roads by the shortest route back towards Norwich. The final clue was about 8 miles out of Norwich in the middle of nowhere. I'd been running OK and focussing on keeping my pace under 15 minute miles as much as possible. This might sound slow but believe me when you have run nearly 200 miles it feels very fast 😂🏃‍♀️. I was having problems with going to the toilet more regularly than I wanted to & it was really slowing me up 😳💩. After collecting the last clue kind Glyn followed me in his car and even allowed me to take off my back pack & I ran along carrying the tracker in my hand for several miles.  This felt lovely and I appreciated the freedom of running freely, I think I managed an 11-12 minute mile at some point here 🏃‍♀️🔥 still thinking of Bella 🐑💚. My tummy really started to play up and I had to ask Glyn to hand me a big lump of tissues & a plastic bag so I could go to the toilet whilst I was running along 😳💩. It was all very unglamorous & I felt so sorry for Glyn as I kept asking by him for more and more tissues & handing him back the contents of the bag 😳 but it was the only way I could keep running and going at the same time. I apologised to Glyn but he was so kind and just cheerfully said "oh that's your body breaking down" 😂💩😳 . Poor Glyn must have also got fed up of me asking him "are we there yet?" 😂🏃‍♀️. On this part Gavin Swanston & Stuart Mudgridge also cheered me on from the road side which gave me a lovely boost + I picked up another kind message from the sheep sanctuary 🐑💚. With only a few miles to go I realised I was going to do it. I was tired beyond belief but so determined. I slowed on the last few miles I think it was the relief that I was nearly there. As I shuffled into Norwich alone I got a little disorientated and had to ask someone where the train station was. I've only lived here 22 years 😂🚂😳. Reaching the finish of the Deadmans Ultra was just amazing and I was so grateful to complete it with over 50 minutes to spare. Some friends were at the finish for me where I pretty much collapsed in a heap on the floor. I muttered something about getting a taxi home but they said no one would let me in a taxi in my condition 😳. After receiving my final piece of eight & some lovely flowers from Clare Gooch my friends helped me into Glyn's car & I was promptly sick (into a bag) on the journey home. I gave this race absolutely everything I had in terms of physical effort & determination to keep going even when things went wrong 🏃‍♀️. I can never thank those enough who helped me and I honestly do not think I would have finished it without the unexpected support from Glyn and the inspiration from Bella 🐑💚. THANK EWE all so much for the amazing encouragement and the kind donations to the sheep 🐑.  After the event Mark Cockbain kindly posted me my missing piece of eight 🪙 to complete my medal, he knew I had run the whole thing from the tracker & many witnesses. Now to prepare for the Tunnel Ultra on 24th September 🚇🏃‍♀️🐑. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mandysheepyfoyster