Lloyd Biddell

Lining up at the start I wasn't sure what to expect as in the lead up I had a dose of Covid followed by knee issues, resulting in having to ice my leg right up to the day preceding the event.  At kit check I've become accustomed to receiving a full kit review for the last three Spine races, but alas the fourth time was not meant to be and it was just a sample of a small selection of items.  As was usual it was all pretty straight forward and then it was just a case of relax as best as possible until the start the following day. The race forecast was for it to be dry for the most part with the possibility of passing snow showers later on in the race.  However the main theme for the week was one of cold with it being predicted to be sub zero even in the day time, down to -10c in the more exposed sections with the potential of wind chill making it feel colder still.  This was fine by me as a cold dry Spine is preferable than to contend with a warm wet Spine. At the off ...

In the coming week I have the 2024 edition of the Spine Race to look forward to.  I finally managed to get the monkey off my back after 2 failed attempts (2022 Winter & 2022 Summer), both due to injury, before finally finishing the latest edition of the race in 17th place in a time of 118 hours and 47 minutes. Although finishing in 2023, the race was not without drama, particularly towards the end due to extreme hallucinations.  At its worst, it included seeing the Cheviots covered in plastic bags instead of grass, prayer flags all over the mountains, my name written in grass and then being convinced I was being chased down by head torches behind me (next competitor was 4 hours behind).  It resulted in a total break down once reaching Kirk Yetholm.  More details can be found in this blog. Greg's Hut - 2023 I could be forgiven for not wanting to have such an undertaking ever again, but there is something special about the race that sucks you back in.  I have ...

Training has been going quite well up to 3 weeks ago when I decided to do my first Parkrun in over 4 years.  A good time (15.54) showed that I still have a bit of pace in the legs despite my now advancing age, but unfortunately the pain returned in my right ankle that caused me to take over a year away from running.  I've done very little activity since and with the Spine now on the horizon I've been starting to get concerned about whether I will be able to have a decent training block, or even start. I was therefore more than just a little worried about my last race before the Spine, whether I'd be able to get round, or get round but cause even more damage.  Sometimes I've had these minor injuries in the past and somehow after a race they just sort of melt away, so this was what I was hoping for. Day 1 I had it in my head that as the first day was 'just' 50k, to treat it similar as I would a marathon in terms of relative effort.  Writing this with the benefit o...

Five weeks since the High Peak 100k I have fully recovered from the race that coincided with the hottest day of the year.  Today was my next event, the Yorkshire 3 Peaks 100k and the weather could barely have been more of a contrast.  A bright day, but very fresh and probably the coldest day since Spring with a high of about 12c forecast in the valley around lunchtime, but nearer to freezing at the start and end of the day as well as up on the fells. Where's Wally? The plan for me was always the 100k, but since the majority of entrants would stop at the 70k mark, you never are truly sure of your relative race position until late on.  All you can do is pace what you think is sustainable over the 100k and not be too concerned about what others are doing as ultimately its almost 50% further, plus two additional ascents of Great Shunner Fell.  Despite this, I was well placed at the start and near to the front with my position moving up and down depending which bits of th...

Over the coming months I've got three 100k races coming up and the High Peak 100k was the first of these.  On paper it should have been the easiest, more so as the weather in September is usually benign.  The reality was somewhat different, weather forecasts were stating it was the hottest day of the year hovering around 30c with very high humidity levels.  It was clear that the weather alone was going to make this a sufferfest and it didn't disappoint. I decided to be quite conservative with fluids, reverting to my expedition pack which is designed for multi day races.  It holds 2 x 750ml bottles, plus space for my 2 litre bladder.  Although there were 7 water stations along the route, I wanted to ensure that I could drink freely from the start and get a feel for my consumption until I was properly settled into the race.  The downside to this strategy was a rather heavy race pack... At 9am the race started and it was my initial plan to try and finish the 1...

A bit of a strange race this one, let me explain.  I have been doing some training and arguably plenty of it in the last few months, albeit averaging 25% less volume than at my peak a few years ago.  However, most of the training has been steady state stuff / endurance with no focus whatsoever on speed work.  What sessions I have done have been well adrift of my capabilities at my peak in 2019.  The figures do not lie.  Nonetheless, I felt training had been going well enough in recent weeks alongside a gap in diary commitments allowing me to enter a road race for the first time in ages just to see where things are at, with zero expectation set.  I had thought my last road race was pre-covid in 2020, but actually that is not true as I also did the Wheaton Aston 10k in December 2021. The Burton 10k is a race that I know well, having won it in 2017 (32.38) and 2019 (32.56).  I was very borderline on entering the race and my original intention was to enter...

Since the Spine Race I have had a bit of a void that needed filling.  I spotted the PB270 as it is more commonly known that would fill the gap whilst still being a significant challenge.  The Bridleway runs from Middleton Top, near to Matlock in Derbyshire through to Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, running slightly West to the better known Pennine Way.  The Bridleway runs along well defined tracks and roads and there is still some 6,500 metres of elevation to contend with, albeit there were no real individual ascents over 400 metres. Start at Middleton Top Start (Middleton Top) to Checkpoint 1 (Hayfield) - (37 miles) The first 15 or so miles are along an old railway bed so were very flat and runnable.  I knew this was going to play to my strength so the plan was to just go out at a pace that felt easy and expect to take an early lead.  This was pretty much exactly what happened and despite there being some long straight sections I was out of sight.  I always kne...