A group of UK VMware employees have joined together in this "Ultra Marathon" challenge, to raise much needed money for the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Trust.  The team members are:

• Baz Basnett
• Dan Cooper
• Simon Richardson
• Tim Varney
  

With support services being provided by Joe Baguley and Roger Penney.

Having discussed completing a team challenge for a while, we thought it was about time we stopped taking about it, got something in the diary and start preparing.  We duly completed Step 1 of this process by creating a WhatsApp group.

Now to Step 2, "The What?"  All of us run, to one degree or another, and so it was agreed this would be a good activity.  We subsequently agreed that running further than a marathon would be a "good idea", because, you know, loads of people do them, and this quickly escalated into ever increasing numbers being called out in some sort of bidding frenzy.  When we got up to 50, reality started hitting home (for some of us anyway) but 52.4 miles is a double marathon and so it was agreed.  Or, so we thought.  Sometime later another WhatsApp came in.  "I reckon we should do 60 miles".  So, because Baz "likes even numbers", 60 it is!! Or, more accurately, was.  We then realised that 60 miles is 96.5km, which we couldn't have, so that is the very convoluted way we agreed on 100km (62.1372 miles).  And that IS it...no more increases!!

Now to Step 3, "The When."  Given that this is no easy feat, we need time to prepare and train.  Make no mistake; this is not a leisurely jaunt across the coastal paths of Wales.  We will be running non-stop (food / toilet breaks aside) from start to finish.  The terrain is rough, there's "a bit" of elevation involved...in short, this will hurt, a lot, and will be an epic challenge for us all.  As such, we've pencilled in the last weekend of March (Sat 27th or Sun 28th March 2021, pending confirmation of school holidays etc.) to give ourselves a good 6 months of proper training.

Why the CF Trust?  In April this year, I (Tim) became an Uncle to my "CF Warrior" niece, Molly.  CF is a genetic condition affecting more than 10,000 people across the UK.  The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is fighting for a brighter future for people with CF and their families by funding cutting-edge research, driving up standards of care and supporting people with the condition and their loved ones every step of the way.

Great progress has been made but, hopefully, with the right focus and resources a cure can be found and all CF Warriors can live a life unlimited!!

Thanks to everyone in the team for agreeing to support the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and thanks to everyone who has made a donation, or is helping support us in any way they can.

*** UPDATE 18/01/2021 ***

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing uncertainty around Covid-19, and what it may or may not be sensible and safe to do in March, we've taken the tough decision to push the date of our Ultra Marathon back to, hopefully, May. Due to the training programmes we're completing and the need to be at peak fitness levels for the run, it's not possible to wait until nearer the time to make the decision.  If we found we couldn't, or shouldn't, do the run it would mean maintaining that fitness level until we could do it, which would be virtually impossible.

Please rest assured that training will continue and we'll complete this challenge as soon as it is feasible to do so.

*** UPDATE 03/03/2021 ***

Unfortuantely, based on the latest information from the UK government on the roadmap of ending lockdown, we are unable to complete our run until at least June 21st.  We have pencilled in the date of June 25 - 27th to complete this, but this is dependant on the current "best case" scenario, as well as the Welsh government not implementing different rules or timelines.  We will, of course, keep you updated with the latest information as and when we have it.

Again, please rest assured that training is continuing and you can track our runs in the activity list below or by following us all on Strava.

Thanks again for your continued support.

*** UPDATE 27/06/2021 - RUN COMPLETED*** 

The route along the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path:

Start to Strumble Head (RV1) = 7.4 miles
Strumble Head (RV1) to Pwll Deri (RV2) = 2.8 miles
Pwll Deri (RV2) to Aber Mawr (RV3) = 3.6 miles
Aber Mawr (RV3) to Abercastle (RV4) = 3.4 miles
Abercastle (RV4) to Aber Draw (RV5) = 2.7 miles
Aber Draw (RV5) to Porthgain (RV6) = 1.7 miles
Porthgain (RV6) to Abereiddy (RV7) = 2 miles
Abereiddy (RV7) to Whitesands (RV8) 7.6 miles **

Start to RV8 = 31.2 miles

Whitesands (RV8) to St. Justinians (RV9) = 2.2 miles
St. Justinians (RV9) to Caerafi Bay (RV10) = 6.4 miles **
Caerafi Bay (RV10) to Solva (RV11) = 4.3 miles **
Solva (RV11) to Newgale (RV12) = 5.4 miles ***
Newgale (RV12) to Nolton Haven (RV13) = 2.2 miles
Nolton Haven (RV13) to Broad Haven (RV14) = 3.5 miles
Broad Haven (RV14) to Little Haven (RV15) = 0.75 miles
Little Haven (RV15) to St. Brides Haven (FRV) = 5.5 miles

RV8 – FRV = 30.25 miles
TOTAL = 61.45 miles
Elevation Gain = 12,500ft (3,810m)

Race Day!

After many months of training and several COVD delays, the weekend
had finally arrived and we were back in Pembrokeshire to take on 100km (62.2miles) of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, running from just outside Fishguard to St. Brides Haven.

100km is hard enough but this was also along a very rough
and brutal coastal path, constantly having to pick your next step very carefully as the path includes grass / mud tracks, pebble beaches, sandy paths to dramatic rock formations that mountain goats would struggle with.  “Path” is a very loose use of the word as in many places, there simply isn’t one, so you must pick a route through yourself.  There’s no avoiding the terrain though and if that wasn’t enough the route was far from flat, with circa 12,500ft, or 3,800m, of climbing; to put it into context that’s the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain, 2 1/2 times!

Following our arrival late Saturday afternoon, most of Saturday evening was spent preparing for the following day making sure food
boxes and running kit / bags were ready to go; it turns out preparing 15 litres of rehydration drink each takes a lot longer than you may think!  It was then time for the final proper meal before an early night.  In keeping with our athletic mindset, we opted for a local fish and chip shop with chips and multiple variations of deep-fried sausages all around.  We’re relatively sure that’s in-line with what all the word class athletes have as a pre-race meal!

After very little sleep, a 03:00 Sunday wake-up call got us into action and we made final preparations, before making the 40 min car journey
to the very glamorous carpark just north of Fishguard.  Despite the look from the photo, it’s much darker than it would appear (clever iPhone tech in play!) and watching the sun rise as we ran towards Goodwick is something I’m sure none of us will forget any time soon!

At 04:50, we were off on a 7.4 mile stretch heading towards Strumble head, or rendezvous point 1 (RV1) as it was known, whilst Joe and Roger jumped in their support vehicles.  They soon realised that the coastal roads were almost as tricky to navigate as the coastal
path!

Weather wise, we were exceptionally lucky with little cloud and temperatures around 17c; that said, it was VERY windy.  Thankfully, the wind was, generally, side on or behind us but it did prevent Joe from playing with his drone as much as he’d
have liked; that said, Joe did get some great action videos as well as some photos, which he was duly tweeting throughout the day to keep everyone updated.  In addition, we had a live GPS tracker,
arranged by Simon, allowing people to follow our progress live at https://live.opentracking.co.uk/ukcystic21/.  We had quite the following by the end of the day.

Roger and Joe did a fantastic job at providing support; not
only making sure car boots were open ready for copious amounts of extra SiS drinks, SiS gels, SiS energy bars (we’re confident we’ve funded SiS’ Christmas party), as well as various other high calorie, generally chocolate based, snacks were available, but also friendly faces and some words of encouragement.  Without them giving up their weekends to support us, it simply wouldn’t have been possible to complete this event.

The comradery in the team was epic and made the experience all
that more rewarding and I couldn’t have picked a better team of people to do the challenge with.  There were literal highs
and lows, falls (thankfully none over any cliff edges) as well as emotional moments and tough decisions to be made.  Having
had a niggling left knee problem for a couple of months, it wasn’t overly surprising that between Abercastle (RV4) and Aber Draw (RV5), it decided it didn’t want to play the game anymore.  It didn’t take long for reality to sink in and I realised wasn’t going to make it to the end, as descending was particularly difficult so, after some emotional
moments, I was determined to try and make it to at least the ½ way point so I could say I’d completed another Ultra Marathon.  Some of the terrain did not help the cause!

A particular “amusing” point was on the decent into
Porthgain (RV6), when my knee decided to give way and I stacked it in full view of everyone in the bay.  This happened to include an entire Netflix film crew who were setting up a location for a new TV series so, hopefully, they didn’t have any cameras pointing up at the cliffs.

I didn’t “win” the contest for most numbers of falls though,
that accolade goes to Simon with his 3 to my 2.  Dan and Baz were disqualified from the contest on the grounds they, very boringly it has to be said, decided to remain upright throughout the entire run!

Abereiddy (RV7) to Whitesands Bay (RV8) was a particularly
difficult 7.6 mile section, or “Double Diamond Hard” as Baz put it. There were some particularly steep and difficult climbs and descents and on parts of the section we had to remind ourselves we were still on earth the terrain was so rocky and baron; it felt more akin to being on the moon!  At Whitesands Bay, the official halfway point, we stopped for cups of tea and a chat, rather than usual manic refilling of bottles and grabbing of food.  Some of us had some unusual relaxation techniques…

We agreed for me to continue on the next 2.2 mile section to
St. Justinians (RV9), and I can’t really sum up how I felt when I had to stop and became part of the support crew (as epic as the support team was).

The subsequent 6.4 miles from St. Justinians (RV9) to Caerafi
Bay (RV10), the 4.3 miles from Caerafi Bay to Solva (RV11) and the 5.4 miles from Solva to Newgale (RV12) were all “double diamond hard” sections.  On arrival in Newgale, Baz updated that stretch from “Double Diamond” to “Triple Diamond” and, unsurprisingly, everyone
was starting to feel the strain after running for circa 51.7 miles and climbing around 11,000ft.  The team departed Newgale and headed along a 2.2 mile stretch to Nolton Haven (RV13) and it turns out that 13 really is unlucky for some!  On arrival, Simon announced his left knee was now starting to cause him issues so knee supports were quickly transferred and with “only” around a ½ marathon left to run, he and the rest of the team were determined to finish and so set back out, running 3.5 miles towards Broad Haven (RV14).  However, the team were now carrying one additional piece of equipment; a head torch each!  With only 20 mins of daylight left it became clear, or I guess less clear, the team were going to have the added challenge of navigating the unforgiving terrain in fading light and eventual darkness.

The team literally appeared unexpectedly in Broad Haven as
the tracker was having issues with GPS connectivity, and so had them about ½ mile further back than they actually were.  After some frantic opening of car boots and refilling of water bottles, the team set out again.  At this point, they had completed 90% of the run and only had 10km to go.  This clearly spurred the team on as they put on a great turn of speed.  After jumping into the cars and driving the 0.75 miles, Joe got ready to get some great photos in what a very quintessentially Welsh and very picturesque bay of Little Haven (RV15).  After several minutes we started to get slightly concerned, so the GPS tracker was checked.  Yes, they’d manage to beat us there!  Quickly jumping back into the cars and heading up towards St. Brides Haven and the “finish line”, we jumped out at a point in-between in order to try and get some more photos, much to the confusion of 3 lads sat on a bench wondering what the hell we were doing.  It turned out we’d missed them again by about 30 seconds!!

Arriving in St. Brides Haven and the finish line, Roger went
about getting his Jetboil up and running to ensure hot tea was available. By this time, whilst the wind had subsided, it was now complete darkness and Joe’s attempts to get the drone out for some “finishing shots” were in vain.

And then, at around 11:30, some 18 ½ hours after setting out, we saw the light from the head torches appear in the distance and the team
arrived at the finish line…or, what should have been the finish line!!  Garmin, however, had other ideas as Simon’s watch was 0.85 miles short of the required distance, so queue an impromptu run up the road to get everyone’s watches up and over the 62.14 miles required to
roll over 100km.  Whilst running through, running vests were dropped, and poles were discarded as the team headed straight through the carpark and up the road.  Several moments later Simon reappeared from the darkness after realising the GPS tracker was attached to his running vest…take 2!  5 minutes later the team reappeared, and they
had done it!

100km run, over 12,300ft of elevation gain, 18 ½ hours elapsed
time, circa 12 litres of estimated sweat loss and 12 litres drunk (luckily!), 30+ SiS gels consumed, 1.6kg electrolyte powder got through (each!) and around 10,000 calories burned.

And one utterly EPIC day!