A hilly marathon, in the dark – what’s not to love

A hilly marathon, in the dark – what’s not to love 

By Natalie Angelopoulos

A little write up, for those of you that might find it interesting, about the Punk Panther Nidderdale Dark Skies Marathon. And for those of you who don’t know this lovely race company, they always add an extra mile or two for luck – so it was actually 27.5 miles!

At the weekend I ran this as my first night time race and the first time ever doing this distance on my own….. and to give you a feel of what ‘on your own’ feels like there were only 19 runners, over this distance, in the dark!

As always, this running community and the race organisers are just fab… and so friendly. The feeling of adventure and freedom was just what I was looking for but mentally I wasn’t quite ready for this one (I maybe should have actually done some endurance training!) so I spent most the race thinking ‘why are you doing this?” But I suppose that’s what it’s all about, you can’t enjoy them all and it was way tougher than I imagined…..but I’m proud of myself for doing it especially as I  finished in six hours and was the second lady back.

What I learnt:

- I still love navigating myself, even in the pitch black

- it wasn’t as lonely as I thought it would be on my own

- the dark didn’t scare me, there was actually quite a nice comfort to it

- to see another head torch somewhere in the distance was also comforting

- cursing got me through the last five miles when the inclines just kept coming and I wanted to be home…. I feel like Steve Sole sensed this (or just saw my tracker kept slowing) as he kept messaging positive vibes

- some of the hills were so steep my heart rate reached 200

- and, finally, I was so happy to see the marshals and that finish line.

I might not be selling this one but anyone who wants to join me on another trail adventure just let me know. And I think I already have a happy volunteer – don’t worry Becky, you will love it!

 

!