King Alfred Way (DNF)

Fun, games and controlling the controllable 

On Saturday 3rd June I set off to set the self-supported FKT record for the King Alfred Way.  I decided to start at 22:00 and go through the night.  The idea behind this was starting at night but slow me down and enable me to push on once it got lighter, Mother Nature put paid to that though.

It seemed to be one problem after another from the get go but nothing that wasn’t unable to be worked around. 

The first issue I had was that my Garmin wasn’t giving me turn directions, I can only guess the original GPX was faulty or didn’t have turn by turn enabled.  This wasn’t a major concern as the route still showed on the map and I could easily see where I needed to go for the most part.  It did mean however that the battery would take a massive hit being on the map screen more often than not and also needing the back light on during the dark hours.  Again this wasn’t overly concerning as I have the Enduro 2, renowned for its battery life and for good measure I had its charging lead with me just in case.  I had hoped to get through the entire route without the need for charging but by 24 hrs. It was down to 55%.  I don’t think any other may have lasted this long.

Issue number two and probably the deciding factor for the entire exercise was out of everyone’s hands.  Mother Nature decided to bless us with a heat wave, this in and of itself wasn’t a major issue but being self-supported and the route having no cover it soon became apparent that the plan would need to change slightly.  Initially I planned to get as much done as possible in the first 24 hours and then have a power nap.  It was decided to bring this rest forwards to lunch time and the hottest part of the day.

At 11:00 I entered a very sheltered wood so decided to rest up here for a 20 minute power nap, it didn’t look like there would be any cover further on so it made sense to enjoy this whilst I could.  I thought I had gone off track enough and sheltered in the shade under a tree.  Within five minutes it seemed every dog walker in Wiltshire had found me and after multiple shouts from owners and licks from over enthusiastic canines I packed up and got under way again.  Although I hadn’t had a full sleep I did feel relatively refreshed, this was to last long.

The downs are beautiful and on such a clear day the scenery really was breath-taking, so was the heat.  I had sacrificed 500ml of water to make up a good dose of Hammer Perpetuem.  This meant I had a ready supply of easy to take on calories (something that can be difficult when it gets hot) this meant I had 2.5 litres of water but I was smashing through that really quickly.  It was the hottest day of the year so far and I was certainly feeling it.  I knew there was a pub at 56 miles that I could replenish at and the plan was to have some food and sort out my admin whilst there.  At about 45 miles I ran out of water that meant the next 10 miles were a slog.

I reached the pub at about 16:30, paused my Garmin (I’d gone slightly off route to get to the pub) ordered a chicken roast dinner, had a pint of ale, and then sat with a pint of water and a “muddy puddle” (half fresh orange half coke) Dinner wasn’t the best, probably because I was suffering from the heat but it was calories and more than welcome. 

I cleaned my feet, dressed my blisters and changed my sock.  After refilling my water bottles I’d finished and was ready to set off again, Garmin saved my run.  Disaster!!  To set the FKY one of the criteria is to produce a full gpx of the route I had taken.  It was ok though, I had a tracker recording everything, so catastrophe averted I set off.

My tracker route had two pseudo checkpoints on it.  The tracker software needed these and the team had set them at random points but they were at approximately 1/3rd and 2/3rd of the way around.  My target was to hit CP1 before 22:00.

I was feeling quite refreshed after my stop and whilst still warm was managing to keep a steady pace.  I was however getting tired.  I reached Avebury and marvelled at being able to see the stones in the daylight, the last time I’d been here it was close to midnight at the end of the “Race to the Stones”.  I knew the Ridgeway would be quite difficult under foot and it certainly was, but it was the path that had to be taken so I ploughed on.  It was during this time that a quick check of my tracker app I noticed it hadn’t refreshed for 19 minutes, panic set in again.  This was now THE piece of evidence I needed, I couldn’t afford it to go down.  I did have a backup tracker but that would mean a call back to HQ to get it sorted.  I rang Amanda and asked her to check, she confirmed that it wasn’t updating but suggested it was maybe a black out zone (the fact I hadn’t thought of that shows I wasn’t at full capacity).  So I messaged the tracker HQ and awaited a response.  Control the controllable, keep pushing forwards.

I also discovered that this area has very spotty mobile coverage so discussion back and forth with HQ was not the best.  I would have to wait when I had a phone signal to see if I had a reply, just another buggerence to add to the list.  It was however confirmed that this was indeed a spotty area for the tracker and it soon started working again, it was now that the app on my phone stopped working, yes I swore…. 

I think it must be faulty cookies or similar on my phone as I managed to get the app working using incognito mode.  Stress levels decreasing and night quickly coming the temperature started to plummet so I took a breather to get changed into my night gear and set off again for CP1.  I knew I was unlikely to hit this by 22:00 but it didn’t matter I was still putting one foot in front of another.

The ridge way, whilst difficult underfoot in places is relatively easy to follow and I was making progress again.  I got to watch the most amazing “Strawberry Moon” rise, my phone picture really don’t do it justice.

I soon left the Ridgeway and it was whilst heading towards Barbury Castle I started seeing faces in the ground.  Not quite full on hallucinations, more my eyes making pictures from patterns that weren’t there, yup, I was getting tired.  I had now been on my feet for over 24 hours with that only that quick doggy interrupted rest.  I was also having issues with my water bladder.  I could feel a constant drip on the back of my legs as though it was leaking, I’d stop, remove it and check for leaks but finding nothing would just have to carry on.  I did make a point of trying to only drink from the bladder now though in case it did have a leak, I knew I’d need to save as much water in my front flasks as possible.

After passing Barbury Castle I was deciding when it would be best to next rest when Garmin and the “dodgy” GPX struck again.  I had been walking on a clearly defined path, cut into a very tall grass field when Garmin told me I was off track.  A quick look at the map and it looked like maybe the gpx was just off kilter, this had happened earlier and can be quite normal when there is no paved path so I continued on for a few more minutes.  Nothing changed I was getting further from the path so I zoomed the map out and realised id missed a turn.  I hadn’t even seen a turn.  I decided it was probably better to make a 90 degree turn and plough through the long grass to find the correct path, or at least where it was supposed to be.  This was a stupid idea, and not the first daft one Id make.  Walking towards the “correct” path it looked like I’d have to drop off a cliff, so deciding that wasn’t the best idea, I instead decided to retrace my steps back to where the path had apparently forked.  A simple idea if I could have found the path I was originally on.  I spent what seemed an eternity walking backwards and forwards trying to find the path, any path, to no avail.  Neither the tracker data nor gpx where any help and I was becoming frustrated.

Military training kicked in though, something that has stuck with me for over 20 years, in times of distress, take a “condor moment” you may remember the cigar advert from the 80s/90s.  Basically, stop, take stock of the situation and make a better informed decision other than a rushed one.  To that end I loaded up Ordanance Survey maps app and used that to navigate correctly to the correct path. (My strava data must have me in zig-zagging/circling all over that field).  Back on track and now feeling very weary I decided to stop when I found a suitable place.

I found a likely spot within a cut-out in a wooded area.  I sat down and got some food, more sausage and beans. I checked the water bladder a little more thoroughly and realised it was the connection between the pipe and the bladder that was leaking, why are things never easy??? 

I set that aside got into my bivvy bag set my alarm for 30 minutes later and tried to sleep.  I don’t know what happened, I’m guessing I turned my alarm off in my sleep but I awoke two hours later. Cold and furious with myself.  Not to matter, I quickly got my kit squared away, cleaned up any mess Id left and emptied the leaky water bladder to stow it away.  Yes, I emptied it on the ground. No, I didn’t refill my water bottles from it. Yes I’m and idiot!

Even more frustrated with myself I got going again, I was managing a good pace, and it’s amazing how anger can push you on.  I was now running with only the capability of carrying a litre of water at a time, but I figured I’d be able to but a 2l bottle of water and just carry that in my bag instead of the water bladder, so, another crisis averted.

These were all of the arguments and counter arguments going through my head as I trudged on.  I was however getting colder and colder and slowing down considerably. 

As I reached Liddington cross roads I had to make a call. Risk further injury by continuing with very little water and be even further away from home or call it quits.  I decided that it may be best to call it a day.  I had checked the map and knew that there was unlikely to be a shop any time soon and even with all of my layers on, a warm hat and gloves I was still shivering. 

I called Amanda, she didn’t answer, so with no escape as such I trudged on a little further.  Amanda did call me back though, and we decided to rendezvous at the Swindon hospital.  Whilst on my way there I had a lovely call from my good friend Laura, she wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just a wobble and something that could be fixed.  I also had a message from Pete asking if I was going to a shop as I’d gone off route.

Of course I’m disappointed that I didn’t complete the route but I’m glad I stopped where I did and didn’t risk further injury.  The Ridgeway is quite open and if I was suffering from heat illness it could have gotten a whole lot worse.  So, Ill chalk it down as a TBC, Ill certainly be back to give it another go, it’s a fantastic route with some outstanding views.

 I think this DNF shows me that I have grown as a person, I have allowed myself to stop without putting too much negativity on myself because of it and for that I am grateful.