LDWA Woldsman 50
11:01pm, 7th Apr 2025 | The Woldsman | 14 Comments
Blog by cackleberry
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Friday.
On Friday evening after work, I headed East in my campervan to Driffield. There was camping/parking at event HQ (hardstanding, water and toilets for a whole £5) so I had decided to make use of that rather than get up at some ungodly hour to drive over in the morning! I took myself for a walk into Driffield to get fish and chips and top up my bag of snacks in Tesco.
I then got settled in for a surprisingly cold night.
Saturday.
People were arriving from at least half 6 onwards! The hikers were allowed to set off early, but runners had to wait for the mass start at 8am. Plenty of time to have breakfast and a last minute faff before meeting up with club mates, Alan, Trudy, Kim and Kimberli.
Kimberli set off early to hike the 30 mile route.
We left the show ground at 8am, via a route that I am not sure was 100% correct as we climbed a locked gate en-route. I thought I hope that is open on the way back as I ain't going to be able to clamber over that with 50 miles in my legs!!
We had agreed to run together to the first checkpoint, then the others would run on ahead. They are naturally faster than me and trying to stick together just makes it uncomfortable for everyone! The first 10km was on road and farm tracks and very flat, completed in just over an hour. Had a jam sandwich at CP 1 at Danes Graves, stopping only long enough to check in our run numbers. A few yards further on, we passed Kimberli on her hike. The others gradually pulled away, I carried on running as I wanted to run to at least 10 miles before resorting to a run/walk strategy. My training over the last 6 months had been non-existent and I knew I wasn't going to run the whole thing. I had a target time in mind, based on previous 50mile races, but really I just wanted to complete, which I knew I could do so long as I didn't dawdle (or pick up an injury!) I did have some 'in race targets' though, which were to run the first 10 miles and to reach the 20 mile mark at a pace which could still be classed as a run, ie quicker than 15m/m. After that, I could hike the rest.
So, I slowed down a little on my own, but kept on running as the ground was flat and smooth. After Cottam, we passed into our first 'wold' then across private land into Sledmere and checkpoint 2. Quick pee stop and a slice of swiss roll, and I was on my way again. Comfortably past the 10 mile point and still running. The running wasn't so comfortable now, and I broke into a run/walk. We passed through Towthorpe, over more private land and down into Burdale. Here was the split point for the two routes, as I was doing the 50 mile one, I joined the Chalkland Way heading North past a large disused quarry and on to Wharram Percy, an abandoned medieval village.
As well as the manned check points, there were several self-clips along the way to keep us right. We were now following the Yorkshire Wolds Way, which took us down into the very pretty village of Thixendale and checkpoint 4 which was almost exactly half way, so time for a brew and a fish finger butty!
As I left the CP a little later, I ended up walking with a chap called Andy. He was in love with the scenery and the miles passed quickly as we chatted away about our various adventures. The route now ran along the bottom of several dales in succession, Thixen Dale, Bradeham Dale, Wayham Dale before crossing a couple of roads and dipping down into private land once more through Deep Dale and Whitekeld Dale.
We were soon entering Millington and the next CP! Andy didn't stay as long at the checkpoint, just taking a sandwich and getting on his way. I needed a bit more food and to top up my water but didn't hang around too long. I had hiked for a while now, my legs were stiff but I felt ready to have another little run. I left Millington at a jog, but of course hit the steepest part of the route with a couple of stiff climbs in quick succession!
We then stayed high until the next CP, only a short way away. Although I could see other walkers/runners around I was on my own for a while. I have to say, I wasn't enjoying myself much. The scenery was good, the wolds very different to running around home, but the route itself was a little boring. Long tracks. A lot of tarmac and farm lanes. The dales were pretty, but flat and easy underfoot. The recent spell of dry weather meant that even the grass and mud was baked hard and my feet were hot and uncomfortable on the unrelenting ground.
Anyway, we bypassed Huggate and dropped into Cowdale and the wind turned cold. It had been mostly warm in the sun, but the wind still had quite a bite to it. Now it was about half 5 in the afternoon and one by one, people were stopping to layer up. I put my coat on, swapped my cap for a buff to cover my ears and popped my over-mitts on top of my gloves. Much better! The next section was quite dull. A long path between ploughed arable on one side and woodland on the other. I was overtaken by a couple of guys, but kept others in sight ahead. Suddenly, everyone disappeared which was strange! The path went through a hedge then up a steep bank to meet another road which took us into Wetwang and the final CP!
My feet were quite sore by now and I thought I maybe had blisters forming under the balls of my feet, so once inside the CP I took off my shoes and socks to let my feet cool down a bit, before padding them with some large plasters and tape. I had some food (pizza) and a brew too of course!
All this took about half an hour, but my feet were more comfortable afterwards so it was time well spent. A few folk came and went while I was faffing about, but I left on my own again. Only 7-8 miles left to go! It was however, probably the dullest section yet, a lot of tarmac. It did make for swift progress, striding out in the gathering gloom. The wind had dropped a little, it was still cold but without the biting edge. I passed a large pig farm, strangely silent; and carried on for what felt like about 6 miles along dull, featureless tarmac lanes. A hiker caught me up and we ended up walking the rest of the way together. I had seen him at some of the checkpoints earlier in the day, he said I had taken some catching! He was hiking so very fast, I thought I wasn't going to be able to keep up! I was glad of his company as the lanes were a little disorienting in the dark, they were so featureless it became tricky to work out where you were.
At last, the final road crossing and we passed into The Keld, an area of board walks and winding paths adjacent to the show ground. We had come this way at the start, but it didn't look familiar at all. We crossed the show ground in the right place this time, no gates to climb! The HQ building was difficult to spot, a large dark building in a huge dark field and a lot of people struggled to find it by all accounts. We made it though and walked into the welcoming light together, thanking each other for the company and keeping each other going!
Tea. Pie. Pudding, with custard.
I sat and chatted with another couple of chaps for a while before tiredness got the better of me and I hobbled back to my nest of quilts and blankets in the van.
Targets and take ways
I hit the 10 mile point in approx 1hr 45 which I am really happy with (my 10mile PB as a race is 1hr 33)
I got to 20 miles in just over 4 hours.
Marathon in 5hr 58 – if I get to marathon distance in under 6 hours during an ultra I am very happy!
40 miles in 9hr 52 which was quicker than the Urban Ultra, again I am very happy with that.
Final time was 13hr 23mins which is loads better than my target of 16 hours. This is definitely down to the runnability of the course and ease of navigation – not a single error was made along the way, although to be fair, 85% of the time I had other people in sight even if I were running alone.
It did feel frustratingly slow though, I spent a lot of time hiking. It was fast, power hiking, but hiking all the same. I need to work on my run/walk technique, and deliberately run/walk as opposed to run until I can't then do a mardy power hike!
Apart from the inevitable sore legs, my back ached from quite an early point, before 10miles I guess. I need to have a chat with Coach Trudy and see if there is anything I can do about this. Whether there is anything specific I can do in the gym, or if I should just run with a pack more often.
All in all, it is not a route I would hurry to do again, parts of it were very picturesque but just too flat for me really.
On Friday evening after work, I headed East in my campervan to Driffield. There was camping/parking at event HQ (hardstanding, water and toilets for a whole £5) so I had decided to make use of that rather than get up at some ungodly hour to drive over in the morning! I took myself for a walk into Driffield to get fish and chips and top up my bag of snacks in Tesco.
I then got settled in for a surprisingly cold night.
Saturday.
People were arriving from at least half 6 onwards! The hikers were allowed to set off early, but runners had to wait for the mass start at 8am. Plenty of time to have breakfast and a last minute faff before meeting up with club mates, Alan, Trudy, Kim and Kimberli.
Kimberli set off early to hike the 30 mile route.
We left the show ground at 8am, via a route that I am not sure was 100% correct as we climbed a locked gate en-route. I thought I hope that is open on the way back as I ain't going to be able to clamber over that with 50 miles in my legs!!
We had agreed to run together to the first checkpoint, then the others would run on ahead. They are naturally faster than me and trying to stick together just makes it uncomfortable for everyone! The first 10km was on road and farm tracks and very flat, completed in just over an hour. Had a jam sandwich at CP 1 at Danes Graves, stopping only long enough to check in our run numbers. A few yards further on, we passed Kimberli on her hike. The others gradually pulled away, I carried on running as I wanted to run to at least 10 miles before resorting to a run/walk strategy. My training over the last 6 months had been non-existent and I knew I wasn't going to run the whole thing. I had a target time in mind, based on previous 50mile races, but really I just wanted to complete, which I knew I could do so long as I didn't dawdle (or pick up an injury!) I did have some 'in race targets' though, which were to run the first 10 miles and to reach the 20 mile mark at a pace which could still be classed as a run, ie quicker than 15m/m. After that, I could hike the rest.
So, I slowed down a little on my own, but kept on running as the ground was flat and smooth. After Cottam, we passed into our first 'wold' then across private land into Sledmere and checkpoint 2. Quick pee stop and a slice of swiss roll, and I was on my way again. Comfortably past the 10 mile point and still running. The running wasn't so comfortable now, and I broke into a run/walk. We passed through Towthorpe, over more private land and down into Burdale. Here was the split point for the two routes, as I was doing the 50 mile one, I joined the Chalkland Way heading North past a large disused quarry and on to Wharram Percy, an abandoned medieval village.
As well as the manned check points, there were several self-clips along the way to keep us right. We were now following the Yorkshire Wolds Way, which took us down into the very pretty village of Thixendale and checkpoint 4 which was almost exactly half way, so time for a brew and a fish finger butty!
As I left the CP a little later, I ended up walking with a chap called Andy. He was in love with the scenery and the miles passed quickly as we chatted away about our various adventures. The route now ran along the bottom of several dales in succession, Thixen Dale, Bradeham Dale, Wayham Dale before crossing a couple of roads and dipping down into private land once more through Deep Dale and Whitekeld Dale.
We were soon entering Millington and the next CP! Andy didn't stay as long at the checkpoint, just taking a sandwich and getting on his way. I needed a bit more food and to top up my water but didn't hang around too long. I had hiked for a while now, my legs were stiff but I felt ready to have another little run. I left Millington at a jog, but of course hit the steepest part of the route with a couple of stiff climbs in quick succession!
We then stayed high until the next CP, only a short way away. Although I could see other walkers/runners around I was on my own for a while. I have to say, I wasn't enjoying myself much. The scenery was good, the wolds very different to running around home, but the route itself was a little boring. Long tracks. A lot of tarmac and farm lanes. The dales were pretty, but flat and easy underfoot. The recent spell of dry weather meant that even the grass and mud was baked hard and my feet were hot and uncomfortable on the unrelenting ground.
Anyway, we bypassed Huggate and dropped into Cowdale and the wind turned cold. It had been mostly warm in the sun, but the wind still had quite a bite to it. Now it was about half 5 in the afternoon and one by one, people were stopping to layer up. I put my coat on, swapped my cap for a buff to cover my ears and popped my over-mitts on top of my gloves. Much better! The next section was quite dull. A long path between ploughed arable on one side and woodland on the other. I was overtaken by a couple of guys, but kept others in sight ahead. Suddenly, everyone disappeared which was strange! The path went through a hedge then up a steep bank to meet another road which took us into Wetwang and the final CP!
My feet were quite sore by now and I thought I maybe had blisters forming under the balls of my feet, so once inside the CP I took off my shoes and socks to let my feet cool down a bit, before padding them with some large plasters and tape. I had some food (pizza) and a brew too of course!
All this took about half an hour, but my feet were more comfortable afterwards so it was time well spent. A few folk came and went while I was faffing about, but I left on my own again. Only 7-8 miles left to go! It was however, probably the dullest section yet, a lot of tarmac. It did make for swift progress, striding out in the gathering gloom. The wind had dropped a little, it was still cold but without the biting edge. I passed a large pig farm, strangely silent; and carried on for what felt like about 6 miles along dull, featureless tarmac lanes. A hiker caught me up and we ended up walking the rest of the way together. I had seen him at some of the checkpoints earlier in the day, he said I had taken some catching! He was hiking so very fast, I thought I wasn't going to be able to keep up! I was glad of his company as the lanes were a little disorienting in the dark, they were so featureless it became tricky to work out where you were.
At last, the final road crossing and we passed into The Keld, an area of board walks and winding paths adjacent to the show ground. We had come this way at the start, but it didn't look familiar at all. We crossed the show ground in the right place this time, no gates to climb! The HQ building was difficult to spot, a large dark building in a huge dark field and a lot of people struggled to find it by all accounts. We made it though and walked into the welcoming light together, thanking each other for the company and keeping each other going!
Tea. Pie. Pudding, with custard.
I sat and chatted with another couple of chaps for a while before tiredness got the better of me and I hobbled back to my nest of quilts and blankets in the van.
Targets and take ways
I hit the 10 mile point in approx 1hr 45 which I am really happy with (my 10mile PB as a race is 1hr 33)
I got to 20 miles in just over 4 hours.
Marathon in 5hr 58 – if I get to marathon distance in under 6 hours during an ultra I am very happy!
40 miles in 9hr 52 which was quicker than the Urban Ultra, again I am very happy with that.
Final time was 13hr 23mins which is loads better than my target of 16 hours. This is definitely down to the runnability of the course and ease of navigation – not a single error was made along the way, although to be fair, 85% of the time I had other people in sight even if I were running alone.
It did feel frustratingly slow though, I spent a lot of time hiking. It was fast, power hiking, but hiking all the same. I need to work on my run/walk technique, and deliberately run/walk as opposed to run until I can't then do a mardy power hike!
Apart from the inevitable sore legs, my back ached from quite an early point, before 10miles I guess. I need to have a chat with Coach Trudy and see if there is anything I can do about this. Whether there is anything specific I can do in the gym, or if I should just run with a pack more often.
All in all, it is not a route I would hurry to do again, parts of it were very picturesque but just too flat for me really.
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