The Bewlwater 60 ultra follows the path that surrounds Bewlwater lake in Kent, UK. It is the largest stretch of water in the south east.
The route was 3 laps of the Bewlwater lake, near Tunbridge Wells, in Kent/Sussex. The route was mostly crushed gravel, with maybe 20% quiet country single road tarmac. The route was very well marked, and is mostly self-guiding as it runs around the lake for most of the way and is the only pathway for large sections.
This was my first 60k race and was the furthest I had run up until this point.
There was a 2 month gap between this race and the previous (ZigZig 6 hour challenge). This felt too long. I think 6 weeks would have been a better training block. I felt like I was just maintaining fitness after the 6th week, and I just generally felt like I wanted to race at that point.
I had a decent meal the night before the race. On the morning itself I had just half a banana and sipped on water. This felt okay and I felt comfortable as we started.
I managed to get some on-off sleep through the night, and I managed to get a solid hour of sleep in just before my alarm went off at 7am. This made me feel refreshed enough and i didnt feel tired on the start line.
My nutrition strategy was to drink Tailwind, and I had 3 bottles worth, each bottle containing 3 scoops. Then to eat whatever took my fancy at the aid stations. This included sugary sweets, a few dry pretsels, some crisps, High5 caffeine gels and a bar, and not much else. I think the variation was probably sufficient, but I just did not eat and drink enough.
As usual I started the race too quickly, but this only lasted maybe 3-4 kilometers of 5 minutes per km before I dropped it down to 5:30 per km. For some reason I decided I would run at or near 5:30 pace for the entire first lap, which I managed to do, but I did end up bonking at around 28k. This made lap 2 very difficult, and my pace dropped to walking all of the hills and struggling to maintain even a 6:30 pace. Somehow I managed to recover by the start of lap 3. I had obviously taken on enough nutrition and hydration and my body started to wake up again. This actually made lap 3 the most enjoyable. I managed to maintain around a 6:30 pace, walked the steep hills, and actually overtook a few people to finish in 11th place overall.
Physically my body felt strong through out, although my lower back and left hip were starting to ache at the end of lap 2, so I took 2 paracetamol. This completely removed the aching so is something I will definitely consider doing more often. I had no blisters for the first time ever in one of these endurance races. This is thanks to the Altra Timp 3’s and there wide toe box, coupled with a brand new pair of my favourite Hilly toe socks. I did start to feel the rocks under foot, though, which was painful on some occassions where I ran on some larger rocks. I may try a different insole with the same shoe next time, or see if I can find a more cushioned alternative with a similarly wide toe-box.
Chris runs ultras 
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