Kevin McQuaid
The Arc of Attrition is a Cornish race weekend (now part of the UTMB stable) that encompasses races from 100 miles to 23k. I was taking on the Arc 25 – 25 miles (or just over 42k as it turned out). Starting in St Ives the race runs along the north coast of Cornwall, following the south west path up to Porthtowan.
Looking at the weather all last week I was expecting some tricky conditions. Rain, rain and more rain. Arriving on Saturday to collect my number it was as bad as I expected:
The mud at the finish line & in the field to park cars was something to behold & equally left me a little nervous about parking my car and getting it stuck.
My race started at 10am on the Sunday morning. Race morning arrived and the weather gods were kind. Gone were the storm clouds & winds, to be replaced by sunshine and glorious views. Arriving at St Ives it was a perfect temperature and boded well for the day:
I had a great couple of hours pre race chatting with a guy I met on the coach to the start, he with far greater trail experience than me, this helped make that pre race period fly by and it was nice to connect with someone racing in Snowdonia later this year.
8 minutes from the start the traditional song of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin was put on, the pen shuffled forwards and we got ready to go.
The Arc25 is definitely a race of 2 halves. One which suited me and one which doesn’t. Anyone who lives in Thanet knows we aren’t really blessed with the terrain to train for taxing off road trail races. So the first half to the Arc25, being mainly on roads was great. I could get into a nice rhythm of the first 11k. Beautiful coastal views to watch as I made my way round to Hayle:
Following reaching Hayle you head onto sand dunes for the first more challenging part of the race. This wasn’t for too long and I was making good time to the first check point. Mainly flat and not that technical this left me confident of getting round in under 4 hours.
However once half way came and went, 22k into the race the previous weeks storms begun to show their impact. Mud, lots of mud, not the sort of heavy mud that you have to wade through, more a layer of deceptive mud that slid with you, covering what was underneath. It shimmered & gleamed as it sucked you in and then let you go. All on top of uneven, rutted coastal paths. Sometimes it was easy to pick through, sometimes not. For the next 6k this was pretty much the course – culminating in the 500m slope that dropped 50m and was pretty much unrunnable, like a mud slide you’d get at a funfair. I was with a couple of runners as we picked our way down to the 2nd aid station. This had begun to sap strength from my legs and dampen my spirits – I really don’t enjoy running in / on mud and find it pretty mentally draining. The next challenge were the 3 short, but very sharp / steep drops down & then up. Large wonky sets of stairs that had been hewed into the coastal path. Once these were negotiated you reached the outskirts of Porthtowan itself, 36k into the race. To make up the distance the race director then adds in 3 hard climbs. The last particularly frustrating as it concludes the race. What makes it worse is when you get to the top of the last descent, in the distance you can see and hear the race village – the finish. But to get there you can also see the final energy sapping climb that you need to get up, before a 300m run to the end.
Finishing felt great – hard, but great.
I’d taken on a decent amount of Cornish mud and was more than happy to receive my finishers medal
It had taken me 4h 23m to finish, coming in 94th and 5th in my age category – which I was particularly pleased with as I came in seeded 7th. 42.09km and just over 1000m over ascent for the race.
Walking into get some soup and a much needed sit down I bumped into a Margate Parkrun regular (Nigel I think) and it was lovely to see a friendly face so far away. We had a nice chat and this rounded off the day well.
For anyone who wants a tough winter race, the Arc definitely fits the bill.
