Every year I receive an invite from race director, Mick McGeoch, to take part in the Barry 40 – the longest running ultramarathon in the UK. Every year I politely decline as it’s difficult to justify a 7,000 mile round trip for a race. This year would be different. The 2018 invite arrived in the form of a congratulatory comment on my Rocky Raccoon 100 Facebook post on February 4th. A quick Google search revealed the race date for this year’s event to be March 11th; plenty of time to recover from Rocky, but more importantly, the race would be taking place on the same weekend as my mother’s birthday – a perfect excuse for a long weekend trip to the UK, and a surprise visit to see family.
Fast forward a week or so and time off was approved at work, flights were booked and a mini-recovery/training plan was thrown together. Exciting!
After Rocky I took 5 days off from running to make sure there were no lingering issues. I did, however, walk about 10 miles in the 5 days to keep things moving, which allowed me to assess the state of my joints, muscles and tendons. Saturday/Sunday I ran a combined total of about 15 miles – thankfully, everything felt good.
The next 4 weeks were a mix of goal-pace runs, easy runs, hip, glute, and core work, several runs with short, speedy efforts and a couple of races thrown in just for a bit of variety. A 22 miler on February 17th with good friends Chuck and Andrew provided a nice confidence boost and a reassurance that recovery had gone well. The following weekend I “raced” the Tidewater Striders Distance Series 20 Miler and was pleasantly surprised with a 3rd place finish in 2:12:04 on an unusually hot Saturday morning. 8 days later was a fun effort at the One City Marathon where I teamed up with regular training partner Howie on a two-person relay team. The 14-mile leg was challenging, but I was really pleased with the average 6:18/mile pace and how decent I felt during the race. Time to taper.
Race Background
The Barry 40 is a 40-mile ultramarathon (and Welsh Ultramarathon Championship) held on the running track at the Jenner Park Stadium, Barry. The 2018 event would be the 32nd edition of the event (incorporating the 29th Welsh Ultra Championships), making it the longest “running” Ultra in the UK. The event has a loose cutoff of 6 hours (if you’re close to finishing, you’ll likely be allowed to complete the race) and involves running 161 laps of the rubberized Jenner Park track. There’s also a 26.2-mile “marathon” option if you’re looking for something slightly less challenging.
The event sets a limit of 40 runners, which allows Race Director Mick McGeoch and his Les Croupiers Running Club team to make each runner feel 100% welcome and part of a special occasion. It’s easy to pick up on Mick’s passion for the race, and you can tell he’s really keen to keep the tradition going for many years to come. The event is steeped in history with three Barry 40 champions going on to win global 100 km titles and an impressive total of 61 world best performances being set.
Pre-Race Goals
Racing a 40-mile event on a track would be a whole new experience for me, but as with any race, I like to have goals. After a bit of research and deliberation, I decided on the following:
- Break 5 hours. Average pace – 7:30/mile.
- Beat 4:59:22 – existing V50 Les Croupiers Running Club record by Dave Headon in 2015. Average pace – 7:29/mile pace.
- Beat 4:53:19 – fastest V50 by a Welsh athlete by Jeremy Mower in 2017. Average pace – 7:20/mile.
The Race
After a slight detour through Dinas Powys, Ally and I arrived at Jenner Park Stadium about an hour before the race was due to start. Packet pickup was short and sweet – 3 race numbers, a dozen safety pins and a printed race guide all neatly contained in a brown envelope. Proper old school. Ally was confirmed as my lap counter (the Barry 40 features traditional manual timing), so all that was left was to get changed into my race gear and carry out my tried and trusted warm up routine.
1st Quarter
The 1st 10 miles are a bit of a blur to be honest – lots of chatting and good conversation with Facebook friend Paul Ali, a focus on taking on board enough water and Tailwind Nutrition (approximately 170 calories per hour), one quick toilet stop at around 9 miles and more of a run-by-feel rather than stick to my pre-race goals. I was hoping to go through 10 miles in around 1:15 (on pace for a 5 hour finish time), but ended up just over a minute slower in 1:16:14.
Race position – 6th
2nd Quarter
The 2nd 10 miles went really well – consistently banging out laps of 1:53 to 1:55 and everything feeling good. I did get carried away about 2 hours into the race when my family showed up to support me, so the “easy” 1:53ish laps soon turned into slightly more challenging 1:49 to 1:51 laps. No matter, the slightly quicker pace felt good, and in the back of mind I knew I was gaining back some of the lost seconds from the first 10 miles. I went through 20 miles in just under 2:31 – a quicker 10 mile split, but still outside a 5 hour finish time. Work to do.
Race position – 5th
3rd Quarter
With the cool, damp conditions, I was struggling to get through 20+ ounces of Tailwind every hour, so for a quick boost I switched to water and a couple of Huma PLUS gels – with 20 miles left to run the last thing I needed was to crash and hit the wall. At this point in the race everyone was getting tired, but as in most ultramarathons, the camaraderie amongst runners was superb. Coupled with the enthusiastic spectators, lap counters and volunteers, it was hard not to keep pushing the pace. 5 mile splits of 37:03 and 37:12 had me go through 30 miles in a fraction over 3:45 – bang on a 5 hour finish time, but an almost impossible 7 minutes away from breaking the fastest V50 time by a Welsh athlete. Ah well, just keep pushing and shoot for the sub-5:00.
Race position – 3rd
4th Quarter
The last 10 miles were challenging, but definitely the most enjoyable of the whole race. Lap splits were consistently the fastest of the day and despite having already completed 30+ miles, and with conditions rapidly deteriorating, I felt like I was flying. I ended up crossing the line in 4:57:46 – good enough for 3rd place overall and 2nd in the Welsh Ultradistance Championship – not quite the fastest V50 Welsh athlete, but a new V50 Les Croupiers Running Club record.
Race Splits
- 10 miles – 1:16:14
- 20 miles – 2:30:51 [1:14:37]
- 30 miles – 3:45:06 [1:14:15]
- 40 miles – 4:57:46 [1:12:40]
Race Information
Race Gear
- Les Croupiers Running Club singlet
- Patagonia® Capilene Daily Long-Sleeved T-Shirt
- The North Face Better Than Naked 3″ Shorts
- Injinji TRAIL 2.0 Socks
- Enerskin E50 Compression Calf Sleeve
- Topo Athletic Fli-Lyte 2
- Amphipod Hydraform Ergo Minimalist 16 oz Handheld
- Tailwind Nutrition
- Huma PLUS Chia Energy Gel
Race Reports
- Les Croupiers Running Club – Official Results & Report
- Paul Ali – 2018 Barry 40
- Tracy Dean – Track Racing