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Writer's pictureJames Bezant

Things that helped me with this race

Updated: Oct 12, 2023

Just a reflection of some of the things I got right and some of the things I could of done better.

Give yourself the time in the legs

My first point and most important point, and this will come down down to how long you have been running prior, the well seasoned runners can enter this event at any time and probably finish it.


But if you are like me, a beginner, then I urge you to just give yourself more time. I got back into running late 2021 and I knew I wanted to do this event, which gave me two years to train and if there was anything else I would of done differently, it would be to give it another year or two, have some 50 milers and maybe a 100 miler under my belt, just to gather some more experience, I also would of volunteered to help at one of the events.


Understand what you are in for

The race is brutal, it's constantly grinding you down, even when you are in camp, it might be the longest week of your life.


Do the recces

Doing the recces will not only help you with where you are going, but also help you understand about what's to come, doing them can help with food timings too.


In my eyes, why not have as many controllables in your corner, one of the things I'll miss the most is the recces, go and do some of the RAW ones too, they are great, also you meet great people which helps when you go off to some of your own, doing them with people is always better than going alone.


Also capitalize on the FB group, there was always people in the group asking for some company on the recces.


Doing the above helped with tent mates too, I knew everyone in our tent and we all looked after each other.


Let this consume you for the year prior

This probably needs to be your A race from the Jan of the year you do it (if you are a beginner like me) everything I did revolved around this event.


Just getting to the startline fully healthy can be hard enough.


I was always checking the website for any updates, I made sure I knew where the support points were and all the timings.


My year consisted of about 8 recces and they were all back to backs just so I got the feeling of what it's like to run on tired legs, we camped too just to get on top of the admin side, I also done the Great Lakeland 3 Day event, that event really helps with the camp admin and gives you a good taste of running on tired legs also.


Learn to accept how hard this race is

When you do the recces, it opens your eyes up to the terrain you are going to cover while being underslept and fatigued, one of the things I accepted pretty soon was how hard this race is going to be for me, I also understood I might not finish this race, after all It's bloody hard, understanding these things will help you in those times of being low.


Always remember you've paid to be at the event and it's also a privilege to be on the start line of the Dragons Back Race.


Know the cut off times

On certain days these are tight, no time for Nav errors, use your recces as a rough guidance, but be aware your more than likely on fresh legs.


I know a few people who got timed out by not really checking their maps and knowing the times, these people could of easily made the cut offs too.


Sleep

Sleep, what sleep, earbuds are a must, people will be moving around about 3am and if you are getting in late like me, that doesn't leave you much time to get some good sleep, I didn't have one but I would probably advise having a sleep mask too, peoples torch light kept waking me up.


In the month before I also made sure I was getting up about the time I would get up for DB, this really helped with the morning routine.


Train as much with the food you'll use

This might seem obvious, but most of my training runs even ones that were less than an hour I would be consuming what I would have in the race, this massively helped across the DB week.


I managed to consume gels through the whole week, the good thing about this is even if you don't fancy them you can quickly chuck one down my neck, I didn't only consume gels, I paired them with easy digestible solids (cliff blocks/veloforte chews etc) all stuff I practiced with.


Do as much of your admin the night before

Doing this at night gave me more time in the morning for other essentials like feet etc, this will give you time if you need to see the medics too. and any last minute flaps.


Get in the stream

Keeping clean is always a good idea, plus jumping in the stream is a nice morale booster, jumping in your sleeping bag all grubby doesn't seem that attractive.


Feet

You can prep as much as you can, but this race will more than likely give you some blisters, so ensure you have all the kit, my personal recommendation that you have to order online is Fixomull, which is great for the toes and Moleskin which is great to go over a blister and under your k tape.


Also it might be worth pre taping your feet as a preventive, I know some people who did this and had massive success, if I was to enter the event again I would consider this.


I personally would say carry a blister kit in your pack, just in case you have to address them on the move.


Food alarm

Having this was just a good reminder, just in case you might forget which is easy to do in this event.


Don't have your watch ETA on

I know a few people that had this feature on their watch, and this played havoc with their mindset.


Volunteer if you can

Not only does give you a free entry to the race, it can give you a great insight to the race, plus Its like a recce of how the event works, it also seems like a lot of fun.


Keep bloody moving

This may seem like a simple one, but pack your pack so you know where everything is, this will help with just doing stuff on the move, if you stop and take two mins to get food that could easily add up to an hour over the course of the day.


Be prepared for extreme weather

It could be really rainy or bloody hot, so if you can the weekend before the event, have all the right kit for both scenarios, this could also apply to nutrition, salt tabs enough electrolytes etc.


Poles

There's always a mixed opinion on these, but usually those who are against tend to be really good runners, if I didn't have them I wouldn't of finished the race, the key things with poles is learning how to use them, opposite hand to foot(left foot right hand) it's a bit like marching.


The pole needs to roughly be inline with the foot or slightly behind so it propels you forward, if you put poles in front of your foot they acts as a brake.


Minimal faff

When moving be efficient as possible, know where everything is in your pack, minimal faff at the support points, you have to keep moving forward.

Obviously this applied to me because I was always relatively close to cut offs.


Bring painkillers

I relied on this more than I thought I would, because of the knee, another factor that probably got me through the race.


It also helped with keeping the headaches at bay in the heat.


Hopefully some of these tips may help you with the event and the training, also the training part is some of the most fun, enjoy it.





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