THIS WAS AN OUT AND BACK EFFORT, AKA: "THE ARC RICOCHET" OR "THE ARC OF ATTRITION DOUBLE"
Full race report can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/mikesamuels90/posts/pfbid0345KP1F9Q1JX9ZB8hsqN…
Or, for the text in full:
⚡ THE DOUBLE ARC OF ATTRITION: THE AFTERMATH ⚡…
This is the debrief from my recent FKT (Fastest Known Time) attempt to complete the Arc of Attrition 100-mile route, twice…
❓FIRST UP - WHY? ❓
To be blunt, because the thought of doing this scared the crap out of me.
Before I ran the 100 for the first time in 2023, I was terrified.
Having completed the 100 and thought - “Never again” - I pretty soon realised I could do quicker.
And I did, finishing the race in 13th place, and 23 hours dead, in 2024.
Then, the course no longer scared me.
And I didn’t like that.
I wanted to be intimidated. And so the minute the idea of the double Arc entered my head, I couldn’t rest until it was done.
⏰ THE BUILD UP ⏰
Prep (as usual) was less than perfect.
It took me a good 4 months to properly recover from running 229 miles across Scotland last August, and I’d done next to no interval training, seeing as any time I did, old injuries flared up.
I did have one very good weekend about 5 weeks before the attempt (34 miles on the Friday night, 19 miles with a bit of speed on the Saturday, and 7 miles on the Sunday,) but still, I definitely wasn’t as fit as I was going into Scotland.
And that was playing on my mind.
Then the inevitable “phantom injury syndrome” kicked in the week before, as I randomly started getting big toe pain in my right foot, meaning I skipped 2 of my final training runs.
But I headed down to Cornwall on Thursday 27th, determined to see what could be done…
🏃 DAY 1 - MILE 0-95 🏃
I honestly don’t have a lot to say about day 1.
It was very uneventful.
I had a fantastic crew with me (tagged later in the post,) and the whole day was basically drama-free.
We had some delicious sausage sarnies at the Lizard…
Pizza at Lands End…
And so much fun on the trails, it was perhaps the most I’ve ever enjoyed one of these big efforts.
It honestly didn't feel like an event for the most part.
My crew were incredible, carrying so much kit for me. (This was a supported FKT, so that was totally within the rules.) And they kept me well fed, watered and topped up with electrolytes.
The only unexpected event was the arrival of Martin Weston.
Martin decided, on a whim, to turn up and join in with us from Cape Cornwall late at night, and ran all the way through to Hellsmouth with us the next morning.
What a guy.
👟 DAY 2 - MILE 95-155 👟
The plan had been to get to the Eco Park in Porthtowan no earlier than 11am on Saturday, for a first 100-mile time of 27 hours.
As it was, we got there about 10am.
Whether that was just being efficient or foolhardy, and setting off too fast who knows.
But I took 45 minutes at the Eco Park cafe to refuel, then set back off on the return leg.
Almost immediately, things felt harder going.
This was mostly my feet. My arch nemesis in these big efforts.
But I was hyper aware of some serious rubbing around my toes.
This meant that I went from very much enjoying the time, to feeling somewhat anxious about the next 100 miles.
Still, we made okay time to St Ives, and I was still on track to hit my A goal of 60 hours.
Additionally, Martin had turned up again.
When he’d left us, he’d gone to Tesco, grabbed breakfast, had a sleep in his car, and was ready for his second stint.
Amazing.
Leaving St Ives, and heading back into what’s known as ‘the badlands’ however, things took a turn.
If you’ve never been on the coastal path between St Ives and Lands End, it’s very difficult to describe.
However, imagine stepping over lots of big rocks. Then lots of small rocks. Then lots of big rocks. Then bog. Then some more small rocks. Then big rocks. Some slightly bigger rocks. More bog. Then having to scramble over boulders. With maybe 50 yards of running if you're lucky.
You get the idea.
The terrain is such slow going that even on fresh legs, there are sections where you only clear 3 miles an hour.
Still I got to my first sleep point at Zennor, 37 hours into the run.
But sleep I did not.
I tossed and turned for 30 minutes, struggling like hell with cramping, until I eventually got some shut eye.
An hour later though, when I was woken up, I felt worse than when I went to sleep.
I procrastinated on getting out of my sleeping bag, but eventually dragged my sorry arse out, had some brownie and custard, put clean shoes on, and set off with a new pacer -- Ant.
This section was miserable.
And I felt very sorry for Ant (a 2:28 marathoner) having to plod along with me, over this hideous terrain at a snail’s pace.
I was so, so tied.
Hallucinating… Drifting off the path… And slamming caffeine gels that were doing nothing.
Eventually, I sat down on a rock.
“I’m so tired,” I said to Ant. “This is horrid.”
“Well, you can have 5 minutes, but it won’t help,” he said.
At the time, I felt he was just being mean. But he was 100% right 😄
So up I got, and we made our way, eventually, to Lands End, where I had an impromptu sleep.
(See pic.)
🎽 DAY 3 - Mile 155-210 🎽
It’s amazing what that 15 minutes did though, as I woke feeling 100 times better.
I set off once more, this time with my pacer Cammy, and the miles actually went by okay, and we knocked them off until we arrived into Penzance.
On the way, we saw the only previous successful person to run an arc double, Jim Spencer, and the director of the Arc race, Ferg.
By the time we got to Marazion, it was hot.
And though I’d pushed hard to get there, and made really good time, the last 10 or so miles had taken their toll.
The soles of my feet were excruciating. I’d switched to road shoes to give my toes a break, but the thinner soles on those meant my feet felt like they were burning.
Still, we were at Marazion, and Martin had appeared again, as well as my other crew member, Mike, who’d been there on day 1, gone home, and then come back to help finish the job.
Did I mention how awesome these guys were?
Emotionally, I was buoyant.
Physically, I was f*cked.
I limped/ hobbled most of the next 6 miles to Praa Sands.
Here, I thought about quitting.
We’d done over 170 miles.
But I still had over 30 to go.
Percentage wise, you’ve done a lot.
But my longest training run of the block wasn’t much longer than the distance left. And while it wasn’t as bad as the terrain around Zennor, it wasn’t easy.
My crew jumped in here though.
They patched my feet, got me spare socks, and basically shoved me into the van for a 15 minute sleep.
When I woke, I felt better again.
They poured black coffee into me, picked me up, and shoved me on my way.
Mike and Martin were pacing me here, and we made very good time, even chipping off a few 11-minute miles as we came into Porthleven.
Amazingly, I actually felt good.
And even through the next section, to Mullion Cove, I wasn’t too bad.
Just 16 miles left.
Then the wheels came off.
On the way out, in the sunshine, the course around Kynance Cove is pleasant.
It’s very open trail, almost field-like.
And while it’s wet under foot, the ground is nice and soft.
In the night though, it’s completely different.
In fact, it’s scary.
You feel so open and exposed.
I was wearing 5 layers to cope with the cold.
And at times, we drifted close to the cliff edge.
Martin said to me - “It’s like the surface of the moon” - and he was right.
After what seemed liked an eternity, we got to the final crew stop -- The Lizard.
Mike took the job of pacer once more, and he pushed me hard.
Some of that stint was excruciating.
At one point, I lay down on my front, on the trail, saying to Mike “I just need 60 seconds to not be in pain.”
He kindly gave me that minute, then did as I asked, and gave me a 10-second countdown, before we were off again.
What felt like 3 hours later, I looked at my watch.
Still 8k to go.
Mike turned around - “Don’t you dare look at that f*cking watch” he said. And he was right… Again.
A little while later, he said to me - "How would you feel if I told you we just had a park run to go?"
"Shit" I replied. "I thought we had about 2k to go."
"Well, we've got 5k left" he said, and we trudged on.
Then, finally, we were there.
We left the coast path, and hit the road into Coverack.
I just about managed to get up to around 8:30/ mile speed, and sprinted the last half mile.
(Although watching the footage back, I think ‘speed waddle’ is a more apt description.)
And, at 3:02am, 67 hours and 2 minutes after starting, I’d completed the Arc of Attrition double.
With a (still TBC) FKT for the route.
📈 THE STATS 📈
According to Garmin, I ran 210.49 miles.
Climbed 33,993 feet.
And burned over 24,000 calories.
What’s funny is, I probably ate most of those back on the run.
One thing I don’t have a problem with on ultras (usually) is eating, and I easily cleared 6-8,000 calories per day.
In fact, I left for Cornwall weighing 73.5kg, and came back at 72.8kg, so barely lost any weight.
📝 PERFORMANCE REPORT 📝
Overall, I’d give myself a B+ here.
My A goal was 60 hours, and my B goal was 72 hours.
So I was more or less in the middle.
However, considering that first 100 was relatively fast, I’m a little disappointed I couldn’t do the second half in 36 hours, for a time of 62 hours overall.
But I won’t beat myself up too much over that.
Once again, most of me felt great.
It was honestly just my feet that were giving me grief.
It’s hard to describe the pain here. As looking back, I kind of think - “Why didn’t you just ignore it?”
But looking at the pics (which I’ve included here for you, lucky Facebook friend,) you can see they were pretty mashed, and every step was agony after about mile 160.
Outside of that though, I’m very happy.
Especially considering this was much harder than Race Across Scotland.
Don’t get me wrong, I was fitter before RAS as well.
But what made the difference was the terrain.
Scotland elevation is similar, but the climbs are ‘nice.’
Ie. They’re long and gradual, so you can get your poles out, get your head down, and power hike, and then run down.
On the Cornish coast path though, the elevation is savage.
It’s very short and sharp.
You can’t use poles because you need your hands for climbing.
And for anyone who’s tackled The Bitches or Sally’s Bottom will know - they’re an all-out war on your quads.
👋 THE THANKS 👋
Everyone who helped was incredible. I won’t name roles, but the guys who were out there helping, or supporting behind the scenes with training, nutrition and various forms of emotional support were - Mathew Camfield, Ross Marlow, Samuel Skinner, Matt Galante, Michael Harrington, Ant Gritton, everyone in the George and Falcon running club, Tom Wharton (and crew) Jane Samuels, James Skeplorn, Joanne Skeplorn, David Hooper, Dan Fallon, Tom Kelly, Paul Standell. Plus others I've surely forgotten.
🤔 WHAT’S NEXT? 🤔
Honestly?
I don’t know.
I wouldn’t mind having a crack at a sub-18 hour 100-mile, or aiming to go 130+ miles in 24 hours sometime in the summer.
And then maybe another 200+ miler in the winter.
I think the 200-mile distance suits me.
I can fuel well.
I can survive on little sleep (I had sub-2 hours in the 67 hours here.)
And if I can sort my feet out, I think on a runnable 200-mile course I maybe have a sub-55 hour time in me.
But, as I always say - We shall see 🙂
For now, I'm eating, resting, and giving my feet some TLC…