Where the wind blows
@nationalautisticsociety
The Lulworth Cove Ultra is run by the excellent Trail Events and takes place along the Jurassic Coast between Weymouth and Kimmeridge, taking in Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. A 34 mile run with over 2300m elevation.
My companion along the way was Matt @badcaseoftherun Shimwell. Matt and I were running the Ultra while his wife Kelly was doing the half-marathon.
We arrived at the start line in a field just outside Durdle Door. It was a beautiful clear day as the sun rose red in the sky and a bitter wind swept across the meadow. After collecting our numbers we had time for coffee and something to eat from the burger van before the race briefing at 7:30am.
The course was explained to us as we stood shivering in the early spring chill under a bright blue sky. There were roughly two dozen of us in the Ultra as we set off, waved on by Kelly who would be starting a couple of hours later.
The wind was behind us and we made good time heading west towards Weymouth along dry, well marked trails. At White Nothe we turned around and joined the South Coast Path heading straight into a blustery and tedious head wind which would accompany us for the majority of the day.
After the first hour we had already covered 10k passing Butter Rock, Scratchy Bottom (a place not an action) and Durdle Door. The cliffs fell away to our right as the sunshine glinted off the ivory white chalk. We stopped for a photograph or two as I fought to hold the phone steady in the gusts that threatened to heave us over the edge into the turquoise waters below.
And on it went. Wind, hills, sun, wind, hills, sun, wind, hills, sun. Through the Fossil Forest, past burnt out tanks and artillery ranges, past coves and bays. Occasionally we would reach a checkpoint where lone crew members sheltered from the ferocity of the squall and provided jaffa cakes, melon, chocolate, crisps, cake and water as well as encouragement. Thank you to all of you!
The views were stunning and despite the fact we couldn't hear one another over the roar of the wind we kept a good pace, walking up the hills and if the wind became too much effort to fight. At Kimmeridge Bay we summited a cliff and saw a decorative round tower. Beside it was a similar sized rock circle. It turns out this is Clavell Tower. The four-storey Tuscan style tower was built in 1830 but in 2006 it was moved 25m away from the cliff edge.
A mile further on we reached Swythe Head and were finally able to turn our backs to the raging gale. Silence returned and we were able to talk to the companion we had picked up a few miles earlier. Hannah was running it alone and joined us for the final miles as we headed away from the Jurassic Coast and made our way inland and along a ridge. This is where we passed through Heaven's gate.
Eventually we reached the field where we had begun and were welcomed by Kelly who had completed her impressive half marathon and stayed on to help support the crew while she waited for us.
A medal, buff, burger and coffee were our rewards as we quickly changed and sheltered from the still gusty easterly in the car, tired but happy.
