Who Is Colin?
Colin has been a good friend of Team Grit for years now and we can always count on him to take part in our challenges. Based in the UK, Colin was the winner of our original TheOCR8 competition and we've loved working with him to prepare him for this and other races as they return! We’re amazed at the consistency and effort Colin has brought to his training and we’re looking forward to continuing to watch his journey!

If you want to connect with Colin or track his journey you can find him on IG at @colinlee_ocr

Man VS Lake - My Longest Ever Run

I first came across Rat Race’s Man vs race series in the dark days of England’s first lockdown. This series consists of three races (Man vs Coast, Man vs Lakes and Man vs Mountain). All 20 plus miles of mainly off-road runs taking in some of the best scenery our little island has to offer.

Man vs Lakes was the second race (and longest) in the series, having completed Man vs Coast two weeks earlier. Being a huge lover of The Lake District I was really looking forward to this race.

The race was scheduled to start at 11:30 am. This late start time was needed to coincide with the tide in Morcombe Bay which is the start of the race. Running across this was a great experience. The sand was wet and compact which made for a good surface to run on. At points, you could feel sections shifting under your feet. Due to the heat (I can’t be certain but it definitely felt like the hottest day of the year), it was becoming clear this was going to be a race run on feeling and effort rather than pace.

*Already feeling the heat crossing Morecombe Bay*

With the crossing completed the route took us along the waterfront of Grange over Sands. The number of people who had turned out to watch the crossing and cheer us on was amazing. Before we started to head into the Lake District came the first of the pit stops. My plan for this pit stop was to get in and get out quick. Two cups of water and four jaffa cakes later I was on my way.

Not long after we left Grange over Sands we hit the vertical kilometre. Each race has one of these and it is what the name suggests (constant uphill for a kilometre). The views of the bay made the climb worthwhile. I later found out that this is classed as a race within a race and is timed, more on that later. Next was a long section of single file overgrown tracks followed by a long road section. The highlight of this was passing a house whose owners had set up camp outside and had allowed their son to offer to hose us down. The lad looked about the same age as my son and his joy of turning the hose on us was plain to see. I gladly let him soak me as the heat was really starting to take its toll.

The next pit stop was in Staveley-in-Cartmel. During the climb through the woods of Barrow Banks, I had decided to give myself ten minutes at this stop. This was a well-needed break to sit in the shade, have plenty to drink and get some food on board (watermelon and oranges have never tasted so nice). After the pit stop, the route climbed up to High Dam and onto Green Hows Upper Tarn. A short wade and swim section through here and we started the descent back down to Lake Windermere.

*The Coniston Fells before the final decent*

Here were the first set of some water-based obstacles. Three large floating burgers to run across, jump into the lake, round a small island and swim back to the shore. Buoyancy aids are mandatory and the swim was nice in the heat. A short lakeside trail section led us to the second set of obstacles, floating monkey bars. Once these were tackled it was another short swim to a floating platform and another jump into the lake.

Now soaking wet and a lot cooler we started the climb up to Green Hows Tarn for another swim section which was followed by the last pit stop. Again I took ten minutes here (even taking some lemon drizzle take with me).

The last big climb was over Grizedale Forest which seemed to go on forever. Once over and out of the trees we were treated with great views of The Coniston Fells.

The track down to Coniston Water was very rocky and technical. Having covered a marathon distance by this point and the memory of a nasty fall two weeks prior I took my time but made it down without any mishaps. Once at the lake, a short kayak loop waited for us and then it was the home stretch to finish.

The final obstacle was a ramp with ropes to help you over, then a hundred meter run to the finish, with crowds and other races waiting to cheer you on.

*Enjoying the cheers approaching the finish*

Man vs Lakes had been conquered. My Garmin clocked it at 29.34 miles with 1383 meters of elevation and it took me 6hrs 58mins.

What Gear I Used
Ultimate Direction Adventure vest 4.0 – I love this vest. Lots of front storage options and ample room in the back for a water bladder and other items that aren’t needed to hand. The fitting system is really easy to adjust and I’ve never had any rubbing from it.

VJ Shoes Maxx – These have been my go-to trail shoe for the last six months. The grip is awesome and they have a wide toe box that suits my feet. Whilst these performed well, in hindsight I personally think for that amount of time on feet I need “more shoe”. VJ have recently launched an Ultra shoe which I will be ordering.

OMM Halo Jacket & Trousers – Part of the mandatory kit list. They weren’t used but are so light and compact small I didn’t notice them.

Versa Socks – My go-to running socks. Never had any blisters or issues with them.

Fuel – Tailwind Nutrition Lemon flavour and Ella’s kitchen banana baby food. I know it’s baby food but it tastes nice and comes in really handy pouches. I also carried four SIS gels to make up the mandatory calorie count. I was relying on the pit stops mainly and they didn’t disappoint.

Post Race Thoughts
After looking at the provisional race results (for some reason five minutes has been added onto my Garmin recorded time), I finished 86th out of 795 race finishers. If I go by my Garmin time a finished in the top 10%. I think I prefer my Garmin time ☺. For the vertical kilometer race within a race, I came 37th. Having had a couple of days to look back at the race I can honestly say I’m immensely proud of myself for completing this. To give you some type of context into my running history at the start of 2020 I could just about run four (road miles) without stopping. I think this just shows that with some hard work and commitment you can achieve whatever you want. I can’t wait for September and the final race in the series, Man vs Mountain.