A decade in the making! CurraNZ athlete sets third-fastest time in UK's premier 'Miler'

Here, the CurraNZ ambassador reveals the 11-year journey it took to break through and make his mark in the event this year, after being sorely humbled on his first attempt.   

 

'After my first attempt failed 30 miles in, and injury on my second, I still had unfinished business in this race'

Kim writes, "In 2013, when I was new to ultra running, this was intended to be my first 100-mile race. But, I made many rookie mistakes and my race finished at 30 miles, curled in a ball in a checkpoint corner.

A year later I returned to win the 50-mile event and I thought I was done with it, but there has always been a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

This resurfaced last year, so I decided to put this unfinished business to bed. 

Sadly, after mile 80 I developed an injury and by mile 90 I had to drop out to prevent further damage to myself.

Luckily, I see failure as an opportunity to learn and, with a lot of failures in 2022/23, I grew into a better athlete. Finally, this spring the tide had started to turn and race successes were rebuilding my confidence. 

By July, I was back on the Lakeland 100 start line with no performance expectation, except to implement some process goals and close this chapter.

I started in a relaxed fashion, choosing to build into the race and let those at the front of the field go, and after the first downhill I was feeling positive for a super day out.

The race plan soon went out the window when, after ~16km, I was back with the lead group and race favourites (pictured below, third over the bridge).

I made a choice to gamble and go with the pace of Mark Darbyshire and Gavin Dale (above, centre and left). We worked well together through the night, helping to maintain our good forward momentum as mountain passes gave way to runnable hilly trails.

In the early morning we arrived into Dalemain, the only drop bag location, about 100km into the race.

I was certainly feeling a little worked at this point but knew it was a crucial place for a quick turnaround. 

We were soon down to three and motoring towards the finish, ahead of Mark's previous course record.

I was having a performance that I couldn't have dreamed of and allowed myself to 'let go'. The hammer went down on the descents as the leader Mark was determined to break us, but Gavin and I clung on.

Finally, just before Ambleside nearly 90 miles in, the elastic snapped. The mood was good, unlike a year before, but I accepted the situation, kept the food going down and focused on the finish line.

The fatigue was certainly there but it wasn't going to stop me - I knew I was on for a great time. 

Running down the road to Coniston School and crossing the finish line was emotional. I was filled with joy to have finished, having given my best on the day and to be rewarded for all the hard work in training.

I was ecstatic to podium in third (pictured, above, right, with Mark Darbyshire, centre, and Gavin Dale, left) and, while I was just behind Mark’s previous course record, I became the third-quickest person to run this iconic Lakeland race - and finish a journey that started in 2013.