'Superwoman' Whitaker praises The Dragon's Back
Veteran of the first incarnation of this classic event, Helene Whitaker has found the energy to put together a fascinating blog on her experience of the 5-day race that is The Dragon’s Back Race...
Along with Martin Stone (the race was in pairs in 1992) they had trumped the whole of the field to win the inaugural event some 20 years ago, so kind of knew what to expect. To return to the race (twenty years older) and still finish 4th overall and first lady was pretty amazing, and as has been well documented on here and many other media outlets, the race was brutal – meaning that only the toughest and those who avoided injury made it to Castell Carreg Cennan.
Helene Whitaker crosses the finish line
The arduous nature of the DBR meant that the logistics and organisation were always going to be very important in keeping the machine and runners moving – doctors, kitchen staff, checkpoint layers and collectors all come in for particular praise from Whitaker, stating:
How about with the small but perfectly formed “Shane’s army”. The happy and hopelessly cheerful volunteers made arriving at each camp a positive joy. An enthusiastic welcome for everyone, an erected tent, and kit bags ready and waiting: beats a mountain marathon any day! Dr Mike, in particular was rather good at a very affable “Now how are you?” whilst carefully scrutinising faces for subtle signs of distress. How did the controls miraculously appear on the hills?
How did our half way bags always get to the right point in time for us? What lovely maps each day…you get the picture, the background boys had a very busy week indeed whilst we all basked in the limelight of achievement, real graft was happening behind the scenes on our behalf.
Her excellent piece on the Berghaus site concludes with her writing:
The Dragon’s Back Race is a bit like a pension. You never know if you have done enough or the right thing until its too late. Did I get it right? For me, yes. I surpassed my goal of finishing and was terribly excited to finish in an unexpected 4th place.
Fascinating writing, from a fascinating women at a captivating event.
Full and final results have now also been posted here...
