Arc of Attrition with Nicola Duncan

In this post we are Talking Arc of Attrition with Nicola Duncan. Nicola is an Edinburgh based runner originally from Galway, in Ireland. We talk about her upcoming 100mile Arc of Attrition race in Cornwall.

Nicola Duncan ,heading for the Arc of Attrition. Seen here running for Ireland at the 2019 World Trail Championship in Portugal.

You can read our full Arc of Attrition preview HERE

Dot watching open tracking Link for The Arc is HERE

Nicola is a native of Galway in the west of Ireland but has been living in Edinburgh for many years.

She was a very competent marathon runner on the roads with a PB of 2:33:28 before she discovered the trails .She is now an Irish international on the trails. The Arc will be her second 100 mile race . She placed 3rd at her first one , the Lakeland 100, in July 2022

AS Why do you want to run the Arc of Attrition? What drew you to it?

ND Why the Arc of attrition is a very good question. I’m not sure. I think I was listening to a podcast that Debbie ( Debbie Consani) was on after she did Badwater and she said The Arc was next up for her. I had never heard of it but decided to have a look and find out more about what she was talking about. I love running on Coastal trails. Where I was brought up next to the sea on the West coast of Ireland, we have a beautiful coastline.

I loved running the Fife coast path and loved running the Pilgrims Way to Lindisfarne last year. When I checked out the arc course, I knew I would enjoy it.

AS So Debbie has a lot to answer for?

ND Yes! Closer to home one of my favourite routes is to run from the centre of Edinburgh where I live out along the coast to North Berwick. It’s so nice running along the coast and carrying on towards Dunbar and the Foxtrail centre, which is just off the John Muir Way.

I entered the race back at the end of the summer and forgot that this is going to be in January in the depths of winter. After running Lakeland 100 at the end of July last year,(Note: Nicola is too modest to say but came 3rd.) I had a really nice August in Edinburgh. The weather was great and we didn’t get the usual rain at the festival.

It was lovely weather and I entered the Arc thinking, this is going to be a really nice 100 miler you know. I forgot that I would be running in the dark for several hours. It is in January, and this sounds silly, but I just didn’t think about it. Anyway I entered and was put on the waiting list and then I think they must have looked me up and my previous results as they

gave me a place fairly soon after that.

When I mentioned it to my coach Robbie,(Robbie Britton) he was also like, “Oh that’s January. It’s like really muddy and dark then. You’ll hate it.”

And I’m like telling him, “No, Robbie. I love Coastal Paths. I really love coastal paths.”

Robbie had set up a little online group during lockdown, and everybody he coaches is in it. He set it up and it has grown arms and legs and wings. He’s got lots of people in it cause he does the coaching. It’s now called the Pet Appreciation Society Group because we talk more about dogs and other pets than anything else.

So he said, “Ask the group and see if anybody else has done it and what they think.” I think he thought that people would say, “Oh don’t be silly. You’ll hate it”. And everybody was like, “Oh that’s great. You will love it. It’s really tough, but it’s a great challenge. So his plan backfired. So then I just accepted my offer.

AS. I’m biased. I don’t know whether you remember or not, but I am from Cornwall originally, so I have a real affinity with the cliff paths there and I am sure you will love it.

ND. Yeah. I have to say I had never been down there before but took the opportunity to go down and run it over a few days in December. I just thought Cornwall was amazing.

I had quite an adventure to get there with cancelled flights. Also in winter so many of the little cafes and shops are closed. I was going to use them to save me carrying a lot of fluid and snacks, so I think I was under-fueled a lot of the time, but it all worked out.

All the people were so lovely and I want to go back there with the dogs because I just think they would adore it. ( Nicola has 2 dogs Senna and Turbo)

I found the route much more challenging than I thought it would be. It’s much more up and down than I had imagined

AS Yes. There are long stretches where you don’t get much respite and you are either going up or down. Where I was brought up was further North from the Arc route at a little village called Polzeath near Padstow. North of Polzeath the cliff trails are very undulating.

ND That’s so funny as I was there. My friend lives in Padstow and after my recee days I got a bus up to Padstow to see her and went for a lovely walk on the coast path

In my recee runs I did find some stretches hard going because you don’t get much of a chance to get into a good rhythm.

When I did the Lakeland hundred because the climbs are bigger, you kind of get into a rhythm. You know, you’re going up and you just get into your hiking mode or you’re going down and you just kind of do the same thing for a little bit.

You’re definitely not doing that in Cornwall and your rhythm is broken up a lot with all the little short sharp ups and down.

Also, it’s winter and it’s wetter and muddier.

AS How many hundred Mile races have you actually run?

ND Only one. The Lakeland 100 as a race. I did run the Fife Coast Path as an FKT coming out of lockdown. (Note. The Fife Coast Path is 117 Miles/184 km long. Nicola set the current lady’s FKT of 23 hours and 17 minutes.

So this is only my second one racing and I do like the idea of doing it in January Adrian because I don’t like having long recovery. I think that was a bad thing about Lakeland Hundred. We had a lovely August after I ran the Lakeland in July but I was still in recovery mode so couldn’t make the most of the great weather.

I wasn’t up for doing big long days cause I was very tired. I was still running in August but it was a lot shorter and I kind of felt I missed out a bit and all the nice weather and the big days out and things like that. So that was kind of also why I thought it’d be nice to get a hundred-mile done in January. Then I probably won’t do anything long for a few months

AS Are you going to run by yourself, being self-supported? Or do you have anyone crewing?

ND. Yes. I have a crew. So a lady that Robbie coaches Anna, Anna Buckingham. She won the spine in 2018. She messaged me. We’re really good friends cause she’s got a dog, Diego. So we always have dog chat and she said, Nicola, I’d love to support you. I’d love a jolly at the Arc. So she’s going to crew me and I’ve never had a crew before, so it’ll be quite exciting, and her dog’s gonna be there as well.

That’ll perk me up having Diego at all the different, places. I think it’s just because of the nature of the time of year. I think having a crew just means you can have extra layers of clothes. That’s more the reason I thought it would be good to have a crew because I can kind of get by on the food from the checkpoints and the water, I am used to being quite self-sufficient. I did the Lakes 100 with just my own stuff and with drop bags. But I think I can’t carry all of the extra bits of kit for this race. I would love to have an extra hoodie and extra pairs of gloves. All that stuff you just would rather not usually carry!

AS Having known you for a few years, you always come across as a nice, easygoing sort of person, but is there a fierce competitor inside of you waiting to be unleashed?

Also, how are you approaching the Arc. Is there any element of competition in you. If not competing with the others, just thinking “I would like to do a fairly good performance here and bring the best out of myself?”

ND Having done the recce, I realized pretty quickly that it didn’t play to my strengths in terms of quite a lot of the terrain is quite technical. I realized quite quickly that there wasn’t enough of what I’m good at. I am good at long climbs, I’m good at flat bits. There isn’t very much of that. So I was like, you know what, it’s not going to be one that I am going to be strong at, so I just want to enjoy it and finish in one piece. It’s not going to be one that I’m looking to be really competitive at.

AS From the recce that you did, which bits stood out for you? Is there a particular part you enjoyed?

ND I loved the last 24 miles from St Ives to the finish. I loved that. So I think once I get to St Ives, I will ll be a lot happier.

It’s a much more runnable section. It’s runnable all around Hayle and then you go through these sand dunes of gloom or something like that. I loved them. I kept thinking how much turbo (my Dog) would love them.

I remember passing a seal beach somewhere along that stretch too. Then you’re up on the cliffs for miles after that and it’s good going. That was kind of how I imagined the whole route would be. High up on the cliffs not too up or down. So that bit I love and it will make for a good last section. I like the finish. They have a big hill at the finish and I love a big hill. I love that idea. Usually, in a trail or hill race, it’s a downhill finish and I’m not very good at downhill, and loads of people usually pass me. It sounds a bit weird but so I’m looking forward to a nice uphill to finish

AS How Spectacular did you find Lands End

ND I didn’t really like Lands End. I was a bit disappointed. It was quite windy and exposed. Also, with it being a destination tourist zone, it was a little too touristy for me and a bit of a disappointment.

A few miles on, I thought Cape Cornwall, the next major headland was much more spectacular. It was also deserted so felt much more natural.

Another section I liked was the miles around Praa sands. That was just an amazing long stretch of beach. It was quite runnable too after the cliffs of the Lizard. I just loved being beside the beach. It was so nice.

There was a Facebook group for the Arc and when I was going down I’d kind of asked for some bits of tips or advice on the kind of logistics and things like that. There was this man who lives at Praa sands and he messaged me saying he would come out and meet me. So he came out and met me and he ran five miles with me and brought water and snacks. He gave me lots of info about the route too.

AS I am assuming you have checked the weather?

ND Yes. It’s a good temperature and there’s little wind forecast, which is my main thing. I can cope with rain better than wind. Growing up on the west coast of Ireland in Galway, the rain and the wind was such a factor as well.

AS Have you chatted to any of the other people you know, that are doing it like Debbie or anyone? ( Debbie Consani)

ND I’ve not chatted so much with Debbie. I’ve chatted to Holly Rush quite a bit actually and that’s been useful.

AS Nicola. I can feel you looking forward to the Arc and I am sure you’re going to enjoy it. Always good to chat with you. All the best for the weekend, I am sure your Scottish and Irish friends will be dot watching.

ND Thanks Adrian

I caught up with Nicola Duncan to chat about her upcoming Arc of Attrition race in Cornwall.

Nicola is a native of Cork in the west of Ireland but has been living in Edinburgh for many years.

AS Why do you want to run the Arc of Attrition? What drew you to it?

I loved running the Fife coast path and loved running the Pilgrims Way to Lindisfarne last year. When I checked out the arc course, I knew I would enjoy it.

AS So Debbie has a lot to answer for?

gave me a place fairly soon after that.

When I mentioned it to my coach Robbie, he was also like, “Oh that’s January. It’s like really muddy and dark then. You’ll hate it.