After two years of disappointment, Di Kemple was relieved as she crossed the finish line of the Beacons Way 105km Ultra trail race in July with a time of 21 hours and four minutes. Kemple first signed up to the gruelling race which traverses the Brecon Beacons National Park in 2022, but was forced to defer her entry until the following year after slipping on her final training run and tearing her meniscus. The 51-year-old family lawyer at Hughes Paddison in Cheltenham made it to the start line in 2023, but unfortunately didn’t finish the race, being timed out at the last checkpoint in treacherous conditions.
“After everything that has happened, I couldn’t quite believe that I had got there this year, it was a relief,” said Kemple. “It had been such a long time coming. “This time I was actually full of negativity ahead of doing it, I'll be honest.
It’s been like a monkey on my back because of the last two years. “The training has been particularly difficult this year because of the awful weather, and I didn’t have that fire in my belly that I felt I should have had, and had previously. “But I pushed through that and got to the start line, because had I not turned up to the start line I would have felt a failure.
" Still bugged by previous disappointments, when Kemple arrived at the start line, her mind switched, and nothing was stopping her from reaching her goal, the finish line. “Despite my various concerns, when I got to the start line, the weather was pretty good, and I was remarkably calm about it. I just thought, right, let’s get going,” she said.
Kemple described this year’s event as a “much more positive experience”, as there were a lot more runners on the course. After the horrendous weather at the event last July, only a quarter of the starting field finished the race, and some didn’t make the start line. “My biggest fear was that something would go wrong and I’d DNF earlier than last year,” said Kemple.
“It's just such a long distance, and there are so many variables, as we saw last year, so early on it just was about settling into it. “I had in my head that I wanted to reach checkpoint two in a similar time to last year. It is about 15 miles in, and when I got there, I was feeling great.
“I actually settled into the race quicker this year, but after that, I had a few tough miles.” Kemple wasn’t afraid to admit she was very worried to be that little into a run, and “not feeling fabulous.” But it was at that moment that she harked back to a conversation she had with a friend, telling her that she was bound to have dark moments.
“He told me, that I must remember they will pass, and thankfully they did,” said Kemple. Instead, her mind turned to the “beautiful scenery” in the region. “It's just amazing,” she said.
“You really have to remind yourself that you are fortunate to be able to run there, and just enjoy experiencing it.” There was a particular moment that Kemple will cherish around 45 miles in to the course. The sun was setting as she traversed the Carmarthen Fans, a magical but unforgiving part of the course that was “so tranquil and breathtakingly beautiful.
” With a mind empty of the stress and the goings-on of day-to-day life, she just thought: “Wow what a fabulous place to be. It really got me through it,” she said. Kemple is a keen advocate for exercise and spending time outdoors, having “always been active,” but she didn’t catch the running bug until her late thirties.
One of her old colleagues socially suggested doing a 10km run in Bristol on the off chance. But that appealed to Kemple. Her son was a toddler at that stage, and keen to get back into fitness, it was perfect for her.
They both really enjoyed that race, so the next stage was a half marathon, and then the London marathon at the age of 40. “It was there that I caught the bug because I was really dissatisfied with my finish time,” she said. “I only ever intended to do it as part of my bucket list, but I didn't do it as well as I thought I should.
“As soon as I finished, I said ‘I'm going to enter another one’, and it has just evolved from there.” Kemple ran a marathon in Brighton the following year, and then the Manchester marathon, both with much more respectable finish times. A road marathon in Snowdonia was next before she became really interested in off-road running.
“I did my first ultra, really enjoyed that, and then quickly discovered this event, and got it in my head that I wanted to do it. “And three years later I finally managed to cross the finish line, thank God.” If you’re thinking about getting into running, whether it’s for mental health, or fitness reasons, Kemple has one message: “Go out and do it.
“You can start gently with walk/run programs like Couch to 5K, and build it up, or you can do something like a Park Run. It doesn't always have to be such a long distance. “I find when you've got something to train for, a goal to focus on, it gets you out when you don’t feel like it.
For me there really is nothing like running.”.
