Sunday 26 June 2011

initial (brief) report


It's now 28 hours since I stopped running and in that time my thoughts about it all haven't changed much, for the record here they are:
I finished first by 55 minutes but was disqualified for accidentally taking a wrong turn and only running 99.5 miles (and missing out one of the many hills).  This happened at about 82 miles.


The course record was 18 hours 38 minutes and my time was 17 hours 43 minutes.


The race started at noon and it rained solidly from 5pm to 4am and in those conditions, at night, on unlit country lanes, navigating with photocopied maps and a headtorch, it is easy to miss a direction sticker the size of a mobile stuck to a lamppost or road sign.


It is far easier to see these direction markers when running at 14 minutes a mile compared to when running at 9 mins per mile.  Only me to blame though.


I found it a really good race in spectacular countryside - although I couldn't see much of it after about 6pm.


Full race details and results here.


Thanks to Rory and Jen for organising it ... I know I'll be back because I enjoyed it so much (but then I always enjoy these long races).  It is a good one though.


Congratulations to Robert Treadwell for winning fair and square ... and beating the course record by a few seconds.


A fuller report later.

1 comment:

Dale Jamieson said...

wow. Just how you've managed to be so dignified is amazing too.