one week and counting

As race day approaches I've found a few interesting snippets of information ...

American ultra runner (and fellow ex-cancer patient) has written a fantastic preview of the race on his blog.  Unfortunately he won't be in Katowice this year but I had the pleasure of spending some time with him at the last World Championships in Brive.

The start list has now been confirmed and is available on the IAU website.  The most interesting name on the list is one Yiannis Kouros.  I don't think he's in the kind of form to win the race but one thought stuck me ... will it be the first time he's not finished first in a 24 hr race ?

Also missing this year will be Amy Palmiero-Winters.  An amazing woman who runs with a prosthetic leg after being involved in a motorcycle accident back in the mid 1990s.  Very close to 200 km (124 miles) in Brive but still about 15 km (9 miles) below her best ... truly inspirational.  If she can run 24 hrs there's nothing to stop you ...

The official race website is http://www.run24.eu/en,news.html and it looks as if there may be live coverage.  The IAU website will also have regular updates, interviews and other information.

I'm sure many press releases have gone out over the past few days from runners, associations, sponsors and others.  One source of internet news local to Yorkshire which I've recently found is The Yorkshire Times.  An excellent site for anyone born and bred in God's own county.

initial thoughts and questions

At least eleven national records from the 229 competitors shows what a high quality field it was.  Generally, 100 miles is seen as a good performance and at Tooting Bec the organisers try to have 25% above that distance, in Brive it was over 75%.

Eight runners over 250k, 43 over 225k, 100 over 200k.

Twenty one runners over 150 miles, 98 over 125 miles, 173 over 100 miles.

A true World Championship.

For my part there are a few questions:

- the temperature was consistently about 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees F) below average. Did my heat training therefore have an adverse affect on my performance ?

- my plan was to start at about 7:45 per mile and gradually slow down to about 9:45 per mile at the end. Would I have done better if those figures had been 8:00 and 9:30 ?

- did I take my caffeine tablets at the most appropriate times, would they be better used when I feel a bad patch coming on ?

- cramp, why ?

Other thoughts/memories:

- the American woman, Amy Palmiero-Winters ran with a prosthetic leg but every few hours had to have the dressing on her stump changed.  She ran very close to 200km.  My hero for the race.

- Jim Rogers had been drinking beetroot juice for a week before the race. He ran a very good pb.

- my hydration plan worked exceptionally well.

- six portaloos for over 200 runners wasn't enough.

- the meals provided by the organisers before and after the race were excellent.

- the crowd support was absolutely amazing.  Hundreds of people lining the course, especially near the feed stations, made for a very special atmosphere.

I feel much more myself today, not running yet though - I'll save that for Thursday.  Hopefully the full race report will make an appearance in the next few days.