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It was nice to have a weekend away with Gil and stay with my cousin Peter who lives in Oakham, very close to the start of the Rutland Water Marathon, an event that neither of us had run before.

After doing a bit of sightseeing around the old market town of Oakham we had a nice pub lunch then set off for Peters house where we had our evening meal and a good nights sleep.

The Marathon started on the shore of the lake at 9-00am so we set off early the next morning to ensure a good parking place in the car part. Met a few 100 Marathon Club friends there but as it was very cold we sat in the car for a while until it was time for us to walk to the start some 20 minutes away.

There was a 7 hour limit here so I was confident of finishing before the cut off time.

Once the sun came out and the temperature got warmer I began to enjoy my run, walking up the hills and jogging the rest. Chatted to a few ‘virgins’ to give encouragement (as I do). As per usual, by halfway my legs were telling me it was much easier to walk so that’s exactly what I did!

The route was undulating and very scenic and I really enjoyed it. Eventually I met up with Ivor Davies from the 100 Marathon Club who was trundling along at about my pace so we stayed together virtually until the end and I crossed the line in 6-23-43, well within the limit. Gil came to meet me, he had been sitting in the car wrapped up in a blanket having finished well over an hour ahead of me. We went back to Peters for the night and motored home the next day via the Duxford Air Museum which was well worth the visit. We saw amongst others a Spitfire and (my favourite) a Lancaster Bomber.

All in all a good race to prepare for Monaco and a nice weekend away together.

Anyone wishing to sponsor me or make a donation to A.I.M. can now do it by text.

Text to 70070 my code is PAMS48. You can donate anything from £1 upwards.

Many thanks.

I love this 8 day race having been twice before so, when I heard that chum William Sichel was running, crewed by my Scottish mate  Alan Young I couldn’t resist it for one last time. The race starts on the 12th of November but, unfortunately, due to Royal British Standard Bearers duties, I am unable to fly until Monday 14th. Unlike my previous multi day races where I did high mileage every day, this time I plan to take it fairly easy for the first couple of days the make an all out effort for a good 48 hours ( to make up for my disaster in Cologne).

As this will be me last big event ( in future I will only do a couple of long races a year) I have decided to try and raise some more money for my charity Advance International Ministries. If you would like to sponsor me follow the link to www.justgiving.com. I will be visiting Kiyindi again in January, perhaps for the last time. 

Thank you.

Me and Kaja

One of my favourite cities is Liverpool and I have waited a long time for a Marathon to take place there having run the Liverpool Half in 1996. Finally, earlier this year it was announced that indeed there was to be a Marathon this year. I reckon I was one of the first people to enter. Even though the entry fee was £46 I decided that this opportunity would be too good to miss. A very nice young Polish lass, Kaja Kosla, who I met at a couple of previous events kindly offered to let me stay with her for a couple of nights. I managed to get a return train ticket for only £19-80 so I worked out well. My dear friend Elaine had also entered so we decided to run together, she was staying in a nice hotel close to the finish line. The race started in Birkenhead Park on the Wirral so on Sunday morning we joined thousands of other runners to travel by train to the Park. There we met several other 100 Marathon Club runners and we all lined up in designated ‘pens’  waiting for the start. Unfortunately, due to some problems with the Police clearing the roads, we were 45 minutes late starting but soon all this was forgotten as we ran along a really nice route on the Wirral to the Queensway Tunnel at 11 miles. Those of you who know me well will remember how much I love running in tunnels, having run the Elbe Tunnel Marathon in Hamburg several times. This one was approx. 2 miles long, it was brilliant. Earlier in the race Elaine and I had met a young lady, Emily,  who was running her first Marathon. Having done insufficient long runs she thought she would struggle to finish so we decided to help her along keeping her amused with our tales of previous adventures. When we all began to tire we jog/walked and kept going to the finish line outside the famous Liver Building. Emily was really chuffed to finish her first Marathon and Elaine and I were pleased that we were able to have helped her achieve this. One of the best city Marathons I have ever done, I would certainly recommend it. Nice medal, goody bag and t shirt so good value for the money paid  to enter.

This was the fifth in a series of charity trail Marathons along the towpath of the Lea Valley. I have taken part in every one but, sadly in 2009 I failed to finish due to getting lost and running out of time. This year the route was changed so, instead of a point to point including a loop around the Lea Valley Country Park, we ran an out and back along the towpath. At the turn around point we ran through the new Olympic White Water Park added a bit of extra interest to the route. I had planned to run all the way with a chum, Kaz, with a view to trying to get under 5-30 but it was not to be. Yet again I was jog/walking from half way and we crossed the line together in 6-15-20, not quite last place! Thanks to Kaz for staying with me to the bitter end.

They said ‘only a half, that’ll be easy for you’. Wrong! It was not easy at all, it’s a long time since I did a half so I wasn’t sure how it would go but it was an enjoyable experience. The reason I decided to do this one was because I did my very first half Marathon in Cheltenham in 1985 in around 2-08. Didn’t think I would get near that again and, once I started walking, I knew it was going to be slow. Crossed the line in 2-35-10 tired but happy. Bearing in  mind I had a Marathon the following week it was a useful training run. Met a few chums from my days in Gloucester so that was nice too.

Well, those of you who know me will realise by now that I love a challenge or something a bit different so when I heard about a night 12 hour race across the Humber Bridge I couln’t resist it. So last weekend together with my good friend Elaine Oddie we motored up to Hull for the first running (excuse the pun) of this unique racewhich started on the North side of the bridge at 7-00pm so we checked in to our Premier Inn just a couple of miles from the venue at 2-00pm with the idea of grabbing a few hours kip before going to the race. We had stopped for a meal at lunch time and planned to have a snack about 5-00pm.

We took the car as we didn’t fancy the walk back in the morning and the car park was very close to the start area. There were a few people there that I knew out of about 90 starters. There was also to be a relay event. We could feel the exitement in the air as there were a lot of ‘newbies’ to multi lap ultra distance running, some only having run a Marathon distance before.

Heavy rain was forecast for 1-00pm so we were prepared for that but, just as we were starting, it began raining so we donned our showerproof tops and set off around a curved path and then on up to the bridge. The circuit was exactly 2 miles to the turn around on the south side of the bridge and this proved to be very difficult with climbs either end and even the middle of the bridge was not flat. The refreshment table and portaloos were in the car park where we started from where some runners had small tents and crew helping them (located on grass under some trees).

There was a small marquee housing the team of lap recorders there also.

We ran the first lap but then decided we would walk the inclines at either end and jog the rest. As usual after a couple of hours we began to tire so the walking breaks became longer and the jogs shorter but we were enjoying the experience. The first shower didn’t last long and it stayed dry and not too cold until 2-30pm when the heavy rain came. It also got a bit windy so we were glad of our jackets that we had tied around our waists. We kept going through the night with a couple of breaks for grub and hot drinks. We actually finished at 6-30am as there was not time to complete another full lap. We could have done half a lap but would have had to walk all the way back (the last 2 miles would not have been recorded).

The winner Kevin Lally completed 19 laps (76 miles) and the first lady, Jennifer Bradley, 3rd overall did 17.5 laps (70 miles).

Well, Elaine and I managed just 9 laps (36 miles) but felt o.k. at the end although Elaine had a couple of blisters!

After a sandwich and drink in the visitor centre cafe the presentation was done, we collected our t shirts and headed back to the hotel. Elaine had a shower but I soaked in a nice hot bath then we both managed about 3 hours sleep before our drive home. I stayed the night in Westcliffe on Sea with Elaine and travelled home by coach the next day.

Well all in all a great weekend away and, as for the new race,  couldn’t really fault it except that a portaloo at the southern end of the bridge would have been nice. It appears that this will be one of the improvements for 2012.

Unfortunately we will not be there as it will probably clash with my 6 day Ultrafest.

In 2010 I helped out at this race with Alan Young. We did the well stocked food table between us, Alan doing the night shift and me the day shift. It appeared to be a well organised event so, as I have never attempted a 48 hour race (I have done 24 hours 15 times) I thought I would give it a go this year. The thought of all that food also attracted me!
Apart from the very good organisation, the people I met last year were all very friendly and most spoke English. During the evening of the 2nd night we were entertained by a very good jazz guitarist and ultra distance runner, Stefan Weigelt who figured in my 2011 race. More on that later.
Taking part in this years race was William Sichel (with Alan Young as crew) and, amongst others, 2 of the top German runners so it promised to be an exiting race.
One of the things I remembered from last year was the horrible cinder track so I bought some special ‘gaiters’ to cover my shoes and stop the grit getting in. This proved to be a good move as, the track was very dry and dusty.
We started at 12 noon on Friday 15th of July and 43 runners/walkers toed the line. Due to insufficient running training I had decided to walk this event and I was not the only one competing in this way. German international runner Martina Hausmann who I first met in Gothenberg 6 day race was was also walking. I know she is much quicker than me so no competition there! The other 4 ladies were running with the occasional walking breaks. We were advised that we would change direction every 6 hours, always fun as every one does a ‘High Five’ to the turning runners as they go by.
It was quite warm from the start with the sun shining but a slight breeze was blowing the dust from the track over everything including our tents, food tables and into our lungs.
Sometime in the afternoon an expat Yorkshire man named Dave turned up to see what was going on and we had a nice chat. He has lived in Germany for many years and, having played a lot of football was fairly fit but not a runner. He was amazed at what we were doing and promised to come back later to support us.
During the first day I was walking 3 miles an hour but took a few breaks for food and 1 hour sleep. My mileage after 24 hours was just under 50 miles (80.30 km) so it was apparent that if I was to reach my 102 mile (165 km) target I would need to speed up a bit on day two.
By the end of day one I was suffering with soreness under the balls of my feet and the right one was the worst. I rarely get blisters but as the track was such a bad surface several people were also having similar problems including William. So I decided to take a break and a kind guy who was crewing for one of the German ladies helped me remove my shoes and socks to investigate the damage. No blisters but a very sore patch near my toes so I applied a Compeed plaster and changed my socks. It seem to help a bit so I carried on round and round in never decreasing circles. By the way the track was only 309 metres round.
Stefan Weigelt and his band turned up to entertain us for a while but had to stop following a complaint from some local people about the noise!
Although some showers had been forecast no rain appeared until Saturday evening, I think around 9-00pm, and then it poured all night for about 10 hours! During the evening my new chum Dave appeared with a nice bottle of red wine . Well, I had 2 choices, slog it out in the pouring rain or take a break for some red wine. We had already had dinner earlier. Of course it wasn’t a difficult decision so Dave and I retreated to the ‘mess tent’ where we were soon joined by Stefan and another member of his band, also a guitarist. Then a few more people joined us and there was also some beer so we had a nice little ‘jam’ session singing and generally having fun. I knew that sitting down would not get me miles but under the circumstances ‘WAS I BOVVERED’. We sat and watched the runners plodding around, some with plastic capes and others with umberellas. The 2 top Germans had long since gone home and William was soon to take the lead. It was becoming an interesting race as the first lady was in 2nd place overall.
Well, at some point, not sure when, in the early hours of Sunday morning I decided I had better make a move and rejoined the race only to find part of the track completely under water and competitors running a short section on the grass. I did not like that and it was still dark so, after a couple of hours sleep, I set off once again in daylight and continued on my weary way. The race Director Wolfgang was seen with a bucket trying to clear the flooded section of track which he eventually achieved so we breathed a sigh of relief and pressed on. The surface was a bit mucky but passable. Not for long though.
Eventually the rain eased off and the tents began to dry out but then, with about one hour left it began to rain heavily again. And parts of the track became waterlogged again. The band had turned up to entertain us for the last couple of hours which cheered us up a bit.
So, William won the race with just under 208 miles (334km), his first ever 48 hour win and I ended up with just under 78 miles ( 125km). The first lady recorded 307 km in 2nd place.
Martina asked me if I ever take a race seriously so I replied ‘I came here to have fun and fun I had’! What more can I say. I made some more good friends and enjoyed every minute of it especially the red wine!
After the race we all had a nice meal and presentation together then I packed a very wet tent away and headed off to the City where I was to stay the night. I slept from 5-00pm until 8-00am!
Flew back to Gatwick on Monday afternoon and, as I write this (Thursday), I am just about recovered from the sleep deprivation which is the key to successful multi day racing.
In short, disappointed with my race result but I had a fantastic weekend.