UltramarathonMike

With at least four great runs coming up in June & July my legs have been so tight this week I fear for their future, alas I have been too busy to get it sorted professionally but a good PNF stretching session this evening seems to have loosened things up a bit.

Good job as tomorrow morning is my annual pilgrimage to Whafedale for what looks to be an unusually wet and possibly wintry run around the half marathon course.

After 3 years with almost unbroken sunshine I guess it wouldn’t last forever, but I would rather a wet day in the hills that a dry one stuck inside!

After this weekend it’s on to Swaledale for the SOC Marathon and then later to Scotland. The next ultra? Osmotherley Phoenix, 33 miles.

Well 10KM is certainly not my distance! After a good start, looking for a time in the low 40 minutes area I set off well and most likely on target but was unable to keep such a pace as my legs were tight. Sadly this meant Neil and David overtaking me on the last 2K and putting a minute on me overall, however it was a supurb run from David and I was just being crap, so his position was well deserved. It was 46:20 for them, and 47:20 for me.

It was great to be out in the early summer heat and great to run across the Humber Bridge again. The best part of the day for me though was Megan in the fun run. As the youngest runner and the field of 66 she kicked ass and ran almost all the way, stopping only to pick some flowers and exclaim how tired she was. When she crossed the line collected her medal and went to that water table it was like she had done it before.

Proud Megan, even more proud Dad!

After getting back to my parents I had a shower sat down and Graham submitted the entries for next week Wharfedale half marathon he was pretty fired up and decided a run was needed. So I did the right thing and re-donned my gear and did a really nice 7.5 mile run in the midday sun. Much better.

In the mean time I am going to find out why my 10k pace is the same as my run all day pace… it should be faster … much faster.

Most are probably aware of my worrying levels of love for the Aarn Marathon Magic packs which amongst its many credentials:

• comfort
• robustness
• excellent balance
• leightweightness
• etc etc etc

After setting it up initially you are also guaranteed to be ready to take on the Krypton factor puzzle … and win.

Anyway, the good news is that they are back in the country (mine was shipped from Australia) and they are the new modles. Of course it’s those stolwarts of quality kit Likeys who have the batch.

If you have a multiday coming up or are doing one in the future (for example you are booked up eons in advance for the MdS) then do yourself a favour and grab one of the beauties…

For the MdS entrants (and other multidays) who are going light, I would really consider looking at the 20L version, it’s proven to work by Dan Bleakman. Have a look at the links below for some MdS/Multiday gear information:

• http://www.ultramarathonmike.co.uk/blog/index.php/2009/03/04/aarn-marathon-magic-31?blog=2
• http://www.themds.co.uk/?cat=11

On Saturday morning at 9am Chris Carver set off from Otley and 45hours later he arrived in Trafalgar Square in London. Chris survived the highs and lows that are part and parcel of ultra running and the early summer heat that blasted down on Sunday to cross the line at 06:59 on Monday morning.

I met Huw (who was to be supporting the next 25 or so miles in the car) in a dark lay-by in the middle on nowhere, somewhere in deepest Leicestershire. We found out the Chris was about 3 or 4 miles away and looking good, even though he had covered nearly 100 miles and had been on his feet for almost 20 hours.

During our wait we had several visits from the Police, at first wondered what we were doing but once we explained it they kept popping back to check on progress and tootling off to see Chris, the disbelief and then subsequent amazement really sums up most peoples’ reactions to the event.

Chris arrived and the cars were swapped over and we were off, it was about 0330am and the sun was just starting to glow on the horizon, for now though it was torches on and plugging away in the dark. Chris was in an excellent mood and, apart from the protien drinks his food and drink programme was on course.

As I said earlier highs and lows are really a part and parcel of the race but his mood was excellent and when you consider he had done 100+ miles his pace was brutal! The sun coming up really lifted Chris’ mood and his pace (even more!). The scenery was just incredible, and seen at the best part of the day. The bright sun was just coming up and there was enough mist hanging in the air to maximise atmosphere and cause the dew laden wheat fields to shimmer. Very poetic! This is what running really is about.
Route finding was a simple task with Chris who had been so buried in the maps that he knew where he was! Helen and Tony arrived early to run/support the next leg, the top was already down on the car when they arrived!
Eventually we arrived near the Northamptonshire border which was my queue to finish, a good job since my left ITBand was starting to play up. Still I found it very difficult to complain in his company!

Chris went on to battle through the day and night with various others, including my friend Andy McMenemy, and reach his goal. Everyone I met proved great company and it was great to play a small part in this incredible feat.

See http://run-to-london.blogspot.com for write ups and photos etc.

Tomorrow morning at 9am Chris will be setting off on his epic journey to London, I have spoken about this before on here and I cannot overstate what an epic journey and achievement this is going to be for him.

So far he has raised £1499.91 for Orchid Cancer Appeal.

I shall be meeting Chris at around 3:30am on Sunday morning just north of Melton Mowbray and running through sunrise for the next 20-something miles. I’ll be carrying a pack with a few useful bits in and we will be followed by the support vehicle. Sadly I will have to leave after I have done the run (and maybe had a kip!) whilst Chris and the crew go on to Trafalgar Square arriving at the less than social time of around 3am!

The total distance will be 218miles/350.8km and to boot Chris is hoping to break some records:

For those who were wondering: in late May 1985 Mike Newton ran the following on the London to Peterborough road:

1) 300 km in 36h 26:29
2) 200 miles in 38h 22:15
3) in 48 hr he covered 363.228 km

• http://run-to-london.blogspot.com/