We opened at 7pm on Saturday and closed at 11am on Sunday. Our first runner, Mark Perkins, went through at about 7:30pm on his way to a 14 hour and 3 minute finish, and our last runner, Jimmy Hartwell, went through about 15 hours later, on his way to a 29 hour and 30 minute finish.
Some runners didn’t stop, scenting the finish and just wanting to crack on. Some runners popped in briefly to top up water and grab a handful of snacks. Some runners stayed for a while, warming up with a cup of tea and girding their loins for the final hill.
There were runners who hit the 95.7 mile mark looking as fresh as a daisy, runners who staggered in and talked of dropping, and runners at pretty much all the stages in between. There were runners with pacers and runners without, single runners, pairs of runners and groups of runners.
They were as varied a bunch as I’ve ever seen, but the one thing they had in common was determination. No-one who made it to Jevington dropped, and everyone who made it through Jevington finished. And every single one of them was amazing.
so true!
I can’t imagine how it must feel to run 95.7 miles and feel like you doubt yourself to manage the final 4.3 !
Very impressive. And well done you too, by the way. You are one of those people the runners are talking about when they say the volunteers were amazing!
Amazing folk those Ultra-runners. Did you mean pacers beside them or inside them?
Well done on aiding!