This was at the Hillingdon Cyclo Park in Hayes near Heathrow.It was a 6 hr event and the main reason I did it was given the time of year it would be on tarmac and mud free. As the weather has been remarkably mild it turned out to be dry and pretty perfect weather conditions.
It was a 9:00 am start and picking up Brenda on the way we were targeted to get there for 8am. We arrived on time and free parking was available. A quick registration and one of the nice things that Running Miles do is that hey have free Tea and Coffee.
Facilities were perfect.
The whole cyclo park was hired for the day and it was ours. No traffic, no dogs, no walkers. It was great. 86 started.
The loop was 1.8 miles long with the circuit being 0.9 miles long so one lap was run around the circuit turn around at a cone and run back. It was 14 laps for a marathon and my goal was always beyond that.
The quite short lap was surprisingly hilly. This was not picked up on the Garmin which had the run completely flat.Hitting anti clockwise we climbed for around 300m twisting slightly. Cresting there was a short steep down hill with a right hand turn that climbed for around 200m and got quite steep near the end. Cresting we ran downhill gently along the back of the course, flattening and a slight gentle 50m rise brought us onto the straight. 400m of gentle downhill back towards HQ before a slight left hand turn at the cone . We then retraced our steps clockwise before crossing the start finish line.
Running Miles had recently invested in a electronic timing system which worked perfectly. A TV was positioned which showed your time and lap no and distance. Everything was good.Running Miles also have a fantastic aid station with everything you would want.
A few milestones today were Jon running his 99th and Jagit celebrating his 60th birthday.
We started on the button and the field quickly spread out. Lee Rogers took the lead and never relinquished it finishing marathon in 2:51. Steve Edwards was there today too. I thought he was struggling but still managed a 3:22 marathon.
I had been struggling with my own running over Christmas only being able to do run 4.8 miles in any one go. I wanted to beat that. I went off steady and started ticking off the laps. I was determined not to walk in the early stages even the hills. 4.8 came and went and I was pretty much running on my own and keeping a reasonable pace going. 10K came and went in 1:08. 10 Miles came and went in 1:49. I then made a big effort to go to half marathon which I was very happy with in 2:18.Brenda was also having a steady run coming in for her half in 2:25. I then adopted a run walk strategy for the rest of the day staying comfortably under the cutoff to get out for an Ultra. I was pretty near the back but didnt care too much as I had a good first half. I began to stop at the aid station more and more Brenda soon passed me. I was actually very happy to come in for marathon in 5:22 and went out for a slow ultra lap finishing 28.1 miles in 5:55.
The weather had stayed good and I had a very enjoyable time. Just finishing after me was Brenda who managed a 2nd Ultra lap. She was very happy as 5:30 had been her goal which she smashed.
We got a very nice medal and a lovely chocolate filled goody bag and a chat to Ollie, Sarah and Jon who all finished 50K today.
Apart from a few wrong turns on the M25 we were back fairly early. A super day.
Stats for today.