Leap Day

Leap Day Challenge  Pegwell Bay  3:55:46

Fabulous medal

This was my second event for the weekend and was on one of my favorite courses at Pegwell Bay beside the wonderful Viking ship.

There were quite a few that were on their 4th marathon of the weekend and today was a 6hr challenge so there would be quite a few that would be less than marathon distance. Pegwell was a good 2 hr drive from Basingstoke and I was going back via Gatwick so had to bring everything with me. An uneventful trip down got me there in plenty of time and I parked up on the free car park that was about 800m from the start/finish area.

Steady Steady

Unfortunately the Viking ship had been wintered so was covered in a great tarpaulin so we couldnt see the full majesty of it.

Around 120 of us headed off around Pegwell country park ~5k loop. It started with a 1km run with the wind in the back along a good path before a sharp left turn through a kissing gate and followed a narrower path along the coast. The wind was into the face for the next 2 miles and cold as we headed around the park. We exited the park at another kissing gate and headed uphill towards Cliffsend village and past the viking boat (this was the only uphill section). We turned right through the disused hover-port before crossing an open field and turning with wind in our back to retrace our steps (and meet everyone on the course) back to the start/finish area. The course was just over 5K with 8 loops being a marathon.

My spits were remarkably steady all day

lap 1  28:23
lap 2  29:39
lap 3  29:31
lap 4  29:13

This brought me through half way in 1:56:44 and I decided then not to go ultra for the day but try to eek out a sub 4. Some more steady running in the second half secured this comfortably in the end and delighted to have a 1:59 second half.

lap 5  29:08
lap 6  29:30
lap 7  29:30
lap 8  30:43

Last Lap

This brought me home in 3:55:46 when I stopped. Respect to all those today who did 4 marathons in 4 days and those who did Ultra. It is a relatively easy course and was a good day for running. As always the SVN team did a great job and the medal as always with SVN events was spectacular. This was my 47th Sub 4 as I creep closer to the mini milestone of 50.

Today I was 9th of those that finished at Marathon distance. Click here for results 

I think runs that are as uneventful as this are good runs. No injuries no drama.

I changed in the car and went straight off to Gatwick (about 1 hr drive) and I was there in plenty of time to get my flight.

Photos courtesy of Graham Ó Síodhacháin (from Longford)