Country to Capital 45 Mile

We started this race in Wendover at about 8am Jan 16th. This was Pete from Clear Channels first ultra so I was pacer and videographer for the day. We got up about 6 and got a cab from Battersea to Marylebone and then took the train up there. It was raining really hard at the start, there was still snow everywhere because it was freezing cold. What had actually happened is that the snow had stayed on the ground and the rainwater had formed puddles in it so that we were basically wading through shin deep ice cold water. 


Mile 4: It had taken some time already to get to this point after following some clueless people, much like ourselves, through a flooded forest. Pete had already fallen over once. He was probably wondering at this point what I'd gotten him in to.  

Mile 12: Our maps had disintegrated in our soaking wet hands so we were basically leeching off of these poor people who had thought to water proof theirs. Over 2 hours 20 for the first half marathon. Not the start we were looking for.

Mile 17: Coming up to CP2, we found some flooded roads and had to wade through some more puddles. A long way to go still and we'd split away from the rest of the group so I was now map reading off paper that looked like used toilet roll.

Marathon point. On the canal by this point. The race splits evenly in to two halfs, 22.5 miles of trail running and map reading. 22.5 more miles of flat, straight forward canal tow path. If it had been the other way around it would have been horrific.

35 miles: Still on the canal path. My fear coming in to the race is that we were going to be walking a lot of the last 15 miles as Pete had never run more than 42.2km before. He didn't need to walk. Thank God.

Mile 40: Pete had had a really low point just after I put the camera away the last time. We walked about a mile, he apologised but there was no need he was still doing a great job and finishing was never in doubt. We ended up picking a slow jog back up a few minutes later.

Finish line: Actually 43 miles. Finish at Little Venice right by the white boat house and the bridge. Less than 50 yards from where Jim and I ended the Tring to Town ultra in 2006, our first foray into the world of the ultra marathon. Finishing time: 8 hours 6. In 2006 it took us 10 hours 30 something and we walked for about the last 25 miles. Pete still felt pretty good and got picked up by his mate. I got changed in the street, walked to Paddington, bought a double whopper meal and got the train home and went out for Charlies birthday.