51-60

Race 51 - 31.54 Miles 06:36:21

This was an ultramarathon that followed the canals and the river Trent in Nottinghamshire. A few muddy fields to start with before a nice canal path for 15 miles or so.

Made the mistake of taking a glance behind when approaching a very low bridge and dinked the front of my head on the brickwork when I turned forward again - doh!. Hence the big red dot on my buff at the finish. It was nice to get above 30 miles again for the first time in ages, although I was feeling it a bit at the end!

Race 52 - 26.2 Miles 04:56:07

A Big Bear event, which are great as they run events in mid week, so it's not as busy as a weekend event. This one was in Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire, and cosisted of 8 x 3.3 mile laps. The laps were quite varied though and the forest was lovely to run through.

Luckily managed to get this one in before the dreaded Covid lockdown took effect, and had a 6 month wait until the next race.

Race 53 - 26.2 Miles 04:53:01

6 months after my previous race, at the end of lockdown 1 there was the opportunity to race again. It was a lot stricter with groups of 6 setting off at a time, and no hand shakes or fist pumps allowed.

It was great to be back with the grim team at Temple Newsam, a lovely country park near Leeds, for a 4 lap course, which was suprisingly hilly, but with beautiful views on the estate and manor house.

54. Old Colliery Canter (26.2 Miles) 05:10:02

Another lockdown and another 8 months before my next race (2 races in 14 months!). Another Grim Event at Rabbit Ings country park in South Yorkshire, which used to be an old colliery. A 5 and a bit lapped circuit with a trip up and down the big hill in the middle every lap.

It was great to be back again, but it rained, a lot, even before the start, so part of the course was a bit of a mud blast. I got lost after about the 3rd corner and followed a group of runners for a mile or so before realising I'd gone wrong. The 1st lap ended up 2.5 miles longer than it should have done. The organisers kindly let me cut the last lap short (avoiding the muddy section) so ended up just over the marathon distance.

55. Peterborough Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:29:17

Was playing catchup again after two Covid lockdowns, so only a couple of weeks rest from the previous marathon. Was good to be back at Peterborough for the 2nd running of their marathon (I was at the 1st one a couple of years earlier). 

The course is a big out and back loop and I was feeling good for the first 23 miles, then it got progressively more difficult. Managed a speedy final 800m though to sneak under the 4:30 mark.

56. Halo (28 Miles) 05:50:08

This was a cross country multilap 6 hour event around Chesterfield. Each lap was 4 miles so to complete the marathon we needed to run slightly further (7 laps or 28 miles). Each lap had a fair slice of uphill and downhill and was quite varied. 

I was far too leisurely for the 5th and 6th lap (busy taking photographs), and didn't realise I had to finish all 7 laps under 6 hours for it to count (you can start a lap right up to 6 hours, but it wouldn't officially count as a lap if you finished after the 6 hour mark). So, the last lap was a bit frantic - and had just under 10 minutes to spare when I finished.

56. Halo (28 Miles) - 19 June 2021

57. Dukeries (40 Miles) 08:21:43

Off into Robin Hood country for this one. A nice 40 miler around the Nottinghamshire countryside passing through Clumber Park and around Sherwood Forest (the photo is the famous major oak).

It was quite a warm one, and there was a 10 mile stint between 2 checkpoints that was hard work as everyone kept running out of water (i have 2 x 500ml bottles but they didn't last long). Nearly had to flag down the ice cream van but perservered and made it to the checkpoint. This event was more about endurance than speed so wasn't my quickest time.

58. Horseshoe Challenge (26.2 Miles) 04:26:37

A zig zag running event around a country park in the Cambridgeshire Countryside. 8 laps for the marathon distance.

It was another hot day but managed to keep going and sneak in under 4 and a half hours.

59. Rutland Water Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:17:42

Back at Rutland Water for the 3rd time. This was the same course (2 out and backs) as the last time (2019).

Put my foot down a bit in the 2nd half and got a rare sub 4:20 finish.

60. Bedford Aerodrome Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:15:15

This was a nice flat race around Bedford Aerodrome and I felt like a racing car going along, albeit a very very slow one. This was 8 and a half laps and seemed an ideal PB challenge, not much wind and no hills.

Started off at sub 4 pace, and was bang on time at the half way stage, but then got caught in a queue for the loo and started to slow down a bit. Ran out of steam after about 20 miles and just concentrated on sub 4:20, which I got with a fair bit in hand. Will try this one again for another sub 4 Joggling attempt.