South Downs Marathon and Relay

We had fun yesterday in the South Downs Marathon relay.

There was a last minute panic (well, last 12 hours actually) when a team member dropped out, but Marilyn stepped in and saved the day.

So it was me on the first leg (arguably the toughest), Steve on the second leg (arguably the easiest), Marilyn on the third leg (arguably the toughest, but I think she wins that argument), and Louise on the fourth leg (no argument).

There was a little bit of adrenaline at the start when we only got together as a team, with chip and numbers, with 10 minutes to go, but once the number and chip were on all was good. I was pleased with getting under an hour for my 7.5 miles. I'd gone off a little fast trying to keep up with the lead woman, but once I'd adopted a more sensible pace all was good and I finished strongly.

Steve was next up, running a good pace, and here seen finishing in some quite dark conditions, just before the first of the downpours of the day.

Next up, saviour of the day Marilyn, finishing in much brighter conditions:

Louise did a great last leg, having talked down her chances beforehand. I think she was quite relieved!

We finished in 3:43:55 in 28th place out of the 79 teams that started. Not a bad result! I'd like to know how we compared to the women's teams, having been classified as a men's team. I think we finished between the 2nd and 3rd women's teams, but the results so far published don't make the distinction.

Special mention to Craig, who was originally going to run before breaking a metatarsal a few weeks ago. He wasn't the last minute dropout - he gave us several weeks notice, and did the driving on the day. Thanks Craig!


Meanwhile in the marathon proper, the men's winner was Stuart Mills in a phenomenal 2:51:06. That time will take some beating!

The women's winner was Annabelle Stearns in 3:22:00. She was 6 minutes ahead of last year's winner Dawn, seen here:

Dawn's other half John also finished 2nd. The perfect couple!

At the other end of the field, Ruth finished her 59th marathon having endured some torrential downpours. Here she is finishing with Jo:

They were followed swiftly by Victory's finest Carol and Nicola. Carol got the first W60 prize and an interview with a reporter from the local paper. Well done Carol! (It matters not how many other W60s there were in the field). Well done too to Nicola for sticking with Carol after her glute problems at mile 10.

Well done too to the other Victory runners: Neil, Nick and Malcolm. Neil lost 15 minutes getting his hand patched after a nasty fall, finishing in 3:54. Malcolm had a great run in 4:21 - much faster than last year's scorching hot marathon. I'm guessing Nick had a better time this year with a 5:50, having stayed conscious this time!

Despite the brief bursts of torrential rain, it was a really good day out!