Walk Across Wales

Sat June 24 2006
Listed by EvilPixie
Entrants (1) Club PB SB Pred Time WAVA
flanker Wow. That was fun. Great course, but would have been better with a bit less road. With a bit less road I could have worn trail shoes and my feet may have been less blistered! Anyway, in summary, I finished it (!!) and was only the fifth person to complete the full course. I'll take that. Should have been sub-11 but had ankle problems & spent 40 mins having a fry up at the brekky stop and about the same at the lunch stop. Back for a sub-10 next year! The detail (C&P from RW): I got off to a pretty good start and as planned treated it as a run/walk. Walked the steep climbs and ran the rest. Was going good when at about 10 miles I started to get some pain in my ankle joint, and by 16 miles it was quite severe pain. The sensibe thing would have been to pull out, but of course that wasn't going to happen. I kept it going up averaging close to 4 mph pace (would have been a far faster pace except for the long breakfast and lunch stops!) until CP8 the 35 mile point where I sat down to take gravel out of my shoes. When I stood up again I could hardly walk. The dodgy ankle seemed to have toally seized and all I could do was hobble onwards. The next 3-4 miles where hell and I averaged over 30 min miles on the flat over the Ridgeway. I think I'd also let myself get a bit exhausted & dehydrated, and while hobbling managed to force plenty of water/electorlyte/food down myself. After 3 miles of hobbling I eventually remembered the Ibuprofen I was carrying and took a couple. Within a mile I was back up to a decent walking speed and by the end of the Ridgeway I was breaking back into a run (or maybe shuffle!) From the last checkpoint I managed to run non-stop for the 3.5 miles into the finish for a finsh time just over 12.5 hrs. A lot slower than planned, but given the long meal stops andnerly two hours hobbling not too bad. Amazingly that put me in 7th position overall, and given two of the people ahead of me missed 2 checkpoints I'll claim it as 5th! Unfortunately I've spent this morning in A&E having my foot x-rayed as the ankle is locked, badly swollen and b**dy sore. Luckily there's no break but the joint is badly inflamed. I guess that's what you get for ignoring the pain and running on. Probably no running for me for a few weeks :(((( Anyway, despite the pre-race organisation, the coach suspension collapsing, a 4 mile bad patch, badly blistered feet and a knackered ankle I really enjoyed it!!! I'll be back next year and looking to go sub-10hrs. Todmorden Harriers & AC, Trail Running Association, Fell Runners Association, LDWA 12:35:34 12:35:34 12:00:00 12:35:34 29.10

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