Blaise blazer, 8th, 1st Vet50, 24:50, did 24:54-ish 2 years ago on comparable course; was hoping for 24:30 based on Simon C's time in the last one (24:27), but will take this.
Bloated from lunch still - not clever. Get the food right - idiot!
Start - felt OK, stayed behind leaders & didn't get carried away. Passed rival V50 (Ken "Wok Man" Ham) before 1km, which Mark reckons I got to in c.3:37 - about right really. BUT.
By top of 1st hill, I realised I'm not over the journey / jet lag / general not-sharp-for-races yet, as I was struggling to maintain form, but a quick glance showed I was massively clear of Ken & Mark.
Hanging onto westbury guy on field & road, & never able to get on terms with James Hargreaves; dreaded the "foul death" of hill 2. In fact, I dropped the westbury guy &, despite walking the top of hill, & dying, nearly caught James.
Dying a bit on top field, then solid running on dark muddy track meant I was in sight of James on last hill to the folly. Caught him! Blimey. Nearly passed him, but then thought, sod it, let's just win V50 & be done with it - I felt fat & knackered anyway. No speed, either.
Good choice, as my calves both cramped quite badly after, limping.
Mark ran incredibly well to finish just over 10 seconds behind me, having done the Saunders Mountain Marathon (3rd place) the previous 2 days! Whhhhhattttttt??????? Wow.
Bottle of plonk.
Very pleased - even more so that my mate from 1993-98 (Dave Fitch, then a young student, now the 41 year old New Zealand Marathon V40 champ with a 2:41) won the whole thing not just V40! Nice one Dave!
repaired to a local hostelry with Dave & his missus & this completed a top evening!
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