The 78.6miles (3 Marathons over 3 days on the South West Coastal Path) Jurassic Coast Challenge 2008 was completed by Exmouth Harrier Sue Wilkin. Fellow Harrier Paul Champion completed “the oner” form of the event which involved doing all 3 coastal marathons in 24hrs, starting at night, navigating yourself round. After the remarkable 20 starters : 5 finishers ratio of 2007, thirty five runners signed up for a crack at 2008 including past winner Tim Holsgrove.
Like many of the other runners, Sue and Paul both felt that the organisation was brilliant and the camaraderie was fantastic. They completed the JCC as part of their preparation for the single stage North Face Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc this August. Paul plans to run the 102-mile route (time limit 46 hours) for the second consecutive year, while Sue will be attempting the 60-mile route (time limit 25 hours) for the first time. Two other Exmouth Harriers, Jon and Lorraine Croome, are also training for the 60-mile Tour Du Mont Blanc.
Day 1 – Lyme Regis to Chickerell (Weymouth)
Taking in Charmouth, Seatown, The Golden Cap and heading for Burton Bradstock for the rough half way point for the day, most of the hills were done and dusted in the first half of the day.
The runners, who had to navigate their way from checkpoint (CP) to checkpoint, had to deviate inland slightly after CP3, through the Abbotsbury Swannery to edge around Fleet Lagoon and complete the last 8 miles to the finish.
Day 2 Chickerell to Lulworth Cove.
With the new Portland leg of the 2008 route finally cleared, everyone moved onto the Weymouth sea front, with ever more forceful gusts of wind and heavier showers drilling the runners as they mounted the coast path proper once more bound for Osmington Mills. From Osmington to Lulworth took in the steep paths of Ringstead Bay, White Nothe and the legendary photography spot of Durdle Door, before plunging the athletes on a roller coaster descent to the finish at Lulworth Cove.
Just as the majority of the 3-day challengers were finishing their day at Lulworth the 35 competitors of “the oner” were gathering at Lyme Regis at 6pm Saturday night before purposefully moving off from the Lyme Regis Cobb and up the hill to Charmouth. The winds then approached force 10 and the rain drove across soaking the runners from every conceivable angle within seconds of exposure.
At CP 1 (Seatown), with no sign of imminent improvement, the event had to be interrupted so as not to endanger the lives of the competitors. Then they re-commenced at 5:30am for a double marathon stint to arrive at the finish at Studland around the same time as the JCC 3-day competitors.
Right from the re-start Tim Holsgrove took advantage of the favourable conditions and assumed the lead that he held right through to the finish line in 8hrs 55mins, over half hour before runner up Andy Barnsley, to pick up his second “oner” title.
Of the 35 runners who started, only 18 completed the “oner” (or the 2/3rder) as it was now being nicknamed. Exmouth’s Paul Champion, up against some much younger runners, ran superbly for 5th place in 10hrs 33mins. Genuine congratulations go to all the runners for handling some atrocious weather, changed plans and a really tough course to make the finish.
Day 3 – Lulworth Cove to Studland (the finish line).
The course for day 3 took over where day 2 left off with massive undulations over the ranges to Kimmeridge for CP1. From Kimmeridge the increasingly tiring athletes conquered Hounds Tout, Chapmans Pool and St Aldhelms Head before reaching Peverill point and the last CP before the finish. From here it was up and over Ballard Down and along the beach to the end of the challenge. Oliver Sinclair led them home to claim his second ‘Golden trainer’ award in 14hrs 12mins, and Lucy Brooks and Steve Hilton were once again in together joint 2nd just 8 minutes later.
Exmouth Harrier Sue Wilkin struggled with badly battered feet but is certainly no quitter and was never going to be one of the 30 or so runners who failed to run the full distance, which turned out to be 23 to 25 miles more than that completed by the oners. Sue finished 63rd in 23hrs 20mins out of the original 80 + starters.
Taunton Half Marathon
Three Exmouth Harriers were among the field of 1,089 runners who completed the Taunton Half Marathon, which was won by Philip Parry of Bristol & West AC in 1:11:30. Andy Johnson, the first Harrier to finish, needed to average 6:50 pace to avoid the ignominy of his first 90 minute + half marathon since 1990. (That would leave him with 30 seconds to spare for the final 5K). He had to work hard into the breeze and up the long incline but got through 5 miles in 34:11. By half-way he felt very tired and stopped looking at the pace on his watch so that he could concentrate on running as fast a pace as he could maintain. After going through 10 miles in 68:19 - bang on target - he really struggled up the climb to the 11th mile (7:20 split), so his 30 seconds to spare had already gone. Fortunately, the next mile was downhill and he picked up more time on the final mile to finish inside 90 minutes, in 1:29:53, in 85th place.
Julie Gellender had an outstanding race to come 1st LV35 and 79th overall in 1:29:27. Although she arrived at the finish line after Andy, she had been much further back in the starting pack and her adjusted time for the race was slightly quicker. Trevor Cope was 577th in 1:55:03.
(LT Reports - 29.4.08)
Like many of the other runners, Sue and Paul both felt that the organisation was brilliant and the camaraderie was fantastic. They completed the JCC as part of their preparation for the single stage North Face Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc this August. Paul plans to run the 102-mile route (time limit 46 hours) for the second consecutive year, while Sue will be attempting the 60-mile route (time limit 25 hours) for the first time. Two other Exmouth Harriers, Jon and Lorraine Croome, are also training for the 60-mile Tour Du Mont Blanc.
Day 1 – Lyme Regis to Chickerell (Weymouth)
Taking in Charmouth, Seatown, The Golden Cap and heading for Burton Bradstock for the rough half way point for the day, most of the hills were done and dusted in the first half of the day.
The runners, who had to navigate their way from checkpoint (CP) to checkpoint, had to deviate inland slightly after CP3, through the Abbotsbury Swannery to edge around Fleet Lagoon and complete the last 8 miles to the finish.
Day 2 Chickerell to Lulworth Cove.
With the new Portland leg of the 2008 route finally cleared, everyone moved onto the Weymouth sea front, with ever more forceful gusts of wind and heavier showers drilling the runners as they mounted the coast path proper once more bound for Osmington Mills. From Osmington to Lulworth took in the steep paths of Ringstead Bay, White Nothe and the legendary photography spot of Durdle Door, before plunging the athletes on a roller coaster descent to the finish at Lulworth Cove.
Just as the majority of the 3-day challengers were finishing their day at Lulworth the 35 competitors of “the oner” were gathering at Lyme Regis at 6pm Saturday night before purposefully moving off from the Lyme Regis Cobb and up the hill to Charmouth. The winds then approached force 10 and the rain drove across soaking the runners from every conceivable angle within seconds of exposure.
At CP 1 (Seatown), with no sign of imminent improvement, the event had to be interrupted so as not to endanger the lives of the competitors. Then they re-commenced at 5:30am for a double marathon stint to arrive at the finish at Studland around the same time as the JCC 3-day competitors.
Right from the re-start Tim Holsgrove took advantage of the favourable conditions and assumed the lead that he held right through to the finish line in 8hrs 55mins, over half hour before runner up Andy Barnsley, to pick up his second “oner” title.
Of the 35 runners who started, only 18 completed the “oner” (or the 2/3rder) as it was now being nicknamed. Exmouth’s Paul Champion, up against some much younger runners, ran superbly for 5th place in 10hrs 33mins. Genuine congratulations go to all the runners for handling some atrocious weather, changed plans and a really tough course to make the finish.
Day 3 – Lulworth Cove to Studland (the finish line).
The course for day 3 took over where day 2 left off with massive undulations over the ranges to Kimmeridge for CP1. From Kimmeridge the increasingly tiring athletes conquered Hounds Tout, Chapmans Pool and St Aldhelms Head before reaching Peverill point and the last CP before the finish. From here it was up and over Ballard Down and along the beach to the end of the challenge. Oliver Sinclair led them home to claim his second ‘Golden trainer’ award in 14hrs 12mins, and Lucy Brooks and Steve Hilton were once again in together joint 2nd just 8 minutes later.
Exmouth Harrier Sue Wilkin struggled with badly battered feet but is certainly no quitter and was never going to be one of the 30 or so runners who failed to run the full distance, which turned out to be 23 to 25 miles more than that completed by the oners. Sue finished 63rd in 23hrs 20mins out of the original 80 + starters.
Taunton Half Marathon
Three Exmouth Harriers were among the field of 1,089 runners who completed the Taunton Half Marathon, which was won by Philip Parry of Bristol & West AC in 1:11:30. Andy Johnson, the first Harrier to finish, needed to average 6:50 pace to avoid the ignominy of his first 90 minute + half marathon since 1990. (That would leave him with 30 seconds to spare for the final 5K). He had to work hard into the breeze and up the long incline but got through 5 miles in 34:11. By half-way he felt very tired and stopped looking at the pace on his watch so that he could concentrate on running as fast a pace as he could maintain. After going through 10 miles in 68:19 - bang on target - he really struggled up the climb to the 11th mile (7:20 split), so his 30 seconds to spare had already gone. Fortunately, the next mile was downhill and he picked up more time on the final mile to finish inside 90 minutes, in 1:29:53, in 85th place.
Julie Gellender had an outstanding race to come 1st LV35 and 79th overall in 1:29:27. Although she arrived at the finish line after Andy, she had been much further back in the starting pack and her adjusted time for the race was slightly quicker. Trevor Cope was 577th in 1:55:03.
(LT Reports - 29.4.08)
1 comment:
Hearty cheers all round! And I'm awestruck and gobsmacked at Sue and Paul's feats, both completed and planned. Simply amazing!
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