Day 9: “Catching a lift”
By IanC on 18th August
A sign by the road in the middle of nowhere, its the halfway point.
Tough day.
We went off in 2 groups: the top 10 in General Classification at 6.30am and the rest of us 30 minutes earlier.
The two leaders flew past me when I was at Check Point 1 (15km), then a couple more. No more until after Check Point 2 (28km) when a french runner headed me. Feeling a little more energised after food I took off after him and fell into a good rhythm just behind. Over the next 30km we headed each other extending leads of sometimes 200 metres or so. At 5km to go we pretty much ran side by side and it gave my self confidence a big lift when I “towed” him up the final km hill to the finish, nearly dropping him twice in the process, and helping him extend his lead in the General Classification over the chasing couple.
A good day for us both. My knees may be improving, quads and calves a bit battered and suffered with my back today… but I’m still here!
Cheers, Ian
Local woman Clare Pearson from Skipton AC was delighted with her weekend win at the Dentdale Run on Saturday 10th March. Hard training over the winter months
Snow on the mountains this morning: my fingers numb as the cold penetrates the gloves, heavy breathing fogging my glasses as I work hard to climb the hills, big puffy pants to stop my legs freezing,
