I had promised a pint to every BVHer who beat me to the finish of this race. And as I sat in the car looking out at the Malvern hills through a torrential downpour, I hoped and wished I would be the only one to turn up, This was to be a waste of a wish as slowly one by one they started to appear through the mist like Martin Sheen and his boat crew as they approach the shore in Apocalypse Now. And as the mist ebbed away and the teal vests amassed on the start line I looked around and thought. “Oh My God, this race is going to cost me a fortune”
As the gun went off all plans of just having a gentle jog round went out of my head and I hitched on to the 2 Pauls, and ran like the wind, this was great for about 2 miles till the first hill when they both stepped in to a time warp and leapt forward by about a mile, unfortunately by the time I got to the warp gate it had closed. It was about mile 3 as I flew across a very scenic field overlooking the valley that I started inventing injuries, In the space of 5 minutes I had gone from a sore toe to shin splints to a complete reconstruction of my leg due to a spider biting my knee laying eggs in it and the babies eating away the muscles from the inside, (in short I was knackered and finding excuses to slow down and even walk part of the last hill).
It was just as I stumbled to the top of the last hill that I noticed Pete and Terry behind me and catching up, Now I’m not a competitive chap in any way but the sight of these two did stir a very unfamiliar feeling in me and I could not help but forget my hollow leg and start running the last mile as hard as I could, I crossed the line and was happy to note that I would only be buying 3 pints, for Marcus, Paul F and Paul D.
In conclusion
A brilliant race well worth the trip, its hard running, but that never hurt anyone, and the free hot dog in the pub after was a master stroke by the race organisers.
Thanks to everyone who help put on this race and to all of the BVHer’s who let me beat them and save me some money.
Mark
Full results here.
| Position |
Race Number |
Time |
First Name |
Surname |
Cat |
| 10 |
156 |
00:41:02 |
Marcus |
Tillotson |
SM |
| 46 |
257 |
00:47:13 |
Paul |
Foot |
SM |
| 61 |
263 |
00:49:08 |
Paul |
Dugmore |
MV40 |
| 92 |
225 |
00:52:35 |
Mark |
Lynock |
SM |
| 93 |
145 |
00:53:03 |
Peter |
Barton |
MV50 |
| 97 |
265 |
00:53:16 |
Terry |
Doherty |
MV50 |
| 118 |
20 |
00:56:01 |
Helen |
Foot |
FV35 |
| 145 |
151 |
00:59:17 |
Primo |
Zavoli |
MV60 |
| 196 |
17 |
01:04:47 |
Sue |
East |
FV35 |
| 202 |
100 |
01:05:38 |
Rachel |
Partridge |
FV35 |
