From my point of view I have a week to go until the South Downs marathon but this short blog is more about the wider sporting community that were out in force for the Centurion South Downs 100 mile race …… “The Weekend Warriors” !!
I’d planned my last taper run from Queen Elizabeth Country Park to Harting Down and back. Through the power of social media I’d run these twelve miles with Mark Highland (pictured above and also running the marathon next week) and meet Graham Carter (pictured below) at one of the impressive aid stations along the #SDW100 route. I’ve only chatted on twitter / facebook with these chaps so it was great to finally meet them.
Within the hundred mile runners ( Winchester to Eastbourne) I was keen to cheer on as many as possible and especially Fareham Crusaders men’s captain Paul Pickford (pictured below).
After meeting Mark in the car park as well as Aaron, James and Paula from Fareham Crusaders who were also out run supporting we set off. The outward six miles will be the final six in next weeks marathon so this was a great familiarisation exercise.
The stunning countyside views coupled with the sunshine meant the undulating terrain was run with good spirits. This following photo amused me with a tree that had fallen across the trail but in typical National Trust fashion it had been made a feature of.
Graham would be marshalling his Centurion aid station for some hours so hats off to him and all the other volunteers for this commitment to the running community. We chatted about the day ahead and then carried on our running.
All went to plan with the runners heading towards us on our return route. We clapped and cheered the eventual winner and probably a hundred ultra runners that included Stephen from Film My Run and our very own running clubs Paul Pickford at the QECP aid station. At this point the runners had done about a marathon, distance wise !! Paul finished in 25 1/2 hours …. fantastic.
What a commitment, one hundred miles !!! Wow 🙂 Congratulations to everyone that finished. Naturally you don’t need to run 100 miles to be a warrior, but it probably helps, especially if that meant 12,700 feet of elevation and for many running overnight #amazing
With my marathon a week away the prospect of virtually four in a row takes some processing. What a mental and physical challenge these guys took on.
Today’s weekend warriors included racing runners, training runners and aid station volunteers. Added to this mountain bikers, walkers and hikers all out on the Downs.
In summary ………… get outdoors, you’ll feel so much better for it 🙂
#weekend #warriors
irunoffroad 