Connemarathon
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In an internet café in Galway. Just wanted to say thanks. We had a brilliant day. The race, as always, was superbly organised, and a great craic was had by all! We'll be back next year.
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Those hills are tough but the pain was worth it. Thanks for a great day yesterday, sore but happy today. All went well and was well organized by you. See you all again next year.
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I know the organisation of the event requires a huge amount of work and preparation so thank you again. It was really appreciated by myself and my friends who all had a really great day.
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Thanks very much to everyone involved, that was just brilliant, I didn't hit the wall, it fell on top of me, finishing was one of the best things I have ever done and I'll definitely be back next year.
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Hi Ray, Having returned to work today having just completed my second Ultra Marathon with you all in Ireland, I just wanted to say a great big huge thank you to you and your team for a great event .
DAY 2
Sat, 10/05/2008Saturday 10th
The biggest worry as I woke up to day two was obvious. How were the legs. I was in such a scared state yesterday evening that I forgot to add that immediately after the run we grabbed a cup of tea and headed for the nearest stream and sat in the icy water for 10 minutes looking a bit like Paula Radcliffe (supposed to be good for recovery). This was to save the day as this morning I actually felt like I hadn't run at all so that was great.
Our little routines are starting to take shape. There are 11 participants staying in a lodge near Brathay Hall. We have our own kitchen dining hut where we mix our potions the night before and lay them out for the stations we want them dropped to. And we also have breakfast there. Start time today was 9.00am and so we gathered at 8.50 along the road like a bunch of tourists taking in the sun - which was hotter than yesterday and that was 25 degrees at it's height.
Soon we were on our way. My strategy of walking every hill paid off big time on Day 1 so that was the plan again this time. I was joined by a couple more who could see sence in my approach. So we had Malcolm from Canada who ran the distance with me on day 1, Mathew from Wales and Jim who had to persuade the organisers to let him go out again on day two. Despite the fact that he has massive experience having run over 125 marathons, he got into a spot of bother at the finish line on Day 1 and was rushed to hospital by ambulance. The assurance that he keep the pace slow was enough to see him on the start today and it added a bit of spice to the craic between us. Anytime he pushed the pace a bit someone would shout 'HOSPITAL' and that stopped him in his tracks.
For some reason I was much more comfortable from the outset today. Maybe knowing what was ahead calmed me down a bit but I found it very easy going pretty much the entire way 'round. We walked the hills and ran the downs and found ourselves at half way in a very modest 2:20 but we were delighted with that. Mile 14 to 20 is very tough but I stretched our little field out a bit to give the legs a bit of confidence and it worked out well.
Mile 20 saw us sitting on a bench looking out across Lake Windermere sipping lovely sugery hot tea with big smiles on our faces and then we headed to the last stretch. According to our time keepter Mathew, we ran the last four miles in 8.20's and felt very comfortable, holding back if anything. Malcolm slowed a bit at the end but the three muskateers finished out day 2 in 4:46 handy.
After sitting in the stream again today (and there will be pictures) I feel absolutely fine this evening and looking forward to tomorrow's little run around the lake. Will I say the same tomorrow though?
Ray
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BTW I'm still looking for sponsorship at www.justgiving.com/rayoconnor
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