Run home

The blog has been a bit quiet lately, partly becuase I have been trying to run a bit faster for an upcoming 10K. I dont normally enter 10Ks, they involve too much short-term pain for me. I came up with idea of running the Purbeck 10K in under 50 minutes, something I have never done before. Why do I come up with these ideas? Perhaps if we work together we can come up with a cure. As a friend pointed out "This might be your last chance, you are not getting any younger". That is motivation that is.

However as I have got some longer events coming up this summer I thought I had better get some miles in. On the drive back from work tonight I was dropped off 10 miles away and ran home over Eggardon Hill. It was a beautiful evening and a great run. I did stop to take a picture with my phone but as you can see the best thing about the phone is the price (smallness of).

Devizes to Westminster support crew

We crept into Devizes early on Friday morning, to find the Wharf car park full of activity and excitement. After the obligatory bacon roll we got the boat off the car and prepared for the day. My job was to meet Louis 3 or 4 times on the way to Newbury providing him with extra food and water. Camp at Newbury and then do the same the next day to Marlow. The driving on day 1 was simple, Day 2 was a bit trickier. I am still not sure how I got out of Reading. From Marlow to Westminster the A Team were arriving to take over support duties.

At Crofton Locks I met a great Canadian couple who were checking out the route, because the next day the would be starting the "straight through", 125 miles non-stop from Devizes to Westminster. Doing it in 4 days is hard but that is another story.

The camp at Newbury was at the Leisure Centre, and was as I pictured it really. Camping on the grass outside a leisure centre. Note team tents, bargain Pro Action Hike Lite 1.



Day 2 started early but all I had to do was pack up camp and drive to Marlow. I did not have blistered hands and pain running down from my neck to hands. During the day you met other support teams, and like the paddlers some are first timers and some are experienced hands. Most of them a pleasure to meet.


The camp at Marlow was a fantastic setting on the river front. Not sure you can get any where else in Marlow for £6 a night. Camping among the trees looking out over the river. Makes it sound beautiful but is was a damp muddy April night and the toilet block was pushed to its limits, but let's not go there, sorry I mean don't go there. I left the A team support crew to it on Sunday morning and headed home for Easter eggs.

I met some fantastic people, supporters and racers. A lovely family from Nottingham supporting mum/wife, who just seemed to get stronger each day. And obviously it was an honour to met Michael Yeomans and the brains and brawn of the outfit Graham. After some blog based conversations its was a pleasure to share the promised whiskey with him out of polystyrene cups standing in a carpark.

It has taken me so long to write this up that he has finished now. DW 2010 completed in 26 hours 35 minutes. An amazing achievement, considering.