Snowbound - Genesis

During an Indian Summer when it's best part of 28 degrees... what's making the news, yes winter snow. Plymouth Council are saying that their gritters are on standby from October 1st this year and that they are fully stocked for the bad winter ahead, whenever it comes.

Couple of things left out are, at what cost and is Devon a snowbound problem area of the UK. Maybe Glencoe but I bet they are fully stocked and ready up in Scotland and don't need to broadcast a load of crazy news to substantiate council tax payments.

As we say so often here - Has the world gone barking mad!

Let's hope I won't need a snowplough to get to Mablethorpe on Sunday for the marathon eh?

Forever Autumn - Jeff Wayne's War of the World

What crazy weather in September eh? and what a great day out for a run with MdeS hopeful Shane Benzie who is taking on 'The World's Toughest Footrace' next April. It was my first run since The Robin Hood Marathon and it actually felt very good. Obviously the Ireland break didn't take too much out of my running...

I must say it was just wonderful to be out in the warm sunshine of an Autumn day and I am looking forward to be back on the case on Friday.

More tomorrow...

A New World Record - ELO

I feel sorry for Paula Radcliffe tonight as the IAAF have made another stupid athletic ruling that means her 2:15:25 of 2003 is no longer a World Record. Reason - there were some men running in the race too.

What total TOSH!

Try and run at over 18kph for 2.25 hours IAAF numpties! There's only a few MEN that can do that... oh and the guy on the motorbike with the camera on it. It's hardly pacing and also SHE still had to run that fast. We were with her on the day and on the Monday at the Press Conference on the Flora 1000 Mile Challenge... she was in AGONY following that run - and it's not now a record?

It's blood typical... there's always someone ready to knock people's achievements. We should be building her up and helping her to better than this mark and win that gold medal. It's hardly an inspiring thing to do just before her marathon come back at Berlin.

2:15:25 is still the best in my book IAAF think again... you have got it ALL wrong about our Paula.

Back Home - England World Cup Squad

Well it's back home in blighty and a day of washing and unpacking from our Ireland excursion. Half a day of hard work and it's all back ship-shape and ready for The Nottingham ULTRA in just less than two weeks. As ever we learned loads during our two weeks away and by the end of the journey we were a pretty well oiled machine.

Not waking up on a bus in the middle of an Irish nowhere in slightly inclement conditions might be a bonus for some but for those who were there - well, we bl00dy well miss it.

Wish I had bottled some of Saturday's run into Mizen Head atmosphere as this time next year, we could be millionaires.

Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf

It's just SO dark as Q and Lizzie hit the road out of Dromina. Q is at MdeS last day feet knackered pace but vowing to sprint finish and Lizzie has screaming shins and a wayward gyroscope keeping her on track.

They both say that they will get there and there's only 90 miles left now between them and Mizen!

As they said on Stingray, 'Anything can happen in the next half hour' let alone 12 hours...

Location:Dromina

Tony's out - Curse of the AsiCS

Today is just too bigger mountain to climb for our Tony Ellis... his shins are too painful to carry on. The dreaded Asics induced ACS has finally got him. He could if there was one day to go perhaps but as we are not quite half distance yet, it's time for him to call it a day.

It's a sad loss for the runners as we are now such a close knit group and losing him and Ade today will be a loss for us all.

Michelle is heartbroken to lose her running partner and guide... so it will be tough for her from now on. Stanley has one bad case of ACS on his right leg and is just setting off. Let's hope he gets thru the pain of the first few miles. He's just had a few tears with Tony and Ade as he started... he's an old softy really.

www.ultrarace.co.uk home of The M2M Ultra - Ireland's Toughest Footrace.

The Long and Winding Road

Ged, Russell, Stanley & Chris

It's dark now just outside of Longford in Central Ireland and all of the runners are nicely tucked up in bed after their 31.6 miles out on the road. It was a tough day both with the weather and with the winding road thru some of the roads in Longford. Going thru the larger towns is quite tricky in places as our runners' routes avoid the one way systems following the shortest route which means they don't see some of the road signs that help them navigate the way.

Passing some of the fast food restaurants for some was also a real challenge as they are on task to get to the finish asap...

Ged was here first in 4:31:11 and reports that his ankle is no worse than yesterday. The duelling Chris and Russell both did 5.55 but Chris dipped a two second advantage on the line. Rick had his best run day and would have been quicker if the R397 had been on his radar as would Tony and Michelle who were close behind him. All three celebrated with a physio session in Longford afterwards!

Stanley and Claire were in close together in under 7 hrs and Bethany had a much better day to finish under 9 with Anita following in 9.16. Q finished in a remarkable 9.26 considering the state of his feet and Lizzie with new man on her arm Ade brought up the rear in 9:43 both in high spirits.

Tomorrow's another day as they say and it's Day 5 of M2MUltra - Ireland's Toughest Footrace...

Celebrate - Kool and the Gang

Well, with just Anita, Q and sidekick Lizzy to come in, we are all ready to celebrate not only Ged's fantastic win but also his 30th Birthday. To add to that it's the Seckers 25th Wedding Anniversary and we have a huge cake and dinner celebrations planned for tonight.

They will need it as they went to hell and back out on the road today and their inner limits were certainly tested in the hard running conditions.

Morale is high though and tomorrow's stage is not on their minds right now.

More later...

www.ultrarace.co.uk home of Ireland's M2M Ultra.

Quentin

Quote of the morning... 'Today is all about chafe limitation'... Well that's how Quentin sees it anyway.

He says he got a few words in with Liz yesterday and hopes to do better today...

Good luck mate!

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Good Morning - Day Two

There are some stirrings this morning and I can smell breakfast being cooked already for the 14 runners and crew as Day 2 starts to break.

It will be interesting to see how they run today. There were a few achy legs last night and red faces from the bright sun we all enjoyed.

The first runners are off in 59 mins so it's time to get the show on the road. More then.

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Checkpoint 2

Everyone is through CP1 now and we have just passed through the field on our way to CP2. The sun is now shining and all our runners are in awe of the spectacular countryside. Stanley and Chris have taken an early lead and Stanley is happy that 'he is winning'!

We are waiting at the 19 mile point for their next refreshment stop. The good news is that we have first class facilities tonight at Bready Cricket Club with state of the art showers and a bar that opens at 7pm - that should keep them smiling:-)

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Stormbreaker - Deep Purple

Wow, what a day and what a crossing! Talk about rough... Jenny was in pieces to say the least. The M2M ULTRA will hopefully be a lot easier than the Irish Sea was on us for our competitors. First into camp was Michelle Fookwe from South Africa who has been very much looking forward to her first trip to Ireland. Shesays she's delighted to be here with us at long last.

I must say we've already had some great banter amongst us and this is the crew's third event of this type together so it's just like old times for us.

We pick up the other 13 runners tomorrow from Dublin and Belfast before our journey up to Malin Head.

More tomorrow from the journey ...

www.ultrarace.co.uk home of Ireland's M2M Ultra.

Simply the Best - Tina Turner

Well I live with a Running Superstar and I'm most proud today of Jenny's and new Marathon PB of 3:11:22 - I know it takes real bottle to have a go at a marathon at any time but on the way onto a 24hr is totally amazing. Three last weeks of running have produced a 5km PB, 12hr PB and now a 42.2km... she's just awesome - and now resting - Coaches orders.

It goes to show you how proper endurance training can make a massive difference to one's running... couple that with her having the determination as well as the win at all costs frame of mind have really given her the edge.

Hopefully, our M2M ULTRA runner's will draw inspiration from her over their 11 days of running...

I know I am going to!

More from our trip Ireland tomorrow...

ULTRArace the home of ULTRArunning...

Wind and Wuthering - Genesis

As Hurricane Katia heads towards us, we can't say that we're not worried right now about how our competitors, our Sleeperbus and we get to Ireland on Monday/Tuesday next. Hopefully it will blow over but we have Michelle coming in from South Africa, The Seckers from the USA and Rick from Canada as well as our own runners from the UK. ATM only Stanley is a dead cert to be there as he's Belfast based...

We are due to board the 1350hrs ferry to Dublin from Holyhead on Monday and Jenny is already having kittens about another 'Stormforce 10' crossing that we endured last February. At least the Sleeperbus will be there for us if we get delayed in Holyhead.

Let's pray we get to start on time eh?
http://www.ultrarace.co.uk/ home of Ireland's M2M Ultra.

Tonic for the Troops - Boomtown Rats

It must have been National Numpty Day today as we've experieneced a huge amount of strange happenings from poor customer service to people driving so close behind us that we were worried that they would drive into us! No joke I thought we were going to get rammed...

Even an old woman in the local Co-op was trying to cue-hijack... she got told!

Boy oh boy... it must be the weather! And yes you're bound to say GOM syndrome but it's not... I am pretty chilled actually. Maybe we need another Royal Wedding or something to pull us all together as a community.

We need something as it's winter in a couple of weeks... and that's enough to get anyones goat. Especially in these parts. Shame people don't take time to go and look at the Peak District like we did earlier today... it's a real Tonic for the Troops and you can't fail to smile when you're there.

That and a good run... that's what we all need. So it's now a new law - Run at least 26 miles a day... That will sort out most of the world's problems and there will be no more need for a National Numpty Day anymore.

Fly on a Windshield - Genesis

Been another day of training today for me and for clients undertaking the 2012 Marathon des Sables. Like most Septembers there's been a real surge over the past week for MdeS training and information... it seems that six months represents a suitably long enough training period for most folk and a 0-60 acceleration from beginner to desert warrior, with our assistance.

I wonder what last pieces of training our M2M ULTRA runners are doing - hopefully they are just taking it easy now as all they can do now is to taper down to the event whcih starts next Wednesday.

Talking of tapering, we are too as it's our annual trip to The Robin Hood Marathon (my 15th RHM) this Sunday. Packing for Ireland will fill the gap in training, I'm sure.

Let's get ready to rumble - PJ and Duncan

My word, it's just over a week to go until we set off to take on the Length of Ireland once again on our M2M Ultra. It seems quite apt that today The Guinness Book of Records verified Jenny's 4 days, 23 hrs, 3 mins and 10 seconds as an undisputed time for the 345 miles from Malin Head to Mizen Head. Well done Jenny!

Our 14 athlete's will be taking a different approach on the same route undertaking approximately 50kms a day for 11 days starting on the morning of Thursday 14th September. We've got runners from the world over and we have their profiles on our main website.

Over the next few days, we will add more info to this blog and during the event you will be able to follow their progress throughout the days running and eventually see who is going to win the Chevrolet Spark Car which is the Winner's prize for the quickest time in running the whole route.

http://www.ultrarace.co.uk/ home of Ireland's M2M Ultra.

City Boy - 5705

Been to Wolverhampton today for the Marathon... can't say too much about my mother's hometown but WHAT A DUMP! Saw her old school and went in the park where I was as a little lad myself back in 1969 the day Man landed on the Moon... it does make you wonder what on Earth has happened to it since?

The run for both of us went right on plan and I must say that we are both very happy tonight with how it went... the race itself reminded me of a bit of a Luton if I was being honest and it's a number basher for me for Jenny it was a good reflection of her current fitness and whether she'll join me at RHM next week, well watch this space. Good to see Damon Cartwright, Dave and Linda Major and my old mate Dave Philips (Grandfather of the ULTRArace.100)...

Right now, well it's time to chill out and continue with the M2M ULTRA prep...

More tomoz...

Living on an Island - Status Quo

Been to Sully Island today which someone had just forked out £95,000 to own - a bit short of the £1.25M asking price but value for money perhaps if personal isolation is your bag. It's cut off twice a day by the tide and doesn't have any houses or shops so there's also no-one to fall out with which might help... I liked it... shame we used it as bomb target practise during WW2. We found loads of shell cases on the beach.

It was a far cry from the sheer suffocation of 'parkrun' this morning and no matter how I look at this - I hate it. I know it does me some good but it was 22:56 mins of pure hell this morning. Let's hope tomorrow's marathon is a bit easier eh? Slatershops banged in a 19:08 and racked up a pb by over 20 seconds so who says that a 75 miler isn't a good warm up, so I'd say she is flying right now.

Tapering down in Ireland should put her in the best condition for her 24hr later this month. It's not long now till the M2M ULTRA and more of that over the next few days for sure.

More tomorrow post Marathon...

Poison Ivy - The Coasters

It's been a day of Coasting down here in ARAF (Wales to you) as we have a couple of days off here before the Wolverhampton Marathon (690) on Sunday... talk about sunny too as the September rays were so good that the local naturists were out in force at Monknash. I tried to look of course but Jenny said that it must have been cold where they were judging by what she could see with the binoculars.

I must say that the more I see of the South Wales countryside, the more I fall in love with it and there is something really warm and challenging about the terrain down here. Being by the sea is most peaceful and living up in Derbyshire, it's something that we really miss out on.

Not sure I will be thinking about the sea in the morning as we hit 'parkrun' for a blowing out of the cobwebs and a try at getting under 23 minutes again...

More tomorrow...

Easy - The Commodores

Well September has arrived along with some late summer sun down in Wales at Salter Towers.

With Wolverhampton Marathon on Sunday Jenny and I are both taking it easy and resting up before a sub 3.30 for har and sub 3:59 for me to aim for. How we will perform after last weekends marathon events will be most interesting.

Although it will be great to get a couple more 26ers in before we go to Ireland. Anyway, we're off to Les Croupiers Running Club tonight for a trot out so that will keep the legs ticking over...

More tomorrow... ARAF!

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Location:Heol Hir,,United Kingdom